Relate Community Church
Relate Community Church
Stretching Out || Week 2 || Simplify Your Life
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:16-17
Lust of the flesh: internal cravings and addictions
Lust of the eyes: external desires, envy, and materialism
Pride of life: pursuit of status, position, and recognition
Simplicity – an inward contentment that leads to an outward way of life.
1. Accept Jesus’ Strong ____________.
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Matthew 16:26
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Luke 16:13
2. _________ Down.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
Hurry sickness: A behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness.
3. Examine Your ______________.
Am I buying this for its usefulness or rather for its status?
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23
4. Reject the _______________ .
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
______________ before you _______________ .
5. ____________ More Things Away.
Freely you have received; freely give. Matthew 10:8
6. Build _____________ over ______________ .
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:31
Discussion Questions:
What stood out to you this week?
Do you ever feel too busy or overwhelmed with the pace and pursuit of your life?
Which of the 6 Ways to Simplify your life resonated with you most? Why? Which one is the hardest for you?
Discuss some practical steps you can take this week to set a better pace for the rest of the year.
Resources:
https://www.relatecommunity.com/challenge
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/16928-the-ruthless-elimination-of-hurry
Thank you for listening to the Relate Community Church podcast! Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. If today’s message spoke to you, share it with a friend or leave us a review to help spread the word. To learn more about Relate Community Church, visit us at www.relatecommunity.com. You are always welcome here, and remember—you are loved
I don't know when and I don't know how you're going to do it, but you're going to turn this thing around for me, lord. I can't see the light. I don't know, the break of day hadn't shown yet, god, but somehow, some way you're going to turn this thing around. In my mind's eye I can see King David in Psalms 51. He's sitting out on his balcony of the palace and he's looking over his garden. He sees this beautiful hyssop plant.
Speaker 1:David is meditating right now. He's praying to god because david has done something so evil and deplorable that it will be written in the annals of history for the whole world to see, from the to the day he dies. He's meditating, he prays to god. He goes to psalm 51 and 7. He says this he says cleanse me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. He says creating me a pure heart, lord, creating me a pure heart and renewing me a steadfast spirit. David said god, I need you to cleanse, wash, create and renew. Look at your neighbor, say god, cleanse, wash, create and renew. You see, the hislop plant was this? It was a real pungent herbal plant. It was had a minty smell to it. They use it in jewish ritual rites for cleansing purposes. It had a, a holy resemblance, you see, and david was looking at these plants and he was thinking I need a cleansing from that hyssop plant. God, I need you to do something and meet god and make me minty fresh, because I broke covenant with you, god. You ever broke covenant with God. You ever need God to do something that nobody else can do. David said, god, after you cleanse me with hyssop, I'll be clean. But then, god, I need you to wash me. Wash me.
Speaker 1:When we were kids, we, my mom, would make us go in the morning and take a wash off. See, we from the country, y'all don't know. A wash off is where you, we from the country, y'all don't know. A wash off is where you went to the sink. You got a towel and wet it up, put some soap on it and you took a standing bath. That was a wash off. Mama said you need to wash off in the morning because, even though I've been clean the night before, sometimes I need to be washed. Somebody help me. He said I need to be washed.
Speaker 1:And then David says this finally, he says renewing me a steadfast spirit. You know what he said to God. He says, god, give me a dutiful, unwavering spirit. I need to have a spirit, god, that says I'm not going to run away from you ever again when times get hard. I'm not going to turn to drugs when times get tough in my marriage. I'm not going to turn to somebody else. Whenever I go through job situations, I'm going to trust you, god. Because I need a spirit that says I know God is going to turn it around.
Speaker 1:Somebody here today needs to know that God's going to turn it around for you. David is a king, but he's struggling. He's going through things just like us, and he cries out to to god. Somebody needs to open their mouth today and say, god, I need you to cleanse, wash, create and renew in me. Today, and today's your day, turn to your neighbor, give your neighbor a hug. Let them know that god is with them, that god loves them. Tell them, hey, everything's gonna be all right. I know you're going through some things right now. Maybe you hadn't said a word, maybe you just don't want nobody to know, but they ain't got to tell you they problem, but just let them know it's going to be all right, because God is here to watch us today.
Speaker 1:Listen, now's the time of the service where we give back to God. We give back to God. There are several ways for you to give today. You can text to give, you can give via the app the way I love to give. But this is your time at the first of the year is when we start renewing those commitments. You know what I'm saying. We start setting goals and vision goals, and I hope that some of the goals you've set has been to give back to God what you know he's blessed you with. I've set a goal like Lord, I don't want to miss a Sunday of giving God. I want to give God now. I don't know what you're going to do, but, like that song said, I know some way, somehow you're going to turn this thing around for me and I'm going to start back by giving back to you. So today, as our ushers come, come on down, down ushers, don't they look good? Oh, they look good, they look good.
