Part of personal growth is finding balance in your life.

Doyle Jackson: 00:04 Hey, I just want to welcome you, to say thank you for watching online. You're here at the church next door. We believe that your life is important, and that's how we've taken the time to put these videos out there. I hope it's encouraging you and inspiring you, but why not stop by sometime. Come on a Saturday night, 5:00. Join us for worship or Sunday morning at 9:30 or maybe at 11:00. Either way, pick a time, and just stopped by to get to know the people of The Church Next Door.

Doyle Jackson: 00:34 Well Junior. This looks like your speed. I guess I'd give it a shot. Come on, get up here. Just hop on up. Focus on the horizon. Whoa. Look at this guy. I've always been good at anything that required balance. My doctor says I have gigantic inner ears. Unimpressed, it's a tightrope for babies. Boo! Alright, let me see you do it. Alright, let me show you how a real man walks across a flaccid cord. Who ordered the hot apple fail. Okay. I am just getting started. Okay? You've got this, this is all you. Got ourselves a yard sale.

Doyle Jackson: 01:52 That is so painful. I've had to watch that so many times now. And you need to know, the truth is this, balance always looks easier when you're watching somebody. Then when you've got to try to make it happen. See, balance is something we can learn. It's something that we can acquire. It's something that, it's a skill set in there, but yow, it's a painful process to learn. And it just because you see someone else can do it, doesn't mean you can just take it for granted that you can do it. I've watched these shows like HGTV, you know Chip and Joanna Gaines. They take what looks, I'm sorry, it's a pit and they turned it into a palace. And then everybody thinks, well, I've got a drill and a hammer, I can do it too. You know what I'm saying? Well, balance is the same way. There's certain skill sets you can learn, but it just because you own a drill and a hammer doesn't mean you can do that. And just because you got a rope and two trees doesn't mean you should start that. You know?

Doyle Jackson: 02:47 And so today we're starting a new series. It's called Accelerate. The reason is this, most of us are trying to balance our lives, we've got a lot of things going on. We're trying to figure out how to keep all that balanced. And we want to help you with that, so we're going to take the next five weeks today, and four more. Okay? So you're, I don't know, 20 percent through in an hour. Alright? We got you there, twenty percent of it, and so just keep going.

Doyle Jackson: 03:14 But this week we're going to talk about balance, because this is what we know. If you want to increase your speed, you have to be well balanced. If you want to get more done in your life, you have to be balanced. It's just a fact of the nature of the way speed goes. You have to be well balanced. Jennifer and I lived in the Middle East, you know, we lived in Jerusalem our first year of marriage. And we would watch these guys, and these women, that would go walking through the street with all these things on top of their head. Carrying this huge amount of weight, balancing it. We would see, you know, these guys in Egypt with a donkey, and they were carrying something twice the size of the donkey on top of it, they knew balance. And if you and I can learn balance, we can learn how to carry more in our life. So that's why we're investigating this. Would you do me a favor and welcome everybody that's following online right now. Just put your hands together and welcome them. Yeah. Awesome. Alright.

Doyle Jackson: 04:09 Well, if you would, get out your notes, I want you to follow along. There's a principle that I want you to have in your mind before we begin. Alright? And this is it. It's that God is enough, that God has enough for you. He has enough for me that God has enough wisdom. God has enough compassion. God has enough resources for you and I to get the balance in our life, to accomplish the purpose is that he has for us in our lives. If you've got your notes, if you pull those out, if you've got it on your app, if you'll it open up, I want you to see this. I believe that God invites us to live balanced lives. God wants you, he wants me, he wants us to live balanced lives. Because this is what happens, when you and I live balanced lives, it reflects God. It reflects God's order, and God's purpose.

Doyle Jackson: 05:07 Look what it says here in Proverbs chapter 28:2. You know we're starting Proverbs tomorrow. If you've been reading with us today, we're finishing up Psalms, and now we're stepping into Proverbs. This is what Proverbs is in a nutshell. It's everyday wisdom for life, everyday wisdom for life. Ancient cultures going way back, somehow we've lost a connect with this in our culture today. But ancient wisdom in every culture. Chinese, it can be Native American culture. You go to all these cultures, they had this belief that when the world was created, there were secrets and principles of wisdom. That went and we're connected to that creator, that creation aspect. And if you understood these secrets of wisdom, you could tap into the way things were ordered and planned and designed, within the greater system of the cosmos. They would write those down, and they were parables that they shared from generation to generation.

