WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 Good morning. 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:06.759 You ever feel like you have too much going on? 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:10.320 ! Nobody ever feels that way, right? 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:20.199 ! Raise your hand if your calendar feels less like a schedule and more like a game of Tetris 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:21.280 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.359 Tetris. Yeah, good. Okay. That's most of us. That should speak to the age of this church. All right. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:44.359 There is no kind of panic like that Tetris-induced panic when at first it's like, yeah, I got this, 00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:48.179 man. I can slot them right where they need to go, and then they just start falling faster and faster, 00:00:48.260 --> 00:00:51.579 and you're like, I can't keep up. You ever feel that way in life? 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:59.579 Sometimes we feel like we can slot it all right where it needs to go, and then other times, 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:03.780 you just can't, and it's spiraling away from you. 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:11.280 Just keeps coming and coming, doesn't it? We're getting closer to the start of the what? 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:17.819 School year. I know where all your heads are at. Same place mine is at. The boys are counting down 00:01:17.819 --> 00:01:25.420 how many more mornings they get to sleep in. We're like, all right, guys, next week, 00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:29.859 you got to start going to bed early, you know? Where are the boys? They're somewhere. There they 00:01:29.859 --> 00:01:34.820 are. They're scattered all over this church. Anyway, Holly's in the nursery, so they sit wherever they 00:01:34.820 --> 00:01:44.420 please. Look, can I give you some good news? Whether last Sunday we wrapped up our series, 00:01:45.180 --> 00:01:49.079 Stories of the Kingdom, talking about the parables of Jesus, and we talked about, 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:54.599 you know, our garages and storerooms just being full of stuff and having so much stuff and having 00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:59.519 to sort through it all, and of course, someday Jesus is going to sort through the good from the bad, 00:01:59.759 --> 00:02:06.920 and by that we mean those redeemed by him and those not. So maybe you looked at your storage room when 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:11.360 you got home and said, man, we've collected too much stuff. Have you ever then looked at your life 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:18.219 and said, man, somehow we've collected too much on our schedule, on our calendar? Can I give you some 00:02:18.219 --> 00:02:25.379 good news, though? That is not the life that Jesus planned for you. Often it's the life that we have 00:02:25.379 --> 00:02:34.439 adapted for ourselves, but it's not the life he intended us to live. Now, right now, we're going 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:42.259 to start this series called Summer Stretch. I don't need to remind you that it's summer outside. Boy, 00:02:42.259 --> 00:02:48.199 wasn't yesterday nice, though? We got like a little break. It was great. I looked at a high of 90 00:02:48.219 --> 00:02:56.539 and I'm like, yes. I was never so happy to see 90 degree weather. Do you feel like you have too 00:02:56.539 --> 00:03:02.659 much going on? We're going to look at this series called Summer Stretch. Now, stretching can be a 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:06.860 good thing, can't it? Does anybody feel like stretching right now? Look, you have permission. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:11.800 It's the start of our summer stretch, so if you need to stretch, just do it. It's the only time you can 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:17.199 get away with it without people looking at you like, what are they doing? All right. Stretching can feel 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:25.259 very good, right? How about when you go to a physical therapist? Not so good. If stretching 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:29.979 feels good at a physical therapist, they're probably doing it wrong, right? They're going to say, all 00:03:29.979 --> 00:03:33.219 right, well, we're going to put a little more on you then, and then it won't feel so good because the 00:03:33.219 --> 00:03:40.000 whole point is to stretch you. So this series called Summer Stretch is going to look at different 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:46.519 practical applications of the Word of God to our lives in some areas that we commonly struggle in. 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:53.000 And we're going to try to apply the principles of Scripture and God's teachings to those areas. Let's 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:58.120 go to Ecclesiastes. I think this is the first time that I've preached out of Ecclesiastes in this church. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:07.400 So we are going to look at Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse number 1 down through verse 11. 00:04:08.480 --> 00:04:15.280 Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 11. If you're looking for Ecclesiastes, find Psalms. It shouldn't be too 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:20.420 hard. Just open the middle of your Bible. You'll find Psalms and then Proverbs and then Ecclesiastes. 00:04:21.579 --> 00:04:28.259 It's not a long book. It was written by King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:36.240 the richest man who ever lived. Those things are often tied together. Not always. 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:46.980 But he writes some real valuable wisdom in this book. So let's look at Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:52.160 verse 1. The topic we're going to be talking about, some of you are still turning, topic you're going, 00:04:52.460 --> 00:04:59.460 we're going to be studying today is how to stretch your time. How to stretch your time. How do we do 00:04:59.459 --> 00:05:07.479 that? How do we make our time go further than it seems to be going? Well, let's look in Ecclesiastes 00:05:07.479 --> 00:05:14.759 chapter 3 and verse 1. There is an occasion for everything. A time for every activity under heaven. 