Speaker 1:Now if you are a visitor this morning I don't think we have a lot of visitors this morning we're not pressuring you to give. You give what God put on your heart. But if you are a saint in this church, you know that we are a giving church. We're asking that you give what you already decided in your heart to give, as Paul says, and we know that God's going to bless it. Let's give. I'm going to pray over it, we're going to stand and we're going to continue to worship as we give. Father, we thank you for what's about to happen. We thank you for people that have the heart to give. I pray for everybody's finances, god, for their health, for their strength, for their spirit and for their heart. I pray that you will bless them in abundance, god. Whatever they give, give it back to them tenfold and Christ's name, we give you glory on their praise. Amen.
Speaker 2:Let's worship down on my knees, surrendering, surrendering. Find me, lord, as you draw me. I'm desperate for you. I'm desperate for you. I surrender, I surrender, trench my soul as mercy and grace unfold. I hunger and thirst. I hunger and thirst, with arms stretched wide. I know you hear my cry. Speak to me now. Speak to me now. I surrender, I surrender. I want to know you more. I want to know you more. I surrender, I surrender, I surrender. I want to know you more. I want to know you more. We want to know you more.
Speaker 2:God, come on, lift your hands if you want to know you more. God, come on, lift your hands if you want to know him more. We worship you in this place. Oh God, like a rushing wind, jesus breathed within. Breathe with it. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way. Amen.
Speaker 2:Come on, let's sing it again. Like a rushing wind. Like a rushing wind, jesus, bring me. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way in me. Like a mighty storm. Like a mighty storm, stir within my soul. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way in me, amen. Come on, let's sing it out. Like a love sin. You win, jesus, we win. Lord, have your way, lord, have your way in me, have your way in me. Like a mighty storm stir within my soul. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way in me. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way in me.
Speaker 2:I surrender, I surrender. I want to know you more. I wanna know you more. I surrender, I surrender. I wanna know you more. I want to know you more. Hallelujah, jesus, come on. Can we just give it up for him this morning? We want to know you more, god. Yes, we want to know you more. God, come on, give him praise in his place. Hallelujah, give him praise in his place. Yes, we want to know you more. God, come on, give Him praise in His place. Hallelujah, give Him praise in His place. Yes, yes, yes. Why don't you turn to somebody?
Speaker 3:tell them they look good. Tell them you're so happy to see up here and be pleasant and charming. After that, give that worship team a hand. Man. Well, my name is Pastor Angie and I'm so glad that you came out on a rainy, cold Texas morning. It's okay, it'll be warm before long. They only stay around for a few days. Somebody asked me do I wear my coat every day? Yes, you wear your coat every day. Right now you do. You don't want to get a cold.
Speaker 3:I want to give you a couple of announcements. First of all, if you're new here, grab a Connect card from the back of the chair in front of you and fill it out. We'd love to connect with you this week, see how we can pray for you, see if you have any needs in your family. That is our highest and best use. We love to serve you, pastor and I. Gannett cards very, very serious. In fact, I have this whole stack. These are all prayer requests and we prayed over these prayer requests on Wednesday night. And I'm not going to cry, hold it together, take a breath. I'm not going to cry, but these are so precious, not only to us but to the Lord, and we laid them on the altar Wednesday night at prayer meeting and we pray. Every one of these needs were prayed for, and so if you have a need, or you need a breakthrough, or you need something to happen in your family, I want you to fill out a prayer request today. It's that same connect card, or there's these little white cards out on the table with the resources. Fill that out, put it in a bucket, hand it to somebody. Somebody will get it to me and I will get it to this Wednesday night's prayer meeting, because we're going to pray for these again, because we are in expectation of miracles during this 21 days of prayer and fasting, and so I would challenge everyone in the room to fill out a prayer request. Don't let it pass you by. Oh, it's too small. Oh, I always put the same prayer request. Do it again.
Speaker 3:Just because you can't see God working doesn't mean he's not working. He is working. And I also wanted to tell you there was a little kerfuffle in the nursery this morning. We had two nine-year-olds fighting over who got to help the nursery adult Fighting and I said hold on, ladies, calm down. Well, we both want to serve. And I thought, oh my goodness, nine-year-olds who want to serve. And then it started to click for me. These are two pretty new nine-year-olds, and their parents serve. They see every week their parents serving the house of the Lord, and so I calmed them down. It's fine, one's going to serve at the 9 am, one's going to serve at the 11. Everyone gets to serve.
Speaker 3:But I have a challenge for you. Your kids need to see you serve the people that look up to you need to see you serve somebody else, because we live in a really self-involved world. The culture is very me, me, me and if you have kids right now, you know that that is a battle that we fight every day. We want our kids to look outside of themselves. We want the people that we are are discipling and mentoring, to look outside of themselves, into others, to serve. That is a that is a core tenet of a Christian believer is that we serve others, just as Jesus served.