Doyle Jackson: 06:12 The Book of Proverbs, in the Bible, is a collection of those parables that King Solomon put together, but he grasped them. If you'll read through it and then begin to listen to it, he shows you some of the parables that he took from other cultures, and he applied them to it. And not all of them are religious, some are just practical everyday life in the way, you manage, your relationships, you manage your resources, and your time. Everyday wisdom. So listen to this one, Proverbs 22. It says, "A man of understanding and knowledge maintains order." See if you have real wisdom and knowledge, one of the things that you do in your life is you're constantly evaluating and making sure everything is orderly, because when it's orderly, you can do things more expeditiously, more economically. It's like my tools on the tool bench, it is a much quicker process to repair something, when I know where all the tools are and they're orderly. I can grasp them, and put them into play. See, when your life is an orderly, when your life has this balance to it, you can grab the things that you need and apply them to what they need to.

Doyle Jackson: 07:30 Several years ago, Jennifer and I went on vacation to Niagara Falls, and we gotten this package, I don't know if Jennifer got it or I did, but it had all these little coupons for different things that we could do in Niagara Falls. And we arrive, we drove up there in the evening. We got there kind of late at night. And we noticed that this one thing was a movie at the, I think it was called, the welcome center. And you went down in the basement, and you watch this movie. And we thought, well we got here in time, let's go watch the movie. And so we go to watch this movie, and I want you to know it was terrifying. Alright? So you know, think about it before you go watch the movie at Niagara Falls. But they take you down in there, and they tell you about all the people that walked across on tightropes over the river. Right over this, I'm sorry, it's a gorge, it's huge. And they tell you of all the people that died. Alright? They tell you about the woman, and I don't know how she and her dog ended up in a barrel, and they go over and survive. And then it tells all the other idiots who decided they would try it too, and they don't survive. I walked out of there like, we have to stay away from the river. I know we came to see it, but we got to stay away from it. You see, this is what happens in our lives. We get some information, but it's not all the information, it's not good information, and it doesn't mean that I was ready to go over the wire. Just be clear on this okay?

Doyle Jackson: 09:04 But you and I have to think about this. And what I want to do over this period of time, over the next five weeks, I want to give you some experience that I have, some wisdom that I've learned from other people that have shared it with me, and it's stuff from the Bible and the word of God. And if you'll hang with me, if you'll give me this time, if you will trust God in his resources. In the midst of this, I believe it can give you greater peace, greater hope, and yes, you can accelerate your life. But you're going to have to stick with me for all the sessions. Okay? And that's why it's important to get this order going in your life. Because see, the truth of the matter is this. It's really hard down in our gut, down inside, we really feel uncomfortable, because we know everything is not right inside.

Doyle Jackson: 09:49 Look what it says here in First Peter chapter five, verse eight. This is The Passion Translation. It says, "Be well balanced and always alert, because your enemy, the devil, roams around incessantly, like a roaring lion looking for its prey to devour." What's this saying? It says you need to stay well balanced in your life, because there are things are going to arise in your life, that are going to throw you off balance. The nature of life is this, something is going to come up, and it's going to change the balance in your life. So you've got to constantly be watching the balance in your life. Well, let's put it this way, real quickly. You get a promotion, woo hoo, good thing, right? Yes, but it throws off the balance in your life, because now you've got new responsibilities to learn, you've got new people to connect with, it changes it. How about this? A baby, add a baby to your household, it'll throw the balance off. It doesn't matter how good you are at babies, you can have six or seven, and add one more and throws it off, right Jack? Alright? See, you guys don't know, I'm actually talking to Jack right now. Alright? See, this is the nature of life, but there's also a negative side of it too, right? Get a flat tire, throw's your balance off for the day, your whole plan gets shot. And how about this, plan on having a taste of small groups on the patio, and it'll rain, then you got to move everybody inside. See, life is that way, and what the Bible tells you and I is this, that balance is key. It's important, because you're going to face difficulties. This notion that somehow you can find a pathway through life where nothing happens. (makes raspberry sound) That's my theological term for it.