00:05:15.339 --> 00:05:21.379 Time to give birth, a time to die. Time to plant, a time to uproot. A time to kill and a time to heal. 00:05:21.919 --> 00:05:28.459 A time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh. Time to mourn and a time to 00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:36.779 dance. Maybe not some of you. The dancing part. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones. 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:44.180 A time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing. You ever just felt like, don't touch me right now. 00:05:44.859 --> 00:05:51.620 A time to search and a time to count as lost. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear 00:05:51.620 --> 00:06:00.340 and a time to sow. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time 00:06:00.340 --> 00:06:07.920 for war and a time for peace. What does the worker gain from his struggles? I've seen the task that God 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:14.579 has given the children of Adam, that's all of us, to keep them occupied. He's made everything 00:06:14.579 --> 00:06:24.159 appropriate in its time. Did you hear that? He's made everything appropriate in its time. 00:06:24.899 --> 00:06:31.259 He has also put eternity in their hearts. But no one can discover the work that God has done 00:06:31.259 --> 00:06:37.419 from beginning to end. Let's pray together. God, we've been praying much throughout this service and 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:44.500 we continue to pray. We pray for enlightenment by your spirit. Maybe, may he open our eyes, 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:52.280 reveal his truth to us. May you not let anyone leave this place without having heard from you today. 00:06:52.640 --> 00:06:58.660 It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. A time for everything. 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:06.540 There's an interesting principle in the scriptures that Paul teaches that says, 00:07:06.540 --> 00:07:12.900 to all those who have been redeemed by Jesus, been bought by his blood, been saved, become a child 00:07:12.900 --> 00:07:16.760 of God. We know what we're talking about here. We're not talking about coming to church, living a good 00:07:16.760 --> 00:07:23.140 life, being so-called a Christian on the outside. We mean a radical transformation because you gave your 00:07:23.140 --> 00:07:29.020 life to Jesus and he forgave you of all your sins. If that happened for you, then the Bible teaches some 00:07:29.020 --> 00:07:35.759 really interesting principles. All things are now lawful for you. All things are now okay. Say, 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:42.480 is this okay or is this not okay? It's okay. But then the Bible says, all things are not expedient. 00:07:42.699 --> 00:07:48.259 All things are not necessarily good for you. And so how do you know what's good for you and what's 00:07:48.259 --> 00:07:54.759 not good for you? You're guided by the Holy Spirit of God. God himself will be guiding you. 00:07:54.759 --> 00:08:02.180 So how do we know if it's lawful, if it's okay, or if it's good for us to go out and do something? 00:08:02.779 --> 00:08:07.279 The Holy Spirit will guide us. That means we've got to listen to him, right? 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:13.899 So when you look at your schedule and say, which of these things is good and which of these things 00:08:13.899 --> 00:08:20.060 is bad? There's not necessarily anything bad on your schedule unless you're going out and willfully 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:27.100 breaking God's laws. And that Holy Spirit is certainly not guiding you to do that. 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:35.960 So you're going against his guidance. But most of us aren't scheduling that kind of thing into our day. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:44.460 So how do we know what to keep, what to cut, how to stretch our time? We have to listen 00:08:44.460 --> 00:08:51.460 to the Holy Spirit of God. So that's the overarching principle here, but we got to keep in the back of 00:08:51.460 --> 00:08:57.680 our minds. All right. So how do we stretch our time? Well, Ecclesiastes 3, we just read it. It says there 00:08:57.680 --> 00:09:05.820 is a time for everything. There's a season for everything. Every activity, it's not necessarily 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:14.440 wrong. There could be a time or season for it. It may not be right now. You might be in a season 00:09:14.440 --> 00:09:22.180 of rejoicing, not a season of mourning or vice versa. You might be in a time of planting, 00:09:22.400 --> 00:09:28.960 not a time of harvesting. There are different seasons that we go through and God will reveal to 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:37.380 you in your close walk with him what season it is for you right now. Time to laugh, time to grieve, 00:09:38.880 --> 00:09:44.420 time to scatter stones, time to gather stones. You remember, man, we're going back a couple of 00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:49.740 months now probably, but I preached a sermon talking about gathering stones and scattering stones 00:09:49.740 --> 00:09:59.079 and the significance of those. And Jesus came, he came to actually scatter, tear down the system of 00:09:59.079 --> 00:10:04.479 religion that had been built up that was leading people further away from God, not toward him. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:12.000 Sometimes there's a time to gather. Sometimes there's a time to scatter. Sometimes there's a time to be 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:20.580 quiet. Proverbs has all kind of wisdom talking about when it's time to just be quiet. He said, 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:27.240 a wise man usually is known because he doesn't speak much, but then there may become a time when you need 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:35.940 to speak up and you need to stand for what's right. So this passage has much to teach us. 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:43.120 What do people really get for all their hard work? All these different times, time for war, time for 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:53.560 peace. God has made everything beautiful for its own time. But even so, people can't see the whole 00:10:53.559 --> 00:11:00.519 scope of God's work from beginning to end. So if you could go back, how many of you would love to say, 00:11:00.739 --> 00:11:07.239 I would love to go back and change the past? Something in the past. You say, I wish I could go 00:11:07.239 --> 00:11:13.659 back and do that differently. I've got two hands up, right? There are any number of things that I would 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:19.279 love to go back and say, if I could have that choice again, I would make a different choice. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:26.779 Hindsight is what? Come on, y'all talk. Here we go. Ready? Y'all know that phrase. Hindsight is what? 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:34.919 There you go. There you go. Hindsight is 20-20. I have 20-20 vision, I think, except my last couple 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:42.259 eye doctor appointments didn't seem to reaffirm that. I always used to have 20-20 vision. Seems like as you 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:49.319 get a little bit older, that tends to go away. 20-20 vision is great. You can see clearly. And when you 00:11:49.319 --> 00:11:54.600 look in the past, you can see clearly. But when you're facing the decision right here and now, 00:11:55.159 --> 00:12:03.399 you see both sides. You're like, man, the pros outweigh the cons, or do they really? It's hard to 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:12.620 know and see clearly in the moment of what we should do, what we should take time for, what we should 00:12:12.620 --> 00:12:22.259 schedule, or what we should let go or release. So, many people feel overwhelmed, constantly busy. 00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:30.539 I pray that this addresses the practical struggle of time management, 00:12:31.580 --> 00:12:40.120 scheduling our time, discerning what season it is in our life right now from a biblical perspective, 00:12:40.439 --> 00:12:49.319 emphasizing rest, emphasizing intentionality, prioritizing what truly matters. So, let's move on. 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:56.960 So, did Jesus stretch his time? Anytime we want to look at something and study it out in the Bibles, 00:12:57.300 --> 00:13:01.240 let's go to the life in the Bible. Let's go to the life of Jesus and see what he did. 00:13:01.540 --> 00:13:06.580 What did he have to say about it? What did he actually practice? Let's go to the Gospel of Mark. 00:13:07.280 --> 00:13:14.240 We just spent Matthew. We did Matthew justice for about 12 weeks. We're going to go on to the book of 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:20.320 Mark. Truth is, we barely even scratched the surface of Matthew, but that's all right. We're going to, 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:26.960 I don't want to do it all. I want to have, leave some for y'all to dive into. So, Mark chapter 1. 00:13:29.899 --> 00:13:33.560 We're going to spend the next 12 weeks in the book of Mark. Just kidding, we're not. We're going to do 00:13:33.560 --> 00:13:39.120 all kinds of, bounce all kinds of places. But we are going to be in Mark 1 today, and let's jump down 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:45.440 to verse 21. Mark chapter 1 and verse 21. I'll have some of the other scriptures on the screen, 00:13:45.940 --> 00:13:50.419 but I love to hear pages turning, and it's not a bad thing for us to be flipping through our Bibles 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:54.480 and getting more familiar with it and reading from our own Bibles. If you don't have a Bible today, 00:13:54.560 --> 00:13:58.340 there should be one on the seat back in front of you. Or, of course, if some of you have the Bible 00:13:58.340 --> 00:14:04.539 app on your phone, that's fine too. Mark chapter 1, verse 21. They went into Capernaum, Jesus and his 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:10.319 disciples. Right away, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. They were astonished 00:14:10.319 --> 00:14:17.339 at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority and not like the scribes. 00:14:18.939 --> 00:14:23.179 Just then, a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, 00:14:23.439 --> 00:14:29.159 what do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, 00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:36.439 the Holy One of God. Jesus rebuked him, saying, be silent, come out of him. And the unclean spirit 00:14:36.439 --> 00:14:41.860 threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him. What a crazy story. 00:14:41.939 --> 00:14:49.899 Could you imagine being there? I've been on missions trips to India where you see demonic spirits start 00:14:49.899 --> 00:14:56.459 to take evidence of people. These far-off remote villages in the middle of the night, and we're going 00:14:56.460 --> 00:15:00.900 there, I've been having evangelistic meetings in different towns all around this part of India, 00:15:01.060 --> 00:15:06.940 and my dad and I were there, and other people. And you start preaching the gospel, and then people 00:15:06.940 --> 00:15:12.560 down in the front row just start falling on the ground, and foaming at the mouth, and spouting all 00:15:12.560 --> 00:15:17.460 kinds of stuff out of their mouths. And you're like, wow, spiritual warfare is real. Demonic possession 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:22.320 can actually happen. And we see it in the scriptures. Jesus knew how to deal with it. And the Holy 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:30.240 Spirit of God can help us in those moments know how to deal with it by his word, according to his power, 00:15:30.400 --> 00:15:40.160 not ours. So you see this crazy thing happen, and the unclean spirit comes out. And everybody's amazed. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:46.820 Yeah, you think so? They begin to ask each other, what is this? A new teaching with new authority. Hey, 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:52.400 what was that crazy Hebrew word? When a rabbi would have new teaching with new authority, they said he 00:15:52.400 --> 00:15:59.840 had what? Shmiha. Look at y'all remembering things from how long ago? That's great. So Jesus is getting 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:05.620 that reputation. Wow, man, this guy has new power, new authority, not something we're used to seeing from 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:11.860 the rabbis we know. And he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. Verse 28, 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:18.399 at once news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee. As soon as they left the 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:24.800 synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew's house with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law was lying 00:16:24.800 --> 00:16:34.980 in bed with a fever. They told him about her at once. So he went to her. Doesn't always go. 