An Excellent Spirit | Pastor David Morgan

Good morning, church. Will you stand to your feet and worship with us? ♪ Your way is a lamp unto my feet ♪ ♪ Your way is the only way for me to never look back again ♪ ♪ It's a new life, but I wanna be honest ♪ ♪ It's a damn long road, but the worst is why ♪ ♪ Because you're good on your promise ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You said it, I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it was ♪ ♪ You started, you're completing ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ The storm and the chaos fell in line ♪ ♪ Well, I know, I've seen it in my life ♪ ♪ It's a damn long road that leads to a line ♪ ♪ But I wanna be honest, hey ♪ ♪ It's a damn long road and it's tight as hell ♪ ♪ But you're better than what it is ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You said it, I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it was ♪ ♪ You started, you're completing ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You said it, I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it was ♪ ♪ You started, you're completing ♪ ♪ I'll take you at your word ♪ ♪ You're good on your promise ♪ ♪ You're good on your promise ♪ ♪ You're good on your promise ♪

♪ You said your love will never give up ♪ ♪ You said your grace is always enough ♪ ♪ You said your heart will never forget or forsake me ♪ ♪ You said I'm saved, you call me yours ♪ ♪ You said my future is full of your hope ♪ ♪ You never fail, so I know that you'll never fail me ♪ ♪ You said your love will never give up ♪ ♪ You said your grace is always enough ♪ ♪ You said your heart will never forget or forsake me ♪ ♪ You said I'm saved, you call me yours ♪ ♪ You said my future is full of your hope ♪ ♪ You never fail, so I know that you'll never fail me ♪ ♪ I'll take you as you're worth it ♪ ♪ You said it, I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ You started, you're completed ♪ ♪ I'll take you as you're worth it ♪ ♪ You said it, I believe it ♪ ♪ I've seen how good it works ♪ ♪ You started, you're completed ♪ ♪ I'll take you as you're worth it ♪ ♪ You're good on your promise ♪ ♪ You're good on your promise ♪ ♪ You're good on your promise ♪ ♪ I'll take you as you're worth it ♪ ♪♪ Baby, we've made this complicated More than it was ever meant to be Hasn't it always been about the same thing? Oh, bring us back to simple things You'll be the center of it all My heart belongs to You My Savior of it all

You're the one I hold on to For the beauty of Your name Lost to a wonder to say Jesus, I love You Teach us to discern the points When to serve and when to sit here at Your feet Give us a way to what's important Just like men chose the better things You are the center of it all My heart belongs to You My Savior of it all You're the one I hold on to For the beauty of Your name My soul was left to say Jesus, I love You, oh yes You are the center of it all My heart belongs to You My Savior of it all You're the one I hold on to For the beauty of Your name My soul was left to say Jesus, I love You Oh, I love You Oh, I love You Jesus, I love You Oh, I love You Oh, I love You My whole life for Your glory My whole life for Your honor Every day for the honor of Your name And if my days tell a story Let it be I love You all the every day For the honor of Your name My whole life for Your glory My whole life for Your honor Every day for the honor of Your name And if my days tell a story Let it be I love You all the every day For the honor of Your name My whole life for Your glory My whole life for Your honor Every day for the honor of Your name And if my days tell a story Let it be I love You all the every day For the honor of Your name Oh, how I love You Oh, how I love You Jesus, I love You Oh, how I love You Oh, oh, you're my everything My whole life for your glory

My whole life for your glory Hey, for the honor of your name And if I pay down the story that you made Oh, you're only everything For the honor of your name My whole life for your glory My whole life for your glory Everything for the honor of your name And if I pay down the story that you made Oh, you're only everything For the honor of your name Oh, how I love you Oh, how I love you Oh, how I love you Oh, how I love you For you are the center of it all My heart belongs to you My savior of it all You're the one I hold on to For the beauty of your name My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you My soul will choose to say Jesus, I love you My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you Good morning, Revolution Church. How many of y'all are glad to be in God's house this morning? Y'all are welcome to have a seat. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Kat,

