Kingdom Duty

Today my message is titled kingdom duty. I want to read you a couple of verses of scripture. Luke chapter 17 verse number five. And the apostle said to the Lord increase our faith. So the Lord said if you have faith as a mustard seed you can say to this malberry tree be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea and it would obey you. And which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep would say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and sit down to eat? But will he not rather say to him, "Prepare something for my supper and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterwards you will eat and drink." Does he thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise, when you have done all of those things which you are commanded, saying we are unprofitable servants, we have done what was our duty to do. So Jesus telling a story here said if you have you know someone that you had hired to work for you and then they did their work and part of their job duties was to also prepare a meal for you would you then turn around and go above and beyond to thank them for what you had asked them to do to start with and no you wouldn't do that because it was their duty.

It was their job. It was what was asked of them to do. Mark 12:43. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, verily I say unto you, this poor widow hath cast more. Everybody say more. More. Cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury. For all they did cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even even all her living. In the early months of 1776, the American colonies were at a crossroads. Tension with Britain had been simmering for years because of the unfair taxes in the presence of British troops, and the lack of representation that they were given. There were petitions and peaceful appeals, but none had shifted the crown's grip. And what had already begun in 1775 was still not this unified cry for independence until a sense of duty took hold of the people. It was not comfort that led men like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to draft the Declaration of Independence. It wasn't popularity that drove 56 men to sign it, knowing full well that it could cost them their lands, their families, and some even their lives. What drove them was a sense of duty, a conviction that freedom wasn't just worth fighting for. It was their God-given responsibility to secure it for the next generation. So on July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence.

And it was two days later on July the 4th, the final wording of the Declaration was adopted. The bells ring in Philadelphia not just because of liberty but because of courage that it takes to fulfill one's calling to give their best no matter the cost to them individually. And it was just like those founders that you and I should be gripped with a sense of not just national duty but of kingdom duty. A holy responsibility to not only live for Jesus Christ but for you and I to serve faithfully and answer the call that God has placed in our lives. Duty is not always glamorous. It doesn't always feel rewarding but it is always right. And ladies and gentlemen, Centerpoint Apostolic Church, it is always worth it. Our freedom was purchased with the sacrifice of others and so was our salvation. And both of those things call you and I to a sense of person because purpose because duty demands our best. Duty demands our best. The words that I want to focus on in this message today is the words duty and more. God does more and God's desire is that you and I do more than just simply live for ourselves. More is not self-determined. It's not an independent word. More is a comparative word. We do not judge our best by some arbitrary standard. But we understand and realize that we are to do our best by that little word, by giving more.

These two words are intrinsic to each other. They depend upon each other. And I have some hard questions to ask you and I here on this Sunday in 2025. Are you really doing your best? Are you, ladies and gentlemen, are you doing your best in life? Are you the best husband and the best wife that you can be? Are you the best son and the best daughter that you can be? Are you the best student and the best musician and the best singer and the best writer? Are you the best employee that you can be? Are you the best Christian that you can be? Are you the best worshipper? Are you the best teacher? Are you the best giver? Now, you may be saying, "Well, Pastor Kevin, why are you asking these questions to me today?" Some of you may be even a little bit offended by me daring to ask you to cause you to think about whether or not you are really giving your best. Is not anyone else concerned about how I do? Yes, there may be others, but I promise you that there is one who's very concerned with whether or not you are truly giving your best in this life. His name is Jesus. If no one does their best, then the whole suffers. the whole family, the whole church, the whole community is dramatically affected. So this phrase doing your best, in my humble opinion, I feel like it is so cliched it hardly means anything anymore.