Doyle Jackson: 11:48 Listen to this. This is the problem that we all face. I like this, it is a quote from Pastor Rick Warren. He says, "Most of us have a tendency to work on our public lives, and let our private lives slide." This is what we what he means. He says, most of us work on keeping up our appearances where everybody sees it, but we don't do the hard work of working on what's going on inside and cleaning up that part of our life. See, we're all great with the outfit we've got when we pull the door to our house and we leave home, but nobody is hoping that someone will just drop by and see, hey, can I just see what your house looks like with no notice? This is why door to door salesmen are not, there are none. Okay? And if you're planning, if that is your business model, you're in deep weeds. Okay? We won't let you in today.

Doyle Jackson: 12:46 See, we have a world that doesn't believe in dealing with the internal part of our life. We think we can mask it. That's why we like Facebook, because we pick what goes on. Why do we like the, you know, Survivor, why do we like Big Brother, all reality TV? Because they stick a camera in someone else's house. Alright? And we expose what their interior lives are really like. And see, this is the problem, there's two different lives that we're living. And what God invites us to is this, he says, you need to come to me, let me help you with what's going on inside. And guess what? They'll line up.

Doyle Jackson: 13:28 Let me tell you about my own life, true confessions, you know. There was a time in my life you need to know, I really love God, I was for God, I was serving God. I wanted God to know how much I loved him and all that, but privately inside, there were areas where I was saying, God, I really don't want you to have control over that area. So this is the way I worked it. I said, God, I've got this great plan for my life, God, you know how much I love you, you know my heart and this is my plan. Would you please bless it? And God said, your plan is a great plan Doyle, but it ain't my plan. And so the shift was this, I had to shift in my heart, in my life. And I had to say, okay, God, I'm willing to let you plan my life, I'm willing to accept your plan for my life, and I want to submit to that. And see when you find your God purpose, when you find your God, meaning when you connect with that, suddenly life begins to come together, and it's in balance.

Doyle Jackson: 14:32 And the reason we're taking this time for five weeks, is because we really believe if you will work on this, and you'll look at these different areas, God will begin to show you his pleasing, perfect plan for your life. And it'll add value, and strength, and energy to the way you live. Okay, so here's the problem, and here's the results. When you live a life where you work on your public life, but you don't work on your private life. So this is what we do. We work on really great pictures for Facebook, but we don't ever deal with who we really are. Here's the result.

Doyle Jackson: 15:06 Number one is frustration. Frustration. This is where we become frustrated, because this is what happens. We get angry because we know, we know that we're really two faced. See, we really know that we're a sham, and what it does is it creates frustration for us, and it creates anger. Because we're trying to keep certain people out, most of the people out, so they won't really know what we're really like. And that's just what's happened in the world in which we live today. Nobody really experiences community, because we're living this two worlds. The only people who will know really like our family, and all that's why we're having trouble at home. Okay? Creates frustration.

Doyle Jackson: 15:51 Second result is this, it's fatigue. Now, why are we tired? Why are we exhausted? Because we're trying to live two lives. God only gave you one, and so what we're trying to do is you're trying to keep up these, this appearance, and we're trying to juggle this, and this whole time, have you ever seen those jugglers? You know the guy who's juggling a bowling ball, a knife and a running chainsaw at the same time. I'm like, I watched it. I'm like, how do they do that? How do they get insurance? These are the questions that I ask. You know, what does their insurance policy look like? You may feel like that right now. You may feel like in your life. That's me, I'm trying to juggle way, way, way too much. What God says is this, if you will stop juggling all that, come to me, let me show you what to juggle. Alright? Let me show you what really matters, and what's really important. That's what we're going to do over the next five weeks, And these are the five areas that need balance, in order to accelerate your life. Okay?