and I get to hang out with the coolest people in town. I work with recovery as well as our jail ministry. And so I want to talk to our online community first, and I want to welcome them, as well as our brothers and sisters that are currently incarcerated. I don't know if you've heard, but we are actually streaming into 743 prisons at the moment. Yes. And so I feel like the Lord wants me to remind you that you are loved and that he has great plans for you. So you all hold on to that. Amen. How many of y'all have been participating in Awake 21? Yes. All right, a little more excitement, y'all. How many of y'all have been participating in Awake 21? Yes. For the new folks, Awake 21 is where we have 30 plus churches crossing denominational lines, and we get together for 21 days to pray and worship together. Amen. We can all agree that Jesus is the one and only Savior and that he died on that cross for our sins. And on the third day, he was raised again. Amen. For our sake. So we don't focus on the differences. We focus on what we all agree on. So tonight we have two locations available. Grandview Baptist, we have Les Burnett preaching. And then at Rio Unity, we have Paul Dyer

from Alcoa Maryville Church of God preaching. So pick one and join us. I promise you will have a great time. Amen. If this is your very first time here or if you've been coming for a while and you're ready to get connected, we have these amazing Connect cards on the back seats there. If you wouldn't mind to grab one and fill one out. And as you exit, we've got the glass room in the lobby. We have folks there that would love to have a conversation. They would love to get to know you and maybe get you connected, right? Meet your needs, see how we could better serve you. As well as if today you make the best decision of your life and you invite Jesus Christ into your heart as your Lord and Savior, we would love to celebrate with you. So again, as you exit the sanctuary, the glass room, we have folks that actually have a gift for you. How many of y'all like gifts? I like gifts, right? And so they would like to talk about what's next because we all know that salvation is just the beginning. God has so much more for us. Amen. All right. So how many of y'all are visual people? Yes? All right.

So is it okay if I share a story? And I have my husband's permission. So hold on. Here we go. So several years ago when we first got married my husband and I used to go to the gym and I always start out on the treadmill you know slow and steady wins the race right. So I get on the treadmill I'm just kind of doing my thing and then Stephen is right next to me on his treadmill but he's a bit more ambitious than I am and so he's picking up the pace and slowly I see him like now he's at a jog and then he's at a run right and I'm like oh I'm impressed. Well then I see him start to kind of bend over while he's running on the treadmill and he's looking for the connectors on the treadmill where he can plug his phone in and I'm like oh this is not gonna be good. So in a split second I start to see all these arms start flailing like an octopus just showed up and then real quick I hear a thud and then he was gone. Yeah yeah and a couple feet behind us was a wall and that and that's where he went and so why do I share that story? Because I like to but also the Lord brought to mind this morning how often is it that we find ourselves in a struggle or a mess and we start reaching and grabbing for anything and everything right just aimlessly reaching or we try to put our hands to it like I can take care of it. Well I'm gonna tell y'all going through some things and I did that. I became the octopus reaching for all the things and when I finally was tired I finally sat down and said Lord I need you and you know what my father said I've been waiting for you. I have the answer if you'll see me first right. And so if 2025 was not your year our father wants to make 2026 your year amen. He's got blessings and he has favor he wants to pour out on us. We just have to line ourselves up with his will. Are you willing to do that? I'm talking in all areas. Are you willing to surrender your 2026 to see what God will do for you? Who's willing to do that? And I so I'm going to tell you in all things right in our plans. How many of y'all have plans? Yeah the Lord kind of giggles at those sometimes but also how about our finances? If 2025 was a struggle financially I would encourage you the word says test me and the word also says he'll meet every need but we got to position ourselves to receive those blessings and so we have different ways you can give. Will you partner with us? The great things that God is doing in this church. He absolutely has his hand on Revolution

Church. Y'all know that we have some things coming up but anyways you can drop it in the bucket in the back of the room. You can go to our website. You can check out our church app. Will you be a part of the great plans that God has for you? Make that commitment today. Let's make 2026 great amen. All right let's pray. Lord I just thank you for every single person in this room as well as all those watching online. Father God your word tells us that you have a hope and a future for each of us. Lord help us to be disciplined and obedient to your will. Father God and so we invite you into this service. Prepare our minds and our hearts to receive the word that you have for us. Lord transform us. Renew us. Lord Jesus Christ we just give you permission to have your way with us and we just pray all these things in Jesus name and the church says amen. Good morning I'm Whitney and welcome to Revolution. If this is your first Sunday with us and you're excited you're here please stop by the Connect Hub. Our team would love to meet you personally and give you a welcome gift. If you're watching online say hi in the comments. We'd love to connect with you and welcome you to church today. Now here's what's going on at Revolution. Hey Revolution Church family. We are excited to invite you to our Connect One Luncheon. Every month on the last Sunday of the month we host a special luncheon during our third service in the pavilion. Connect One is the perfect first step if you're new to Revolution and ready to get plugged in. You'll enjoy a meal, meet some of our leaders, and hear directly from Pastor Pacer about the heart and vision of our church. We'd love for you to be a part of it. Just register on the church center app or through our website. We can't wait to see you there. The big game is coming Sunday, February the 8th. You probably have dinner plans so why not let Rev Youth take care of your lunch. More details to come. Second Chance Prom Ministry 2026 is approaching. February 28th, and we need volunteers. Male and females, we can't do it without you. Whether it's helping shop during the event, set up and tear down, alterations and more, we need you. Our goal is to make everyone feel amazing on their formal night. Volunteers can register now at Riorevolution.com. Hey, Revolution, ready to take the next step?

