Naylor Community Christian Church
I. Introduction
-- if
you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew 25:14-30 -- we’re going to
open this morning by reading this parable from Jesus that we know as The
Parable of the Talents
-- last
week, we looked at the Parable of the Ten Virgins -- the first parable taught
by Jesus after His teaching on the end times in the Olivet Discourse from
Matthew 24 concerning what the Kingdom of God -- the church on earth -- would
look like during the end times -- right before His return
-- and I
had already planned on sharing a message this morning about the next parable in
this series of teachings from Jesus -- the Parable of the Talents -- which
comes immediately after the Parable of the Ten Virgins and continues Jesus’
teaching about the kingdom in the last days
-- and
so, I found it highly interesting that several of us were involved in a chain
text message this week on finances and on being prepared in light of what is
going on in the world today -- on being prepared for what may come -- because
that is exactly what Jesus had been teaching in the Parable of the Ten Virgins
and in the Parable of the Talents, our passage for today
-- when
things like this happen -- when circumstances and conversations and events in
our lives coalesce and line up exactly with where God seems to be leading us in
our interpretation and exposition of Scripture -- we need to pay careful
attention
-- we need to really listen to
His word and not only listen, but do what He says -- apply the principles He is
teaching and do what He commands, because He’s not just giving this message to
me -- He’s shared it to all of us, as evidenced by our conversation this week
-- as evidenced by my conversations with others at work and in other places
-- He’s getting us ready -- He
wants us to be prepared for what may be coming
-- so,
with that said, let’s move forward and see what God might have to teach us in
His word today
-- let’s
go ahead and read this parable together, and then we’ll begin our discussion --
Matthew 25:14-30
Matthew 25:14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a
journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he
gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each
according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had
received five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five talents
more. 17 So also, the one with two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who
had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s
money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants
returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five talents
brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents.
See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of
many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he
said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of
many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one talent came.
‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have
not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid
and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to
you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So
you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not
scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the
bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the
one who has ten talents. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will
have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken
from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
-- in
his book, “The Stewardship of Life,” Kirk Nowery tells the story of a tragic
occurrence that happened in Alaska several years ago -- just after lunch one
day, a mayday call came through the speakers at the Flight Service Station on
Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula -- The desperate pilot of a Piper A22, a small
single-engine plane, was reporting that he had run out of fuel and was
preparing to ditch the aircraft in the waters of Cook Inlet
-- there were four people on board the plane that day --
two adults and two young girls -- they had departed two hours earlier from Port
Alsworth, a small community about 150 miles away -- under normal conditions, it
would have been a routine flight -- but the pilot had been complacent -- he had
not topped off the fuel tank for the short flight and he hadn’t bothered to
check the weather -- it was just another routine journey that he had made many
times before -- and under normal conditions, that would have been the case --
but the weather had turned, and fierce headwinds buffeted the little plane and
it had difficulty making much headway on its journey
-- the air traffic controller
did everything he could to assist the pilot; but suddenly the transmission was
cut off -- the plane had crashed into the icy waters -- four helicopters
operating nearby began searching the area within minutes of the emergency call,
but they found no evidence of the plane and no survivors -- the aircraft had
been traveling without water survival gear, leaving its four passengers with
even less of a chance to make it through the ordeal -- Cook Inlet is considered
among the most dangerous waters in the world -- it is extremely cold with
strong glacial currents -- it can claim a life in minutes, and that day it
claimed four.
-- Nowery adds these thoughts
to the story: For reasons we will never know, the pilot of that doomed aircraft
chose not to use the resources that were at his disposal -- he did not have
enough fuel -- he did not have the proper survival equipment -- perhaps he had
not taken the time to get the day’s weather report -- whatever the case, he did
not use the resources that were available; and in this instance the
consequences were fatal.
-- this story should give us
pause -- how many other people have died needlessly like these four people did because
someone did not manage and or use the resources they had at their disposal? -- how
many have died without Jesus because someone was a poor steward of the
resources God has placed them in charge of?