Doyle Jackson: 16:57 Here they are. Know this first, know his first, Jesus is our perfect example of balance. Okay? Now, why is this important? In Luke 2:52, this is what it says. I didn't write this scripture down, you can read it, you can double check my memory. Okay? Luke 2:52, it says, that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. What's this means is this. Jesus stepped into our world, he came as a baby, he was fully human like you and I, he grew up. He had a mom and dad. He had to deal with the same problems you did, and family life. He had brothers and sisters, had deal with all that stuff. He grew up in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man. He lived in the world the same way you and I did, in order to give us an example of the way life should go. And wherever Jesus went, he saw people just like you and I, and it says in the scripture he had compassion on them. He had compassion, because he saw that they were weary, he saw that they were worn out, he saw that they were harassed, that there was an evil in the world which they faced. And there was just difficulties in life. There were rainy days, and there were hot days, and there were all those kinds of things that you and I face. See, Jesus watched that, and this is what he said, this is what he said. He said, all you are weary and heavy laden, come to me, and I will give you rest. I'm telling you, Jesus is more than enough. More than enough.

Doyle Jackson: 18:28 Alright, five areas. Number one, Mentally. You and I, in order to have a balanced life, we have to get our mental state stabilized. It says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is. That which is good, and acceptable, and perfect. You have to change your way of thinking. You have to say, God, I need a new mind, I need a new way of thinking. Because I've been thinking that my plan was the perfect plan, but apparently you have a perfect plan. Would you begin to show that to me. See, in the process, your best friend needs to become the holy spirit. God's Holy Spirit is described in scripture as a comforter, a counselor, a friend, and a helper, and the holy spirit will help you sift through your life and what's going on. If you will, welcome the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit that will begin to nudge you, and say, really? Is that a healthy choice you're making? Is that a good choice for you mentally? You see what I'm saying? So number one is mentally.

Doyle Jackson: 19:33 Secondarily is physically, okay? In First Corinthians, chapter six, it says, "That your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit." See some of us, we think that our body is just a gift for us to use for own pleasures, that we think it's our body. It's my body, I can do with it what I want to? Really, if the Holy Spirit is meant to reside there, are there certain things that maybe ought not be happening? See, oh my body is so out of control, I'm so addicted. Jesus is more than enough. He can help you with that addiction. I promise you, the Holy Spirit wants to set you free, he wants to help you. God's spirit. That is why Jesus said, all who are weary and heavy laden.

Doyle Jackson: 20:20 See, thirdly, the next area of our life is spiritually. Spiritually, you were designed as a spirit. God breathed life into us. Okay? You are a spirit. In second Peter, 3:18 says, "But grow in the grace, and the knowledge, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. See, as you grow in God's grace, your spirit begins to grow. Can I say, this is the problem that most of us have when it comes to our spiritual life. We thought that we would grow spiritually, the same way we grew physically. You know what I'm saying? You're born, and you just naturally grow, and then you reach your height. But you're not really being honest about that, because your parents had to make sure you had good nutrition, right? Your parents had to make sure you had clean water. See, by virtue of growing up in a culture where all that was readily available, see you didn't worry about all that, but it was being provided. And then what did they say? Get on the bus and go to school. You said that a few weeks ago, right? Why? Because you realize that your children need to have an education and grow. Why is it we just assume we're going to grow spiritually? That's the reason most people never grow spiritually. You have to feed your spirit, you have to do the right things to help your spirit grow and mature, in a and approach life healthily. We're going to give you some keys on that. That's why we're doing this. But the number one key to growing spiritually is just becoming intentional. Realizing you have a spirit, and feeding it. The same way you become intentional with your physical body. Become intentional.

Doyle Jackson: 22:00 Then if you do that, it says emotionally, that's number four. Emotionally. See, when you welcome the Holy Spirit, and you're taking care of your body as a temple for the Holy Spirit, and your spirit has beginning to grow. Than emotionally, this is what happens. The Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, functioning in a healthy body, and a healthy spirit, and a healthy life, is good emotions, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. But realize this, the fruit will not grow unless you nurture all that other stuff around it. See, the fruit grows on a tree, because you've got it in good soil, and a good life, and you're feeding it. See Fruit? Listen, I've had trees that didn't bear fruit. I know people that don't bear the fruit of the spirit. Don't just assume it. And so we're going to show you how to do that. Okay?