Join Connect2 Membership class. Discover our beliefs, learn why membership matters, and grow deeper in the church family. The class is on the first Sunday of every month, starting February 1st during third service in the pavilion. Take the next step. Connect2 is coming soon. Did you miss anything? Wanna stay up to date on everything happening here at Revolution? Visit our website at Riorevolution.com or download the Church Center app for all the latest news and upcoming events. Thank you so much for being with us today. We hope you feel right at home. Enjoy the rest of the service. Good morning, Revolution. It is great to be in the house of the Lord. Can you say amen? So thankful that you are here. I'm Pastor David, one of the congregational pastors here at the church, and it is my privilege and honor to present the word of God today. Pastor Pacer and Connie are on a much-needed vacation. Let's give a shout out to Pastor and Connie right now. We love you guys. Enjoy, relax, have a great time. You know, I've been in the ministry now for over 50 years, and it is an honor and a privilege

always to share God's word and to pour into people's lives. Absolutely love doing that. A number of years ago, somebody came up to me one Sunday after church and said, pastor, I just want you to know that you are a model pastor. And I don't even know, it's hard to stay humble. It's just hard to stay humble when you are a model pastor. I mean, they didn't just say you're a good pastor. They said, you're a model pastor. And I've got to confess, you know, I was kind of liking that a little bit until I discovered the definition of the word model. It's a small replica of the real thing. Well, God knows how to bring you back down to earth, amen. Well, last Sunday morning, Pastor Pacer introduced a brand new series to us entitled Bring the Heat. Let's say that together, bring the heat. I believe that God is ready to turn it up in our lives. I believe that God wants to take us to a new level. He wants us to take a new step in him. He wants us to move forward in what he desires to do in our lives. The title of the message that I want to share with you this morning is an excellent spirit, an excellent spirit. I want to share some verses with you from Daniel 5, and I'll begin reading in verse number 10. Let me kind of set the background here before I start reading.

Daniel had been carried off into captivity from Israel to Babylon. That was the captivity of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when Nebuchadnezzar came in and captured the Israelites and carried them to Babylon. And God had worked in Daniel's life while he was there under Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar recognized him as a godly man, and Nebuchadnezzar used him in the kingdom. But now Nebuchadnezzar has died, and his son Belshazzar is now the king of Babylon. And Belshazzar throws this great party at the palace. He invites all kinds of people there, drinking and singing and having a big time. And somebody comes up with the ideas, we should get the golden vessels that were taken from the temple in Jerusalem and use them at our party. Now, let me tell you something about those vessels. Those vessels were consecrated unto the Lord. They were dedicated for holy purposes to be used in the temple of Almighty God. But they had taken them, and they had now decided they were gonna use those holy consecrated vessels as part of their celebration. So they brought them over, they filled them up with wine, and they began drinking out of them. And in the midst of that, a hand appeared. And the fingers of that hand began writing

on the wall. And the people in that party saw it and became terrified and concerned. And Belshazzar called in his musicians and his soothsayers and his wise men and wanted to know what that hand had written on the wall. And none of them could give the interpretation. And then Belshazzar's wife comes on the scene. That brings us to Daniel chapter 5 and verse number 10. Now the Queen, by reason of the word of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house and the Queen spake and said, O king, live forever. Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed. There is a man in thy kingdom in whom the Spirit of the holy gods. In the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him, whom thy king Nebuchadnezzar... I've lost my place on this little device. That's usually why I write it down. All right. Thy king Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. What a noble position to be given. Here's this man of God, taken captivity, and now he's made charge of the astrologers, the magicians, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Verse 12, for as much as an excellent spirit and knowledge and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in this same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation. There is something in here I really want you to see. Here, the queen, an ungodly woman, not a believer in Jehovah, not a follower of the God of Israel, this pagan queen says of Daniel, there is a man in your kingdom to the king, she says, who has an excellent spirit. What an incredible testimony. Do you know the greatest testimony that you can have? It's when somebody that doesn't know Jesus looks at you and says, there is something different about you. I don't know exactly what it is, I can't really put my finger on it, but there is something different about you. How many