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:41.740 Jesus encountered different people throughout the time. He didn't all, throughout his time, 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:46.820 on earth. He didn't always go right away. Think about when he heard Lazarus was dying. He didn't 00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:52.720 pick up and go right away. Jesus had a plan. He knew there was a season for healing. There was a season 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:58.240 not to heal. But in this moment, Jesus went to her. He took her by the hand. He raised her up, and the 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:04.380 fever left her, and she began to serve them. He's doing miracles left and right. What a time to be walking 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:09.460 with Jesus. When evening came after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:15.059 and demon-possessed. If he healed those people, bring anybody you know who seems demon-possessed 00:17:15.059 --> 00:17:20.559 or is sick. Jesus can take care of him. The whole town was assembled at the door, and he healed many 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:26.640 who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:34.779 speak because they knew him very early in the morning while it was still dark. What happened? 00:17:34.779 --> 00:17:46.399 He got up. He went out, and he made his way to a deserted place. And there he was praying. 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:54.379 Simon and his companions searched for him. And when they found him, they said, 00:17:54.380 --> 00:18:06.640 Jesus, everyone's been looking for you. We didn't know where you were. You didn't tell us. You didn't 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:12.260 inform us of your schedule, Jesus. We were all wondering where you were. We've been searching for 00:18:12.260 --> 00:18:18.720 you. And he said to them, let's go on to the neighboring villages so I may preach there too. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:25.220 This is why I have come. And he went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:31.220 out the demons. How does this passage, let's pretend this is a little Bible study for a minute. 00:18:31.819 --> 00:18:38.920 How does this passage apply to what we're talking about with time, schedules, all that? What do you 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:47.819 think? Pray before you do anything. That's good. Take time to pray before you do anything. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:52.380 What did Jesus do right in the middle of all that ministry? 00:18:54.759 --> 00:19:05.339 He prayed, but physically, what did he do? What's that? He got alone. He went away. He removed himself. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:15.740 He took time off. Not to play video games or whatever the ancient equivalent of that would be. 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:25.359 He took time away. He took time away to pray, to re-center, to refocus, to refill. 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:36.960 Now, something we can gain from that is if Jesus in his human form was overwhelmed, 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:46.039 what can God do? It's not a hard question. What can God do? Let's ask the kids. What can God do? 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:52.600 Louder kids? Anything. That's right. We sent the kids out to children's church. That's all right. 00:19:52.819 --> 00:19:59.720 We got some of the older ones in here. Austin, what can God do? That's right, sir. 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:11.680 So if God can do anything, but human Jesus, he was 100% God and still 100% man, humbled himself, 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:17.640 came, took on human form, grew up with a human body, with all its faults that ours have as well. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:24.900 If he needed to stop in the middle of what he was doing and get away, then what should we learn from 00:20:24.900 --> 00:20:33.340 that? We also need to what? To get away. We also need to get away. So if you went on vacation this 00:20:33.340 --> 00:20:37.800 summer, how many of you went on vacation this summer? I can raise my hand high. Yes, it was wonderful. 00:20:38.540 --> 00:20:45.480 We went to Wisconsin. The weather was delightful. Except the very first day we were there, 00:20:45.840 --> 00:20:52.240 a tornado warning came through the area. They said, we never get tornado warnings up here. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.859 Y'all brought that from Texas. I said, yeah, we did, man. Just want you to have a little taste of it. 00:20:57.940 --> 00:21:07.620 So Jesus withdrew for prayer, for strategic planning, prayer, rest, just to get away. 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:15.940 So we have to be conscious that that is important to build into our schedule. Okay? So let's keep 00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:25.240 diving in. How do we stretch our time? Number one, protect your Sabbath. Is that big enough to see? 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:30.400 Protect your Sabbath. What do we mean by Sabbath? 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:39.820 It's not Sunday, by the way. How many of you think that the Sabbath is Sunday? 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:44.480 After I just told you it's not Sunday. Nobody wants to raise their hands anymore. That's a common 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:52.960 misconception. Sabbath is a principle. Now you go to the Old Testament. It was a law. It was a command. 00:21:53.400 --> 00:22:00.140 Now we are no longer under the law, but it is a principle, God-given principle that we must build 00:22:00.140 --> 00:22:08.900 into our lives. It is a time to get away, a time to remove yourself, a time to stop everything else 00:22:08.900 --> 00:22:17.080 you're doing, and focus on rest, focused on your relationship with God, your relationship with 00:22:17.080 --> 00:22:25.560 your fellow man. That is what the Sabbath is for. Now, ideally the Sabbath could last 24 hours. 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:33.440 It's not always possible in everyone's lives. And sometimes if you say, I have 24, depending on what 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:39.259 stage of life you're in, you say, I have 24 hours at home, you know it's not going to be Sabbath for 00:22:39.259 --> 00:22:44.799 you, is it? If you've got little kids running around the house, and you got a pile of laundry waiting 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:49.920 on you, and all the things that need to be done, you're like, this is not Sabbath. Take me to work 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:57.519 so I can get away, right? Sometimes that's reality. Sometimes that's reality. So how do we stretch our 00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:04.960 time? Number one, we must protect our Sabbath. This is a command to the Old Testament, to the 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:11.180 God's people back then, Deuteronomy 5, 12, keep the Sabbath day to treat it as holy as the Lord your 00:23:11.180 --> 00:23:17.639 God commanded you. That is still a principle that you and I should follow. We must keep the Sabbath. 