[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Well, hey everybody and welcome to Highlands Fellowship. It's so good to have each and every one of you here with us at all of our different campuses and our locations and all the different venues we have online and on TV. We hope that you'll make yourself feel right at home because as we like to say around here, Highlands is home. So, welcome to each and everyone. And today is a very special day for us because today is baptism Sunday. And we talk all the time about how you need to take your next step. And we need to take our next steps as we follow after Jesus Christ. And baptism is one of those monumental days where you're putting a marker out and you're saying, "Today is the day where I'm going public with my faith. Yes, I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and I want to follow him with my life and I want the world to know that he is my Lord and Savior." You die to that old sinful nature and you're raised to walk a new life after Jesus. So today is a very special day and we're going to celebrate so many baptisms and life change. And so thank you for being here. I'm super excited. I hope that you are too. Looking forward to seeing what God does in the future with the people who are giving their hearts and lives to Christ. So let's go ahead and start and get into the message today. I want to start with a question and that is how many of you believe that God has made you for more than what you've experienced in the recent past. Okay. How many of you are believing that God has made you for something more than what's going on in your life right now? We're in week two of our series called Made for More. And we're looking into God's word to show us a better way to live and just more than what we've been experiencing. So, I I I do want to tell you that as we get into this week's message that I honestly believe that for many of you, this message has the potential to impact your life as much as any message that I give throughout the course of the year. Okay? And I I'm really praying and I'm really hoping that your hearts would be open to what God may want to say to you. I I truly believe that if you're open to the spirit of God that this message has the potential to transform your life. I believe that with everything in me. At the same time, I I just want to warn you. It's also going to be very easy for you to shake this one off. You might go, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, okay. That's good. I need to make some changes." And then you go on with your life as if nothing's happened at all. So, don't let that be the case. All right. Don't let that be you. Because if God wants to say something to you or God wants to show you something or God wants to change you in some way, I really want you to be sensitive to what God might do in your life. And I have I really have high expectations that God is going to be doing a lot today through this message and and through what happens after our message with baptism today. Because here's the deal. We're we're going to look at a lesson today that I promise you I promise you you will learn. Okay? You will learn it. You'll either learn it the easy way or you'll learn it the hard way. You may learn it today or you may learn it maybe even on your deathbed as you look back over years and years of your life with regret where you might say, "Oh man, I'd give anything to go back and to do my life over again." But here's the thing, you can't. You can't. And so I pray that you'll learn it today and that it'll make a difference in how you live your life each and every day. So what I think is one of the biggest battles of our lives is that our culture teaches us that you know with everything really that if one is good then two is what? Two is better right? You know I always thought that if playing one sport was good playing two is even better. If having $1 is good, having $2, that's even better, right? If having one car is good, then having two is better. If having one kid is good, then having four is better, right? And if one wife is good, two is not better. Two is not better. You don't even want that. Two is trouble. Let me go ahead and tell you that. Two is trouble. Don't even go there. You know, I always wondered I always wondered about King Solomon. like he had hundreds of wives. At one time a guy asked a seminary professor, he said, "Why did Solomon have so many wives?" And the seminary professor said, "So when he came home, he could hopefully find one that was in a good mood." Right now, that's funny right there. I'm sorry. I I thought that was funny. We got to lighten up. We got to have a little fun. Okay, we're just having a little fun today. Now, now if you go all the way back to the Garden of Eden, you can see a form of this lie that if one is good, two is better. You don't know the story. God created everything and he said that it was good. And then he created man and said it's good, but he's alone. So, he went into a deep sleep. He had the man go into a deep sleep. And God took a rib from him and he made Eve. And Adam saw Eve and he said, "Wow." You know, and he called her woman. And and God said, "Have fun, be fruitful, multiply. Eat from any tree in the garden except except that one. You can have anything you want, but not that one tree." And then Lucifer, Satan, who who was evil, he came in the form of a serpent. And and the serpent said, "Did God really say to not eat from that one tree? Because here's the deal. If you do, you're going to be like God. And what the serpent basically did was say, "Hey, you you've got everything, but what you don't have is what you need. More is better." Like, you've got everything, but