Good evening. Tonight we are going to begin a new series titled, Take It To The Limit. And this series is a DVD series by Andy Stanley, which many of you like to listen to, including me. In this 6 week series we will be taking a look at How To Get The Most Out Of Life. Each week we will watch about a 35-40 minute clip, and then end with some group discussion about the sermon that Andy preaches. I am going to show his full sermons, because I believe that he does a better job of getting the message across than I would. So I hope that you will enjoy the next several weeks, and that above all, we will be drawn closer to God, and that we will learn how to truly get the most out of our lives.
Before we get started in this series, allow me to begin with a word of prayer. Let’s Pray!
As we get started, answer me a question. If I were to ask you to define the word margin, and to give me examples of margin, what would be your answers?
Well, as we get started with this series, Andy Stanley open up this series by taking a look at margin in our lives. The title of this particular lesson is, Less Is More. Enjoy what Andy has to say.
(PLAY CLIP (it is about 40 minutes))
Overloaded! Maxed out! Our culture encourages us to live as if we have no limits. So we fill up our schedules and empty our bank accounts. We do as much as we can, spend as much as we can, acquire a much as we can, all in an effort to get as much as we can out of life.
In this series, the object is to discover that the secret to getting more out of life in not doing more, but doing less. We must learn to create margin to live the life God intended for us to live.
Now, as we get started in our time of discussion, Andy gave a couple of definitions for the word “Margin.” He said that margin is an amount available beyond what we need. It is the extra or the reserve. He talked about how we like to see margins in a book, and how we like margins on a highway. You know, the lanes are not just as wide as a car, they are wider so that you have margin. In most areas of life, we want extra space. The other thing that he said about margin was that it is the space between our current performance and our limits. It is the idea of showing up early instead of right on time or late. It is coming to the end of the month and still having money left over. It is the idea of having a crisis and being able to deal with it without going over the edge.
What does the world say about personal limits?
What are some examples of people running out of margin?
Well, we live lives with no margins. But we need it in the critical areas of our lives, and God invites us to back off and step away from the edge. He invites us to live a life with margin in it.
I like what Andy had to say about our lives when we live without margin. Can anyone remember what he said happens when there is no margin in life?
- Your stress level goes up.
- As your margin increases, your stress level decreases, but when you have less extra time, space, etc., your stress will grow.
- Our focus narrows.
- As margins decrees, our focus is narrowed.
- Relationships suffer.
- Relationships happen in the margin. When there is extra time and less pressure.
- Busyness is the enemy of intimacy, and it takes up margin. That causes us to suffer in our relationships.
Why do we allow ourselves to live without margin? Or, why don’t we do things to create margins?
Again, I like what Andy had to say about that. He suggested that we don’t create margin because of fear. We are afraid of missing out on something good. In pursuing all of these good things, in filling up our margin, we miss out on having a good life. A good life is a life that has margin.
We are also afraid of falling behind. Professionally, experience, vacations, homes, cars. Whatever it is, we are afraid of falling behind when it comes to those areas in our lives. We compare ourselves to others.
We are also afraid of not mattering. We fear getting to the end of life and realizing that we did not matter. That we didn’t make our mark in the world. We are afraid of not mattering, and so we do, do, do, and we go, go, go. We use up our margin to feel like we matter.
And because of all these fears, we don’t live lives with margin, and in doing so, we don’t really enjoy our lives. So the question to ask yourself is this, “Are you enjoying life?” Reducing margin in life is not a success strategy or a way to enjoy life. Instead it is a recipe for disaster. We live at our limits.
How does your current performance compare to your absolute limits?
Well, as we move on, he said that God designed us to have limits and to live with margin. Then he gave a couple of examples of that. Allow me to share those example with you once more. Andy said that the Bible is full of margin. God wants us to come back from the edge and gain some margin in our lives. Get back from the edge before there are consequences. Scripture invites us to come back from the edge.
We all have limits. God created us that way. God has a plan for how we live and approach our lives. You have been created as a relational being. God created us that way. Relationship happens within the margins and in certain limits.
God chose Israel, gave them the law, and He mandated margin. The example that Andy gave where, Honor the Sabbath. That is margin. That is some extra time. Another example, was the idea of tithing, and giving to God. Margin. Another example, it is like God is saying, “I know what you are capable of, but I don’t want you to live there. I want you to stay back away from the edge.”
In the Old Testament, God called His people live a life of margin. But He says to trust Him, to step back from the edge and trust Him. Live a life of margin. Then comes Jesus. At one point in His ministry, He was questions about the most important command. He said that the most important command was to, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest command. And equally important is to love your neighbor as your self.”
In order to do that, we need to realize that it requires a relationship. And relationships happen in the margin.
What other evidence do you see that God intended us to live with margin?
Well, as we begin to wrap things up, we need to notice that when you squeeze margin out, you squeeze God out of your life. God requires a relationship with us, and relationships only happen in the margin. Our margins shrink, we get busy, and we squeeze God out of our lives.
But God gives the invitation to come to Him and to step back from the edge. When we add margin, we will grow, and we will prosper. Maybe not in the way that the world measures things, but in the way that matters!
As we close this evening, I have just a couple last questions. First, in what areas are you living with the least amount of margin?
Now, before I ask my last question, does anyone have anything that they would like to add?
Well, if there is nothing else, let me end by having you think about this last question. What needs to happen in your life to cause you to find margin? In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
God wants to lead you to margin, but He is not going to force you to do it. He is going to wait patiently at the door until you open it. So what is it that is going to cause you to find margin? Are you going to do it on your own, or is it going to take a sickness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, problems in your marriage? What needs to happen to get your attention and cause you to create margin in your lives?
Let’s Pray!
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