00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:28.080 What do we mean by keep? You mean guard, protect. I want to show you this. It's going to be hard to 00:23:28.080 --> 00:23:32.759 read, so I'm going to have to read it for you probably. In my head, that was larger on the 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:37.540 screen, but that's all right. This is from the Christian Counseling Center. In our culture, we 00:23:37.540 --> 00:23:44.920 seem to value those who accomplish a lot, who have a lot going on, or are really busy. But researchers 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:51.960 in the area of stress management would argue that a life with no margin is a very dangerous thing. 00:23:52.600 --> 00:24:01.180 What do you mean by margin? Dr. Richard Swenson defines margin as the space between our load and 00:24:01.180 --> 00:24:08.880 our limits. Did you get that? The space between your load that you have to carry and your limits that 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:18.940 you're able to carry. The space there is margin. If there's no space, you're overwhelmed. We have to 00:24:18.940 --> 00:24:25.640 keep space between that. Implied are two major concepts. The first is the idea that we have limits. 00:24:25.800 --> 00:24:32.800 Well, we do. If you think you're unlimited, then you're lying to yourself. The second is the idea that 00:24:32.800 --> 00:24:38.600 there should be a difference between the amount of our resources and the expenditure of those resources. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:43.320 So we're getting a little bit science-y here, but let's look at it this way. This is a quote 00:24:43.320 --> 00:24:49.860 from Dr. Richard Swenson's book, which is titled Margin. If you ever get a chance to read it, 00:24:50.300 --> 00:24:55.000 pick up that book. It'll do you a lot of good, a lot of good principles in there. And I believe he 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:58.800 was actually a Christian as well and kind of wrote from that perspective. So let's look at this. 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:05.140 Margin is the space between our load and our limits. It's the amount allowed above what is needed. 00:25:05.140 --> 00:25:10.080 It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:18.360 Margin is the gap between rest and exhaustion, the space between breathing freely and suffocating. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:25.480 Look, we're about to kick off the school year. You thought the summer was busy. It's about to get a 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:32.740 whole lot busier, right? The school year is always full of all kinds of busyness because now all of a 00:25:32.740 --> 00:25:39.599 sudden we're not just busy, the kids are busy too. You got teams going on, you got practices, you got games, 00:25:40.299 --> 00:25:45.940 you got meets, you got competitions, you got everything demanding your time. 00:25:47.700 --> 00:25:57.839 What God is telling you is protect your margin. Protect your Sabbath. You know what you're going to have to do? 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:05.139 You're going to have to fight for it. That word in Deuteronomy 5.12, I'm going to go back to it. Keep. 00:26:05.579 --> 00:26:12.959 You know what that word means? In the Hebrew, it's the word shamar. It means hedge about with thorns. 00:26:13.819 --> 00:26:24.659 Build a wall of thorns around your Sabbath. Guard or protect. That's what that word keep means in the Hebrew 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:38.440 language. Fight for your Sabbath. Protect it. Guard it at all costs. So, how do we incorporate rhythms 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:49.259 of rest into our life, into our schedule? Well, you have to actually schedule it. You can't just say, 00:26:49.259 --> 00:26:57.640 I'll try to find time for Sabbath this week. You build it in. You build in church, the gathering with 00:26:57.640 --> 00:27:05.259 the believers. In the large group and the small group. We've got Sunday school at 9.30. We've got 00:27:05.259 --> 00:27:11.819 small groups. Wednesday night, Penny has her ladies group going at Lily's. Monday night, Wade Pierce has 00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:19.180 his men's group going at his dad's house. We can tell you how to get to those anytime you need. 00:27:19.259 --> 00:27:25.099 We have two more small groups. Remember the D groups? Anybody hear about D groups? We're changing 00:27:25.099 --> 00:27:30.240 them to life groups. You know why? Because everybody knows what a life group is around here. I've learned 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:33.460 that in the couple years I've been here. Everybody knows what a life group is. So, life groups, 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:38.960 whatever. Small groups, home groups. We're starting those back up again for the fall semester. So, 00:27:39.059 --> 00:27:44.339 there are multiple opportunities for you to gather in the large group setting and the small group 00:27:44.339 --> 00:27:51.519 setting with your church family. If you're only coming to the large group setting on Sunday morning, 00:27:51.879 --> 00:27:59.839 you need to add one more thing to your calendar. You need to add that small group community with the 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:07.419 body of Christ. You're missing out on it. If you're not in Sunday school or if you're not in a small group, 00:28:07.420 --> 00:28:15.660 you've got to get in one. You've got to get in one. Why? Because this isn't enough. 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:23.320 You don't get to get intimate with people here. You don't get to have accountability with people here. 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:28.460 You just come, you sit in the pews, and you watch what's going on, and you participate a little bit, 00:28:28.600 --> 00:28:32.039 and you listen a little bit, and you say hi to somebody on your way out the door. 