Speaker 3:So after the second service is, join the team. It's how you get plugged in. It's right in Dream Team Central by the kids check-in. You can go and it's about 45 minutes. See how you can serve others and I promise you it will not only change the environment that you're serving, because we need you, but it will change your community and it will change your kiddos and the ones that look up to you. And I love to serve. In fact, they never put me on the schedule to be a greeter, so I just stand out there and greet because I just love you guys so much that I don't want to hold one more second. Pastor Sean has such a good message this morning.
Speaker 4:Here is Stretched Out. Here's a demonstration of a warm-up drill that everyone will enjoy. These fellows are doing their daily dozens and having fun doing them. They're building the muscles of their bodies, developing good habits of posture, improving their coordination or body control. Rhythmic exercise calls for natural, continuously flowing movements involving all the muscles of the body.
Speaker 5:All right, all right. So I think you guys, you see those kind of videos. It makes you want to get up and move around. We're not going to do that today so you can relax, but the idea of stretching out and being prepared for something to come is so important for us. That's what the series is about. That's what the new year is about. How many of you guys have New Year's resolutions? Okay, that's all right. It's okay. If you don't, that's all right. I see some of you do not have New Year's resolutions or you've either already given up on them. Maybe that's why you don't have them anymore.
Speaker 5:Being prepared and stretching and reaching the Bible tells us in many places, the condition of our heart is what matters. And before we dive into this, I just want you to know that there's an act and part of faith is reaching. Part of faith is leaning. It's not being content where I am, but it's being satisfied in God. But God pushes us a little bit. God challenges us to step out by faith. Peter steps out onto the waves, with the wind, with the storm. That's a stretch, that's a place where God puts us, where it requires us to become more. The prayer of Jabez is a prayer of stretching. Enlarge your tent, god, bless me and increase my capacity. That's what we're looking for, not so that I can have more, not so that I can be better, not so that I can be more than I am, but because I believe that God wants me to not be satisfied where I am, and so I hope that this series is challenging you, and I hope that this year you're coming along with us on this journey to be stretched. Jesus tells the lame man to stretch out his hand, and that takes an act of faith. It takes an act of believing that what I can be is something more than I can see right now. It's something more than I have in my hands. It's something that I'm going to have to reach for. So I believe that that's what God has for all of us. If you're here for the first time, I want to welcome you and say that we're glad that you chose to worship with us today. If you are watching online with us, maybe for the first time, or you're new to Relate, then it matters to us that you clicked or decided to. Maybe you're streaming, maybe you're watching on demand, whatever that looks like, it matters to us anywhere in the world, maybe from your kitchen or even from your car. Some of you guys are listening to podcasts. You can't even see what's going on, but we are so appreciative for what God's doing right here in the middle of us.
Speaker 5:We are, as a lot of you guys know, we are at the tail end of our sixth year. We are about to celebrate our seventh year. We're calling it our jubilee year, and next week amen, that's awesome. Next week we are having our. We're doing two this year, which is a little bit different than usually. We have one anniversary service, but there were so many things we wanted to do and some people that we wanted for you to be introduced to you, some people we wanted to introduce to you, and so, two Sundays we're doing our anniversary services, next week and the following week. So we'll be rounding out our 21 days of prayer as well as kicking off a brand new year, as well as celebrating our anniversary. So we won't.
Speaker 5:Some of you guys have already thought well, I get cake twice. No, you don't get cake twice. You'll get cake one time. That happens on the 26th, so I don't know if that's cupcakes or birthday cake. However that looks like, I will tell you that we're going to have a good time either way, and I just want to say thank you to you guys for continuing to do what you do and there are a lot of you. Even this morning, people have walked to me and asked me Pastor Sean, what are we doing about such and such? And I just tell you that the answer is always the same. It feels like the answer is always the same. We're working on it. I promise you, we are actively working on it and I told you that there are things that we are trying to get done by the anniversary services, which is another reason it's good to have two of them. So I have two extra weeks, even though I feel like I've been trying to get them done for the last four months. But you know, sometimes you wait on things to get delivered in the mail, sometimes you wait on equipment, sometimes we're waiting on the right crew, the right people, the technical know-how to get things done.
Speaker 5:So, last thing I want to say to you before we dive into this series back into this series, week number two of Stretch Out I want to encourage you to take notes. Taking notes is important because your mind listens in a different way. You're able to carry the Word of God with you when you're reading it, when you're writing it down, when your perspective on the message is different than just it's hitting you, but you're also participating with it by writing and reading, and that's why we put it on the screen. I don't put the words of the scriptures on the screen because I think you might've forgot your Bible at home. I hope you have your Bible in your hand, but I also want you to see it and I want you to see it as many times as I can put it in front of you. I want you to hear it as many times.