Doyle Jackson: 22:53 And then finally the last, the last section is socially. Romans 12:16, it says, "Be of the same mind towards one another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." See God designed you as a social being, to be in relationship with other people. That's why this weekend we're doing a taste of small groups.

Doyle Jackson: 23:20 One of the things that you're going to learn in the process, over the next four weeks is this, that there is a healing that comes to your soul, your spirit, and your life, when you live in community, and you do life with other people. And the reason we're giving you a taste of small groups this weekend, is we want you to begin to look at it and say, okay, well maybe I could hang out with those people. Maybe I could do that group, maybe that group would fit me. And so we've got the different areas, you know, whether it's a men's small group, or a women's, or it's a couples, or singles, or if it's a specialty group, we want you to go around and talk about that. Why? Because God is going to help you. He is more than enough. But he provides his community, brothers and sisters, to be with you on that journey.

Doyle Jackson: 25:11 So how do we make that happen? How do we get started in balancing our life, our personal life? How do we get started on that? I want to know. I want to know. I'm going to give you the keys, right now, to how to get started. Okay? You might want to write this down. The first thing you have to do is take an inventory. You have to do a self-evaluation. You have to ask yourself, how am I doing right now in my life? And some of you right now already, I've been talking. You begin to think, Oh man, I know that something's not right in my life. You just feel it in your gut, or you knew before he even walked into here today, man, my life is so out of balance. I really hope this guy says something worthwhile. I don't want to waste this hour. I get that. Look what it says, this proverbs again. Proverbs 14, "It takes wisdom for the clever to understand the path that they are on, but the fool is deceived by his own foolishness. What's this saying? He's saying that the wise person, this is ancient wisdom here. The wise person stops, and evaluates which path they're are on. They look back and they see where they've been coming from. They look ahead and they know where they're going, and then they make an evaluation. Do I need to make an adjustment? Do I need to make a turn? But this is what the fool says, it doesn't matter where I go, I'm going to end up somewhere anyway. The fool is happy with the same results they've always been getting, the fool has no desire for better.

Doyle Jackson: 25:52 Couple of years ago, Jennifer and I decided that we didn't want to work all of our lives, and so we made an appointment with a financial planner. And we went into the financial planner, and we said, we've decided that we don't want to work forever. And so he began with a series of questions for us. He said, can you answer these questions? We answered those questions. He said, okay. Then he gave us a packet of questions to answer, and he sent us home. It was a self-inventory. I just wrote this guy a check, for him to send me home with homework. I'm like, this is not compute. I just gave him money, and I need more money. He sent us home. We do all this work together. You know, we're pulling out files, we're looking at all this stuff, we're writing it down, we're answering all these questions. Then we have to make another appointment. We go sit down with him, we push it across the table, he looks at and says, so what do you think? I said, dude, I'm paying you. He said, well, what do you think? I mean you think you got enough? How do you think? I'm like, why am I paying this guy, you know? But the reason was he was trying to help us see, help us to get that personal inventory.

Doyle Jackson: 27:12 Then this is the second piece of this. Okay? The second piece is write out an action plan. So when he asked me, so how you think I'm doing? This is what my response was, well, clearly I need to spend less money, and save more money. He said, you're right. Smart man. I'm still thinking why I hired him. He said, but this is how we're going to help you do that. He helped us write out a plan. Look what this says. I love this verse from Ephesians 5:15-16. I like it because it's from the voice translation, and it's a little smart Alecky. So be careful how you live, be mindful of your steps. Don't run around like idiots as the rest of the world does. Instead, walk as the wise, make the most of every living and breathing moment, because these are evil times. So you and I, the reason we need to make an action plan, the reason that we need to evaluate, the reason that we do these two things, is because we have the time and because that's wise. Okay.?