Be honest. Be honest today in the house of God. Be honest with yourself. Be honest about the world. Be honest about the society that we live in. Our educational system now rewards mediocrity and non-achievement with so much that that it seems as though we have produced a society that does not care. Our best is called our best even when it's little more than our worst. It's quiet today. I figured it would be. Study after study shows that American students are falling further and further behind in math and science fields than studies students that are in other countries. Doing our best has come to mean just getting by or meeting the minimum requirement. And what I'm afraid of, not only does that apply in our education system and in our society and in the workplace, but somehow that has spilled in the back door of the church, that as long as I can a minimal effort, as long as I showed up, I should get an award for just being present in the house of God. When God has never called us to just simply be present, but he's always had a calling and a requirement, dare I say, a demand for you and I to live a life of abundance and more. Not just abundance in things and possessions that are there. We always get on board when we talk about those kind of things.

But what about abundance and giving of yourself sacrificially when it comes to the kingdom of God? What about that sense of urgency? What about that sense of duty and calling and purpose that should be alive in each one of us sitting in this room today that I was created for something more? Not just to consume myself, but my God purposely gifted me and talented me and give me things in my life for me to be used in his kingdom and for his purpose and for his glory. It's a call for not minimum but the maximum effort that I can give to the kingdom of God. God calls us for more. Praise God. Jesus said it best that there's more than you and just you and I getting by. He said in Matthew 11:12, "And from this time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, moving forward." That is his kingdom purpose and plan. Not to lose ground, not to go backwards, not for us to for us to just be happy and content for the status quo, but a calling to something more, something greater, something bigger than me. Do you do you live a life for something that's bigger than just you? Do you live a life that's something that's bigger than just your kingdom, just your bank account, just your house, just your education? Do you live for something more than just those things?

They're not necessarily bad inside themselves, but is there a greater calling and purpose to what you do each and every day than just getting up and going through the motions of work and going through the motions of school? Is there a greater purpose and sense of duty and calling you? I pray to God there is. I pray that there's something greater inside of you because I know you were designed for more. You were made for more. God has gifted you and given you talents and abilities to be used for his kingdom purpose. There should be a sense of duty that rises up and says that God has given me some responsibility to do more than just simply show up. I'm not trying to belittle America today, but it does suggest that there is a systematic failure in what's going on in our society. All of us have something at stake here. No one takes pride in anything anymore. No one cares. How many of you have sensed that? How many of you are frustrated now when you when you go and it seems like people just wherever you go, you go to go to a restaurant, you go to a to a store and it's just like the employees that are there that we should just be happy that they look at you and we wonder what's going on and we wonder why these companies are so willingly replacing everything they can robotically.

No, I'm not I'm not here to kick any trash cans over and make anybody mad, but we need to wake up not only as a society, but specifically we need to wake up as a church. We need to wake up that that God's not happy with just the fact that you showed up. He's not happy with the fact that you know how to raise your hands when the songs are sung. He's not happy that you that you threw the 20 in the offering plate. I'm talking to a group of people who I feel like understands that you have a sense of duty and purpose that that goes beyond even being patriotic about the country you live in that there's something that's higher calling. I'm talking about the kingdom of God. That you have a purpose in the kingdom of God. You have a place in the kingdom of God. Yes, the Bible talks about you being called to be saints, but I don't even feel like that is fully fleshed out as much as it should be. The importance of you just being a saint of God. There is a kingdom duty and there's a kingdom purpose and a kingdom plan for your life. Here we are. We have double standards, right? Because we sometimes will go through and we'll give a minimum effort except when it directly affects us because here's what we do when we when we got to have a surgeon.

We don't go for the mediocre surgeon. Like we get on, we read Google reviews, right? I don't want anybody operating on me that you that made a 70, right? I don't want to be the guy who's like, "Yeah, you know, 70% of the time his surgeries are effective." I don't like that. I don't I don't want to take a chance on those kind of things. You know, when we look at we're going to look have to have our car worked on and we read that, you know, most of the time I have to take it back in because they didn't fix it the first time. We don't want that, do we? don't want to go to the place that it says that, hey, when they prepared my food, it was undercooked. We don't like that, do we? avoid those places. But yet, let's be honest. How many times have you come in here and gave a half-hearted praise to God? How many times have you come in here when you had abilities and you had you had the ability, but you said, you know what, I came to be served and not served? How many of you are involved with ministries that only require minimal effort when you know good and well God's called you to higher things? Why do we have this double standard? Why do we do this to ourselves? We want the best.