what you don't have is what you really need to make you happy. So, why don't you get what you don't have? Because more is always better. So, here's our main thought for today, okay? It's the idea that it's better to have less of what doesn't matter and more of what does. All right? Less of what doesn't matter and more of what does. And it's a better way to live. So our main verse for our time today is Ecclesiastes 4 6. And here's what scripture says. It says, "Better one handful with tranquility than two hands full." All right? With toil and chasing after the wind. So, better a handful, one handful with tranquility and peace than two with toil and striving and stress and just chasing after the wind. So, so we could say it this way, better one handful than two. So, so why is one handful better than two? Well, if I've got one handful, guess what else I have? I have a free hand. And when I've got one handful and a free hand and somebody needs some help, what can I do? Well, I can give them some help, right? If I've got one handful and a free hand and somebody needs some encouragement, what can I do? I can encourage them at that point. If somebody needs a hug, I can give them a hug. If somebody needs something, I can actually help them with it because I've got some space. I've got some margin. I have another hand that I can help with. Because better one handful with peace than two with toil. Because if I've got two hands full and somebody needs a hand to help them up, I guess I just say, "Good luck. I'm praying for you." If somebody needs some encouragement, I can't even give them a pat on the back, right? Somebody needs a hug. I I can't help and it's not a good thing. But better is one handful with tranquility than two with toil. And and Jesus hit this principle headon in the New Testament. In fact, he was he was very hard-hitting with his words. And so, this is what Jesus said in Luke 12:15. He was talking to a group of people and he said, "Watch out." He said, "Watch out. Be on your guard." In other words, don't ever let your guard down or this is going to sneak up on you and may kick you in the high end. All right? He says, "Watch out. Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. More, more, more, more." Why? He says, "Because life does not consist of an abundance of possessions." Watch out. Be on your guard. Watch out for greed because your life does not consist of what you have. And here's the deal. When I say you were made for more, it's different than what our culture teaches us about having to have everything. It's different than that. And then Jesus told a parable in Luke 12 16- 21. He said, "Once upon a time, there was a guy who was very successful in his business. And the guy said, "Oh man, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to tear down my old barns and I'm going to build new ones, bigger ones, better ones. I'm going to kick back. I'm going to relax. I'm going to take life easy. I'm going to drink. I'm going to be merry. I'm going to be happy." And Jesus said, "On that very night, your life will be taken away from you." Why? Here's what Jesus said. said, he said in Luke 12 21, "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves, but is not rich toward God." This will be what it's like for anyone who just tries to to accumulate wealth and accumulate possessions, chasing after the wind, but doesn't have what matters most, which is a relationship with God. And I'm convinced that God doesn't care so much about what we have, but he definitely doesn't want what we have to have us. All right? He He wants us to be rich in what really matters. That's why it's just better to have less of what doesn't matter and more of what does. So better one handful with tranquility than two handsful with toil and chasing after the wind. So, if it's better to have, you know, what does matter, I want to ask you a a defining question that hopefully gives you some clarity in your life as to what really matters to you. What matters most. What matters most? So, right now, what I want you to do is I want you to think about it and I want you to answer. I want you to write it down. If you got a piece of paper, write down one, two, three things. What matters most to you? And it should be easy, okay? Write it down. Put it on the notes in your phone, whatever you got to do. We we actually have an app where you can pull it up and the outline is on there for you to take some notes as well. But I want you to write this down because this is very, very important. Now, if you're going, "Oh, well, I don't know what really matters." Well, let me help make it a little bit easier for you. Okay? So, imagine that you're going to the doctor and the doctor says, "I've got bad news. You've only got a month to live. 30 days to live. That's all you've got. What are you going to do in the next 30 days? What's important to you at that moment? That's what's important to you. So, if you're if you've only got a month to live, what's important to you? So, I want you to go ahead and I want you to write those down. Put it in your notes. And as you're doing so, I want to tell you about a few folks. I actually asked some people this question. said, 'What's most important to you? And so, let me tell you what they said. The most common answer was one in one form or another. God is most important to me. Whether it's pleasing God, glorifying God, knowing God, living for God. The second most common answer was my family or my marriage, my children, leaving a godly legacy or or leading my children to follow after Jesus with everything they have. Some people said my church. Some people said making a difference. Some people said making God known or showing the love