-- Nowery states, "The
stewardship of resources is a serious business; and God’s will is that we give
it serious attention. This demands that we have the right perspective on our
resources, and that is possible only if we have the right focus on our source."1
-- as we are looking at obeying
God’s command to be good stewards of all He has given us -- as we’re preparing ourselves
for what may lie ahead, we need to consider how we can maximize the resources
God has given us so that we might fulfill our role as God’s stewards here on
earth and live our lives in such a way that others are blessed through the
resources He has given us to manage, including our money
II.
Thinking Ahead
-- to
live that way means that we have to change our focus -- we have to change the
way we look at life and at the things and resources God has given
-- without a doubt, the focus of
this world is on the present -- we want what we want and we want it now --
delayed gratification is something that very few people understand and very few
people practice
-- do you remember the famous
marshmallow test? -- I know I’ve shared it with you before, but let me remind
you of it now
-- back in the 1960s, Walter
Mischel tested a group of four-year-old children for self control -- he gave
each kid a marshmallow and he told them that they could eat it anytime they
want -- but if they didn't eat it right away and waited 15 minutes for him to
come back, they would get another marshmallow when he returned -- so Mischel
left the room and left the kids alone at the table with their marshmallow
-- and they tried so hard --
they fidgeted -- they looked at the marshmallow -- they looked at the clock --
and some of them just couldn't stand it -- they said, "Yes" and just
dove in and ate it right away -- others made it the whole 15 minutes and then
got their reward of another marshmallow when Mischel came back
-- as Dr. Mischel followed these
kids throughout their lives, he found that those who exerted self-control --
those who could delay gratification -- who could look past the immediate and
the present and consider the future -- were more successful and better prepared
for life
-- we’ve got a country that
already ate the marshmallow -- who is living for right now, with no thoughts to
the future -- and, as a result, most of us spend beyond our means and we live
on debt and it limits our ability to share our resources with others
-- we’ve
bought into this idea that it is better to get our rewards now rather than to
wait for them -- we want instant gratification and happiness -- we want instant
results -- and we’re not willing to wait and think long-term
-- we’re
living a “today-centered mindset” as Craig Groeschel terms it -- and this today-centered
mindset runs counter to what we are taught in the Bible -- especially when it
comes to the resources God has given us and that He expects us to use to bring
glory to His name on earth, all the more so as the end times grow closer and
closer
-- so,
although this parable touches on several aspects of our spiritual lives and how
we live for God and how we prepare ourselves to be His church in the end days,
I want to concentrate our discussion this morning on the more superficial
meaning that Jesus brought forth in this parable -- the very clear teaching on
the surface about finances and how God intends us to use the financial
resources that He has provided because this is an area that a lot of people
struggle with -- even Christians
-- and
when we live our lives looking at the here and now -- when the “today-centered
mindset” dominates our thinking and leads our behaviors and our actions -- we
can run into a lot of problems with managing our financial resources
-- thinking short-term gets us
in trouble and causes us to get into significant debt or into financial
problems or to the point where we’re living paycheck to paycheck like most of
the country
-- so,
what’s the answer? -- what can we do to change the way we are living? -- it
begins with exchanging a today-centered mindset for the realization that
tomorrow matters -- looking ahead at where God is leading and preparing our
hearts and our minds and our souls and even our financial resources -- so that
we are prepared for tomorrow
-- Proverbs 21:20 speaks
directly to this issue -- let me share that with you right now -- “The wise store up choice food and
olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.”