Why do we not want to give our best? Why do we not hold ourselves to the same standard that we hold other people to? It's important to understand that God has a judgment system in place. Oh, I said the word nobody likes to hear in church. Well, don't judge me, Pastor Kevin. Don't judge me. Like, I don't want to be judged. The truth of the matter is you judge everywhere you go. We're always judging. We're always determining. You don't believe that. It's a true statement. You do. You determine. You judge yourself. You hold people to standards that they're not even aware that they're being held to. You do those things. But I'm not talking about me judging you. I'm talking about what God has placed in his word. 1 Corinthians 3:12. Anyone who builds on the foundation may use it in a variety of materials. Gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, and straw. But on the judgment day, everybody say judgment day. Fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. And if the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer a great loss. It's not me, but a lot of us are doing kingdom work that I'm afraid won't stand the test of fire. I have a message for the church today.

It may not be the message you want to hear, but it's this. If God has given you a duty to give your best to the kingdom of God, it should be your desire to fulfill those things. He did not invest himself into you. He did not give you his grace. He did not get he give you the ability to do all these things just to have you waste it any way you want. Amen. I know. I know it's quiet. I told myself in the office this is going to be one of those quiet messages. But I'm okay with quiet because I feel like you're processing these things because this is something we have to process. We got to think about this that you and I have a calling. You and I have something that we were intended to do that God has placed inside of us. I was in a meeting just a few weeks ago that caused me to stop and think about what we're doing. And this meeting it was talking about the lack of numbers in involved in ministry. It's scary. You begin to look up Pew Research and they're talking about how many pastors are walking away from the ministry because there's nobody to fulfill the pull pits anymore. Young people don't feel that burden of that call to take up and commit themselves to the kingdom of God. It's shocking these numbers are there.

And I want us to realize that it's time for us not to lower the bar of commitment, but to raise the standard that is there. I feel like what I'm seeing in my own personal walk with God and what I'm seeing with the people I talk with is that there's a genuine desire for hungry people to get fulfilled in what the word is saying, not just to entertain. There has been for a long time in inside of mainstream Christianity this entertainment factor that is there. And I thank God for those things. I know it gets talked about a lot. I love that we have our building. I love we have the technology and we're going to keep doing all those stuff. But if that's the only reason you come, God help us. Take it all out. Take it all out. put us a tent out in the front yard because it's not about these things. It's about being in the presence of God. It's about understanding that he gave his very best for me at Calvary. He didn't give a half-hearted effort. He didn't what the reason he wrestled around in the Garden of Gethsemane is because he was understanding the very high price he was being asked of him, what he had to commit. And you've heard me say it many times, what went on in that garden was a will alignment. He had to align his will with what God's calling was for his life.

And I wish there were more people who were willing to get a will alignment today to say, "God, I know you've called me to be more than just a pew setter. That you have a you have a purpose for me." And to feel that sense of duty inside that rises up when the time is right. I'm here to tell you, guys, we're living in the last days. Wake up and look what's going on all around us. If you're waiting for the right time to be in church, now is the right time to be in church. Today is the day of salvation. I'm trying to wake the church up. Don't slumber through this process, but let there be a sense of duty and purpose well up inside that God wants you to do something for the kingdom. Not just attend a church, but to be the church each and every day. I'm afraid that if we lose our sense of duty, we'll become convinced that it's the best that we can be. And if we do that, our prayer rooms are going to lose the sound of intercessors and travailing. I thank God for everybody that goes to that prayer room before service today. The presence of God was in there. It was so sweet. I'm here to tell you that some of you, some of you have intercessory prayer in you. But can I just be Can I just be real and transparent?

