NEW NORMAL | Week 5 | Sermon · Rewind

NEW NORMAL | Week 5 | Sermon · Rewind

53 min

Pastor Bill Bush · Sep 4, 2023 · 8 min read · 53 min listen

Quoting the message: Live with margin so you can live on mission, end quote. — real spiritual health comes from personally investing in the church, not just consuming it.

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Scripture in this message

Matthew 6:19

Big Idea

The early church in Acts 6 grew because ordinary believers personally invested their time, talent, treasure, and testimony instead of just consuming church. Pastor Bill shows that most of us feel we can't do that because our culture leaves us with no margin, and because we've built our identity on what we do and have instead of on who God made us to be. The hope is that when we replace instead of just add, and root our identity in Christ, God supplies everything we need to live out the mission.</thesis> <parameter name="key_points">[{"point":"Growth in the church always brings groaning, because blessing brings burden.","explanation":"Pastor Bill walks through Acts 6:1-7 where the rapidly multiplying Jerusalem church runs into conflict between Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking believers over the care of widows. He notes this discontent is the natural friction that comes whenever God is doing something big, comparing it to Jesus' own words that His yoke is easy but still a yoke.","supporting_scripture":"Acts 6:1","timestamp_seconds":286},{"point":"The apostles' answer was not to do everything themselves but to equip others, so the church stays the church instead of becoming only a charity.","explanation":"Peter and the twelve refuse to abandon preaching and prayer to run the food program, but they also don't dismiss the need — they call the church together and have the congregation select seven men already serving to lead it. Pastor Bill contrasts this with a consumer mindset that expects the pastor to fix every problem himself, and warns against the 'social gospel' error of doing so much social good the gospel itself gets lost.","supporting_scripture":"Acts 6:2-4","timestamp_seconds":482},{"point":"The result of personal investment was explosive growth — the church grew even faster once people stepped into ministry.","explanation":"Pastor Bill points out that the number of believers 'greatly increased' after the seven were appointed, even faster than the 'rapid multiplication' already happening, showing that the church solved its problem not by complaining but by people personally investing.","supporting_scripture":"Acts 6:7","timestamp_seconds":847},{"point":"We invest personally in four ways: our story (testimony), our time, our talent, and our treasure.","explanation":"He unpacks each briefly — sharing your story can lead someone to Jesus, using your spiritual gift serves the body the way the seven Greek-named leaders served their own community, and giving time and money joins the cause rather than just consuming it.","supporting_scripture":null,"timestamp_seconds":1201},{"point":"Most of us feel we can't invest because we don't live with margin — a cultural problem, not just a money problem.","explanation":"Pastor Bill cites studies on 'regular rich' Americans who feel poor despite high incomes, and data showing paycheck-to-paycheck rates don't steadily drop as income rises, arguing lifestyle inflation eats any margin gained. He illustrates with Arizona's ranking as the most confrontational driving state, tracing it to people already stressed, angry, and late — proof of lives with zero margin.","supporting_scripture":null,"timestamp_seconds":1354},{"point":"Our culture teaches us to find identity in the 'what' — what we do and what we have — instead of the 'who,' the Lord who made us.","explanation":"He explains that job, status, possessions, opinions, and even good things like marriage and parenting were never meant to be our identity, only blessings. When Christians unknowingly adopt the world's identity system, hearing a call to sacrifice and serve feels like an attack rather than an invitation into the life God designed.","supporting_scripture":null,"timestamp_seconds":2182},{"point":"Margin is built by replacing, not adding — you have to make tough choices about time and money to create room for mission.","explanation":"Pastor Bill warns that simply adding church commitments on top of an already full life just increases the deficit, and when life implodes, the newest commitment (usually the spiritually important one) is the first thing cut. He gives the practical picture of giving 10%, saving 10%, living on the rest, and points out the average American actually lives on 123% of their income.","supporting_scripture":null,"timestamp_seconds":2743}]

