Better: Week Three


BETTER week three
BETTER ONE HANDFUL

· We all have areas in our life that are good & bad.
· Been that way for so long we come to accept them as normal.
· What if I told you those same areas could be better?
· We settle for life as it is, why? Because it’s normal.
· We love normal but long for better.
· Normal is the enemy of better
· Beth’s questions: What’s your normal and what can you do today?
· Pray

· What defines better?
· As consumers, we have our own definition...If one is good, more is better!
· More money. More stuff. More activities.
· Adam & Eve. Satan told them a lie!
· More is always better—what you don’t have is what you need!

IT IS BETTER TO HAVE LESS OF WHAT DOESN’T MATTER AND MORE OF WHAT DOES.

Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. Eccl 4:6

· Why is it better?
· It allows us to have a free hand to: Help someone, give, encourage...

15 Then (Jesus) said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15

· Build bigger barns—take life easy!
· This very night—your life will be taken from you!

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." Luke 12:21

· Better to have less—of what doesn’t matter—and more of what does.
· Question: WHAT MATTERS MOST?
· One month to live.
· Facebook answers - God’s will, Jesus, family, time, security, approval, relationships, purpose, rest, freedom, peace, being content, love
· Not on anyone’s list—Leather sofa. Make & model of car. Countertops. Square footage of house, Twitter followers. Kind of phone. High score favorite game.


ONE HANDFUL LIVING

1) LET GO OF WHAT DOESN’T MATTER.

…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. Heb 12:1

CUT BACK: Spending & Schedules

THROW OUT: As if your life depends on it.

TURN OFF: Idolatry, retweet, liked your facebook post, Delete apps

2) FIGHT FOR WHAT DOES MATTER.

Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." Neh 4:14

· Less of what doesn’t matter and more of what does!
· My life is too valuable, calling too great, my God is too good to waste my life on meaningless things.

Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. Eccl 4:6

WITH ONLY ONE HANDFUL

YOU CAN HELP SOMEONE.
YOU CAN GIVE.
YOU CAN ENCOURAGE.
YOU CAN REST.

Eccl 2:17-23

17 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. Prov 17:1

9 Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Eccl 6:9

16 Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. Prov 15:16

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