of you know that God in us ought to be seen by the world around us? God's spirit dwells within us, and I happen to believe that God wants to produce an excellent spirit within us. Excellence begins in the spirit. You can't go to a seminar and acquire excellence. You can't watch a video series and acquire excellence. You can't read a book and require excellence. Excellence begins in the spirit, because an excellent spirit produces excellent thoughts. Excellent thoughts produce excellent behavior. Excellent behavior produces excellent achievement. In excellent achievement, God is glorified. How many of you believe that God wants to be glorified in your life? Where does that begin? It begins in the spirit. Would you agree with me that we serve an excellent God? Our God is an excellent God. I love that song that we used to sing, our God is an awesome God. Say that with me. Our God is an awesome God. We serve an excellent God. Isaiah chapter 28 and verse number 9 says, he is excellent in his work. From springtime to fall, I work part-time at Lambert Acres Golf Course mowing greens. I go to work about four o'clock in the morning, and I'm out there until about seven o'clock mowing greens. And I don't know if you are familiar with that golf course or not, but it is a beautiful piece of property. And when the sun comes up over the mountains in the east in the morning, I'll just stop that mowing machine and sit there in amazement of the beauty of God. Nature speaks of the beauty of God. I love what pastor said last Sunday morning, turn your device off and go for a walk in the woods. Get out there and see the beauty of God. God is excellent in his work. He is excellent. Job 36 22 says he's excellent in power. I love the rhetorical question that Jeremiah asked. Jeremiah said, is there anything too hard for God? I want to tell you something today, whatever you're going through, whatever your situation is, wherever you are, if you're behind bars today or if you're sitting in the sanctuary today, there is nothing in your life that is too big for God. We serve an all-powerful God. We serve a God that is is not limited by circumstances, you know that God can speak nothing into existence. God said, let there be, and there was, because He is excellent in power. Psalm 36, 7 says He's excellent in His loving kindness.

Are you thankful today for the love of God? Are you thankful today that God loved you while you were a sinner? That God didn't wait till you got it fixed? That God didn't wait till you figured it all out? That God didn't wait till you had all the answers? He loved you right where you were. He loved us in our messes. Somebody say amen to that. The psalmist said He delivered me out of a horrible pit. How many of you have been in a pit? And He loved you there. Can I tell you something today? There is nothing you can do to make God love you more than He already does. And there is nothing you can do to make God love you less than He already does. Is God always pleased with our decisions? No, because sometimes we make some dumb ones, don't we? But He still loves us. I'm so thankful for the steadfast love of God. I'm so thankful that the mercy of God is renewed every morning. Somebody say amen to that. He is excellent in His loving kindness. Psalm 8.1 says His name is excellent. You know, all throughout the Old Testament, God revealed Himself by His name. It was like from time to time, God would just go, here's my business card. Here's what I'm about. On one occasion, God revealed Himself as Jehovah Makedesh. Jehovah Makedesh means the Lord who sanctifies. Do you know what sanctification is? It's a process of being set apart unto God. I'm so thankful that I'm on a journey of sanctification.

I'm so thankful today that the Lord is working a process of sanctification in my life. I'm thankful today that there used to be things I enjoyed I don't enjoy anymore because I'm being sanctified. I'm so thankful today that there's stuff I didn't like that I love now. Why? Because God is working a process of sanctification within me. He identified Himself as Jehovah Jireh. Who's that? The Lord who provides. About 12 years ago, I think now, I had made a decision to step down from pastoring the church in Pittsburgh where I'd been for 33 years. I just really felt in my spirit God saying, it's time for you to step down and let another generation come and take leadership in that place. I'd met with the leadership team over a number of months, and I thought we had a good plan in place. How many of you like a plan? I like a plan. Most nights, go to bed with a plan for tomorrow. I like a plan. We got any bean counters in the room? You're always adding it up and seeing how it comes out. Is this going to work? Well, I'd kind of run the numbers in my head, and our plan was I was going to stay on. I wasn't going to be the lead pastor, but I'd stay on as a consultant. We were moving here, but I'd come back at least once a quarter, maybe more than that. I'd stay on the insurance, and I'd get kind of a stipend from the church. It was going to be just enough for us to live on with my little pension. Well, I went back after about a month and preached in the church. I thought we had a wonderful time. After everybody was leaving, the new pastor who had I promoted came up to me and said, you know what? I think it might be good if you don't come back for a while.