Key points

1
1Growth in the church always brings groaning, because blessing brings burden.
Pastor Bill walks through Acts 6:1-7 where the rapidly multiplying Jerusalem church runs into conflict between Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking believers over the care of widows. He notes this discontent is the natural friction that comes whenever God is doing something big, comparing it to Jesus' own words that His yoke is easy but still a yoke.
2
2The apostles' answer was not to do everything themselves but to equip others, so the church stays the church instead of becoming only a charity.
Peter and the twelve refuse to abandon preaching and prayer to run the food program, but they also don't dismiss the need — they call the church together and have the congregation select seven men already serving to lead it. Pastor Bill contrasts this with a consumer mindset that expects the pastor to fix every problem himself, and warns against the 'social gospel' error of doing so much social good the gospel itself gets lost.
3
3The result of personal investment was explosive growth — the church grew even faster once people stepped into ministry.
Pastor Bill points out that the number of believers 'greatly increased' after the seven were appointed, even faster than the 'rapid multiplication' already happening, showing that the church solved its problem not by complaining but by people personally investing.
4
4We invest personally in four ways: our story (testimony), our time, our talent, and our treasure.
He unpacks each briefly — sharing your story can lead someone to Jesus, using your spiritual gift serves the body the way the seven Greek-named leaders served their own community, and giving time and money joins the cause rather than just consuming it.
5
5Most of us feel we can't invest because we don't live with margin — a cultural problem, not just a money problem.
Pastor Bill cites studies on 'regular rich' Americans who feel poor despite high incomes, and data showing paycheck-to-paycheck rates don't steadily drop as income rises, arguing lifestyle inflation eats any margin gained. He illustrates with Arizona's ranking as the most confrontational driving state, tracing it to people already stressed, angry, and late — proof of lives with zero margin.
6
6Our culture teaches us to find identity in the 'what' — what we do and what we have — instead of the 'who,' the Lord who made us.
He explains that job, status, possessions, opinions, and even good things like marriage and parenting were never meant to be our identity, only blessings. When Christians unknowingly adopt the world's identity system, hearing a call to sacrifice and serve feels like an attack rather than an invitation into the life God designed.
7
7Margin is built by replacing, not adding — you have to make tough choices about time and money to create room for mission.
Pastor Bill warns that simply adding church commitments on top of an already full life just increases the deficit, and when life implodes, the newest commitment (usually the spiritually important one) is the first thing cut. He gives the practical picture of giving 10%, saving 10%, living on the rest, and points out the average American actually lives on 123% of their income.

Application

Pastor Bill's charge is to stop consuming church and start personally investing in it by building real margin.

Invest your story
Look for a chance to share your own testimony and lead someone to Jesus yourself, letting the Holy Spirit work through you rather than leaving that to the pastor.
Give your time and talent
Use your spiritual gift to serve within the body, following the pattern of the seven in Acts 6 who stepped into a need they were already equipped for.
Arrange your finances to give
Move toward giving 10%, saving 10%, and living on the rest, cutting lifestyle inflation so treasure can join the mission instead of being consumed by it.
Build margin by replacing, not adding
Identify what to cut from your schedule and spending so that church, community, and time with God have real room, rather than piling commitments onto an already full life.
Root your identity in who God made you, not in the what
Stop letting career, possessions, or preferences define you, and receive the identity Christ already gave you as the basis for serving without resentment.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

Related passage

There is something quietly reassuring about the fact that the early church had problems. Acts 6 opens with a complaint — a real one, about real people feeling overlooked. And yet Pastor Bill pointed out that this discontent was actually a sign that something important was happening. The church was growing. New people were coming in. The blessing was producing friction, and friction was producing the need for a decision. It is easy to look at the tension in your own life — the overstuffed calendar, the stretched budget, the sense that you are always behind — and assume something has gone wrong. But what if some of that pressure is a sign that God is moving, not a sign that He has abandoned you? The early believers did not respond to the strain by scaling back the mission. They responded by leaning in with greater intentionality. That is the posture this week invites you into. Not denial that things are hard, and not guilt that they got this way. Just an honest look at where the pressure is coming from — and an open hand toward what God might be asking you to do with it. Growth requires adjustment. The question is whether we are willing to adjust toward what matters most.

For reflection

Where in your life right now does tension or friction feel like a sign of failure — and could any of it actually be a sign that God is at work?

Pray

Pray for eyes to see the pressures in your life as God sees them, and for the courage not to retreat from them.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message pushes on something most of us feel but rarely name out loud: the gap between wanting to invest in what matters and actually having the margin to do it. Before we dig in, what's one word that captures how you felt as you listened?

Discussion questions

1
In Acts 6, the Jerusalem church is growing fast — and the first thing that surfaces is a complaint. What does it tell us that discontent showed up right in the middle of genuine growth, and what might that mean for how we read tension in a community today?
Related passage
2
Acts 6:2-4 shows the apostles stepping back from food distribution so they can stay focused on prayer and teaching — and then asking the community to raise up others to carry that work. What picture of church does that paint, and how is it different from a model where a small group of leaders does all the ministry?
Related passage
3
Pastor Bill described four currencies people invest in a church community — story, time, talent, and treasure. Looking at those four together, why do you think all four matter? What tends to happen when a community is strong in some and thin in others?
4
Pastor Bill pointed out that the average American spends around 15 hours a week on social media, and argued that the margin problem isn't really a shortage of time or money — it's lifestyle inflation and a consumer mindset that expands to fill whatever's available. Where do you think that dynamic is hardest for people to see in their own lives, and why?
5
In Matthew 6:19-33, Jesus tells His listeners to stop storing up treasures on earth and to seek the kingdom first — and He ties those commands directly to worry and to where our hearts end up. What does Jesus seem to be saying about the connection between what we arrange our lives around and what we actually trust?
6
Pastor Bill's core challenge was to replace lesser things rather than just add more — to make intentional cuts so there's room to say yes to what God is actually calling us to. What makes the 'replace' move harder than simply trying to add good things on top of a full life, and how might a community help each other take it seriously?

Pray together

Courage to honestly look at what has crowded out margin, and trust that God provides what we need when we seek His kingdom first

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