of Jesus Christ. Some people said uh having all of my relatives and loved ones come to know Jesus Christ. And the list goes on and on and on with with very meaningful things. But here's what was shocking to me. And it may be shocking to you. It may not. But but let me tell you what was not on the list. All right? I'm going to tell you what was not on the list. Not one time did anyone say the amount of money that they had in their bank account. All right? Not a single person. Not one time did they talk about how much money they make or the job that they had. Not one person. Not one single person mentioned a single possession. Not the make and model of their car. No one said the size of their home. No one said the type of countertops that they had in their kitchen. No one mentioned the type of phone that they have or nobody even said about the number of followers or or likes that they got or subscribers that they have. And shocking, I know, right? No one said that those things were the most important. Yet so often the things that many people pursue didn't even show up on the list of things that are most important. So I want to encourage you to to really define clearly what is most important to you. And I believe the spirit of God is going to help you to let go of or to have less of what doesn't matter and more of what does because you were made for more than what this world has to offer. In fact, of kind of the picture that that I hope will stick with you in your mind, I want to encourage you uh to do is is what I call one handful living. Okay, one handful living. So many of us, we're we're grasping for everything, but better is one handful with tranquility than two with toil. So that kind of raises the question, h how can we live with one handful? How can we live a one handful life? And so I want to give you a couple of thoughts and and three real simple application points and and pray that God speaks to you in a way that will make a difference. So how do we live a one handful life? I want to encourage you first of all to let go of what doesn't matter. Seems simple, right? But let go of what doesn't matter. We're going to let go of anything and everything that doesn't matter. In fact, the writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 12:1 says, "Let us throw off." All right. What are we going to throw off? Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Why? So we can run with perseverance the race that's marked out for us. So let us throw off anything and everything that hinders. Now the Greek word that's used here is translated as throw off. Can also be translated as cast down. And this is like a violent throwing down or casting down. And that's really what we need to do, right? You cast down. You throw off everything that hinders and everything that gets in the way of the race that's marked out for you. And I hope that you'll understand today that there is a race that God has marked out for you. There is a race and there is a purpose and there is a plan. And God puts you here on this earth to do something significant. And your your spiritual enemy is going to say, "Hey, you know what about that? You you don't have that. You need that." And before long, we're chasing after the wind and chasing after some things that don't even matter. So you have to have discipline to throw that down and to cast that down. Cast anything and everything down. That does not matter. Now here here are three quick phrases that I believe will speak to many of you. So how are we going to do this? Well, let me just encourage you to pray about the these different areas. So we're going to cut back. We're going to throw out and we're going to turn off. All right. Cut back. Throw out and turn off. So we're going to start with a cut back. All right. We're going to start with cut back. Now, I don't know what you need to cut back on, but most people I know need to cut back on spending and on their schedule. Better is one handful. All right. Better less with tranquility and financial peace than two handfuls with a financial noose around our necks. Better is one handful with money left over at the end of the month than two handfuls with fights and worry and financial fears. You know h how crazy is it that in our world we that we we buy these things that we don't need with money that we don't have to impress people that we don't even like and then we worry and we're anxious about it as if we don't have enough money. But better is less with room to breathe. Okay. and schedules. I mean, listen carefully, okay? For some of you, it's time to get it's time to get very prayerful and very aggressive in cutting back on society's pressure to say yes to everything. In fact, what is the most common answer to the question in our culture when somebody comes up to you and says, "How are you doing?" How are you doing? What do people say? Well, they say, "Really busy?" Right? I'm busy. And I tend to fall into that category sometimes. I'm busy. I'm busy. How you doing? Busy. Busy. You know, when was the last time you came up to somebody and you asked them that question? You said, "How are you doing?" And they replied, "Man, I'm relaxed. I'm living I'm having time of my life. I I've got so much free time, man. I'm hanging out with my kids. Our marriage is going great. We're going on dates once a week. I'm spending as much time with God as I possibly can." No. What do you hear? Busy. Tired and busy all the time. And do you really think that God who says, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden or burdened and I will give you rest." Do you really think that that's the highest plan that he has for you? Because culture has lied to us about all the things that