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:38.079 However, that's not enough. That's not the Christian community that God intended for you. 00:28:38.639 --> 00:28:45.299 So, find a small group of people in this church that you can do life with, and you can be accountable 00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:49.440 to, and you can pray for, and you can be an encouragement to, and they can be an encouragement 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:55.740 to you. That is an essential part of your calendar. If you don't have it scheduled, get it scheduled. 00:28:55.740 --> 00:29:05.579 Secondly, get your Sabbath scheduled. Put it on your calendar. God, I am going to make time 00:29:05.579 --> 00:29:14.440 for time with you, for prayer, for being with family. Maybe turn off screens, turn off devices, 00:29:14.900 --> 00:29:20.120 whatever the Sabbath needs to look like for you. We're not going to be out there getting all the 00:29:20.120 --> 00:29:23.839 things done that nobody wants to do, but you got to do it. We'll do those at other times. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:31.099 For our Sabbath, we're going to take a family walk. For our Sabbath, we're going to go fishing. 00:29:31.899 --> 00:29:35.959 For our Sabbath, we're going to go sit on the back porch and talk. Whatever we're going to do, 00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:41.019 we're going to do it together as a family, or maybe you need a personal private Sabbath. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:47.279 I need five hours just to get away. I need three hours just to get away. I need one hour, 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:51.099 if that's all you can manage. But you've got to build in a Sabbath. 00:29:51.099 --> 00:29:59.559 Sabbath. So, how do you stretch your time? You protect your Sabbath. William Penn said, 00:29:59.659 --> 00:30:07.740 time is what we want the most, but what we use the worst. Isn't that interesting? 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:16.899 Time is what we want the most, but what we used, what we use the worst. And that leads us to point 00:30:16.900 --> 00:30:25.200 number two. How do you stretch your time? You eliminate time wasters. You eliminate time 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:35.580 wasters. That's how we use our time the worst, is with time wasters. So, what are some time wasters 00:30:35.579 --> 00:30:43.579 in your life? Yell it out. What are time wasters that are common to all of us? Yep. Somebody's 00:30:43.579 --> 00:30:48.819 raising the cell phone. That's right. That's a big one, isn't it? Social media. What else? Come on, 00:30:48.859 --> 00:30:59.759 y'all got it. TV. What's that? Family. Can be. Can be. Food. Yep. That's because when my boys are 00:30:59.759 --> 00:31:04.460 bored, they're like, hey, I'm hungry. I'm like, no, you're not. You're just bored. Happens during the 00:31:04.460 --> 00:31:15.819 summertime. Yep. Family can be sometimes. Yep. Food. Yep. What else? Time wasters. Worry. That's good. 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:22.799 How much time do we spend sitting, diving deep into our mind, deep down the dark hole of worry and fear? 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:30.460 And then it leads to depression. And then you got mental health problems. And then you turn to 00:31:30.460 --> 00:31:36.460 medications. And now your life has just gone places you never planned for it to go. 00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:45.099 Because we allow ourselves, we indulge ourselves in worry, in fear. So, I'm not even going to let 00:31:45.099 --> 00:31:52.619 myself sit here and brood over what could happen or what I'm worried about happening. I'm going to 00:31:52.619 --> 00:32:03.239 trust God. Do like Daniel. I'm going to trust and obey. Trust and obey. So, what are some time 00:32:03.239 --> 00:32:15.719 wasters? Well, we can say time wasters is that which drains your time without returning valuable 00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:25.539 results. It's that which drains your time without returning valuable results. This is that quote from 00:32:25.539 --> 00:32:30.720 William Penn I used just a moment ago. Time is what we want the most, but what we use the worst, right? 00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:38.620 So, what is a time waster? It's activities or tasks that drain your time without returning valuable results. 00:32:38.619 --> 00:32:48.659 How much of our day is spent doing things that aren't worth it, that don't return the valuable results 00:32:48.659 --> 00:32:55.859 that we need? What does the Bible have to say about this? Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 15. 00:32:56.319 --> 00:33:04.779 Look carefully how you walk. That doesn't just mean whether you have an odd walk or a normal walk, 00:33:04.779 --> 00:33:12.259 okay? That's a normal walk. That's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about your gait or 00:33:12.259 --> 00:33:17.559 your stride pattern, all right? We're talking about how you live. So, look carefully how you live. 00:33:17.940 --> 00:33:25.599 Making the best use of the what? Time. Can y'all see verse 16 right there? Making the best use of the 00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:34.059 time. Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. So, it's foolish to not make the 00:33:34.059 --> 00:33:42.440 best use of the time. Why? Because God has a will for you. Do we know what the will of God is? 00:33:43.179 --> 00:33:50.799 He gives it to us in the scriptures. His will is that all the people of the earth would come to know 00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:57.039 Him. And we know that's not ultimately going to happen. Only those who place their faith in Him will 00:33:57.039 --> 00:34:04.379 come to Him. He knows who those are. But His will for us is that we would carry out His kingdom agenda. 00:34:05.220 --> 00:34:10.980 So, His kingdom agenda, we just got done with 12 weeks talking about the kingdom of God and how God's 00:34:10.980 --> 00:34:16.719 kingdom is so different than our kingdom on this earth. So, His kingdom has to replace our kingdom. 00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:22.820 So, when we look at time wasters, which sometimes might seem very valuable to us, 00:34:22.820 --> 00:34:32.120 we have to judge them or grade them by a different scale, different litmus test, different standards, 00:34:32.280 --> 00:34:39.920 right? We've got to look at it and say, does this make sense in my kingdom or God's kingdom? Is this 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:48.660 worth it in my kingdom or God's kingdom? That's understanding what the will of the Lord is. 00:34:48.659 --> 00:35:01.119 So, how do we identify and eliminate time wasters? By judging it, not whether we think it's worth it. 00:35:01.980 --> 00:35:07.420 So, man, I just need the next three hours to sit on the couch and watch TV. Say, that sounds crazy. 