Doyle Jackson: 28:30 I don't know, 10 or 15 years ago, I met this guy by the name of Jim Weideman. I was at a conference in Oklahoma. He's now become a friend of mine, Jim said the most profound, powerful, thing, he says, in this meeting I'm in. He says, you're going to lose what you don't manage. Remember writing that down. He said, if you don't manage something, you'll lose it. Let me give you an example. He says, if you don't manage your health, you'll lose it. If you don't manage your time, you'll lose it. If you don't manage your relationships, you'll lose them. You don't manage your money, you'll lose it. If you don't manage your business, you'll lose it. See, if you don't manage your life, you're going to lose it. So, the ultimate question then, the most important person I will ever lead? Is myself. See, the most important person you'll ever lead is yourself. When you lead yourself, you're telling yourself things like this. Be careful what you say, because it impacts your relationships, and the people around you. When you lead yourself, be careful what you eat, Doyle, because that's going to impact how much time you have, how much energy you have, how long you have. See managing yourself. So this is what I live for you to do right now.

Doyle Jackson: 30:02 Everybody get out your papers. I want you to look at this. Some of you, the pressure right now is too much for you to answer all the questions right now. You can do it at home, but some of you, this is the only time you'll ever do it. So get it out right now. I'm going to give you the time, okay? How well am I leading myself right now in the following areas of my life? Number one. Physically, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being low, 10 being awesome, okay? How well would you like at your house? Do you have mirrors in every room, because physically you're doing so good, or have you banned mirrors from your house? I mean, don't bring that thing in here. I don't want to look at me. See physically, how are you doing it? So why physically are you in that condition?. Then number two. Alright? Intellectually, are you a 1, a five, an 8, a 10, Intellectually. Listen, can I be honest with you? There's certain seasons of our life went intellectually, this is rough. I mean if you have preschoolers, you may be the smartest person in the room. However, your intellectual level is lowered everyday by the programs you watch, and the time, you're like, I'm turning into mush. At other times in our life, you know, we're being challenged mentally. See what I'm saying? Intellectually. Number three, socially. Socially, how are you doing? When was the last time you made a new friend? When was the last time you made a new relationship? When was the last time you felt like because of a relationship that you had in your life, you felt better about life, better about the world. Or are all your relationships draining on you? Is everyone in your life need to extra grace, every time you're with them?

Doyle Jackson: 32:04 Number four, financially. How am I doing financially? Am I at peace with that? Listen, can I tell you I'm one of the things that I've seen a lot is this. We always compare ourselves to the people around us financially. You know what I'm saying? We compare the items they have, that's not what finance is about. It's not a comparison game. It's with what you have, is there a contentment there, and is in balance in your life?

Doyle Jackson: 32:34 Okay, spiritually, how am I doing? We've already talked about this. Don't just assume you're going to grow spiritually. When's the last time you did something to grow spiritually? The reason I'm reading through the Bible constantly, the reason I'm doing that, is to grow spiritually. I am so amped, got up today, I read my last three psalms in the Book of Psalms, and I'm like, Oh God, you are awesome, I just want to worship you. And then we came here and sang Alleluia. I'm just like whoa, this is cool. See, I'm looking forward about Proverbs. What are you doing spiritually to grow?

Doyle Jackson: 33:13 Number six, you're whether you're married or single. How's that working for you? How would you rate yourself right now? Why is it that way? See, I don't believe everybody's meant to be married. Now, some of you are married right now thinking that's me, I didn't mean you, you have an agreement and a covenant. Don't take me there right now. Behave. If you're married, you're in, you need to work on it. Okay? A lot of people, they think, well, I'm married, so that's all I got to do. I've got the license and a ring. Okay, that's not the way mine works.

Doyle Jackson: 33:48 Can I tell you about that? Several years ago I realized...next is parental, how you are you doing parentally? A couple of years ago I realized my son's needed something in their life, and the wisdom answer for that solution in my life, you know it was? Spend more time with Jennifer. See, that's counterintuitive. But what I realized was this, if I spent more time on relationship with Jennifer, and I worked on that area of my life, it raised the God presence in our home and gave them what they needed. Your kids need you fully engaged in your marriage, okay?

Doyle Jackson: 34:42 Vocationally, that's about your occupation, how are you doing? Are you guys still paying attention? Are just listening to me? You're circling, you're circling? Are you a 5? A 10? I'm a 12 pastor, you don't have enough on this scale for me, right?

Doyle Jackson: 34:59 Avocationally, that's about your hobby. Your maybe your minor occupation. Have you got this side thing going on? Have got this side thing going on, that's really what you look forward to every day? That's great. Keep growing on that. By God's grace one day, that may be the main thing that you do.