Speaker 5:So there are some areas that God wants us to stretch in, and it's not just New Year's resolution type things, it's spiritual things and it's emotional things and it's the capacity that we can do. And I know that sometimes listen probably the most common thing that I have heard over the last month as I ask you hey, how did Christmas go? How did New Year's go? And some of you guys have been out of town, some of you come back into town and then the very first conversation that we have is hey, how did it go? How did it go? Almost always a big part of that conversation is this it was awesome, but man, it was busy. It was busy, it was just complicated. It was so much, it was overwhelming, and so that's really a perfect picture of most of our lives most of the year. It's just accentuated and highlighted during the holidays that it's so much.
Speaker 5:Right now is one of those seasons where we all want to slow down and do nothing. Just let me be off work, let me be. We wish we could take off work, we wish we could stop, put a pause on everything. But I think that is a perfect contrast to what the world tells us. The world tells us you need more, you need to buy more, you need to do more, you need to go faster, you need to. You need a bigger house, you need more shoes, more clothes, more kids, more a boat, a car, a different car, a newer car, a better car. You need more money in your bank account. You don't have enough. That's what we are bombarded with constantly. You need more toys, more followers, more square foot and you need more time during the day.
Speaker 5:I can't tell you how many times I have said, or you have told me, if there was just 25 hours in the day, if there was just 30 hours in the day. If I could just get an extra day in the week or one extra day in the month, right what my life would look like. Or I just need more rest. I just need more vacation. I need to go on more trips, more travel, more experiences in my life, right? More comfort in my life. We're always looking, reaching, striving for more and more and more.
Speaker 5:So today's message because I think it is an absolute spiritual principle that we need to, you can write this down simplify your life. Everybody, say the word simplify. This is not just a message where I tell you hey, it's a new year, let's put everything in order. This is a message where I'm telling you that, in order for us to get closer to God, in order for us to live the life he called us to, we need to simplify. We need to simplify how many of you guys? Well, I won't ask you, but Wednesday night prayer is so important for us. Right now, we only get three of them. That means, out of the whole year, there are only six. At the moment, unless we call special prayer meetings, we have prayer services during 21 days of prayer. Right now, we've done one. We've got two left and it was very great. It was great to spend time in God's presence and in God's word and in prayer, corporately together. Lots of really great things. But I shared this verse and I want to share it with you again as I start this message.
Speaker 5:1 John 2, verse 16. I hope that the weight of these words are heavy to you Not hurtful, but heavy. Do not love this world, nor the things it offers, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. Would you all read that with me one time, just so you can hear yourself say it? We're going to read it from the beginning Do not love this world, nor the things it offers, for when you love the world. Think about that. That's like throwing down the gauntlet. You can't have one and the other, you can't do both. You can't ride the line, you can't have one foot in each boat. It's one of those things that you're in or you're out, all or nothing. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. He's not saying that. If there's something you love, because we all say man, I love that show on Netflix, I love that creator, content creator on social media. I love this product, I love this car, I love my new car, I love my new house. I love the neighborhood. I love the community I live in. I love all these things.
Speaker 5:I think the contrast comes when we realize that it's not just about the context of I like a certain thing. What are you pursuing in life? What is your heart after? The Bible says that David was a man after what. Y'all know that he was a man after God's own heart. That means that he loved the things that God loves. He was pursuing the things that God had for him. He was on a track. His life was pointed toward God. To me, that's what love means. It says for everything in the world, the lust of the flesh. Three things the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life come not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. So if we're children of God, if we're followers of Jesus, there's some things that we've got to pay attention to.
Speaker 5:It's very easy to get caught up in the past. We don't like this message. We want one of those messages that makes us feel good. I already told you that 21 days of prayer and fasting is not about feeling good right now. It's about deciding that what I want, what I want I want the best things in my life, and sometimes that's not right now that I have to put the things I really want over the things I want now. And the things I want now are food, and I want to satisfy all of those things, the lusts of the flesh. What does that look like? The definition of that is internal cravings and addictions. So your self, your body, your flesh desires things. And if you're fasting right now which I would encourage you, if you don't know about fasting, never considered fasting you're new to God, new to all of that whole idea. Then go back and listen to last week's message, because I'll tell you why you need to fast, why Jesus, followers and disciples of Jesus are fasters. There's a reason why Reasons, lots of reasons. But your body wants things, all the things sex, drugs, alcohol. There's a reason why those things sell, because part of me says, oh okay, I'll take that. But we also desire other things that we can replace our godly desires with food, exercise, comfort.
Speaker 5:I've had conversations with people. I'm not saying this is like a terrible thing. This is not like a you're going to hell thing, but this is one of those things where you can get addicted to anything. Listen, it doesn't mean that God looks at that thing and says you're terrible, you're a sinner, you're going to hell, I can't be around you. No, this is God saying there's some things that aren't necessarily good for you, and it might be something that seems innocuous. People get addicted to exercising Well, it's good for me, right. It can be too much. You can get addicted to exercising Well, it's good for me, right, it can be too much. You can get addicted to tattoos. I've had people tell me I don't know what I'm getting, but I'm going to get it right here.
