OceanSide church of Christ




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Busy Here and There
by: Dalton Gilreath

I.              Introduction

A.   Benhadad, the king of Syria, wanted the riches of king Ahab (1 Kings 20:1-43)

                                          i.    Ahab immediately conceded to Benhadad

                                        ii.    However, the elders of Israel confronted Ahab about his decision

B.   God prepared Israel for battle and the victory was theirs

                                          i.    God told Ahab Benhadad would try again and he did

                                        ii.    Benhadad lost the battle and wanted a pact with Ahab

1.    Ahab made an agreement with the pagan king

2.    He was supposed to destroy him

C.   A prophet had himself beaten and disguised himself to teach Ahab a lesson

                                          i.    He told Ahab he was to watch a soldier but was “busy here and there” and let him go

                                        ii.    Ahab believed he should be punished and the prophet revealed himself

1.    Ahab was the man who let the soldier go

2.    His excuse was being to busy

D.   Christians today often say they are too busy to get involved with the church

                                          i.    They might be attending regularly but that is the only time we see them

                                        ii.    The problem lies with the heart/mind

II.            I am too busy to be involved

A.   A lack of involvement denotes a heart problem

                                          i.    Jesus talked to a man who wanted to follow Him (Luke 9:61-62)

1.    The man had to first go tell his family goodbye

2.    Jesus says no man looking back is fit for the kingdom

3.    This man had his priorities out of order

                                        ii.    Jesus was the one who said to put the church first (Matt 6:33)

1.    Principle – “Seek” (cf. Heb 11:6)

2.    Personal – “ye”

3.    Priority – “first”

4.    Place – “the kingdom of God”

5.    Pattern – “His righteousness”

6.    Promise – “all these things shall be added unto you”

                                       iii.    Nothing can come before the church and will of God

1.    Some use family, work, and other reasons taking their time

2.    Using these as excuses makes us no better than Ahab

B.   A lack of involvement denotes a misunderstanding of individual responsibility

                                          i.    Joshua told the people his family was going to “serve” the Lord (Jos 24:15)

                                        ii.    We are servants for God or Satan there is no middle ground (Rom 6:16-18)

1.    Does being involved only 4 hours a week sound like a servant?

2.    A servant is devoted to his Master always

                                       iii.    Paul describes the body as having many different parts all of which are equally important (1 Cor 12:12-27)

1.    Some may feel they have no purpose in the body like a vestigial organ

2.    Whether you are the eyes or the appendix every part has a role in the body

                                       iv.    When  Mary poured the precious ointment on Jesus head the disciples were unhappy about it

1.    However, Jesus said she did what she could (Mark 14:8)

2.    Every man is responsible for doing what he can

                                        v.    Whether you have ten talents or one you have a role to play

C.   A lack of involvement denotes an erroneous view of the church

                                          i.    Some might view the church as they would a school system

1.    It is an agency that hires workers (1 Cor 9:6-10)

2.    The agency exists to serve the “students” (Eph 3:21)

3.    The agency exists only when it assembles (Heb 10:25)

                                        ii.    The church is about serving one another and God not self

1.    We want people to serve us but we don’t want to serve others

2.    This line of thinking is therapeutic religion

                                       iii.    Queen Victoria misbehaved growing up until she learned she was to be queen

1.    Then she straightened up and learned her manners

2.    Maybe we need to be reminded of our higher calling in Christ