This entry is for week two of the “Margin” message series. I have received a TON of feedback on this series. Seems it is really touching a nerve with a lot of people! I know I need this as much as anybody. I find myself busy all the time, and even though I have learned a lot about how to schedule my own margin, putting the “big rocks” in first, I don’t have it fully down yet. I still have a ways to go. I hope we can move that direction together.
$3554!!!
Can you believe that our little church gave that much to the Tower Road playground project in that short spur of the moment? Wow!! We are doing some research and putting together a plan. Our hope is to be able to get some super-strong steel playground equipment out there, which won’t just last a few years, but will survive for generations to come. When it all comes together we will let you know, and we can all be part of installing it out there.
Meanwhile, you can STILL give to that project. Just tap here to give now.
Financial Margin
Dave Ramsey’s Finanical Peace University is starting up at The Orchard again really soon. I KNOW so many of us deal with financial pressure. Lots of us went through FPU together a couple of years ago, and it changed our lives! Check out the details here and sign up to create financial margin in your life.
Yep, we’re planning on doing Easter on the field for our community again this year, this time with some EXTRA special surprises! Trust me, your friends, neighbors, and co-workers will WANT to be there. So, start praying THIS WEEK about who God would have you bring with you to our Easter On The Field Celebration!
Scheduling Margin
In this series, I am challenging you to think about your “big rocks.” What are those in your life? What are your best things?
What steals us from those best things?
On Sunday, I briefly talked about saying “no” to good things so you can say “yes” to the best things… We know this is important, but we aren’t very good at doing this. What keeps us from saying “no” well?
Was this hard for Jesus?
It may look like Jesus was always just reacting… Always just dealing with the situations as they came. But, a closer look reveals that Jesus actually had a strategy:
Mark 1:32–39 (NLT)
That evening after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. The whole town gathered at the door to watch. So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak.
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.
Is this the only case you can think of where Jesus said “no” to the demands made of him?
John 5:1-9 (NLT)
Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”
“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking!
How many “sick people” were presesnt at the Pool of Bethesda?
How many did Jesus heal?
As far as we can tell, there were no other miracles from Jesus that day by that pool. What does this tell us about Jesus and his focus on what he wanted to do?
How does this tie to the principle that “Activity does not equal accomplishment?”
What determines your daily calendar? Are you more prone to live in reaction mode, or are you proactive in your schedule?
Do you tend to react more to the urgency of immediate needs, or to the voice of God? Are your days filled by your priorities, or by the demands of others?
How do you balance the two?
Did you ever wish you had more hours in a day? Sounds like it could be nice. But, what do you think would happen if we suddenly had 30 hours each day, instead of 24?
What can we do to set our priorities, and prioritize our schedule for those “big rocks” more effectively?