Thirty years at the same church is not something you hear about every day. I’ve had the privilege of serving at Stevens Creek for three decades, and through it all, I’ve learned a thing or two (or five). As the Executive Pastor of Experience, I oversee everything from the parking lot to the stage. If you see it, hear it, or experience it—my team has a hand in it. I also oversee all of our campuses, which means I spend a lot of time making sure our vision is consistent across the board.

Needless to say I have seen a lot. So….over the next few posts I’m going to share 5 major lessons that I’ve learned throughout the years.

Excellence Matters

Think about it—when was the last time you heard someone say:

“That restaurant was completely average… I can’t wait to eat there again!”
“That golf course had three decent greens. I’m definitely booking another round next week.”
“That church wasn’t friendly at all, and I had no idea where to go. Sounds like my kind of place!”
“That worship band played half the notes right—sign me up to audition!”

No one says that. Because mediocrity doesn’t inspire anyone.

Excellence isn’t about being perfect; it’s about doing your absolute best with the talent, time, and resources God has given you. It’s about pushing yourself and those around you to always strive for better.

Excellence is just the gradual result of always striving to be better. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen by accident.

Excellence is in the Details

The little things matter.

A clean and welcoming environment makes a difference.
A well-rehearsed worship team leads people into deeper moments of worship.
Clear signage and friendly volunteers help new guests feel at home.
A well-prepared message carries more impact than one thrown together last-minute.

Great churches don’t happen by chance. They are built through intentionality and attention to detail. If we want to honor God and inspire people, we have to care about the small things.

Pulling Excellence Out of Your Team

If you want excellence to be part of your culture, you have to set the expectation for it. Here’s the truth:

People will only give a percentage of what you expect of them. If the bar is low, if the expectation is low, that’s exactly what you’ll get out of them.

Set high expectations, because people want to be excellent. They want to be a part of something great. And if you lead with excellence, they’ll follow.

Be the Example

Excellence starts with leadership. You can’t expect something from your team that you don’t model yourself.

Be an owner. If you see trash on the floor, pick it up.
Take pride in your space. Make sure your environment reflects the level of care you want your team to have.
Make your meetings efficient and engaging. People’s time is valuable—use it wisely.
Encourage and correct with grace. Excellence isn’t about being harsh; it’s about helping people grow.

At the end of the day, excellence isn’t about perfection—it’s about doing the very best we can with what God has given us. When we commit to excellence, we create a culture where people feel valued, inspired, and ready to do their best work for the Kingdom.

So set the bar high. Pay attention to the details. And most of all, lead by example. Because excellence honors God and inspires people.

What do you feel when you realize that Easter is right around the corner? I get excited, but I also get a little anxious. The reason for conflicting emotions is because I realize what's at stake. More people come through our church doors that weekend than any other weekend of the year. There's no better time to have a clear presentation of the gospel than on Easter, so we better bring our A- Game. Here are 5 ways to make sure your Easter experience is awesome this year.

1. GRAB THEIR ATTENTION

It's so important that you have something in the first few minutes of your service that will capture their attention. Something that will wow them or make them lean in. This doesn't always need to be up and flashy it can also be something very simple that makes them lean in. A few years back our opener was very high energy starting with five or six people on video retelling the story of the resurrection. Behind it, the band was playing the chords to Hillsong’s “Alive”. When they finished telling the story the band had built to a crescendo and we went right into the singing of that song.

On the other extreme, one Easter we started with a video that just had words telling the story of the crucifixion and then a single light came up on the stage with someone singing acappella the old Andre Crouch song, “I Don't Know Why Jesus Loved Me”. Both were powerful, both captured their attention but they were done in very different ways. It doesn't necessarily matter if the energy is up or down but it does matter that we capture their attention.

2. LIMIT CONGREGATIONAL MUSIC TO 10 MINUTES

This is one that, on occasion, I may get some pushback from people. I can just hear some of you as you're reading this saying, “How is 10 minutes enough worship time on Easter?”. I had an assistant years ago that felt this way. She would always say, "Two songs ain't enough for my Jesus on Easter”. Ha ha ha....now, thinking selfishly, I agree with her because I love to worship and I especially love to celebrate on Easter. But this goes back to asking ourselves the question: “Who is our target audience for that day?”. On this day, more than any other, we're going to have a lot of nonbelievers in our services, so we can't spend 30 minutes singing songs that they don't know or understand. So what I like to do is spend about 10 minutes in congregational singing and then use the other time that I have before the message to craft meaningful moments to inspire, to connect, and to challenge those that are in attendance.

3. HELP THEM FACE THE AGONY OF THE CROSS

I think so often on Easter we only focus on the resurrection but not on the cross. Yes Easter is about the resurrection but without the cross, without the death of Jesus, there is no resurrection there is no Easter. I always want people to have that moment of gravity when they come face-to-face with the facts of how Jesus took on our guilt and shame. I always like to find a creative way to tell the story of the cross and allow them to sense the pain Jesus faced, but then move them past the pain so that they recognize that it was temporary...that because of what Jesus did on the cross... because of the pain and agony that He suffered, we can be free. I want them to know that sin has lost its sting, death has been defeated, and that we can be raised to life just as Jesus was. Without The agony of the cross there is no celebration of the resurrection.

4. TELL STORIES OF LIFE CHANGE

This is a very important element to use on Easter. We want those that don't have a relationship with Jesus to hear stories of people who were broken, and to hear that when they found Jesus their lives were forever changed. It is very important that you have a game plan when you are interviewing people for their stories. We try and use these three questions to shape the interviews in the stories that we tell about life change: 1. What was your life like before you met Jesus? 2. How did you come to know Jesus? 3. What's your life like now after your encounter with Jesus?

Those three questions are a great template for you to use as you’re crafting your stories.

I realize that some of you don't have a person who can capture a story like that on video. I would encourage you tell the story in other ways. We've told those stories by reading them during the sermon or having the person script their story out with those three questions in mind and then having them read it. You could also do a live interview as long as that person is comfortable speaking in a live setting. There's all kinds of ways to tell people’s stories, and the method is not as important as making sure that we are telling them.

5. LET THEM LEAVE WITH THE HOPE OF THE RESURRECTION.

Make sure the message ends with bringing Hope. Let people know that no matter how far from God they think they are that because of the Resurrection they can be raised to live through Jesus. We will always end the message with an opportunity for people to receive Christ. After that prayer we will lead into the offering time where one of our pastors will give people their next step. If they received Christ, they will be asked to check the box marked “I received Christ today” on our worship guide and then drop it in the offering bag. We can then follow up with them and help them as they start their journey of faith. We will also share whatever series may be coming up next, so that we give people a reason to come back the next week. While receiving the offering we always like to end with a high energy, hope-filled song. I want to make sure people are leaving with the hope of the resurrection echoing in their hearts as they leave our time together.

I'm so excited about what God is going to do through our churches this Easter season. I hope this post will be helpful to you as you are praying, dreaming and planning. I pray that this Easter will bring life change for many, and that you and your team will walk away refreshed after pouring into those looking for this hope that we have found! The hope of Jesus...the One who changes everything.

Lessons Learned: Excellence Matters