Good To Best

Question: Has anyone here read the book Good To Great by Jim Collins? Fun fact: Jim Collins actually lives in Boulder. Anyone have a connection to him or know him personally?

The concept of the book was to give keen insight taken from extensive research on companies that went from good to great. Good is the enemy of great. Many people find good and settle. Isn’t that true in life as well?

(Talk about the book and the research that shows how businesses can go from Good To Great.)

Title: Good To Best

Intro: This whole series we’ve talked about how our best life is not found in what we do, but who we belong to. This is a radical way to view the idea of “Your Best Life”, but it’s something that we all think about, all the time.

Big Idea: Your best life is not found in what you do, but who you belong to.

Passage: Ephesians 3:14-21 CSB

“For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” CSB

Illust:

Main Points:

1. Strengthened with Power (V16)

   1. “I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,” (CSB)

      1. “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.” NLT

         2. Power - dynamei (doo-na-mees)

      2. Dynamis, which gives us our words dynamic and dynamite. This is the mighty power of God. The power that resurrected Christ is available to us all in our daily lives and service to God.

      3. This is not a passive power or dormant power, but it is limitless and beyond our comprehension.

         3. Clean & Close - A life that the Spirit empowers

      4. The Life Application Study Bible notes on Galatians 5:16 put it this way: Being led by the Holy Spirit involves the desire to hear, the readiness to obey God’s Word, and the sensitivity to discern between your feelings and his promptings. Live each day controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit. Then the words of Christ will be in your mind, the love of Christ will be behind your actions, and the power of Christ will help you control your selfish desires.

         1. “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16 NKJV
            4. We see in Romans 8:9 that if you are a Christian then you have the Holy Spirit in you. The presence of the Spirit comes through salvation and begins to work supernaturally in your life. The power of the Spirit begins to work as we ask for it and allow ourselves to be controlled by it through obedience to the Word of God.
            5. Question: Are you controlled by the Holy Spirit or are you controlled by the flesh. (or your selfish desires) What or who is controlling your life?
            6. Resurrecting Power - Ephesians 1:19-21

      5. “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.” - Ephesians 1:19-21 NLT

2. Filled through Faith (17a)

   1. “and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” CSB

      1. “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in Him.” NLT

         2. The word “dwell” literally means to “settle down and feel at home.”
         3. Illust: Doll House

      2. We each have rooms in our hearts. Some we let Christ in and dwell, others we hide in fear or shame.

      3. Some rooms we keep clean and aren’t afraid to be seen, others are a wreck and we would be devastated if anyone found out the reality of our lives.
      4. I love the way the NLT reads this passage. “As you trust in Him.”
      5. The reason we often keep God out of the mess and ugly parts of our lives is because we are afraid of what He might think. We are afraid to open up the wounds and expose our pain and shame.

      6. God wants all of you. He wants to settle in, settle down, and make His home in your hearts. He wants every room. Every space. Every hurt. Every celebration. Every part of your past and every minute of your future. Christ wants to fill the house.

         4. “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. 8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ. 9 For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” - Colossians 2:6-10 CSB
         5. Question: How long before a house feels like a home?

      7. Spend time in each room with the Father. Confess sin in every room to the Father. Don’t just let him take a look, let Him in and explain every detail of the room.

      8. He cares… He wants to hear. He wants to spend time with you.
      9. Application: Let love fill the space. Trust God and open the door.

3. Established in Love (Agape Love) (17b-19)

   1. “I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

      1. “Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” NLT

         2. God’s Everlasting Love - Romans 8:31-39

      2. “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

      3. “He who did not spare His own Son…”

         1. “For God SO loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” John 3:16 3. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
            3. God’s love revealed - 1 John 4:9-11

      4. “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” CSB

         4. God’s love reaches every corner of our experience. (This list follows the Life Application Study Bible notes on Ephesians 3:17-19.)

      5. His love is wide - it covers the breadth of our own experience and reaches to the ends of the earth

      6. His love is long - it extends to the end of our lives and to eternity
      7. His love is high - it reaches to the height of our celebrations and praises

      8. His love is deep - it covers the depths of our despair, discouragement, and even death

         5. Rooted in Christ

      9. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” - Colossians 2:6-7 NIV

      10. Illust: You have to go deep before you can go high

          1. Skyscrapers are built on deep and solid foundations.

          2. Your house is built on a solid foundation.

             1. “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” - Matthew 7:24-27 3. So should our lives be! We should be able to stand on a solid foundation of truth and God’s love so that we can withstand any trial, any temptation, any season of life that may come our way! 4. Even in the valley, He is good! In the storms, His comfort and love surround me! When I am surrounded by my enemies, He is with me! Evil may come against me, but no evil will finally prevail, WE CLAIM VICTORY IN THE ONE WHO SAVES, THE STRONG AND POWERFUL NAME OF JESUS.

Question: How do you go from good to best? Start by having the right view of God… the God that wants to do above and beyond all that we can imagine.

“Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Walking Points:

1. Receive the Good News of Jesus Christ today

   1. The same word for love found here is also found in Romans 5:8. It’s the Greek word Agape. The word implies faithfulness, a strong commitment, and intentionality through the will.
   2. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8 CSB