Good to great – Mateship Breakfast
What takes a good man and turns him into a great man.
1) Think Great things
Phil 4:8.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
Sources of Great thoughts
1.1) Scripture – John 8:32 – You will know the truth and the truth will set you free
1.2) Dwell on great truths
St Francis of Assisi
Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy
1.3) Take time to notice beauty
1.4) Mediate on spiritual insights
1.5) Read great books.
Key areas for cultivating great thoughts
1) Think great thoughts about God
Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 “ For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?”
35 “ Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
2) Think great thoughts about yourself
Zephaniah 3:17
17 The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”
3) Think great thoughts about others
1 Sam 16:7
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
We can be Christlike by looking at the heart of man.
And believe the best in people.
4) Think great thoughts about life
John 10:10
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
5) Think great thoughts about the future
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
6) Think great thoughts about the past
Phil 3:13-14
13Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
7) Think Great thoughts about Challenges
James 1:2-4
2Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
2) Read Great books
They broaden your mind
They sharpen your mind
They Inflame your heart
They develop your skill
They heal your soul
3) Pursue great people
Prov 13:20
20 He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
4) Dream great dreams
God commands us to step out of our comfort zone
God puts his dream in your heart
God teaches us through adversity to love the dream-giver more than the dream
God clarifies our calling in times of crisis and often uses our worst failures as the platform for his future fulfilment
5) Pray great prayers
Great prayers are deeply personal
Great prayers are birthed in brokenness
Great prayers Champion God’s agenda
Great prayers take God seriously
Great prayers demand great courage
Great prayers always go back to Jesus
Have an outrageous prayer list.
6) Take Great Risks
I like the concept of Biting off more than you can chewAs we grow up we are told that this is bad. That if you bite off more than you can chew that you will choke etc
Yes but what if you bite off more than you can chew and then you somehow manage to actually chew it – then you win and you have achieved a whole lot more than if you had taken the conservative approach.
This is about risk taking.
Erica Jong
“And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”
“If you have never failed – you are not trying hard enough”
We need to Think Big, Act Big and Bite off more than we can chew.
Take a risk
David Lloyd George
“Don’t be afraid to take a big step. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.”
Robert H. Schuller
“Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.”
Herodotus
“Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“It is far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.”
Unknown Author
“Some of the worlds greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.”
Frank Scully
“Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is?”
Diane Ackerman
“I don’t want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”
Think of all the people in the bible that attempted more than what they could achieve themselves.
Peter – out of the boat
Elijah – the prophets of God
David – Goliath
Moses- Pharoh
Joshua- Jericho
We need to
THINK BIG. ACT BIG. HAVE BIG FAITH
Heb 11: 30-34 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised: who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword: whose weakness was turned to strength: and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
Take risks in God
Attempt things big enough that it requires a miracle.
7) Make great sacrifices
8) Enjoy Great Moments
Why Don’t we
Distorted View of God
A warped theology of pleasure
Unwillingness to face false beliefs and unhealthy behaviours
9) Empower great people
Look for FAT People
Faithful
Available
Teachable
10) Develop Great Habits
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half of the things you do you might as well turn over to me and I will do them – quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed – you must be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of great people,
and alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine though
I work with the precision of a machine
plus the intelligence of a person.
You may run me for profit or run me for ruin –
it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me, and
I will place the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.
Who am I?I am Habit.
Categories: Sermon Notes, Theology
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