Speaker 5:The lusts of the eyes, the thing that you see it's a house, a boat, a car, jewelry or the pride of life. Maybe that's the status that you're climbing. It's a rat race, okay, so here's the truth. The things you crave can often become a source of anxiety. The things you crave, the time, the pressure, the striving, that rat race that you think I got to get it. I need more. It becomes this thing that all of a sudden, it takes over your mind and then it becomes your anxiety.
Speaker 5:I'll give you an example. I did not wake up this morning or yesterday morning, or ever, worried about my boat. I didn't wake up thinking about my boat, how I'm going to pay for my boat, where I'm going to take my boat out, how I'm going to fill it up with fuel, how I'm going to fix it because it's broken, or what I'm going to do what happens if it gets stolen. I haven't thought about any of those things. You know why? Because I don't own a boat. If you own a boat, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Hey, we should go out on the boat together. I'll invite myself on your boat.
Speaker 5:But we have to be super careful about the things that we have and that the things we have don't become the pursuit of our lives and that we're not living to fulfill the cravings and the things that we have, or keeping up with the things. They used to say keeping up with the Joneses that we don't look at our life thinking I got to get this next thing. So here's what simplicity is. I'm going to give you the definition that we're going to use today. It's an inward contentment. Everybody say contentment. Here's where we get down to the real nitty-gritty of what does simplicity have to do with my spirituality? Because an inward contentment that leads to an outward way of life. I'm not just telling you hey, change your behavior, change what your life looks like, change the kind of things you buy. No, I'm saying that it all stems from something on the inside.
Speaker 5:If part of me says I'm not content with what I have, I need some more things. Or, even worse, I'm not content with God and God's not enough to satisfy me, I need some other things to satisfy me, I think God looks at that and says wait, I'm enough for you. Can your soul be satisfied with God and what he gives you, or are there some other things that you just need, god plus some things? In other words, I imagine God saying, saying am I enough for you? The world wants you to get on that. Uh, I imagine one of those hamster wheels that just never going anywhere, but you are working your heart out just trying to go. I need to go, I need to go, I need to go more and more and more.
Speaker 5:I saw one study that said the average person sees 5,000 ads a day. You think that's not. You think, oh, that can't be real. No, listen Television, radio, billboards, clothing brands and advertisements and you need this. And sometimes we look at what other people are wearing and say, hey, I need that. The average kid sees between 20 and 40,000 ads a year and we wonder why our kids want the next thing and the next thing and they can't slow down and their minds are like. But it's the same for adults too. The average adult sees, on average, two million ads a year. Two million times somebody's tapping you on your subconscious shoulder saying, hey, you need me, you need to buy me, you need this. And we have to get to a point where we are turning some of the that's what fasting is turning some of the volumes down and saying I can't hear all these things at one time. You need to take a break and put some quiet into your life. Okay, so here's six ways to simplify your life. Six ways to simplify your life in the next 15 minutes.
Speaker 5:Number one accept Jesus' strong warning. You don't have to start with this, because this is the baseline of our faith. What did Jesus say? What does he want for us? If we're Jesus' followers, then how is he setting the standard for us and we're going to accept the warning that he gives us. He doesn't say, hey, it could become a problem. No, he says it is a problem, watch out for it. Like, if you're going to have a problem, this is problem number one. In fact, we say this all the time. Jesus says in this world you will have trouble. You will have trouble. But in these verses I'm going to show you a few different places he starts to define. Here's where a lot of your trouble and the problems come from. Okay, matthew, chapter 16, 26. He outright says this what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
Speaker 5:I've known some people who have exchanged their souls for some pretty sorry things. Whenever they looked at, there's some people sitting in prison right now that probably think why did I ever think it was worth it? And yet we feel like we're free. And there's a bunch of us that are living our lives in captivity to things. People tend to trade their souls for things. It's our national pastime, it's not baseball, it's buying things, it's getting more stuff, it's materialism. It's become part of who we are as a society that I need the next thing and the next stuff I need to fill up my closets and my car, my garage. Some of us can't park in our garage because it's too full of stuff that we don't need or that we didn't need last year, that we pushed into the garage so we could make room for more stuff. Some of you all are looking at me like Pastor Sean. I do not like this message. I'll be back next week. We'll be on another change gears next week.
Speaker 5:Luke, chapter 16, verse 13,. No one can serve two masters. Either you'll hate one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both. What God and money? That's the rat race. Okay, so how do we pursue wealth and the things of God? It can't be done. We can't do both. I'm not saying wealth is a bad thing. I didn't say boat was a bad thing, or a new car or a bigger house those aren't bad things. Wealth can be a part of your life, but it can't be the pursuit of your life. Wealth can be a part of your life. Money is a part, it's a tool. Jesus used money, the disciples used money. It's a necessary part of life, but it can't be the thing that I love and I pursue and I think about all day long. I'm going to pay for this and get more stuff. Okay, so that's number one. We're going to follow Jesus'. Warning Number two we're going to slow down. Everybody say slow down.