You're being lazy. You're being lazy. We need more than just a now lay me down to sleep kind of prayer. But I'm looking for some people that I know that God has gifted you through the through the through the through the aspect of intercessory prayer that God has placed that on you. It's in your spirit. You know who I'm talking to today that it's been a while since you've been on your face in that prayer room that you have the ability to reach out and touch the throne room like other people don't have that it's a gifting that lays on you. Where are our intercessors? Where are they at? There's more than just one or two in this church. I promise you there's an army of intercessor prayer warriors that are here and we're never going to fulfill our mission and our kingdom purpose without you. We need you there. We need more people that are willing to teach. We need more for the Where do you get that living for God is something you do that fits into your schedule? the audacity that the creation would look at the creator and demand what he can do for us. Instead, we should be looking in here and saying, "God, what is it that you require of me?" Now, I'm not talking about salvation by works. And I rebuke the person who thinks that right now in Jesus name.

I don't I don't believe in salvation by works. But I do believe that if you are truly saved, there are works that you will manifest in your life. It will manifest. They were there. I don't know how you read this and walk away from any other conclusion that your life will be radically different after you have been filled with his spirit. Radically, not a little bit different. Not a little bit different, but radically different. Radically. There'll be a radical change about you. The everything you look at gets filtered through this. Every decision you make gets filtered through this. You will be different in that approach. But I'm afraid that we we're so happy and we're so content with just a little move of God here and coming into the atmosphere. And I can still feel the presence of God. And I'm thankful that you can still feel the presence of God. But that's not your kingdom purpose feeling the presence of God. That's not you fulfilling your sense of duty and purpose. Just that you can feel God. I'm thankful that you feel God. But have you asked the God that you're feeling what it is you want me to do with my life? Is there something bigger than just me going through the motions of a job and going through the motions of entertainment? I'm afraid we're being lulled to sleep the whole time.

The enemy is happy. Hey, I can't make you extremely bad. I'll just keep you preoccupied with entertainment over here and entertainment because that'll keep you from never being fully embracing the purpose you were created for. You will not be success. You will not be a success measured on your job title or on your college degree or how big your bank account is or you holding some elected office. Again, those things are all well and good. I mean, I feel like as being a person who follows after Jesus Christ, you should rise to the top everywhere you're placed. You should be the best employee. You should you should be the best employee. You should be the not not as Paul said, not just men pleasers, right? So, he's talking about what's men what's men pleaser. that's just only doing what you're supposed to be doing when they looking at you. But whatever you're called, whatever you whatever you're doing, you do it unto him, unto him. They may never they may never pat you on the back. They may never tell you how much you really are worth at that company you work for, but it's not about them. It's about him. It's always about him. Everything you do is about him. Everything you do in word or do you do it all to him, to him. To him. You're doing it for the king. For the king.

All of heaven is waiting for you to give your best. And all of hell is wanting you to grow content with just being good. Did you hear that? I'm going to say that again. All of heaven is waiting on you to give your best. And all of hell is waiting on you to grow content with just being good. I hope you're ever you're locked into what I'm trying to preach today. I hope this is making sense. His desire is to cause you. The enemy, he's going to do everything he can to cause you to stumble or convince you that you're no good because of your past mistakes and failures. Look, we make mistakes. I say we me collectively with you two. We make mistakes. We have shortcomings. We have failures. Thank God our salvation isn't based on what you and I can do, but it's based on what he has already done. He was enough. He was enough. He was enough. He was enough. He was enough to die for our sins. He was enough to take care of the penalty of sin. He was enough. He was enough. You and I don't have to worry about being good to be saved. You I don't have to worry about qualifying all of our good deeds in order to be saved. He took We couldn't do it. You and I couldn't do enough good deeds. There's not enough good in us to make that happen.

