Living Stress Free in a Stress Filled World

Question - Help me with My Stress

Even though you may be working to reduce stress, our culture is offering more and more.

Earth is offering you more.

Gen work 181 hours more than previous Generation … 1 extra month in the same year

Mothers - 80% feel unbearable amount of stress and 70% are sleep deprived.

You want me to help you cope with the lifestyle that you have. Coping mech are temp and until we change we will be stressed

Truth - It will never fit.

Time Management tries to help you make everything fit, and it will never all fit. It might be doable, but it’s not sustainable.

Job 9:25 NCV

25 “My days go by faster than a runner; they fly away without my seeing any joy.

Many of us feel this way. We are running all over the place, but we never experience joy in our lives.

Why are we so busy?

We have too many choices.

Life was simpler when there were on 3 channels on the TV… We didn’t play video games, we played out in the dirt. We drive around and have hundreds of restaurant choices, activity choices...

There is too much social pressure.

We believe we can have it all.

We have access to Credit. Americans spend 117% of income

It’s going to catch up with you.

God offers A Better Life

It’s Better to have less of what doesn’t matter and more of what does.

It’s better to have less. Wisdom has to do with the elimination of non-essentials.

If $1 is good, two are

If one donut is good, two are

If car is good, two cars are ...

If one kid is good, two are… crazy

If one wife is good, two wives are… wrong.

Just to show you some of the “more” we have going on...

We eat out at 14,411 times including 1811 trips to McDonalds.

You will spend 13 years and 4 months watching TV

You will spend 5 years waiting in lines.

You will spend 1 year looking for things you have lost

You will attend 35 weddings

You will drive 627,000 miles (25 times around the world)

You have plenty of time, it’s just going to all the wrong places.

What do we do.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 NIV84

6 Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

This is a belief system we have to buy into. Less is better.

It’s better to live by design not by default.

It’s better to know what my life is all about and live that way.

Runner - we are designed to run, just not in every direction.

You only have so much energy and you can’t spend it going in all different directions.

We want all of our energy going in the direction God wants us to go in.

One reason we should want to connect with God is that we can connect with the one who created us and had OUR owners manual. Too many Christians will go through life never finding the purpose God created for them.

Listen,

If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.

CC will, school systems will, Work will.

Growth Trac will 4 Sundays and we can help you understand your God given steps.

Psalm 139:16 NIV84

16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

You have days that are ordained for you to live. Now, I am living by design and not by default.

It’s better to get the right things done, not more things done.

I am going to live my intentionally. On purpose.

I can be a one handful person and be more happy.

I have a design, set and ordained days that God wrote for me. We need to stop measuring our lives by how much we do, but by doing the right things.

We need to stop having the response to how are you doing.... good just busy. That’s not a status symbol of success.

Proverbs 17:24 GNB

24 An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.

So what do we do?

You have to believe the principles, but you have to have a plan or a path to execute it.

How do we run our race?

Hebrews 12:1 NIV84

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Sin - headed in the wrong direction

If you don’t you will be easily entangled.

Here are three ways you can do this.

1. Regularly take inventory.

Stop and evaluate where you are.

Church isn’t just about going to church. It’s a sabbath day. Find some time, and evaluate where you are. Ask, am I doing the right activities?

Am I in the right activities?

Here is the prayer we need to pray...

Psalm 39:4–5 NLT

4 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. 5 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” Interlude

James says it’s a mist.

Take time to evaluate your life… look at and talk about about the coming week...

Wayne Cordero --- Leading on Empty, talked about the power of reflection. Take 10 minutes and grade yourself in 12 dials.

Faith Marriage Family Work/Job Technology Ministry Social Attitude Finances Creativity Physical Travel

This would give you less stress. When you do this, it will cause you to …

2. Make tough decisions.

All of us have something in our life that if we would let it go, our life would be better.

Parenting - You may need to say no to your kids. ie: not letting them spend the night out

Psalm 90:12 The Living Bible

12 Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.

I need help. It’s easier to let them do everything. You can’t do everything. Maybe you need to invite your friends into your world.

Evaluation / Eliminations then

3. Focus on what matters most.

It’s ok to do things that don’t matter, just don’t do them first.

Essentialism, the disciplinednpursuit of less… (Greg McKwown)

Jesus did one sermon on Stress…

Matthew 6:33 NLT

33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Find what matters the most and do them first.

What matters?

Will it matter 100 years from now?

Three things that matter most.

1. God Matters

Don’t miss this, because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess…

Luke 12:15 NLT

15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

One guy disagreed with Jesus and here is what Jesus said…

Luke 12:20–21 NLT

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ 21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

The most important thing in your life is not having God on your list, he has to be at the top of your list. If he is not at the top of your list, he is not on your list.

Philippians 3:7–8 NIV84

7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

2. People Matter

This is all that will last forever. Relationships are vital. You are the sum total of your relationships.

Galatians 5:13–15 NIV84

13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Loving each other is vital. Life is better with people around you who can walk with your through the good times and the bad times.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT

12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

This fall, get into a group. You will develop friendship.

Freedom Groups

3. Eternity Matters.

Matthew 13:44 NLT

44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

That field is eternity in heaven. It’s anything eternal. It’s service, it’s giving, it’s seeing people saved.

Prayer -

Message impacts all of us. Some of us are at the brink of I can’t take it anymore. The pressure if society is too much. You said if we would come to you, you would give rest to our souls. tired, exhausted, it’s too much Teach us how to be one handful people, to live on purpose, to focus on right things, not everything.. to have the courage to implement this message.

It all begins with you and God. You can’t receive this message until you connect with the one who wrote the book on your life. today if you are far from God… you may consider yourself a Christian, but he is not running your life, you are and you are tired… you are ready to surrender. Salvation is when you surrender to the Lord.

Jesus, thank you for ding on the ross form y sins. I receive what you did for me. Jesus be my lord and take over my life. I need your presence and your power. Come in me and change me. As best I can, today I give you my life.