Speaker 5:Psychologists have a term hurry sickness. Psychologists have a term hurry sickness, hurry sickness. Some of you, because our society values being in a hurry and moving and going. Some of you would have no problem saying yes, pastor, sean, I have hurry sickness. It's almost a badge of honor. Sometimes we hurry I've got to get to the next thing, hey, can't stay long, I've got to go times. We hurry I got to get to the next thing, hey, can't stay long, I got to go.
Speaker 5:It's a behavior pattern characterized by continual rushing and anxiousness. We don't even look at any. If you see people who are in a hurry or anxious, we don't even look at them sideways. We don't look at them a second time because it's just commonplace, it's ordinary. We're all in a hurry. I'm not saying anything you don't know already. None of you are surprised by what I'm saying right now.
Speaker 5:However, if we follow an unrushed Jesus, we should be living an unrushed life. You don't see Jesus rushing around in the Bible. In fact we see people getting frustrated with him because he doesn't show up on time when Lazarus is dead and he could have been prevented from dying. Because we don't want Lazarus to die, we want Jesus to prevent him from dying. Because we don't think Jesus can bring him back to life. Or if our daughter is sick and dying at home, we don't want him to stop and heal the woman on the road who tries to touch the hem of his garment because we need to get somewhere on our own.
Speaker 5:Corrie Ten Boom said if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy. You cannot love well and be in a hurry. We can't live well and be in a hurry. We can't be Jesus followers well and be in a hurry. We can't live well and be in a hurry. We can't be Jesus followers well and be in a hurry, because there's some things that need to happen. There's some things that only slowing down. I love when John Maxwell says that we should walk through a room slowly because there are needs, there are people, there are issues, there are connections that need to happen in that room. We are in such a hurry that we're missing relationships, we're missing connectivity, we're missing community, we're missing the miraculous things in life that require that we slow down a second. Maybe God wants to do something, but God's not on our hurry, hurry, hurry timeline. God says I have a miracle, but it takes a minute.
Speaker 5:I'm not telling you guys this so that I can tell you hey guys, I've actually perfected this. I've actually. I'm always slowed down. No, I promise you, I'm just as guilty as all of us when it comes. In fact, I'm very glad that you guys can't see me in traffic and I'm glad that you can't hear me in traffic, because I'm a different person. Sometimes I got to remind myself I am a pastor. I should not be acting this way. I'm half joking, but only half.
Speaker 5:So how do we slow down? That's literally what fasting is about. It's a disruption. It's me impeding myself. It's me getting my own way so I can slow down. I'm not doing fast food. I'm not doing food. I'm not doing what is it that you're putting a brake on your own mind and your own life? Food technology. Maybe you need a soul fast. Get off social media.
Speaker 5:Maybe you need to make a schedule for 2025. Maybe you need to budget your time and your money. Add margins when you make that budget 10%, 15% margins of time and money, because when you don't have margins, you're in a hurry because you didn't leave yourself any space in between the things to get to the next thing and now you're behind. You start off behind when you don't have a margin. You need to practice saying no. Some of you don't know how to say no. There's things I don't know how to say no about, so I'm giving you and me permission to say no this year. So when you say, pastor, I need your help, I'm going to say no. I'm kidding.
Speaker 5:Some of us need to spend time in nature. Some of us need to sit and watch a sunset. Well, I can't. I've got places to be. My kids have got to be at practice. I've got a show to watch. I've got a podcast to listen to. I got a show to watch. I got a podcast to listen to. I got money to make. I got to be at work. I got to get dinner for my kids. We need to try. We have to Observe the Sabbath rest.
Speaker 5:Some of you right now, you just said what does that mean? Google it. I wish I could take a whole message. I have taken a whole message Set aside time for silence, schedule rest. Watch this.
Speaker 5:This is the message paraphrase of Matthew, chapter 11, 28. Jesus says are you tired and worn out, burned out on religion? Come to me, get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. See, he's not saying don't work. He's saying do it the way I do it, watch how I do it, learn the unforced rhythms of grace, and I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Come, keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. This is the Jesus that we're supposed to be following, and most of us are not. Wait a second, jesus. My life is like this. My life is on a constant stopwatch, a race, okay. Number three not just slow down, not just paying attention to the warnings that Jesus gives us about what we're focused on in life. Number three examine your motives. This one's so simple. If you'll just think about why you're doing a thing Like if you're getting ready to buy some things or getting ready to buy some extra things that you have on your list you need to ask yourself a question.
Speaker 5:Not do I need this? The question is why do I need this? Why am I buying this? Why am I spending and why have I budgeted my time? To me, time and money are almost the same thing. In fact, people say time is money, because you're spending your time on things, You're spending your money on things and when we've spent it all, we don't have any more. If I lose this thing that I'm about to buy, or if I have my hands full of these things, if I lose this stuff, how devastated will I be? Am I buying this for its usefulness or rather for its status? Do I need this particular thing because it's useful, because it gets me where I need to get, or because it makes me feel like, hey, at least I'm not that guy?