00:35:08.019 --> 00:35:16.119 Yeah, but how many of us actually do that? And we sit there and we're just going to watch one show 00:35:16.119 --> 00:35:23.480 and then it becomes two and then it becomes three and before you know it, an hour, two hours, three hours 00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:34.519 has gone by and we time wasted. So, I just need that. Say, no, no, no. What you need to do 00:35:34.519 --> 00:35:42.319 is let God be your strength. What you need to do is let God be your recovery. And maybe you need to go 00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:49.480 take a nap. And there's nothing necessarily wrong with watching a show. But when we allow it to start 00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:56.420 dominate, dominating our schedule, when we allow it to start taking up far more time than we ever 00:35:56.420 --> 00:36:04.640 would have planned for, now it's a time waster. It's not giving us the return on our investment. 00:36:04.980 --> 00:36:09.340 Speaking of investments, Stephen Covey, one of the best time management experts out there, says, 00:36:09.340 --> 00:36:18.180 the key is not in spending time, but in investing it. And if we stop and we change the way we think, 00:36:18.579 --> 00:36:25.460 Romans chapter 12, change the way you think. If we stop and we do that and we say, it's not just me 00:36:25.460 --> 00:36:32.140 spending my time, it's investing it. Because we'll spend money at the drop of a hat, right? 00:36:32.820 --> 00:36:38.920 We'll go to McDonald's or we'll go to Starbucks or we'll go to the hardware store or we'll go to Walmart 00:36:38.920 --> 00:36:44.200 or we'll go to Target or we'll go wherever, especially on vacation. We like to spend money, 00:36:44.420 --> 00:36:51.039 right? We like to drop, we'll just spend it, man. That ice cream's $7. Okay. One for each of us, 00:36:51.180 --> 00:36:57.119 right? Whatever it is, we don't have a problem doing that. But if we think of it as investing, 00:36:57.720 --> 00:37:03.159 I'm actually investing in this, then we're worried about what am I getting back for it? 00:37:03.159 --> 00:37:10.659 What am I getting back for my investment? So if I'm going to spend this hour or this block of time 00:37:10.659 --> 00:37:18.920 doing this activity, am I being foolish or am I understanding what the will of the Lord is? 00:37:19.319 --> 00:37:28.940 What kind of investment is this? Now, number three, we're almost done. How do you stretch your time? 00:37:28.940 --> 00:37:38.980 You plan and prioritize what's most valuable. Well, this is the natural outcome of protecting your 00:37:38.980 --> 00:37:51.679 Sabbath, eliminating time wasters, then identifying what's most valuable and you plan and prioritize 00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:57.880 for that. That's what we were talking about with putting it on your calendar. You have to plan for it. 00:37:57.880 --> 00:38:04.240 If your kid has soccer practice, not soccer, that was Fort Worth. My son's played soccer. If your kid 00:38:04.240 --> 00:38:13.079 has football practice, track and field practice, cross country, whatever, baseball, we just came 00:38:13.079 --> 00:38:18.200 through. How about them Rangers, man? They're trying to turn it around after the, all right. But we're 00:38:18.200 --> 00:38:24.820 coming into football season, all that stuff. If your kid has practice, what's the first thing you're 00:38:24.820 --> 00:38:35.900 going to do to make sure they get there? What's that? Schedule it. Put it on your calendar. Whether 00:38:35.900 --> 00:38:40.660 that's a on the fridge thing or it's an on the phone thing or it's a paper calendar you carry, you're 00:38:40.660 --> 00:38:48.660 going to write it down so you don't forget to get your kid to practice, right? How many of us write 00:38:48.659 --> 00:38:57.199 down on our schedule our time with God? Look, I am not the best at this, I promise you. 00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:07.219 But if we don't plan and prioritize what's most valuable, it'll never happen or it'll rarely happen 00:39:07.219 --> 00:39:15.579 or it won't happen as much as it could or as it needs to. So we have to plan and prioritize what's 00:39:15.579 --> 00:39:19.400 most valuable. What does the word of God have to say about this? We're trying to go to that with each 00:39:19.400 --> 00:39:26.619 of these principles. Matthew 6, 33, seek what? Come on, y'all work with me and we're almost done. Seek 00:39:26.619 --> 00:39:33.019 the kingdom of God, not seek second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, 00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:43.199 where we like to live. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things 00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:49.279 will be added to you. All these things, all these other things that we've just got to do, 00:39:49.359 --> 00:39:53.339 that we've got to keep up with. Well, it's important, man. It's important for my kid to 00:39:53.339 --> 00:40:00.399 play 12 sports in the same semester. We've got to do it, all right? God says, look, seek first the 00:40:00.399 --> 00:40:07.599 kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. God will take care of 00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:15.059 all these other things that you're so concerned about if you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. 00:40:16.679 --> 00:40:26.619 That's the principle. So the key is not in spending time, but in investing it. What are the 12 sports 00:40:26.619 --> 00:40:33.339 going to do for your young person that one or two sports couldn't also accomplish? 00:40:36.699 --> 00:40:44.319 What are all the different things that consume our time going to do for you that seeking God's 00:40:44.319 --> 00:40:52.859 kingdom first could not accomplish in a far better way? What are you investing your time in? So how do 00:40:52.860 --> 00:41:04.240 you stretch your time? You dare to say no. You dare to say no. John Maxwell, one of the key authors on 00:41:04.240 --> 00:41:08.820 leadership out there, if you ever see his books on leadership, they can be very helpful. He said, 00:41:08.940 --> 00:41:17.240 learn to say no to the good so you can say yes to the best. Y'all, I'm not going to get nitpicky. 