That's now been 12 years. It's still a while. About five weeks after that, I got a text message. A text message that said, you know, we're not going to be able to do what we talked about. We can't keep you on insurance, and there won't be anything coming. I tell you, I'll be honest with you, I had a moment when I wanted to drive to Pittsburgh. I wanted to do something biblical. I wanted to lay hands on someone. But I came to the moment where I had to say, and my wife will tell you this, we had to come into agreement and say, God, we believe you're directing our steps, and you're going And I can testify today that in 12 years we have never lacked for one thing, that every time we've had a need, God has shown up. God has provided in ways that I would have never imagined and dreamed of, but God is faithful to be our provider. I'm glad that God is on our side when it comes to taking care of us. Can you say amen to that? Jehovah Rophe, the Lord who heals. How many of you have experienced in your life the healing power of God? I'm so thankful for the healing power of God that he is faithful. Jehovah Nisse, the Lord who protects. Do you know, we have no idea how many times that God has protected us in ways seen and unseen. We have no idea when God has kept us from calamity, because that's the nature of God, to be our protector. We serve an excellent God, and I believe he wants to produce excellence in us, and excellence begins in the Spirit. It's not something that works from the outside in, but it works from the inside out. Let's take a few minutes this morning and look at some qualities that were in the life of Daniel. Five things that I see in the life of Daniel that identify with an excellent spirit. Number one, Daniel had a spirit of forgiveness or pardon. Forgiveness or pardon. Daniel had every reason to be angry and bitter. Do you know what happened to Daniel? Not only was he carried off into captivity, taken from his land, removed, stripped from everything that he had, but the Bible says that they made him a eunuch. I'm not going to go too deep into that, but they

took his manhood from him. I believe he might have had a reason to be a little angry. They removed from him everything he had, but Daniel did not become resentful. He did not become bitter. He did not become angry, but every time we see Daniel, he was speaking life to others. Do you know, even after they threw him in the lion's den and King Darius showed up at the next morning looking for an eaten up corpse, the first words out of Daniel's mouth were, Oh King, live forever! How many of you know God wants us to forgive? How many of you are thankful for forgiveness today? Let me tell you this, the greatest gift that I've ever received in my life is the forgiveness that God has given me. The greatest gift that I've ever received, and let me say something to you today, you may have been hurt. We have. You may have been wrong. People may have spread lies about you. People may have deceived you. People may have disappointed you. People may have come against you, but if you hold on to that, it will eat you up. It will destroy you. What God wants for you is to let it go. You say, well they're getting away with it. So did you! What did God do for us? He wiped the slate clean. He didn't say, well let me watch you for a little while. Let me see how you do. No, he said, old things are passed away. All things are made new. You're a new creation in Jesus Christ. If God can do that for me, how could I ever withhold forgiveness to someone else? Be a forgiver. Let it go. The next thing that we see in the life of Daniel was passion and zeal. Daniel chapter 2 verse number 5 says that Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's meat. Daniel was passionate about obeying the Lord. Daniel was passionate about being who God had called him to be. I just happen to believe we need a little zeal in the church. There's too many... I'm trying to be good right now. There's just too many folks in the church that act like they don't have nothing. You know, years ago when I first started pastoring, I didn't have a staff or anything. I mean, I just, you know, I took the garbage home, mowed the grass. You know, I was doing it all. And we used to sing courses like, this is the day the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be