Speaker 5:Psalm 139, david says search me, god, and know my heart, because this is the part that God is very concerned with the heart of a man. He's concerned with what's on the inside, not what's on the outside. Know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. You ever notice that? That's a verse we've read a thousand times, and yet David is recognizing that I have anxious thoughts. God, show me what part of me is wrong. Does this thing that I am either spending my time or money on, does it advance me or does it advance the kingdom of God? And I know this is a difficult thing to hear. This is part of what stretching is. This is part of me saying, okay, this doesn't really fit into my lifestyle or into my culture, but I'm going to make it because I can see that God wants me to have this Number four, you and I, the church, as a part of our departure from the culture of this world.
Speaker 5:We need to reject this concept of the latest and greatest. Just because something's the newest thing doesn't mean that it's better than what I have, doesn't mean that there's a part of my, there's this hole in my heart that only an iPhone 15 fits into, or the next thing right, or, oh man, that's way better than what I have. But have you ever gotten a new phone and thought this is exactly like my old phone? The only difference is now I have a payment. I don't think any of us are worried about whether or not we're wearing last season's Louis Vuittons. I don't perceive that that's who we are, but we sometimes do need the next best phone or the next best car or the next best. Why is that? Because we're told uh, we just read the statistics five million times a year. You need the next thing, and when you're told something that many times, you start believing it. So some part of me needs to start telling myself wait a second, what? What if I heard the bible five million times? What if I start? What if I heard the Bible five million times? What if there were five? Listen, we don't have time to even talk about it, but you need to start injecting the word of God into your life so that you're combating some of those five million instances of hey, you need to buy this.
Speaker 5:Hebrews 13, verse 5, says keep your lives from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Why do those two statements go together? That he'll never leave you nor forsake you, and that we should keep contentment in our hearts. Because when we're, when I'm content with God and my heart is satisfied in him that's what Psalm says my heart, that I'm satisfied with you. Whenever that becomes my satisfaction and my heart is satisfied in him, that's what Psalm says that I'm satisfied with you. Whenever that becomes my satisfaction and my contentment, he'll never leave me, he'll never forsake me. He never changes. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. And when I'm satisfied with something that stable and that solid, then I'm never broken. I never walk away thinking, man, I'm unfulfilled, how am I going to live my life tomorrow? Because I don't have my new iPhone. If I'm satisfied with God, then I wake up every single day, fulfilled, satisfied, content. And I can't. That doesn't mean I don't have things. So here's a statement for your notes. You can write this down Pray before you pay, just pray about it. That's what our for your notes. You can write this down Pray before you pay, just pray about it. That's what our bracelet's here. Pray first, it doesn't just mean pray every day, it means pray first. Pray before you do things. Number five give more things away.
Speaker 5:Angela and I have spent lots of time trying to figure out how to get ourselves to a point where we're going slower, where we're moving slower, where we're focused on God and his desire, his purpose, his reason, his path for our lives. And this is a big part of it to be generous Every day when we think about should we do that, should we not do that? How much? How much should we give? How much should we help? What did our time look like that. Generosity is a big factor. We've given away. Praise God, we've been able to do this. We've given away two cars. We've also had cars given to us. We've given stuff away. We've given money away. We've given our time away. We can do that because it's a part of our culture that we've decided to be people who give away stuff. Some of you need to go to your closet today and fill up a bag full of stuff and give it away. We're never more like God than when we give.
Speaker 5:John 3. Says for God so loved the world that he what he gave his only begotten son. That's how we get salvation. Matthew 10 8 says freely, you have received, freely give. I would love for this church to be that church that is more generous than that.
Speaker 5:When people think of generosity and when people think of our church, I want them to think about how much they give. When they look at me, I want them to think of hey, that's the guy that paid for our groceries. That's the guy that, whenever I'm in the grocery store and someone is struggling and I can see they're struggling I want to help them. Whenever I meet someone on the street or in the neighborhood, on the street or in the neighborhood. We should be known as people who are generous, not a tight-fisted group of people who yell at everybody and point our finger and judge. Because what we're known for as Christians, church people we're known for the wrong things. I'm just telling you all that we are known for the wrong things and not for the wrong. We're known for the wrong things and not for the wrong. We're known for the wrong things and we deserve it Because we haven't made a name for ourselves doing the right things.
Speaker 5:Our goals this year should be not necessarily all about how I'm going to look better, how I'm going to look more healthy. It should also be about how am I going to slow my life down? How am I going to focus on the words of Jesus? How am I going to pray before I do things? How am I going to resist and reject the culture of the world and embrace the culture of heaven? Reject the culture of the world and embrace the culture of heaven. Some of our goals should be that I'm going to be more generous this year. Instead of making income goals, we should be making generosity goals.
