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Normally we post an audio version of the message, however the day this message was first delivered Dixon was in the midst of receiving 16 inches of snow! As a result, we did livestream the sermon but were not able to record it due to being short handed at the Tech Table. May God bless you as you dive in to His Word!

Marginal Living 2/1/15
Creating Margin for the most important priorities in life

ON SCREEN Isaiah 40:28-31

Being weary is both a wonderful and frightful feeling. Biking – getting too far out then turning around to go back home and when I turned back east to make the trip from Milledgeville to Polo I was facing a 20 mile an hour wind. I had not been that tired since I was a kid.

Fact is: I needed to get replenished – my body needed energy

Jesus set the disciples on a life long marathon

ON SCREEN Matthew 28:16-20

I just think it’s awesome that he told them to meet him on the top of a mountain. I wonder how many of us wouldn’t have made that climb and missed out on God’s best for our lives simply because when it came to meeting Jesus where he wanted to meet – we were unable to meet him there because we had not cared for our bodies and had no energy to make the climb.

oh yes and then there is the Great Commission…
climbing the mountain was nothing… they were being asked to live the rest of their lives in a race of endurance. Day in Day out endurance for the rest of their lives

“Go” requires a release and harnessing of stored energy

The energy to make things “go” has to come from somewhere – and we are energy consumers, not energy producers.

The disciples went
they went in power! They had emotional, spiritual and physical margin in their lives to accomplish the work Jesus had given them to do. They had learned that seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness was the most rewarding, fulfilling, empowered way to live!
we have talked about creating a margin; in our time, in our finances, and in our emotions. This margin affords us the opportunity and means to tend to the most important priorities in life.

today: Power – Clearing space to create margin on our Physical bodies so that we have margin to tend to and accomplish the most important priorities of life.

All of the sermons in this series called Marginal Living are available from our church website www.livingwellchurch.org

Next week we begin a new sermon series on the Mission of the Church. There are some really exciting things happening in the church today, God has given us a mission to fulfill and we’ll be looking at the ways and means that the Bible teaches to accomplish this all important mission.

without power – we are like a car with no fuel –

Sadly this is how many of us go through life

It’s not that we don’t have gas…

But rather it is that if we spend all our fuel on less than top priority things, and then when we need to be able to go somewhere important – like work – we do not have the means to do it!

Running on empty….

afraid that any minute the engine is going to stall – because the indicator is saying that we are extremely close to running out.
How this applies to our lives and walk with Christ is: we are running on empty just doing life and then we have to work overtime, or just a little bit more energy is required to do something really important, and we just don’t have it to give –
tapped out,
spent,
empty,
drained,
exhausted.
So when good opportunities arise to do ministry in your discretionary free time, all you have ability to do is rest, sleep or veg.

A great days work includes “going” for Jesus, and at the end of the day we will be tired – but if we prioritize the things of God we will have put him first and all the other things will work out.

You see the tragedy in the church today is that God and His church have been marginalized to the parameters of our lives.

I have been pastoring for 23 years now, not a long time but I can definitely see the change in our culture in that time. Some 20 years ago I started hearing that we were entering a new age in our nation – that of life in a post christian culture. Churches started stopping Sunday night and Wednesday night services- because people were just too tired from being too busy doing life. The American dream was eating up every margin, every savings, every resource.

Church attendance has been dropping consistently since that time. I am so blessed because… the faith that was lived before me in my most impressionable years was a faith where the men of the church that had time to do the most important things first and then had faith that God would take care of the rest of the needs…and He did.

Everybody ok?

The compounded tragedy is that for those homes who have yielded to the pressures of culture, the children of those homes now knows little of the power that the Christians of yesterday had to live on…back when we took time for Sunday night and Wednesday night services, kids went to Sunday school!

ON SCREEN 2 Timothy 3:5
Brad just post on screen: “having a form of godliness but denying its power”

It is time for the church to arise and live up to her God given potential and realize that a form of godliness that denies the power of God is not Christianity but paganism!