-- those who are wise stored up
choice food and oil -- they looked ahead -- they realized that tomorrow matters
so they set back food and oil for the future -- and they had food when they
needed it
-- but the foolish man had a
today-centered mindset -- he devoured it all immediately and he had nothing
left for tomorrow
-- when
you realize that tomorrow matters, it changes the way you live -- it changes
the way you interact with other people -- it changes the way you handle money
-- it changes the way you look at life
--
tomorrow matters -- and God expects us to prepare for tomorrow so that we might
be an even greater blessing to others in His name
III. Scripture
Lesson -- Matthew 25:14-30
-- let’s turn our attention now to this
Parable of the Talents that Jesus shared with His disciples -- as I said, we’re
not going to go very deep into this teaching today, but we may do so in the
future -- today, our focus is on our finances and preparing ourselves and God’s
church for the future
-- as we begin, let me clear up something
that a lot of people misunderstand in this parable -- when Jesus talks here
about talents, He’s not talking about talents in the same way we normally think
of them -- when we talk about somebody’s talent, we’re talking about their
skill or their ability to do something -- Jesus is not talking about our skills
-- He’s talking money
-- a talent was a measure of money in
Jesus’ day -- about $1,000 -- which some commentators say would correspond to
about six month’s salary in our day -- so we’re talking about a lot of money
that is being given to the servants in this story
-- so, keep that in mind -- first and
foremost, this is instruction on being a wise steward of God’s money -- of the
resources He has given -- of how He wants us to handle His money
-- now, we can take the principles that we
learn from this parable and apply that to other areas, including our spiritual
gifts and our innate skills -- but don’t make that jump in your mind
immediately -- when you read “talent” here, think about money -- your money --
your wallet -- and what you would do in a similar situation
-- look back at verse 14
Matthew 25:14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a
journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he
gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each
according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had
received five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five talents
more. 17 So also, the one with two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who
had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s
money.
-- here we see the Master getting ready to
go on a journey -- the passage said that he called his servants in and
entrusted his property to them -- don’t miss that -- he entrusted it to them --
he trusted them with his money
-- he trusted them to be faithful with
what he gave them -- to be good stewards of those resources
-- each servant got a different amount of
money -- to one he gave five talents -- which was about $5 thousand dollars -- in
today’s money, somewhere around $150,000
-- to another, he gave two talents --
about $2 thousand dollars -- or about $50,000 in today’s money
-- and, to the last, he gave one talent --
about $1 thousand dollars -- let’s say about $25,000 in our day
-- note that the amount he gave them was
based on their individual abilities -- the more talented -- the more skillful
-- the more trustworthy -- received more talents than the others
-- but while the proportion of the amounts
was different -- the same commitment was required of all of them -- they were
to be faithful and trustworthy stewards of the resources they had been given
-- the same is true in all our lives -- God
has given each of us different levels of resources -- different levels of
responsibility -- different financial resources to manage -- based on who we
are and where we are in relationship with Him and what He wants us to do
-- and we need to keep that in mind --
just because someone has more money than us doesn’t mean they’re better in
God’s eyes than we are -- He has simply called them to fulfill a different
ministry or purpose with their resources
-- likewise, just because we have more
money than others, doesn’t make us better than them -- He may have gifted us
more financially than some, but they may be gifted in other ways far greater
than us
-- we should never look at what someone
has and assume the state of their relationship with God -- we’re not supposed
to worry about what someone else has or to compare what we have to somebody
else -- we’re only to be concerned with what He gave us
-- I love the story the comedian, Louis
C.K., shared about the time he was getting breakfast ready for his two
daughters -- one of them looked in the other’s bowl and complained, “she has
more than I do” -- and he told her, “The only time you look in your neighbor's
bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don't look in your neighbor's
bowl to see if you have as much as them.”
-- it doesn’t matter how much God has
given you -- the call is the same -- and we see that here in these verses
-- each servant was given a different
amount of talents based on the Master’s wisdom -- but each servant was called
to be fruitful with the resources they were given -- to do something with them
-- to use the resources for the Master’s good -- as this parable says in verse
16, they were to “put this money to work”
-- in other words, God blessed them with
this money so that they might multiply it for kingdom work -- just as He
intends for us to do with the resources He has given, whether that’s financial
resources, time, skills, or other blessings
-- immediately, the servants who had been
given the five talents and the two talents went out and put their money to work
and gained a good return on their investment -- but the servant who received
only one talent did nothing with his money -- he dug a hole, put the talent in
there, and left it alone
-- verse 19 [
Matthew 25:19 “After a long time the master of those
servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received
five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with
five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of
many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he
said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of
many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one talent came.
‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have
not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid
and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to
you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So
you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not
scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the
bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the
one who has ten talents. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will
have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken
from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
-- the Master returns and demands an
accounting of the resources that he had entrusted to his servants -- the
servant who had been given five talents came to the Master and said, “Look! You
gave me five talents and I have gained five more” -- and the Master praised
this servant, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant”
-- the servant who had been given two
talents came before his Master and said, “Look! You gave me two talents and I
have gained two more.” -- and again, the Master responded by calling this
servant good and faithful
-- finally, the servant who had been given
one talent came before the Master with excuses -- he had not done anything with
the talent he had been given -- he had buried it -- and so, all he had to offer
back was the original talent he had been gifted
-- the master responded by calling him a
wicked and lazy servant because he had not obeyed the Master and used the
resources he had been given
-- the parable goes on to say that to the
two servants who had been good and faithful, the Master blessed them with even
more and gave them more responsibility -- but to the one who did not do
anything with the talent he had been given, he was cast out of service to the
Master and no longer was given anything to steward
-- these
verses point out the difference in mindset between the servants -- between a
today-centered mindset and someone who knows that tomorrow matters
-- the first two servants were called
"good and faithful" -- in the Bible, when you see two adjectives
separated like this, the first adjective applies to the second adjective -- in
other words, the first two servants were good because they were faithful --
being faithful was the criteria on which their goodness was measured
-- it wasn’t the amount they produced that
was important -- it was their faithfulness in being good stewards of the
resources they had been given -- even though the servant who had been given
five talents had produced double what the other good and faithful servant had
produced, the reward was the same -- both of them were lauded by their Master
as being good and faithful
-- however, the third servant was called
wicked and lazy -- he was not faithful with the talent that had been entrusted
to him -- he had not done what the master asked him to do -- he had not put the
money to work for the good of the kingdom
-- and so, because of his lack of
faithfulness, he was called wicked by the master -- which is an indication that
he was not truly someone who knew the master and was in a relationship with him
-- which is why he was expelled from the kingdom
-- now there's several things in this
passage that I want to point out to you that contrasts the good and faithful
servants to the wicked and lazy servant
--
first, good and faithful servants were committed to doing what their Master
called them to do -- they knew what was expected and did it even during His
absence
-- however, the wicked and lazy
servant didn't do a thing while the master was gone -- instead of working for
his master during his master’s absence, he just buried his talent and went on
his way, presumably living for himself
-- second, good and faithful
servants worked as part of the Master's kingdom -- they didn't take the money
and go out and earn a reward for themselves -- they worked to get results for
the overall good of the kingdom -- they looked beyond self to focus on others
and on kingdom values
--
but the wicked and lazy servant didn't work with the others or work to further
his master's kingdom in any way -- he buried his talent because he thought this
was the best way to protect himself -- his focus was on self, not others
-- third, good and faithful servants
recognized that their resources and skills came from their master and used
those resources and skills to multiply the talents that were given to them --
their actions showed they understood that what they had been given had come
from the Master and not from themselves, and acted in faithfulness and
gratefulness while seeking His good
-- on the other hand, the wicked and
lazy servant wasn't prepared to work -- he wasn’t ready for the master’s call
-- and so, he did nothing in the kingdom while the master was away
-- and, finally, the good and
faithful servants looked to the future -- they knew that “tomorrow matters” --
they invested the money trusted to them so that they would have more available
in the future to bless even more people
-- the wicked and lazy servant was
just thinking about the here and now -- he was today-focused and didn’t think
about the future or prepare for what might come
-- two types of servants -- two types of
people -- with entirely different mindsets and ways they used the resources
trusted to them
-- here’s the big question -- why the
difference? -- or, to narrow this down, why didn’t the wicked and lazy servant
do anything with the resources entrusted to him like the other two servants
did? -- why did he act the way he did?