glad in it. I used to tell our congregation, we're going to put mirrors up on this back wall. because you don't look like you're rejoicing and being glad right now. You look like you're sad, you look like you've been on a diet of pickle juice. You know, people say about us, I mean us, our church, people out there, some folks out there say, well, it's a little wild and crazy over there. Well, you know, and I've been, I've been going to the Awake 21 services and I've really enjoyed them, but compared to some of those places, we're a little wild and crazy. And I love it. I learned a long time ago, it's way easier to put out a little wildfire than it is to raise the dead. Come on now. And I'm not pointing the finger in any single direction. I'm just saying, come on, let's get excited. How many of you are born again? How many of you have the Holy Spirit? How many of you are going to heaven when you die? All right. Have a little passion about the things of God. The next thing I see in the life of Daniel is he was willing to pay the price for excellence. Excellence doesn't come without a price. There's a cost involved in excellence. Excellent is going to mean you're going to have to spend some time in the Word. Come on. You say, well, I've heard that my whole life. Well, start doing it. It's like the, it's like the pastor preached a sermon and folks came up after church and said, that was a great sermon. Next Sunday, he preached the very same sermon. Some folks just kind of thought, well, that's interesting. Next Sunday, he preached the same sermon. The next Sunday, he preached the same sermon. Four Sundays in a row, he preached the exact same sermon. Finally, somebody came up to him and said, pastor, how long are you going to keep preaching that sermon? He said, when you start living it, I'll quit preaching it. Ooh. There's a cost in following Jesus. You're going to have to spend time in the Word. You need to spend time in worship. If your whole worship experience is right here on Sunday morning, and I love our worship team, let's give it up for our worship team. What a great job they do. But if your whole worship experience is just right here on Sunday morning, you're missing it. You need to be worshiping in your house. You need to be worshiping in your car. You need to be a

worshiper. Somebody say amen to that. You need to be in a life group or discipleship group. If you want to develop an excellent spirit, you need to be in one of those groups. You might need to be leading one of those groups. It comes at a price, a cost. Daniel paid the price. He spent 21 days in prayer and fasting. You know, we're right in the middle of a 21-day fast, and, you know, some of us has chosen maybe to fast one meal a day, and some of us have chosen to fast one day in the 21 days. Daniel fasted 21 days. Why? Because he needed to hear from God. You know what fasting is about? It's not about dieting. It's not about losing weight. It's about committing yourself to focus on the Spirit and denying the flesh. Do you know if you want an excellent spirit, you need to deny the flesh and focus on the Spirit. Daniel was willing to do that. Daniel was willing to go to the lion's den because he would not alter his prayer commitment. You see, the government put out a decree and told Daniel and anybody else in Babylon that they could only pray to the idol of Nebuchadnezzar. Well, Daniel wasn't praying to that idol. He was praying to the Lord God Almighty, and the Bible says that as his practice was three times a day, he'd open his window facing Jerusalem, and he'd offer prayer up to God, and you know what? Daniel ended up getting thrown in the lion's den because he wouldn't back down on his principles. Let me say this to you, church. I hope and I pray that COVID was a wake-up call to the church because the government said, you can't come together anymore. You can't meet anymore. Well, I'm here to testify, and I can say this on behalf of our pastor and our leadership. Whatever the government may say in the future, we're going to be here worshiping the Lord. It's... If they say you're going to go to jail for that, we'll be worshiping the Lord in jail. Somebody say amen to that. They better build a bigger jail. There's a cost in following. You're going to have to make some association changes. How many of you, don't look around, please.

How many of you got some people in your life, they're just not good for you? They suck the life out of you, they drain you down. They rob you of all your joy. I know some of you got some friends on social media, they're posting awful stuff. We had a dear couple friend in Pittsburgh that we loved, we vacationed with them. Not long after we moved down here, they started posting stuff on there, dropping the F-bomb. I was shocked. It got to the point that I had to go, how many of you know, you may need to left swipe some people. I probably still don't have that right, Grant. I may not have it right, but I don't get their post anymore, I know that much. How many of you know that there's some folks that you need to separate yourself from, because they're not spiritually healthy for you? You need to change some things on your schedule. Years ago, I decided I was going to get up extra early and pray. I made a commitment, set my alarm clock early, tomorrow morning, I'm going to pray. Alarm clock went off, I reached over, turned the alarm clock off, and I said, dear Lord, dear Lord. I mean, I was out like a light. I was deep in meditation. Next morning, I said, okay, I can't do that, I got to actually get out of bed. Alarm clock went off, I rolled out of bed, I knelt down beside my bed, I can testify, you can sleep just like this. Next morning, I said, I got to do something different. That morning, I got up and I started walking and talking to Jesus. I love walking and talking to Jesus. I love walking and talking to Jesus, but you're going to have to commit yourself to a time to do that, because life is busy. Life will steal all your time if you'll let it. It'll steal your time and rob from you what God wants to do in your life.