you must have and all of the things that you must be involved in. And it's time to say no to some things that everybody else is saying yes to. Because here's the deal. Many of you, you are going to have to say no to some good things in order to say yes to what is better. You have to say no to some good. You're going to have to say no to to what everybody else is saying yes to that you so that you can say yes to what nobody else has the ability to say yes to. And I'll tell you that I offend a lot of people, okay? I offend people on a regular basis. I mean, I get calls all the time, you know, hey, Pastor Tim, would you come? Would you speak or could you do this meeting? And would you come here and do this? And and on and on and on and on. And I have to say no a lot because I have a limited amount of time on this earth. And there are some certain things that I know that I'm going to give my time to. And there are other things that I know I'm not going to give my time to. And then there are other things that just to be honest with you, I shouldn't give my life to. And I have to say no to so many good things in order to say yes to what is the best. Just because you could do something doesn't mean you should. So let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. The second thing that we need to do is this is we need to throw out. Okay, we need to throw out. And some of you, you need to throw out a lot. All right, clean out the clutter. You I was talking to a friend of mine a while back and I said, "We need to throw out some stuff. We've got to." And he said, "Throw away as if your life depends on it because it does." Okay? And I love that phrase and I'll never forget it. He said, "Throw away as if your life depends on it because it does." I mean, how many of you have ever have ever been in a house that was built in like the early 1900s? Okay. I mean, that house may have had like one closet in it. Like one closet. Why? Because in 1910, that's all you needed was one closet. You didn't have all the crap that you got right now. Right now, now we've got multiple closets. Right? I mean, we got walk-in closets. And some of you guys, you have closets so big that you can walk in them and you can walk around them. like it's six laps around your closet and it's a mile. I mean, it's extraordinary, you know? And and so we've got these big closets, got these big cabinets, but guess what? That's not enough for all of our stuff still yet. So, we've got so much stuff that we have to move it out into the garage. And some of us, our garage is full, so it goes to our attic. And for some of us, we got so much stuff that we have to rent more space to put our stuff in. Why? Because everybody knows that stuff matters, right? Stuff matters. Stuff that's going to deteriorate and just burn up one day. So, if it's keeping you from being with God, if it's keeping you from being with his people, or it's just getting in the way of doing life without stress, it's time to get rid of it. Get rid of it. All right? It's clogging up your life. It's a waste. It's time to get rid of it. And then finally, turn off. Turn off. Now, I don't know what you need to turn off, but some of you need to turn something off. And I don't know what it is. I mean, I I got a pretty good idea. You like you probably need to turn off your cell phone, right? Maybe you need to turn off the video games, turn off the TV because you're wasting your life. I mean, literally, you spend more time scrolling on your phone or playing games than you do in the word of God than you do playing with your kids or than you do serving in your church. And you really can waste your life. And and here's the deal. You will never change the world watching Tik Tok. You'll never change the world watching Tik Tok. Why Why would you waste your life spending hours doing something that doesn't matter? Like seriously, we need we need to get real about this. And I'm telling you, just just watch. Just watch. You can you can go out to dinner and you can watch a really nice family of four come in and sit down at the table and everybody's talking to somebody else on their phones, maybe looking at whatever. It's ridiculous. Okay. And one reason I'm so passionate about this is because quite a few years ago, my wife Megan, she she she told me for a long time, she says, "You're on your phone too much. And I'm like, "Hey, I'm changing the world on my phone, honey. I'm talking to people, right? I'm building relationships, all these different things. You know, I think I'm important, right?" And then she ends up getting herself an iPhone. And I didn't see her for like six months, right? And I realized that my actions were actually affecting our marriage, affecting our relationship, affecting our family in a negative way. And we have to stay on guard about this because we can do well for a little while and then we can fall back into it. So what are you willing to do to change what you are currently doing in order for something that is so much better? For some it it could be no phones at the dinner table or no phones during family time. or uh maybe others. It could be a day a week where you don't use technology or your phone in the home where you just turn it off. Because better is one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil. I'm telling you, some of you need to get really, really serious and cut back, throw out, and turn off what doesn't matter. I'm telling you, throw it off. Cast it down. Let it go. And the second thing that I want to encourage you to do is this. Fight for what does matter. Fight for what does matter. What are we going to do here? All right. We are going to let go of what doesn't matter. We're going to throw