-- it all comes down to relationship -- he
didn't know the master like the first two servants -- when the master returns, the
servant tells him that he knew the master as a hard man -- harvesting where he
had not sown and gathering where he had not scattered seed
-- knowing that the master represents God
in this parable, what we see in that excuse from the wicked and lazy servant is
the perspective of someone that doesn’t know God and doesn’t understand the
things of the Spirit
-- the wicked and lazy servant is so much
like the people of this world today who complain that God is not good -- that
prayer is useless -- that God is powerless in the face of evil -- that God and
God’s people do nothing in the world today while He demands people act in a
certain way or face judgment -- they don’t understand the Master because they
don’t know the Master and are not familiar with His ways, so they are judging
from the outside looking in
-- what they see as harsh and judgmental,
we see as kind, loving, gracious, and merciful
-- the good and faithful servants
obviously knew the master like that -- they understood what he required and
what he was really like -- and so, they strived to serve him to the best of
their ability -- not out of fear, but out of faithfulness and love
-- and that made the real difference in how
the servants acted and the results they produced
IV. Application
and Closing
-- as we come to the end of this message,
there are two important concepts in this parable that we need to consider as we
recognize that tomorrow matters for God’s kingdom
-- the first is this biblical concept of
stewardship -- the Bible teaches that everything we have -- everything we are
-- is a gift from the Father above -- all of it -- our money -- our
relationships -- our abilities -- our spiritual gifts -- all of it is given to
us by God -- we had nothing to do with it
-- our calling is to recognize these
blessings as gifts from God and to be good stewards of what He has entrusted to
us -- that term, stewardship, refers to the wise use of our God-given resources
-- and the key words there are “wise” and
“use” -- we are to invest the resources God has given us so that we might use
them for His kingdom and to bring glory to His name
-- that’s what the first two servants did
-- they invested their resources and produced a return on that investment --
the kingdom was increased and multiplied through their stewardship
-- and while we have only been focusing on
financial resources in our discussion today, keep in mind that this same call
and command to biblical stewardship applies to all the resources God has given,
which includes far more than just our money
-- the second concept that we glean from
this teaching of Jesus is that we are not to hoard what we have been given --
we’re not supposed to keep resources to ourselves -- we’re supposed to share these
resources with others and use what God gave us for His kingdom
-- a few years ago, a church in our area
had a problem with their air conditioning -- it just wouldn’t keep the
sanctuary cold -- in the summertime, they would sit in there and swelter -- it
was just unbearable -- and nobody would do anything about it -- they didn’t
want to use the money they had to fix the AC
-- a friend of mine belonged to that
church -- he got appointed to the financial committee and he made it is his
first order of business to find out what they needed to do to fix the problem
-- to find out how much money the church would need to raise to get the AC repaired
so that people would be comfortable during the summer
-- get this -- he found out the church had
been gifted shares of stock in Coca-Cola back in the 1950’s and that it was
worth millions of dollars now -- but rather than taking that money and putting
it to use, the church had buried it in the bank and were doing nothing with it
-- as some of the members of the committee told my friend, “we’re saving it for
a rainy day” -- he replied, “what about a sweltering day!” -- they would rather
suffer in the heat than use the resources that God had entrusted to them
-- this issue exposed more about the condition
of their heart and their relationship with God than anything else they might
say or do -- I believe God allowed the AC to break like it did to expose their
unfaithfulness -- to reveal their today-centered mindset -- and to show them
they needed to use and invest the resources He had given them to magnify His
kingdom
-- outside of the issue with the AC, think
about the lives that could be changed and transformed forever if the people in
that church had used that Coca-Cola money to spread God’s word
-- investing
in the future and planning for tomorrow doesn’t mean hoarding wealth like the
lazy and wicked servant -- what good is it to hoard wealth that never makes a
difference?