Speaker 5:I want to make this much this year. I want to get a better job. I want to have some like what if our goals were spiritual goals? What if we said I want to read my Bible this much this year? Well, I want to spend this much time in prayer. I want to be this generous, I want to spend this much time at church. I want to spend this much time with people. I want to build two, three, four, five good Christian, full of faith relationships of people that are close to me, so that I have a brotherhood or a sisterhood of people that can support me in my relationship of faith.
Speaker 5:If you've never given, if you haven't been a person who is a giver, I want to encourage you. We only do this a couple times a year, but I want to challenge you. We have a 90-day tithing challenge and everybody in the room who is a tither who gives 10% of their income to the kingdom of God every single one of them, I promise you will tell you that my life is blessed because of what I do for God. This is the only thing, the only place in scripture, where God says test me and see. So we've created a 90-day tithing challenge because it's a test, test and see and our tithing challenge. You can go there on our website. We have the tithing challenge right there. You can use the QR code or search it on our website. If you go to decide, okay, I'm going to give for 90 days, I'm going to give 10% of my income. You get to the end of those 90 days and you've been faithful with your giving and you feel like, well, god hasn't really blessed me. I don't even see a difference. I don't know why I even did this. We'll give you all the money back. I believe that it will bless you and it will put you where God wants you to be. So much, so much that I'm willing to participate in the test. I'm willing for the church to cover the risk.
Speaker 5:Finally, my final point is this that we need to build a legacy over a lifestyle. So often you guys are going to come help me. So often our New Year's resolutions are built around lifestyle and what I'm going to look like and how much I'm going to work out, what I'm going to eat and what job I'm going to have and how much money I'm going to spend and where my time is going to be spent. It's so important that we are building a legacy. That's what the Christian life is about that I'm living for someone other than myself. I'm living for a legacy, that my faith is building a better life for other people and leading other people to Jesus.
Speaker 5:So are we going after a lifestyle or legacy? We have to ask ourselves that question. Am I going after a lifestyle or legacy? Because a lifestyle is short-term, a legacy is long-term. A lifestyle is earthly. A legacy is eternal. A lifestyle means I need more stuff and my life is focused on stuff, and a legacy means my life is focused on people. A lifestyle means that my life is focused on fun. Legacy means my life is focused on true joy, something that will last.
Speaker 5:So, in closing, I want to give you this illustration, and this is my life, and I can show you that, when I take all the things that I love, all the little things, I've got my new phone, I've got my new computer and Netflix the Netflix series that I cannot do without. I promise you it's the best thing in life. We start putting that into our lives. We start filling up our lives with all those things in life. We start putting that into our lives. We start filling up our lives with all those things and then after that because this is important. We also have our marriage and we also have our boat, which we talked about earlier, and we also we have, you know, my car and my house and my pickleball. My pickleball, or maybe it's bowling, or maybe it's kickball, or who knows what that might be for you. Or going to the gym is pretty important, so I'm going to take care of that and all the other stuff. Right? Maybe it's my fantasy football team is there? It's that important to me.
Speaker 5:And then, oh, we definitely need God. Wait a second, there it fits. And then we definitely need other people in my life, relationships and God's purpose for my life to reach out and change others. See, when we put them all in in that order, it doesn't fit. But what happens whenever we start to take value to God's word? Watch what Jesus tells the disciples. He says then Jesus said to the disciples therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you'll eat, or about your body, what you will wear, for your life Is more than food and the body more than clothes. That's Luke 12, 22. It's more than those things, but we added all those things in first.
Speaker 5:When we turn that back around and we decide, okay, I'm going to build my life and I'm going to put things back in order and I'm going to put God in first. Wait, this was God. I'm going to put God in first and then I'm going to put the people that God's called me to, because God so loved the world that he also sent me to spend my life on the world, to give my life, to lay down my life for other people, and then I can start putting those other big things. I got my marriage. I got let's see kids my marriage. I've got my car, my job, I've got my phone and all the other stuff, all the other bit my boat gotta have my boat. And then I can start taking all these other things. We're losing a few, but that's okay, I didn't need it anyway. Isn't it amazing how it all fits in there Once I finally put things in order.
Speaker 5:Watch what it says in the next verse but seek his kingdom, seek first the kingdom of God.
Speaker 5:If you'll put him first, and these things will be given to you as well. That's what it means whenever we put God first and then we start to put the bigger things. If we put the big things in first I've heard it said that way put the big rocks in first in my life and then all of the other stuff will fit in. But if I do it in the reverse, then I start to put the little things first, the things that are insignificant, the things that are temporal, the things that are here today, gone tomorrow, the latest and the greatest, the things that don't really matter, the things that are screaming at me, because so often the small things are the ones that are screaming at you, saying I need you done now If we'll put the big things first. So would you do that with me as we start a brand new year? Will you guys jump up on your feet Before we pray? We're going to worship for just a moment and settle our hearts on the Lord.