But he handled that situation for us. But what he did is he sent that same self spirit that got him out of the grave to live inside of you to guide you and direct you and every day. And when you make a mistake, you ask for forgiveness and know that he's just to forgive us of those sins and to cleanse us. He'll take care of those things for us. But don't let it be a disqualifier. Just because you stumbled, get back up. Well, pastor, you don't understand. I stumbled 100 times. Well, 101 times, get up. Rejoice not against me, old man. When I fall, I shall arise. There's going to be times I'll stumble. There's going to be times that you stumble. There's going to be times you're going to make the same mistake a couple times. But don't let that be a reason why you stay down. There's greater things inside of you. Let that sense of duty say to you, I cannot stay on the ground because I have a kingdom purpose and a plan. I may have stumbled, but I'm going to get back up because I know there's a destiny that he put inside of me, and I'm going to fulfill it with everything I have. There's a kingdom duty that we have to live up to, ladies and gentlemen. I love to drive that spirit of I I've made mistakes and I'm no longer good for the kingdom.

I want to bury that stuff. It's buried under the blood of Jesus. Why are you trying to dig it up? I don't care what the enemy is trying to say to you. Stop listening to him. Start listening to what he said about you. Start applying what he speaks over you. Start looking at what he has planned for you. The expected end for great things that are there. Start listening to those things. Stop block out the negativity. Maybe there's some relationships you need to get rid of in your life. If they're going to keep pushing you down, then kindly walk away from those things. Even Jesus walked away from some people. So if he had to walk away from some people, that should be a clue that you need to walk away from some people. Here's what I know. The greatest singers have not yet sang. The greatest preachers have not yet stood behind this pulpit and preached. The greatest missionaries have not yet acknowledged their call. The best worship songs have not yet been written. They are still sitting in this congregation today. I want you to know that you're bigger than your mistakes and you're greater than just sitting on a pew. And it's time for you to rise up and embrace your duty and give your best because he gave his best at Calvary. If you're not demanding the best from yourself, how can you expect the best from God?

How can you expect that? Where are you at, ladies and gentlemen? Where are you right now? I bring you back. Are you giving your best? Are you giving your best or are you always easy to accept the excuse? Here's what I know. If I need an excuse to not do something, I can find it every time. Every time. And it ain't even hard. I mean, if I don't want to do something, my brain can work so fast and I can come up with so many reasons why I'm not going to do it. I know I'm not alone in that. Anybody willing to be bold and raise their hand with me that you're just that same way? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Last several years I've been trying to be better, trying to exercise more. You know, I'm a pretty avid runner. Pretty been cyclist now. I do I do a lot. But I'm going to tell you, every single morning I have to talk myself into it. Every single there's not been one day I've ever jumped out of bed and said, "Yes, I'm getting to exercise today. Can't wait. Every time I start a run, you know how I start it? Oh, this is going to hurt. Oh, come on, joints. Come on. Let's go one more time. Let's go. Well, but I do it because I know it's good for me. Now, I know you guys think, maybe you don't.

I don't know. Maybe. Do you guys think ever I know you probably think that as pastor that when I wake up in the morning, it's like it's like that that Cinderella Snow White scene where the birds are bringing clothes to me and chirping and breakfast is made right there. And God is saying, "Pastor Kevin, I'm so glad you are here today. I would love to talk with you. I've had some things on my mind. I would love to know your perspective about this. Yes, Lord, I'm here today. Thank you. I'm going to say it doesn't happen ever. I've reached that point in my life where about every month something new hurts. I hadn't quite got to where it's every week or every day, but there still like once a month I'm like, "Wow, does that always do that?" Yeah. I don't think this goes as high as it used to go. Yeah. What am I saying? I face the same things you face every day. I have frustrations. I have of things that don't go according there. There there's so many things that I feel like you think, well, the ministry didn't have to deal with that. That yes, we do. I'm still a human being. And here's the deal. There's times I don't get it right. There's times that I have to go say, "Hey, I'm sorry." There's times I realize that I didn't give my best effort and I asked God to forgive me, but I don't stop because there's a kingdom duty and purpose inside of me.