00:41:17.579 --> 00:41:22.740 I know pastors who will come up to people and say, you need to stop this activity. You need to pull 00:41:22.739 --> 00:41:27.399 your kid out of this. You need to quit doing this so you can do this instead. I'm not going to do that. 00:41:27.819 --> 00:41:33.759 Like that would be overstepping my bounds even as a shepherd of this flock. But I will say this, 00:41:34.179 --> 00:41:39.259 learn to say no to the good so you can say yes to the best. Because there are many things that seem 00:41:39.259 --> 00:41:48.500 good and they will pull you away from what God has for you, which is best. So learn to say no to the 00:41:48.500 --> 00:41:52.980 good so you can say yes to the best. Parents, if we can teach our children this principle, 00:41:53.579 --> 00:41:58.960 then they have a chance to seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness. 00:42:01.199 --> 00:42:08.000 What is the good that is keeping you from the best? Philippians chapter 3, the last verse we'll 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:16.199 read today. Everything else is worthless, Paul wrote, when compared with the infinite value of knowing 00:42:16.199 --> 00:42:24.579 Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage 00:42:24.579 --> 00:42:32.639 when it's measured up against Christ. Because my goal is to gain Christ. I want to gain Christ. 00:42:33.319 --> 00:42:39.819 So I've let go. I've released everything else. And then what does Matthew 6 33 promise? 00:42:39.820 --> 00:42:47.680 All these things will be added to you. All the things you're seeking. Well, I want validation. 00:42:49.200 --> 00:42:56.059 I want to learn commitment. I want to prioritize these things in my life. And I feel like pursuing 00:42:56.059 --> 00:43:03.539 these avenues will get me there. God says, I will get you there. I will make your life full. I will make 00:43:03.539 --> 00:43:12.159 it complete. I will make it happy in me, in my purposes. Even if not everything on the outside 00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:19.880 looks like you had thought it must look in order to find happiness. It says, you'll find your contentment 00:43:19.880 --> 00:43:29.519 in me. So our takeaway today is how are you investing your time? You got to learn to say no sometimes. 00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:36.940 That doesn't mean when Jared comes up and asks you to be a youth volunteer, you say no. 00:43:38.559 --> 00:43:43.400 Seek God's kingdom first. All right? So when Megan says, hey, we need somebody to teach whatever grade 00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:49.940 or help out for a little bit, seek God's kingdom first. Listen, if God gives you an opportunity like 00:43:49.940 --> 00:43:55.179 that, seriously speaking, youth volunteers, children's volunteers, they are absolutely needed. 00:43:55.179 --> 00:44:00.259 Media volunteers up on that sound booth. Say, I'm not a tech guy. That's all right. They'll train 00:44:00.259 --> 00:44:03.219 you in what you need to do. If you can click a button, you can probably serve. All right? 00:44:06.599 --> 00:44:13.239 Say no to what's good so you can say yes to what is best. So how are you investing your time? 00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:17.179 That's our takeaway. Would you bow your head with me? God, I pray that you would right now, 00:44:17.179 --> 00:44:22.719 right now, at this moment, cut through the distracting thoughts that are in the men, 00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:31.059 women, women, and children's mind in this church right now. Quiet everything else so they can hear 00:44:31.059 --> 00:44:41.599 your Holy Spirit. Show each of us, starting with me, how we are wasting our time and how we need to 00:44:41.599 --> 00:44:51.239 start investing it. Give us the courage, the boldness to say no to the good. Definitely say no to the bad, 00:44:51.239 --> 00:44:58.399 but even say no to the good so we can say yes to what is best. How do we know what's best? 00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:06.859 Is it centered around your kingdom? Does it fulfill your kingdom purposes above ours? 00:45:08.739 --> 00:45:17.319 Our kingdom has to submit to your kingdom. Help us to say yes to your kingdom and no to ours. 00:45:17.320 --> 00:45:23.920 Church, right now, with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, as I do every Sunday, I'm going to give 00:45:23.920 --> 00:45:29.620 you an opportunity to respond to the Holy Spirit of God. Before we dismiss and go to lunch, 00:45:31.200 --> 00:45:32.860 I'm going to ask that 00:45:32.860 --> 00:45:38.460 if God is talking to you right now about something, 00:45:38.460 --> 00:45:44.199 maybe a step He wants you to take that's lined up with His kingdom, 00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:48.940 then I'm going to encourage you to say yes and take that step right now. 00:45:50.380 --> 00:45:55.740 Maybe it's taking the plunge and joining this church as a member, partnering with us 00:45:55.740 --> 00:46:00.740 in church membership. Maybe you'd like to come down to the front, talk to me, and say, 00:46:00.739 --> 00:46:09.799 what can I do to become a member of this church? Anybody can come. It's a commitment to become a 00:46:09.799 --> 00:46:17.459 member and partner with us in that way. Maybe you've been putting off turning to Jesus for salvation, 00:46:18.199 --> 00:46:22.739 and today's the day you need to repent of your sins and turn to Jesus. If that's you, 00:46:22.839 --> 00:46:25.899 walk down this aisle, come talk to me, and I'd love to have that conversation with you. 00:46:25.900 --> 00:46:31.400 Maybe you need to get baptized. God's allowed us to see a number of baptisms 00:46:31.400 --> 00:46:36.220 over the last couple years. We're grateful for that. We've got more on the schedule. 00:46:37.380 --> 00:46:39.820 Just a few weeks away, we'll have another baptism scheduled. 00:46:41.720 --> 00:46:47.780 But maybe you need to say, I want to take that public step of identifying myself as a follower of 00:46:47.780 --> 00:46:53.619 Jesus by being baptized like Jesus did. If that's you, step out of the aisle, come down, talk to me. 00:46:53.619 --> 00:46:59.639 Let me ask you this now. If God's talking to you right now about your schedule, if he's pricking 00:46:59.639 --> 00:47:04.599 your heart about how we're spending your time or wasting your time, and instead he wants you to 00:47:04.599 --> 00:47:11.380 invest it more into his kingdom, would you slip your hand up and I'll pray for you too? Thank you. 00:47:11.639 --> 00:47:16.579 Thank you. Thank you. God, I might have missed some hands, but you saw everyone and you know what's 00:47:16.579 --> 00:47:22.319 going on in each heart. I pray that you would, by your spirit, gently, lovingly, compassionately, 00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:29.460 like you do, convict us and show us where we've allowed everything else to take the place of what 00:47:29.460 --> 00:47:36.140 you want to do in our lives, in our children's lives, in our marriage, our homes, in this church. 00:47:37.300 --> 00:47:42.320 Do it right now, God. We'll give you the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, would you stand...