Can I take a minute here and get on my little soapbox? I got, I got five grandchildren that live in Pennsylvania and Ohio. I love those kids with all my heart. They're from 9 to 14 years old. All five of them play tribal ball. I hate tribal ball. I've gone to watch them, these are my grandkids. From spring to late fall, they're never in church. They're off somewhere in the tournament, playing ball. Do you know what the probability of any one of my five grandkids or any of your kids or any of your grandkids making it pro playing ball? Point zero one. It's almost inconceivable, the likelihood. You say, well, somebody will, it's going to be them. Probably not! They came from your gene pool, probably not! I didn't mean to say that, forgive me, I'm sorry, I just, I rebuke you, enemy, I just came up somewhere. I read a great book by Malcolm Gladwell several years ago, it's called Outlier. In Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outlier, he uses the 10,000 hour level. His position is it takes 10,000 hours to achieve excellence in an area. He cites all kinds of folks, he talks about the Beatles and how they played for years and years in these little bar places in Germany. He talks about Bill Gates, he talks about certain other athletes. he uses that 10,000 hour level. I know you love your kids and your grandkids the same way I love mine. I know that you want them to grow up and be godly children. Do you know how many years it would take for them to reach that 10,000 hour level just coming to church on Sunday morning? Over a hundred years. How are they going to reach a level of excellence? They're going to reach it when you're talking about Jesus at the dinner table. They're

going to reach it when you're talking about Jesus when you tuck them in at night. They're going to reach it when you're talking about Jesus when you're driving them to school. They're going to reach it when you're driving them to the park to play. I want to tell you the church doesn't have enough time to bring your kids to the level that God wants them to be without you. Amen. The fifth thing that I see in the life of Daniel about an excellent spirit is Daniel was committed to people. He had compassion for people. It's just like when the king came after throwing him in the lion's den. Oh king, live forever. I heard somebody say one time, living above with folks we love, we know, living above with folks we love, that will be glory. How many of you looking for that day? Living above with folks we love, that'll be glory. Living below with folks we know, that's another story. How many of you had a big family gathering over the holidays? Oh, hands going up all over the place. Those family gatherings are wonderful except for that one cousin that always comes. How many of you know you got one of that cousin in every family? If you don't know that cousin, you are that cousin. How many know this? There's people, it's just hard to love. I mean, some love, my goodness, hard to like. They're irritable, they get under your skin, they talk too much. How many know somebody, they just won't shut up? Sometimes you just want to walk right up to them and go, shut up! But you know what God's called us to? He's called us to love one another. The Bible couldn't make it more clear. They will know that you're my disciples because you love one another. Not because you agree on everything, not because you see everything eye-to-eye, but because you love one another. Can I challenge you today to invest in others? Invest of your time, invest of what God has given you into others. I was my senior year in college, and I don't even really know how it happened, but I got invited to go to Haiti to speak in a conference to the youth, and I was excited about it. I'd never been anywhere in the Caribbean to go to Haiti and speak in this conference, and I'm in San Antonio, Texas in college, and the people invited me were from somewhere up in the Northeast, this group of people. I'm supposed to meet them in Miami and fly

to Haiti with them. Well, I get on the plane in San Antonio, fly to Miami, not knowing that this horrible storm has come in, snowstorm in the Northeast, and they're all canceled. Well, I don't have any more sense. I just get on the plane and go to Haiti. I don't know a soul in Haiti, no one. I get off the plane, grab my suitcase, I got my little briefcase. I was looking very official, got my briefcase, my suitcase. I walk outside and stand there for like an hour and a half, and finally this young guy comes up to me and he goes, uh, pastor, preacher, oh yeah, I'm your man. The next, they're stuck in the Northeast the next three days. I spoke three times a day. The problem is I only had three sermons. I mean, after the first day, I'm, I'm, I'm, oh Lord, speak to me, Lord, speak to me, Lord, speak to me. It ended up being a wonderful time. The conference is winding down and they had a little room for me to stay in, and I'm in a room and there's a knock at the door, and this young man comes to the door and barely speaks English, and I hadn't even changed yet. I still had my black leisure suit on. How many of you with me with the leisure suit? I mean, you know, I'm, I'm a poor college student. I could barely buy that leisure suit, you know. I had my black leisure suit, my white shirt, and a black, white polka dot tie. I love that tie. I go to the door and he's standing there and he goes, suit, very nice. I go, well, thank you very much. Give me. And for a minute I'm thinking, he really can't speak English, can he? Sounded like give me. I go, excuse me, and he goes, give me. And I, right there in that moment, I felt the Holy Spirit go, give it to him. And I said, just a minute.