And that's not just because I'm pastor. It's because I'm a human and God created me that way. And he created you that way as well. Mark chapter 12. I want you to take notice here. Now, I'm fixing to do something that is guaranteed 100% of the time to shut a service. Like, I'm fixing to throw a wet blanket. You ready? You know how you throw a wet blanket on a service? Anybody know? There's one surefire way to do it. I'm gonna talk about money. I mean, some of you just are making like why don't you pay attention to the story? Mark 12:41, Jesus sat down near the collection box. Now, I'm just want to draw out who sat there. Jesus. Now, imagine with me for just a minute. If we only had one collection box and I purposely set my chair by that one exit in that one box and I watched you walk out, would anybody be uncomfortable? Like, man, I got a pastor sitting right there watching. Now, I don't do that. But guess who did do that? So, I don't think we can draw any other conclusion other than he was watching who was putting what in the box. You guys on board with that? In the temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Verse 42. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.

Jesus called his disciples to him. All right. All right, now here we go. You got to got ahead of your thing. The one collection box, one door. Jesus is sitting there. He's watching what's going on. She puts in two two small coins. And then he says, "Hey fellas, come here." He didn't walk away to the other corner. He brings them all there where people are still putting stuff in the box. I'll tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on. So, Pastor Kevin, what are you saying? Well, this is what I'm saying. Jesus watches. Jesus sees the heart and desires of our hearts and then he takes inventory because he knows us. He then speaks into our hearts and says, "What are you doing? You're reaching into your storehouse, but are you really bringing your best? Now, this is talking about money, and this obviously applies to money, but I'm talking about ministry today. I'm talking about a kingdom duty and a kingdom purpose that the Lord's watching. And I feel like the same principle applies because here's the deal. He said she gave more. She was poor. I don't know if he pointed her out. I mean, he kind of feels like he maybe pointed out say, "Hey, she gave the most that was there."

I'm sure that really just made the rich people mad. Like, she gave two coins. Did you see what I gave? But he makes the point. He says, "No, no, no. You went into your warehouse. You went into your abundance. You went into your calendar. You went into all your availability and you said, "You know what? I'm willing to give this." And God should be happy because I'm giving him this. And she went in and said, "This is all I have. I give you all of me. And Jesus said she gave most. See, ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking about your kingdom duty today. See, back in 1775 when they were frustrated because they were being taxed without representation and they were frustrated because they didn't feel like they had a voice, there was this sense of duty that rose up in them and said, "This isn't right." And they started talking amongst themselves saying,"Hey, we got to do something about this." Well, hey, if we do that, who are we going to rise up against Britain? Britain will take us out. And the reason you and I live in this great country today is because there were men and women who recognized, hey, there's something bigger than worrying about what might happen to me. There's a generation coming that's going to be impacted on the decisions that I make. And I pray today that that we as a church could understand there's a generation that's depending on you giving your best for the kingdom.

For you rising up and saying that I have a sense of purpose and duty and responsibility. Not just to come and be consumers. Not just to come and get my fix. Not just to come and sit and enjoy a good service and then leave and go back and do everything else I want to do throughout the week. and then I'll come back in next Sunday and I may sign up and volunteer for one group here, but I'm not going to commit myself to I'm going to go into my storehouse. I'm going to go into my calendar. I'm going to go in and say, "Hey, this is this is a good amount. I'm going to give this amount of time. I'm going to give this amount of talent. I'm going to Did you see by doing this that that from it was from the point of worth that they gave? How much is he worth to you? How much is he worth to you? Cuz the widow said, "He's worth all I have." The rich said, "I can spare this. This is not too inconvenient for me. This will make me look good, but it really it didn't cost me all that much. God, forgive me from ever giving you less than what you gave for me. God, you didn't go to Calvary and said, "I'm willing to give part. I'm willing to just take one nail.

