START WITH CAR RACE VIDEO # 2
OPEN: Good Morning! Welcome to our new series called.....
Let me begin by asking you three questions. If you answer “yes” to any of these.....please stand up:
# 1 – Were there two or more nights this week that you went to bed too late?
# 2 – At any time in the past two weeks, have you found your stress level rising because you seem to have too much to do and not enough time to do it all?
# 3 – Have you snapped, shouted, gotten short or exhibited a bad attitude towards one or more persons recently? (Now be HONEST!) (And someone next to you might stand up FOR you!)☺
Answer: if you are standing, you are at the right place this morning AND you desperately need more MARGIN in your life
16 But Jesus often withdrew to the
wilderness for prayer. Luke 5:16
! He goes off by himself.
! He logs off of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat
! And God forbid, he even turns off his cell phone.
! If the Son of God HIMSELF needed MARGIN, how much MORE do WE need MARGIN?
Definition:
MARGIN: THE AMOUNT
AVAILABLE BEYOND WHAT IS
NECESSARY.
(Explain)
TEXT: Mary & Martha (Luke 10:38-42)
! Martha was “busy”
! She thought SHE was doing the right
thing and Mary was doing the “wrong” thing.

(Tell Story)
WHEN YOUR MARGIN
DECREASES......YOUR STRESS
INCREASES
WHEN YOUR MARGIN
DECREASES.......YOUR RELATIONAL
INTIMACY DECREASES
THIS WEEK:
Scheduling Margin, Living
Practical, Not Maniacal
(Maniacal means “hurried frenzy”)
TEXT:
Be very careful, then, how you
live — not as unwise but as wise, 16

making the most of every opportunity,
because the days are evil. 17 Therefore
do not be foolish, but understand what
the Lord's will is. Eph 5:15-17
Margin #1 – Learn To Say No.
Some of us are pathological “yessers.” We’ve never met a job or responsibility we haven’t said yes to. You can tell who the pathological yessers are, you know how? They’re the ones who chronically either can’t keep all their commitments, or chronically do work that you know is below their own standard, are chronically stressed out and frustrated, chronically make excuses, or all of the above. Pathological yessers are people who say yes out of:
a) Habit, or
b) out of a Need for Approval, or

c) out of a Sense of Perfectionism that no one can do a job as well as they can.
If you are a pathological yesser, Rick Warren suggests that you ask two questions every time a new opportunity comes up.
a. Is it worth it?
b. What am I going to give up?
By the way, it’s easier to say no if you know your purpose in life. If you know what God has put you here for, then you accept opportunities that will advance that purpose and you say no to opportunities that will clutter your life with distractions. Personal example: Music is one of the great loves of my life. I would absolutely love being in a band that travels around and plays in clubs and at festivals and stuff. But as much as I love music, it’s not my purpose in life. My

purpose in life is to preach and teach and to be a great husband and father. Therefore I have always resisted the compulsion to just join a band and play around, because it would distract from my being the best husband/father I can be, and ultimately from my being the best preacher/teacher I can be. On the other hand, I’m currently pursuing four new opportunities that will expand my ability to influence others by teaching. If you haven’t written down your life purpose, I highly encourage you to do so, and then begin making decisions based around that purpose. If you find you are a compulsive yesser and you just can’t stop, I encourage you to get a referral from me to see a professional who can help you get this under control.
Margin #2 – Learn Contentment.

