Apathy-Signsandsolutionslast Updated: 3/24/2012 11:51 PM

Apathy-SignsandSolutionsLast Updated: 3/24/2012 11:51 PM

“Apathy: Signs & Solutions”

(Hag. 1)

Times & Locations Preached: Orleans March 25, 2011

Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 1:12-13

Accompanying Song: #“Sound the Battle Cry”

Subject: Apathy

Objective: To help us see signs indicating apathy may exist. To help us see some solutions.

Location:C:\Users\Mike\Documents\1 My Documents\1 Christian Topics\Bible Teaching Materials - New & Improved\Sermons\Topical Sermons\Apathy\Apathy-SignsandSolutions.docx

Introduction:

1. When Rosina Hernandez was in college she attended a rock concert where she saw one young man brutally beat another.
2. The next day Rosina learned that the young man who had been beaten had died as a result of his injuries.
3. For years, she was haunted with this thought.
4. Though she and several others stood by and watched, no one did anything to intervene or to help the man being beaten.
5. Years later, Rosina witnessed another tragic event.
6. One day she was driving. The rain had made the pavement very slick.
7. Suddenly, the car driving ahead of her skidded and plunged nose-first into Biscayne Bay.
8. In a moment, a woman appeared on the surface, shouting for help and that her husband was trapped inside.
9. This time, Rosina didn’t wait. She plunged into the water but she was unable to open the car door. As bystanders stood by and watched.
10. At first, she screamed, begging them for help. Still they stood there. Then she cursed them, telling them there was a man dying in the car.
11. First, one man, then finally others came to help.
12. They were able to break the glass out of the car and drag the man out.
13. They were just in time. Only moments later, and it would have been all over.

1. What is it about human nature that causes us to sometimes hesitate to get involved in things we know we should be involved in?

1. Just like the bystanders at the rock concert and those aimlessly watching a man drowning to death while his wife and another woman scream for help, sometimes a similar type of apathy can affect a congregation. Sometimes we know that we SHOULD do something but for whatever reason, we are not MOVED to do it.

Body:

1. Apathy: A Problem Among God’s People
2. True when the Jews returned from captivity (Hag. 1:2, 4, 9)
3. The Lord’s house had not taken top priority among the people
4. The people had spent time to provide homes for themselves – even paneled houses
5. It was not enough for them to be content to keep out of the weather, to provide shelter for themselves…
6. They lived in “paneled” (NKJV) or “ceiled” houses
7. Strong’ defines this as a home covered with “wainscot”, a type of panneling
8. Wesley comments that the word means their homes were “arched and richly adorned” (i.e they had made the time to build homes with architectural appeal and decorate the interiors) but they had not taken the time to rebuild the house of the Lord
9. The irony: the people claimed to be the Lord’s people...
10. They had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple…
11. They encounterd opposition and were discouraged from building the temple by people in the land (Ezr. 4:4-5)
12. After about 16 years of preaching the prophet Haggai finally gets through to the people and the building of the temple is resumed (Hag. 1:12-2:9).

1. What went wrong?
2. The people started to fear the voices of men rather than God
3. When we start a task and find that we face opposition, the easiest thing we can do is give up!
4. Remember: if we listen to every naysayer (even the little voice inside of our head), we will never be the people the Lord wants us to be!
5. The people stopped their work
6. Once the work is stopped, it is much more comfortable and to simply do nothing
7. Once the work has stopped, we lose momentum and it is often hard to get people motivated to get excited and working once again.

1. Apathy was a problem can be a real problem among the Lord’s people today

1. Like to begin by suggesting a few signs that may indicate the existence of apathy within a church and then to offer some solutions for apathy.

1. I want to begin with a simple thought from the scriptures:
2. (Mat. 6:33)
3. Speaks of placing God and His kingdom FIRST on your list of priorities
4. I want to remind us that when we fail to see the importance of applying this single principle in every aspect of our own lives, we have a problem of apathy
5. I am afraid we read this verse & understand it but then fail to apply its real meaning to our lives – placing God first above all else
6. It was a problem when the Israelitesplaced the building of lavish homes for themselves as a higher priority for themselves than building the temple…
7. And it is a problem for us when our own lives contain things that make the Christian faith a secondary pastime!