-- we
need to realize that being a good steward of God’s resources means we don’t
spend all our money right now, just as soon as we get it, and likewise, it means
that we don’t just put our money under our mattresses and hide it for a rainy
day
-- being
a good steward of God’s resources means we put His resources to work -- we look
long-term and use His resources so that they will provide a return on
investment -- we ask God to lead us in how He wants us to use what He has given
-- and then we go out and do what He has called us to do
-- now
let’s shift gears for a moment and let’s get personal -- managing God’s
resources in a church is one thing -- but what should we do with our personal
finances -- how does God want us to use them?
-- the
first thing we should do is prepare a budget -- not a spending plan -- but a
budget -- there is a difference -- a spending plan is what most people have --
it just looks at the amount of money coming in each week, and then it’s a plan
on how to spend every penny with no thought for the future
-- a
budget looks ahead to the future and prepares you for lean times -- for
instance, we all know the electric bill is going to go up in the summer time,
right? -- so, to prepare for the future, we should set back a little bit of
money from our paychecks now to cover the increase in the electric bill during
the summer months
-- that’s
what a budget does -- a budget looks ahead and considers future needs -- things
you know that you are going to have to pay for in the future -- clothes,
appliances breaking or wearing out, car repairs, tires, etc. -- a budget is
future-oriented while a spend-plan is just for today
-- the
next thing we should do is consider how we can invest in people -- you know the
old adage, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a
lifetime”
--
consider how to best use and invest the resources God has given you for the
good of the other person -- even though you have the resources to completely
take care of someone’s needs, perhaps it would be better to just take care of
part of it now so that they will learn how to work on their own to meet their
needs and so that you will have available resources in the future in case
others need help -- teach someone to fish rather than just giving them a fish
--
that’s part of the knock on the Government entitlement programs -- there’s no
incentive for people to get off of assistance -- the goal should not be to just
meet their needs, but to empower people to meet their own needs through God’s
help -- to give them a hand up rather than a hand-out
-- the
final thing we should do is to diversify our investments -- spread your
resources around -- and that not only goes for your money, but for your time
and your prayers and your other gifts and abilities -- do the most good you can
for the most people
-- I’ve
spent time discipling multiple people at the same time -- some did well and
grew in grace and in their knowledge of the Lord -- others did not -- but
because I diversified my investments -- because I scattered the seed -- I
spread God’s resources around -- God’s kingdom grew, even though some did not
receive it as others did
--
here’s the take-home message -- “We’re not all equal in terms of talents, gifts,
and opportunity. But we all have the same chance to do something with what
we’ve been given. The question is not, “What have I been given?” but rather,
“What will I do with what I’ve been given?”” [Ray Pritchard]
-- we need to learn to be good and
faithful stewards of God’s money and resources -- to not be selfish -- to not
live above our means -- to live on less so we can bless more -- to not get
burdened down by debt so it affects what we can do in God’s kingdom -- to live
an others-centered life by giving freely as we have been given -- and to plan
for the future so we can multiply God’s blessings
-- My prayer for us this morning and
for this church is that we might become incredible investors in the Kingdom of
God -- that God might richly bless us in every way and that we would invest His
gifts and the resources He sends to further His kingdom on earth
--
I pray that we might invest in the lives of others through discipleship -- that
through us they would learn how a Christian is to live in this world -- so that
they might disciple others and their disciples spread the message and so on and
so forth -- that we would be blessed by seeing the kingdom of God magnified
because of our efforts
-- I pray that we might all become
good and faithful servants -- good stewards -- of all that God has given us --
that is my prayer for us this morning
-- so, let’s close together in
prayer and offer ourselves and our resources to Him so that this might be so
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Illustration modified from a sermon by Michael
McCartney, “12 Dollars a Changed Life, 6/20/2012) [Story from Kirk Nowery: “The
Stewardship of Life,” Page 118]
[https://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-sermon-central-staff-stories-grace-82213?ref=AllSermonPrep]
No comments:
Post a Comment