con·tent·ment
kəәnˈtentməәnt/
“a state of happiness and satisfaction”
Philippians 4:11-13 (MSG)
11 ... I don’t have a sense of needing
anything personally. I’ve learned by now to
be quite content whatever my
circumstances.
12 I’m just as happy with little as with much,
with much as with little. I’ve found the
recipe for being happy whether full or
hungry, hands full or hands empty.
13 Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can
make it through anything in the One who
makes me who I am.
Some ways to learn contentment are:
a. Count Your Blessings Regularly
b. Question Your Cravings
c.
d. Practice Patience and Grace in Suffering e.
Learn to See Patterns of Discontentment
and Unrest and Check Under the Hood
Continue Moving God to the Center of
Your Life, which will Move Externals to the
Fringe
Margin #3 – Obey the Fourth
Commandment. (Sabbath).
I’ve preached on this and it’s still available by contacting the church office. No question that Sabbath-taking plays a huge rule in helping us slow down and create margin in our life.
How do I do that? (Obey the Sabbath)
a. Rest.
! A recent study found most people need 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night.
! Yet, we aren’t getting that much on average.
oA Gallup Poll from last year (2013) found that
oAnd that same poll found that back
.
! Why is this a problem?
! Because the same study went on to list the effects of sleep deprivation:
oToo little sleep may cause:
Only 34% of
Americans get the
recommended 8 hours of sleep
per night
In 1942, 55% of
Americans got 8 hours or more
sleep per night
oMemory problems
o Depression
A weakening of your immune
o
oIncrease in perception of pain b. Recreate(recreat-ion)
, increasing your chance of becoming sick
system
! "Physical training is good, but
training for godliness is much
better, promising benefits in this life
and in the life to come." 1 Timothy
4:8
! When is the last time you: oWalked 2 miles?
oRan a mile?
oWalked around a track? oLifted some weights?
oThese things are necessary in
order to maintain margin in our lives
c. Reconnect (to God and Family)

Margin #4 – Pause and Pray Before Making
a Decision.
This goes back to moving God to the center of your life. What’s most important is not whether you pray for more hours than you watch TV or work. What’s most important is whether you go about your life in an attitude of prayer – that you involve God in your choices – that when you notice, like I have this week – that you have moved God to the outside edges, you realign your life and move him back to the center again.
When we get into these places where we’re just running around busy all the time and doing things, we’re not really doing our best work. We might feel we’re working hard and being diligent, but the best decisions are made with perspective. Perspective comes through consideration. And we can only consider something if we’ve taken some
time to do it. I don’t mean to wait three weeks to make every little decision. I mean pausing for a few seconds or a few minutes and saying, “Does this decision have the stamp of God? Does it have his character in it and his fingerprints on it?”
Think how many godless decisions could be avoided if we simply slowed down enough to get some perspective. Would a married man go in and have that drink with a single woman if he stopped for ten seconds and said, “Does this decision have God’s character in it and God’s fingerprints on it?” Would we buy that next expensive gadget or toy as often if we simply asked, “does this decision bear the stamp of God? Is this how God would have me spend my money?” Next time we’re sitting at home thinking it’s either church or golf, what would we do (most of the time – not all of the time) if we simply asked, “What do I
need to build my life around if I am going to be the person God would have me be?” What about in our marriages and dating relationships. What if before responding to something the other person says, we just prayed, God --
Psalm 19:14 (NIV)
If we would simply take a moment to consult God, we would often hear God saying to us:
Proverbs 15:1 (NIV)
14 May the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be pleasing in your
sight...
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a
harsh word stirs up anger.
Or something like that. We all know that’s true, but we speak harshly in the heat of the moment and don’t take even a few seconds to think about what’s about to come out of our mouths.
Margin #5 – Trust God’s Timing.
God is never in a hurry and he wants you to rest in his care. You don’t need to rush God or go around making things happen for him. God knows what he is doing and can take care of himself!
Those who aspire to be followers of Jesus must follow his truth in his way. That means:

1. Learn to Say No
2. Obey the fourth commandment
(Sabbath)
3. Pause and pray before
speaking/acting/deciding
4. Learn Contentment 5. Trust God’s timing
These are all margins Jesus lived in – in other words they are the way of Jesus! He asked us to do things we cannot possibly do on any way other than his. These five things will slow your life down and make it possible to obey the one so many of you earnestly seek to obey.
I told you that at the end of this message I’d give you a chance to create or begin to

learn to live with margins in your life. What do you need to do?
Remember, this isn’t about forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do. If something today really resonated with you, you already know what it was and I encourage you to just follow up with it this week.
CLOSE: Would you stand please?