Doyle Jackson: 35:17 Okay, and then finally, emotionally, how are you doing today? This is where the rubber hits the road. I took this sermon, you've got to know, we were working on this for a couple months. Week, and weeks, we've been working on this series, and I went to meet with a friend. He's a professor of New Testament. And I said, here's my sermons, this is what I'm doing. And I got here, and I opened this up, and I said, this is what I'm planning on doing. And he looks at this, and he looks across the table at me and he goes, this is gold. I said, excuse me? He said, this is gold. I said, you got to you got to unpack that one for me, Tom. And he said, man, nobody ever preaches a sermon where it's so practical, it's so straightforward and it helps them make a self-evaluation. He said, you got to stay right here. You got to stop. Let them really think about this, because this could be the turning point for people's lives. I said, okay, Tom, I'll do it, I'll do it, it's no problem. I already wrote it down, you saw that was in the sermon, right?

Doyle Jackson: 36:24 But this is where the rubber hits the road. If you'll look at this list now, what are the three areas you need to give your attention to over the next three months? If there's one thing I've learned about fall in Columbus, is most people in Columbus love fall. Okay? So why not make this the best fall ever? Write out those three things, and know this, these three areas may not be all the areas where you have ones and twos and threes. Because sometimes it's more important to work on your marriage, than it is your finances. Sometimes it's more important to work on your spiritual life, than it is your physical fitness, because you've neglected it for so long. And you may be feeling like you're doing okay spiritually, but you realize I'm not where I ought to be for a person like me, or the responsibility that I have. But you need to do a little Holy Spirit invitation. Which one of these, which three of these are the most important for me? And you write those down.

Doyle Jackson: 37:41 I don't know how long ago it was. I love my job, you need to know that, and so I was just working and working and working and serving God, and you know, it's good stuff. And I was working so much, I was working so hard, and I was doing so many things. Okay? One day I woke up and the room was spinning, my bedroom, I was laying on my bed and I said, Jennifer, the room is spinning. She said, no, it's not. I said, in my head, it's spinning, You know when you go to the carnival, and they put you in one of the barrels, and you spin it really fast, and the floor is going around in circles and when you get off, and you're going like that? I couldn't get out of bed, and I think one of the boys had to drive me to the doctor. I say, will you take me to the doctor? And I was like, I was trying to keep from, you know... And we go to the doctor, and the doctor's looking in my ears, he's checking my eyes, and checks my temperature, and all that. So he said, I can't find anything wrong with you. They sent me to the eye doctor. They sent me to the ear, nose and throat doctor. They did all this stuff. They keep trying to check me out, and figure this out. And in front of me they came back, they said, well, when was the last time you rested? I said, I don't need to rest. I ain't got time for that. They said, clearly something else is speaking. You see, sometimes you find out when your world is blowing apart like that, falling apart like that, that's when you're finally at the stage when you're ready. That possibly you could say, okay, if perchance chance I got you before your world started spinning, and you chose to do this evaluation and take it on, trust me. That is the wisest thing you could do. If you could learn from my mistakes. Do not wait so long that your world has to go (spinning).

Doyle Jackson: 40:30 The next piece is to begin to write an action plan for that. Okay? The next piece is to begin to say, okay, what would it look like for me to be more balanced in these areas? I had to learn to rest, I had to learn. Okay, tonight at 5:00 PM, Deeper Life, I'm going to teach you how to make an action plan that is motivating. What I mean by that, is an action plan that you want to make happen. I'm going to teach you the keys to that tonight 5:00 PM at Deeper Life, it'll be in the chapel. Okay? And if you want to watch online on Facebook, we'll put it on Facebook live, but if you do not have Facebook, then you will have to come visit me in the chapel. Okay? I cannot do any more than that. Okay? I'm doing that. But if you want to do that, you can watch online, and I'm going to give you the keys to take this to the next level. Okay?