I'm willing to just take a crown of thorns." But you willingly laid down your life and you gave me all. Who am I to give anything less back in return than all of me? Now listen to me. I'm getting ready to close. I am because I feel his spirit moving right now. It is moving in this place. I'm trying to wake up I'm trying to wake up somebody in this place that you have more kingdom purpose than you are using right now. You have a higher sense of duty than you're acknowledging in your life right now. There's much more to you than what you're doing. And I want you to know it's from your sense of worth you give your worth of him. What does he mean to you? What does he mean? As I as I as I bring this to a close today, I think the Lord took me to 2 Kings 13. There's a story in the Bible about the prophet Elijah. He's on his deathbed and he's meeting with the king Joash from Israel. Israel is under siege from Syria at the time and Joash was so desperate to hear a word from the Lord. So we pick up on this conversation. So to make it clear, there's a dead pro or a dying prophet and the king's coming to speak to him. So on his deathbed, the prophet's going to speak to the king one more time.

The kingdom is under siege. He's wanting a word. It says this verse number 14 of 2 Kings 13. Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him to weep over his face and said, "Oh my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen." And Elisha said to him, "Take a bow and some arrows." So he took himself a bow and some arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow." So he put his hand on it. And Elisha put his hand on the king's hand. He said, "Open the east window." And he opened it. And Elisha said, "Shoot." And he shot. And he said, "The arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria, for you must strike the Syrians until you have destroyed them." Then he said to the king, "Take the arrows." So he took them and he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground." So he struck three times and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria till you have destroyed it. But now you will strike Syria only three times. To me, this is a sad case of just doing enough to get by. Now, you may be saying, "Hey, Pastor Kevin, the prophet didn't tell him how many times to strike."

I feel like this story is in the Bible as a representation of what happens when you give just enough. He already told him, he said, "The representation of the arrows is going to be you striking you striking Syria." You would think, Sister Bran, I was thinking about this because this story's bothered me before. I don't know if it's ever bothered you. This bothered me because I'm almost like it's unfair till God spoke to me and said he wasn't nearly mad enough about what Syria was doing. Not nearly mad enough. Syria was destroying what was going on. There should have been such passion and zeal inside of him for the man of God to say, "This arrow that you going to shoot, this is you striking Syrian now. Take those areas and strike the ground." He should have been like until the arrows broke. He should have been pounding the ground with them. But he wasn't. He gave just enough. I feel like I'm speaking to somebody today, some man, some woman, someone here today that you've been given just enough. And because of that, the enemy still has a hold on you because you've not nearly been mad enough. Because if you were mad enough, you'd be obedient. You'd be saying, "God, it's my sense of duty and purpose not just to be someone who attends, but to someone who's in the kingdom working for the king."

When you work for the king, you don't give a half-hearted effort. Not for the king. Not for the king. The king gave his best for you. So, I'm here today as I end this message just wondering if there's anybody who's willing to say, "You know what? I haven't been given all that I should be given." I promise you this, ladies and gentlemen. Before I ever got here this morning to preach this word, I spread myself out across that altar in my office and I said, "God, please forgive me for half-hearted efforts. Please forgive me for the times that I've just gone through the motions. Please forgive me for me accepting less than my best as pleasing to you." And it wasn't an easy prayer to pray. And God and I had a good session this morning. I was really open and honest with him and I committed myself again. Lord, I'll give you my best. I give you my life. That's all you've asked is just for me to give my life in return for the life you gave for me. So Lord, whatever you can do with me, here I am. And I'm just curious, is there anybody here today? Is there anybody here today willing to say, "God, here I am. Here I am. This altar is open. I want us to pray right now. Lord, I'm so thankful that you are patient, that you are longsuffering.

God, I know that there's been times that I have been less than what I should be for you. Forgive me, God. I pray today, Lord, that we as a as the body of Christ, Lord, can understand our sense of duty and purpose for your kingdom. I pray, God, that we'd be willing to pay attention to what we're committing to you. That we don't give, God, out of the abundance, but we give out of the whole. That we could show you, Lord, what you mean to us. Forgive me, God, for my bad attitude. Forgive me Lord for being less than my best in Jesus name. It's prayer time. It's prayer time. I want to pray with those that have come. I would encourage you be sensitive to what God's doing today. There are ministries being born and there are ministries being restored in this service.