1. Signs That Apathy Exists In a Church
2. There are signs of apathy when people use the excuse, “I’m too busy.”
3. Martha seemed to be this way at times (Lk. 10:38-42) - too busy for the Lord
4. Once heard of a church that was having a preacher in for a week-long meeting
5. He was to
6. We are all given the same 24 hours in a day. What you CHOOSE to do with your 24 hours is up to you.
7. I would like to quickly examine several passages from two different aspects. Notice both the interest of the crowd and the reaction of Jesus:
8. (Mat. 4:25) He was followed everywhere He went.
9. (Mat. 5:1; 13:2) Seems the only way He could have a moment alone was to climb a mountain or get into a boat.
10. (Mat. 14:13) Wherever He went, once the people heard of Him, they rushed to him by the hundreds!
11. (Mat. 14:15) Even hunger would not drive them away.
12. (Mat. 12:15) “…He healed them all.” Hundreds of people in line – constant yet Jesus kept working.
13. Two things I would like to point out in all that we just observed: 1) what it means to be a disciple and 2) the interest of the crowds
14. Disciples are those who emulate their master.

a.)Could we ever be as busy as Jesus was?

b.)Did it ever seem like Jesus was too busy to involve Himself in the work of the Father?

c.)Jesus worked tirelessly!

1. Now I want us to think about the interest of the crowds that followed Jesus:

a.)Undeterred by long distances or by the opposition from religious leaders.

b.)I am sure they had other things that were very important for them to do from a worldly perspective: they had jobs, crops to tend, businesses to run, children and homes to care for…many of the same things that you and I would – these are not homeless people!

c.)Even hunger did not stop them from wanting to follow Jesus, listen to Him teach and be healed by His miracles!

d.)If these things did not deter the disciples during Jesus’ day, the minor excuses we could use should not deter us in our time either!

1. Now I want you to think about excuses people use today to explain why they didn’t make it to worship.
2. I have known Christians to use everything from family reunions to ball games, to jobs to other secular activities to you name it as an excuse why they did not come to worship the Lord and learn more about Him and to edify the saints.
3. If that characterizes you, then the Lord is not important enough in your life!
4. When we are saying we are too busy, what we are really saying is 1) we don’t really care or 2) that we are too distracted.
5. If you are too busy for the Lord then you are just too busy!
6. One should never be “too busy” to worship the Lord, learn more of Him and to encourage and uplift their brothers and sisters in Christ!

1. There are signs of apathy when people use the excuse, “I’m too tired.”
2. Jesus was a human being just as we are:
3. John spoke of how he “became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14)
4. He had the same feelings and needs that we did:
5. We see Him so tired that he is able to sleep soundly on a boat about to be destroyed by a raging sea (Mat. 8:24)
6. He spoke of being thirsty (Jn. 19:28)
7. He felt sorrow (Jn. 11:35) tells us that “Jesus wept.”
8. We are told He became hungry after fasting for forty days in the desert (Mat. 4:2).
9. Jesus could have oft complained about being too tired to complete His work (and would have been justified in saying so). His work ethic revealed within the scriptures:
10. Jesus began His teaching early (Jn. 8:2)
11. Jesus rose early to pray (Mar. 1:35)
12. Jesus sometimes spent all night in prayer to God (Lk. 6:12)
13. Other Godly men did likewise:
14. In Ac. 16:25 we find Paul and Barnabas praying and singing hymns to God at midnight
15. We find the apostle Paul preaching until midnight and beyond (Ac. 20:7)
16. There can be little doubt that these men were tired at times, yet we never read of Him using that as an excuse to skip worship at the temple or skip doing the will of the Lord!

1. There are signs of apathy when people complain, “I’m Bored In Church”
2. Church at Laodicea seemed to be this way (Rev. 3:16)
3. May be quick to blame it on someone else – Bible class teacher, preacher, etc. - they get nothing out of the classes/sermons.
4. True – there are effective teachers and not-so effective teachers
5. If they feel there ought to be more in the classes they could start by studying and bringing those “missing” points to light.
6. Illust. A friend of mine once told me the story of how when he was in college his goirlfriend (who would later become his wife) used to write him love letters.
7. When he got the mail that was the first thing he opened
8. He would read them carefully and consider each word, each phrase
9. He would smell them
10. He might read them over again and even later he might pick them up to read them again
11. Truth is, people find it awful hard to get bored with a topic they are truly interested in.
12. God has written us a love letter – the Bible
13. As my friend told me about that story I could relate – I did the same thing!
14. In fact, there had been other girls who wrote me in the past, sent me pictures
15. When I realized Carie was the one for me, I got rid of all of those other letters – kept only hers!
16. When we get interested in the Lord and His word, other things that would distract us from Him or take us away from Him are no longer an interest to us!
17. We will want to read what He has to say to us over and over again!