Doyle Jackson: 41:29 At this time, the worship team is going to come back, and we're going to take up an offering. And the reason we put the offering at the end today is because on this little connect card at the bottom, it says, my response to today's message, we want you to give your offering. We ask you to do that every week, that's how we make this place happen, it's how we worship God in this place. But what I really want is everybody to take out this card. Alright? I've turned in two this weekend, so this one is blank. Okay? I want you to write down your name, and I want you to say, God, this is where my life is out of balance. Look, that's all you've got to write there. Or I feel like these are the three areas, or maybe on the prayer side, you're going to write a little bit more.

Doyle Jackson: 42:13 I told you that Jennifer and I went to Niagara Falls. I got a picture or two for you. I think I've got a picture or two for you. That's Jennifer and me At Niagara Falls. Okay. The reason we went to Niagara Falls was part of this learning experience for me. I had to learn that I had to invest in my marriage, and in rest, and being a balanced person. Okay. And that was about putting my wife, and God, in the right place in my life so I could spend the time the way I was supposed to. One of the neat things about that, I mentioned it earlier, this is Niagara Falls. And they used to stretch a big cable across there, and these death defying guys and gals would come and walk across on the high wire. And there's a story about this guy who came and he walks across the high wire, and he goes across, and he comes back and then he grabs this wheelbarrow. And he takes this wheelbarrow, and he throws it up on the high wire, and he says, how many of you think I can walk across the wire with a wheelbarrow? And everybody goes, sure you can do it, yay. And then he has this dude help him put these big bags of potatoes in the wheelbarrow, puts a 150 pounds worth of potatoes in the wheelbarrow. He says, you think I can do this? And they go, sure you can. And he was walking across Niagara Falls, turns around and comes back, dumps out the potatoes, and he says, how many of you think I could take a live person across? Suddenly the crowd gets kind of quiet. Mm? And he says, who in here believes I can do it, and is willing to get into the wheelbarrow? The reason that I come to church each week, the reason that I worship God every week, is I made a decision in my life to get into the wheelbarrow. I believe that Jesus is the one that's holding the wheel barrel that keeps me balanced, and I'm trusting him.

Doyle Jackson: 44:28 What I'm asking you to do today is to put your card in the offering, and say, God, I'm all in. See, It's one thing to say I trusted God back in 1990, whatever. Okay? The question is, am I going to trust him this week? And the reason every week I bring God my offering, is I say, God, I'm still trusting you for my health, and my life, and my finances, and for my balance, I'm still doing it. And what I want to tell you today is this, I've been trusting God for year after year, after year, after year, after year after year of my life, and he is more than enough. And I'm in inviting you to begin to trust him. Just take that little step today. Today write it down. What are the areas I need help with? God, I feel like it's spinning out of control. God, I need you. And I want you to put that in the offering today as a testimony to God. Okay, Lord, we bring these prayers and praises. We bring our lives to you, and we offer it to you today as a testimony that you are more than enough, and we're looking to you in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Give your offering to God, give your lives to God and sing with Sam. Alright?

Sam: 49:36 (Singing)

Doyle Jackson: 49:40 At the end up your worship folder, at the end of your sermon, it has a prayer. I want to invite you to say this prayer with me. You can listen to it first. It says, Lord, I thank you, that you can help us to live balanced lives. Thank you that the principles of life are found in your word. This fall I pray that we will accelerate our faith as we become balanced people. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. I invite you to say that with me, as just a confession of faith, as an invitation to God to come and help us. Lord, I thank you, that you can help us to live balanced lives. Thank you that the principles of life are found in your word. This fall I pray that we will accelerate our faith as we become balanced people. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. I hope you'll hang around. I hope you'll visit the groups, and I think they have pizza, they have donuts from Schuler's in Springfield, they have popcorn, they have all sorts of fun. Get to know some of the small group people. Please don't forget your children. Okay? You can bring them out, and they can have some popcorn with you.

Doyle Jackson: 51:07 Hey guys, if you've enjoyed what you've been listening, and been encouraged in your faith, or somehow God has answered a prayer from being a part of The Church Next Door online. Do me a favor, shoot me an email to pastor@tcnd.org, just pastor@tcnd.org, or like me on Facebook. Send me a message. God bless you. Have a great week, hope to see you soon.



Recorded in Columbus, Ohio.