it down. We're going to cast it down. And then we're going to fight for what really does matter. So, it's time to fight, guys. I I love the way that Nehemiah said it whenever some people were trying to talk God's people out of rebuilding the wall. And Nehemiah's like, "No, no, no, no. I'm going to fight for something that is higher." And he said in Nehemiah 4:14, he said, "Remember the Lord who is great and awesome." He says, "And fight for your families, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your homes. Fight for what's important." Like, draw your swords out and fight. Fight like a man of God. Fight like a woman of God. You got to fight for it. Don't let culture lie to you. Don't waste your life, but fight for what matters. Less of what doesn't matter and more of what does. Less of what doesn't matter, more of what does. Because God created you and he put you on this earth to glorify him, to make a difference with your life, to make him known, to love him, and to love other people. So don't sell out chasing after the wind, but watch out and be on your guard against all kinds of greed because your life does not consist of an abundance of things and the busyiness of life. Better is one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil. Your life is too valuable and serves too great a purpose to waste it on things that don't matter. You know, a large part of my life, I've been kind of a two- handful person. But I'm going to tell you right now, it's way, way, way better, way better is one handful with tranquility. Better is one handful and a good marriage. Better is one handful and children that you know and that you've spent time with. Better is one handful and making a difference with your life. Better is one handful and having some very close friends. Better is one handful and a great relationship with our God. Better is one handful and some influence. Better one handful and financial peace. Better one handful and love than two handfuls with toil and stress and panic and greed and chasing after the wind. This is the more that God made us for. It really is. And I don't know exactly what it looks like for you, but I'm telling you, if you don't shake it off and if you let this message speak to you, you can be different. Ecclesiastes 4:6 says, "Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind." Guys, I want you to listen to me. You were made for more. Would you pray with me today? God, I pray that you would do a work in our hearts and in our lives that only you can do. We try it all the time to overcome these different things. And we tend to struggle. We tend to fall into the same traps over and over and over again. But you tell us what's better. You tell us the more that we were made for. But yet, we don't always listen. And my prayer today is that we would recognize these things in our lives. And we would begin to make changes that would put us in a better position of following after you well, of having time for relationship with you, for having time for relationship with your people, so that we could know who you are more. we could have a better understanding of you, more knowledge, more understanding, so that we could take that and and turn it into the wisdom that you desire for us to have so that your Holy Spirit can bring it to our memory and that it plays out in our lives. But God, my prayer is that we would begin to know who you are so that we could act like you and live in relationship with you. God, help us to understand that just having more things is not what success looks like in the kingdom of God. But there are certain things that matter. And the people that are around us are what's most important because we want to give our hearts and lives to you. And as we do, we're going to love people well and we're going to lead them to you so that their lives can also be changed the way that ours have been changed. So today, if you've been living with, you know, this this two handful life where you're just grasping after everything, but you realize that it's not the life of significance that you desire. Today, you have a chance to follow after Jesus with your life. And I believe live a life of significance, one that's more fulfilling than you could possibly imagine because you're living it for the creator, your creator, the God of all things. And as you do, I believe he gives you this purpose and this mission for life that you can't get anywhere else. So if you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, take that next step in your relationship. I would encourage you to pray this prayer. Believe it in your heart. Confess it with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Say, "God, I believe that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to come to this earth to live a perfect life to save me from my sins. And if I give my heart and life over to you, which I am right now, I can be freed from my sin and and forgiveness of my sin. And today, I give my heart and life over to you. I want to take that next step and follow after you, guys. If you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that is the very best decision that you can make. Now begin the good work of getting rid of the things that don't matter and start living your life for what really does. Guys, I'm excited about what God's doing in our hearts and our lives and in our church. And I believe that we're going to see people experience life with Jesus in ways that we never have before because of your faithfulness and your boldness and your willingness to go out into our world and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. God, we love you. We praise you. It's in Jesus name we pray. And everybody said amen.