And I went around the corner and took the jacket off, took my pants off, put a pair of jeans on. I walked back to the door and I hand him the jacket and the pants. He goes, you a tie, very nice. Give me. I gave him the tie. I took the shirt off and gave it to him. Fast forward five years. I just started pastoring a church in southwestern Pennsylvania. We had about 25 people. I'd stepped away from being a youth pastor, had almost 200 junior and senior highs in my youth group. Now I'm pastoring a church of 20 people, making half what I was as a youth pastor. I couldn't afford to buy a suit. I'm just telling you the truth. I went to Goodwill and bought a couple suits. It cost me more to have them altered than I paid for the suits. I'd been there about two years and this little lady came up to me in early April. And she goes, pastor, do you have a birthday this month? And I said, I do on the 21st. She goes, I wanna buy you a suit. I said, well, that would be so kind of you. For the next 20 years, she bought me a suit every year. Every year for the next 20 years. I wanna testify, you can't over invest in other people.

You can't do too much to bless other people. I believe that was a direct result of me sowing into that young man's life. And after that, I've been to Haiti about 35 times now. After that, I'd go back to Haiti and give away last year's suit. I'm gonna keep planting in that field. I'm telling you right now, people have compassion and love for people. And then the last thing that I see in the life of Daniel is power. An excellent spirit produces the power of God. Daniel said it like this, people that know their God, they'll be strong and they'll do exploits. Do you know your God today? Do you know him? That was a real question. Do you know your God today? Be strong and do exploits. The Bible says, I am strong, I am victorious. I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ. Ephesians six says, having done all the stand, stand therefore, stand in the power of God. I believe the power of God is a natural product of an excellent spirits. When God has produced an excellent spirit in you, God's power is gonna be released in your life. The word says, you're not a victim, you're a victor. The word says, you're not under, you're over. You're not defeated, you're divinely empowered.

It's time to bring the heat. It's time to let the Holy Spirit produce excellence within you. These characteristics and qualities that I've shared with you this morning, let your prayer be, God produce that in me. God produce that in me, that I might glorify you. Excellence begins in the spirit. If you've never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, salvation begins in the spirit. John chapter three and verse number five, Jesus said, unless you're born of water and of the spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. What's born of water? That's natural birth. What's born of spirit? That's salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. I'm gonna ask the prayer team to come. Everyone, if you would stand, please. If you're here today and you want God to develop excellence in your life, you want God to be glorified through you, would you make a fresh commitment today? You might wanna come up and just pray with one of these folks in the altar here, just rededication. But before we dismiss, the worship team going to come. They're going to lead us in a song. Would you give God an opportunity to seal His Word on your heart today? Would you give God an opportunity to take the living Word of God

and sow that in good soil that it would produce fruit? Heavenly Father, I thank you and I praise you. I bless your holy name. May you, Lord, use your Word to impact our lives, and may a spirit of excellence be developed within us. In Jesus' name, amen. I'm caught up in your presence Because I just want to sit here at your feet I'm caught up in this holy moment I never want to leave I'm not here for blessings Jesus, you don't owe me anything And more than anything that you can do I just want you And I'm sorry when I've just gone through the motions I'm sorry When I just sang another song Take me back to where we started I open up my heart to you I'm sorry when I've come with my agenda And I'm sorry When I forgot that you're enough Take me back to where we started I open up my heart to you I'm caught up in your presence I just want to sit here at your feet I'm caught up in this holy moment I never want to leave I'm not here for blessings Jesus, you don't owe me anything And more than anything that you can do I just want you And I just want you Nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do Cause I just want you Nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you Nothing else, nothing else, nothing else will do I just want you

Nothing else, nothing else, even nothing else will do Nothing else will do, nothing else will do I'm caught up in your presence I just wanna sit here at your feet I'm caught up in this holy moment I never wanna leave I'm not here for blessings Jesus, you don't owe me anything More than anything that you can do I just want you Lord, I pray that if there's anyone contemplating coming up, Lord, that there's still time for them to come up I pray for each and every soul in this place, Lord, that you bless them, that you show them the love that you have shown them In Jesus' name I pray