Physical power…

The body has a sacred duty to fulfill –
#1. To house our soul
#2. To facilitate the mission of Jesus in the world today: to be the body of Christ

how to increase the power of an engine

fuel, tuning, reducing resistance

1. more fuel ? maybe/maybe not
eat right – to maximize efficiency
ON SCREEN 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
honoring God with our body is like honoring an engine with good fuel
we would not put junk gas in our gas tank – no should we put junk in our bodies!

the answer – to having more physical power – may not be eating more – but rather eating the right things in moderation

the American sized portion is probably 2-3 times larger than most other countries – the super size generation – has gotten exactly what we ordered – super sized

the higher calling of Christ is to manage our bodies so that we are not managed by our appetites!

2. Tuning – Christian discipline
ON SCREEN Proverbs 31:17

Exercise and Timing
her arms are strong for the task

The engine timing – so many parts have to move to accomplish forward momentum – all has to be timed so parts work in synchrony not discord.

whole body- wholistic approach – healthy lifestyle choices, eat right, excersize.

“Her arms are strong for the task of caring for her family” because she works hard!

in our balanced attempts at maintaining our bodies sometimes we need to:

choose a lower impact sport – broken bones during high school for sports, ACL’s, impact
sports (super bowl) traumatic brain injury etc…
drink water instead of pop – saves a lot of money and so much healthier for us
reduce sodium to reduce blood pressure and reduce risk of stroke
choose the steps instead of the elevator
choose walking instead of riding
choose manual instead of automatic
get exercise that glorifies God’s plan for us not brings the glory to ourselves
take a Sabbath rest – so many of our kids these days are running on empty physically – not
giving their bodies mind and soul a time to rest. fatigue/breakage
listen to your body – be proactive

Coach at Polo high school
wellness and fitness –
wellness maximize efficiency
be careful to protect your joints by not overleveraging –

#3 Reducing Resistance Through Focus

ON SCREEN Philippians 3:7-14

Our bodies are made to be the hands and feet of the body of Christ

ON SCREEN 1 Corinthians 12:27
as Christ moves us in spirit – so the body moves to accomplish His will! We are His body!
Blueprinting
Engine blueprinting means specifically to create an engine that reflects the design intent through the removal of manufacturing tolerances insofar as that is possible such that the engine literally reflects the actual blueprint created by the original engineers who designed the engine.

Finally – ultimately we are not saved because we eat right, exercise or can bench hundreds of pounds or ride our bike for hundreds of miles. We are saved because Jesus loves us and gave his life for us on the cross. He laid down his body – he sacrificed his body and blood so that our sins may be atoned for and forgiven.

As his disciples we follow him – picking up our cross we too ultimately work not toward preservation of our bodies at all costs, but rather the laying down of our entire soul, mind and body to accomplish the will of God our Father.

The Sanctified life – places the body (a temporary temple for our soul) in the hands of God

While the body is temporary – the soul is eternal – And Jesus Christ came not to destroy the soul or body but rather to redeem! You see even these bodies will someday be raised to be glorified bodies like that of Jesus. We believe in the resurrection of the body – that Christ someday will return to earth and the graves will be opened and though our spirits may already be with Jesus – He will raise even our bodies to newness of life in Him

ON SCREEN 1 Corinthians 15:38-44

ON SCREEN 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Sanctify our bodies as instruments set aside for holy purposes

ON SCREEN 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
May God himself sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

ON SCREEN 1 Timothy 4:8
for Physical Training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for this life and the life to come.

ON SCREEN: 2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight I have finished the race.

ON SCREEN 1 Corinthians 11:23-30
The body of our Lord is sacred, our bodies are sacred, temples to be used for holy purposes.

Communion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaFYCET-lpA

“this is my body” – broken for you

ON SCREEN 1 Peter 4:1-3

Song: Thrive

Pastoral blessing: I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. May he preserve your whole body mind and soul for the day of his coming. May you know the peace of God for your souls and true rest for your bodies. May you know the joy of a job well done in both, physical exhaustion and fitness. May you fulfill God’s

and now… ON SCREEN Jude 1:24-25