1. There are may be signs of apathy when you begin to “hear” apathy:
2. Lack of volume or enthusiasm in the songs we sing
3. “We’re Marching to Zion” – to be sung like a soldier convinced that He must go and fight for the Lord – fired up for battle
4. “Stand Up For Jesus” – song of encouraging, exhorting others to take a stand for the Lord!
5. No Preparation:Those who do not appear to have given much thought of what to pray for, whom to pray for but seem to pray the same things over and over.
6. Lack of spiritual conversations
7. Do you hear people discussing what they have been studying this past week?
8. Do you hear people asking questions to help them understand something in the Bible?
9. Do you hear things that indicate people are concerned about the direction this congregation/the church is headed?
10. Do you hear people expressing concern for lost souls?
11. Do you see men desiring to teach and striving to get better at it?
12. Do you hear comments in Bible class that offer evidence that people have studied and came prepared w/thoughts and comments for class?
13. Complainers
14. Not talking about someone who has a valid complaint
15. But someone who complains that something is not right – WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MAKE IT RIGHT?
16. Gossip
17. Apathetic about what harm gossip brings
18. Breeds disunity but they are cold to that – don’t care
19. Hurts their fellow Christians – but that doesn’t bother them – they spread the juicy word anyway!
20. Silence
21. When people come into our assembly and we fail to make them feel warm and welcome
22. When they fail to see our lack of excitement for the Lord and a concern for their souls
23. When we know there are lost souls but don’t share the gospel with them
24. When we see people in need but never open our mouths to ask how we can help?

1. There May Be Signs of Apathy When Sin Is Tolerated.
2. If sin reigns in your life…if you have sin in your life – when you are not as committed to the Lord as you ought to be and yet you are doing nothing to change it!
3. If you are not actively seeking a deeper spiritual life and molding and shaping yourself to be the type of person God wants you to be, then you are probably suffering from a bad case of apathy!

1. There May Be Signs of Apathy When There is a Lack of Work Being Done
2. When we are not accomplishing what the Lord wants us to do as individuals/congregation(Rev. 2:4)
3. Something happened that caused the church at Ephesus to “leave their first love”
4. V. 5 indicates what was meant and the solution to their problem (Rev. 2:5)
5. Remember what they are supposed to be doing
6. Repent & start doing what they are supposed to be doing
7. One thing I have observed in life is that excited people work harder
8. Sobering thought: Is this congregation doing the “works” that the Lord expects us to do?
9. When we hear of our brethren in need do we give sacrificially to come to their aid (cf. Ac. 4:34-35)
10. Are we putting forth to edify one another?
11. Are we evangelizing like we should? Where have you spread the gospel this week?
12. What have you done on your own, outside of the assembly to worship God? To grow spiritually?
13. Are we as guilty as the Ephesians of leaving our first love?

Conclusion:The Cure For Apathy

1. Get Your Faith Stirred Up!
2. (Heb. 10:24-26) “stir up love and good works”
3. Hard to stir up someone who will not come to allow their senses to be stirred
4. Two parts to this:
5. The stirrer and the stiree
6. One must be willing to exhort; the other to be exhorted, that is, to listen
7. If someone warns you of God’s message…

a.)How he wants you

1. and if you can find no fau

1. At the beginning of this lesson, we were reminded of the apathy that had plagued the Jews – how they were given the important task of restoring the temple of God in Jerusalem.
2. Because of setbacks and discouragements, the work never got done…
3. Instead the people became busy with their own lives – building elaborate “paneled houses” instead of working to rebuild the temple.
4. We have a temple to rebuild today!
5. Not the temple in Jerusalem
6. (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 3:17; Col. 3:16) Does this describe how you live your life? Is it a life that exists to live your life in such a way so as to glorify God in your BODY & YOUR SPIRIT?
7. Live your life with this focus in mind!

1. Grow
2. What that temple is built upon (1 Pet. 2:2)“that you may grow thereby”
3. Two things necessary to rebuild the temple (Mat. 7:21)
4. Thus not enough to merely come to the Lord – some came but busied themselves with doing their own will
5. What needs to be done – 1) COME and 2) DO HIS WILL!

Invitation:

1. If you are willing to do just that – to come & to do the Lord’s will we plead with you to do so today
2. If a Christian who has not done so – to change
3. If an individual who has never done so then you need to be aware of what God has said you must do to be saved: H-B-C-R-B-LR

Michel D. MahlerPage 1 of 8