Ready to Offer Life

Intro: Good morning Church and welcome all. It was a great week with the fair in town and getting to experience the rodeo here, I went to both of them and I was impressed, that was the first rodeo I have ever attended in person before. It was great to bring the county together and celebrate and a great time for spreading the Gospel message. That is what this weeks lesson and question is all about, are your ready to offer life? Because the message of the Gospel is a life giving offer to any who might hear it and accept it and it is our job to be ready to offer it up, just as it says in : read

Pray

This week we are going to be talking about the parable of the talents. Now many have thought this is about money, but if we read this in context, especially in the Book of Matthew, and the parables that go with it, we see it is about much more than money, it is about being entrusted with something of Great worth and then producing gains. Can I get three volunteers up here please? Hand out gifts, backs facing the audience. See their reactions. Let them go back. Great thing about this is that more people might volunteer now! Did anyone happen to notice how they reacted? Did they go back and hide their gift from others? No, they shared what they had and in doing so shared the joy of what they had been given. We have been given a far greater gift that is found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we need to treat it as a far greater gift. To prove the point, lets get into the parable of the talents found in Matt chapter 25. The first question this morning is are we ready to be trusted with something of value?

I. Ready to be Trustworthy – vs 14-15

A. Each man was Entrusted

1. Explain the talent

a. Large sum of wealth

2. Entrusted

a. implies trust

b. Mean they knew one another

c. Wasn’t a whim

B. Each man accepts

1. None of them refused

2. None of them questioned

3. Must mean they understood their master

a. We will see at the end

b. They willingly accepted

C. Each one is given according

1. To their talent

2. To their ability

D. God has done the same in you and me

1. Entrusted with the Gospel

2. Something very valuable

3. It is life

II. Ready for the Responsibility? – Vs 16-18

A. Five bags and two bags

1. Went immediately to work

2. Was excited to invest

3. Knew the value

B. One bag

1. Went and hid the money

2. Did not put it to work

3. Too afraid

a. Lean this later

C. What has been given to us -

1. Worth much more

a. Have to be ready

b. Story of guy watching our dog

2. Are we excited about what we have

3. Do we want others invested

4. We bring forth life for others

II. Ready to Settle Accounts?

A. The 10 and 5 bags – vs 19-20 & 22

1. They again were excited

2. Understood the value

3. Knew it must grow

B. The one bag – vs 24-25

1. Came fearful

2. Did not know the value

3. Pretended to know the master

C. Is the Gospel of Value to you?

1. Ready to show off what is sown

a. Story of being a kid with Legos

i. brother was McGuyver of Legos

2. Excited about your work for the master

IV. Accepting the Consequence?

A. The 10 and 5 bags – vs 21 & 23

1. The Work is a joy

2. To add to the work is a joy

3. Truly worked for the master

i. Were unafraid (so much as we know)

ii. Given much

B. The one bag – Vs 26 -30

1. Didn’t understand the true value

a. He could have brought a return

i. no matter how he invested

ii. Didn’t even have to do hard work

iii. But to hide it is not to understand it

2. Didn’t know His master

b. Misunderstood His master

i. Lazy in fear

ii. Worked for himself

iii. Cared only what happened to himself

iv.

a. If we truly know God

b. Have no fear of Him

c. Not about the money

i. It comes down to the person

ii. Test of the character

iii. Test of experience

d. Why He was thrown out

iii. who are we working for

C. Do we understand the value

1. Are you ready to grow the kingdom

a. Cannot hide what God has done

b. Cannot bury the Gospel

ii. Didn’t I go Church every Sunday

c. Must present it to the People

2. The value of the Gospel –

a. It will always give a return

b. Never lets down

c. Always saves

3. God is an experiential God - &

a. Once you have real experience

b. Cannot keep it to yourself

c. You have to go out and work

i. It is not for yourself

ii. It is for the Lord who has done

Conclusion:

I want to work for the Lord. I do not want for this to be all about me. I don’t want to be afraid of the world and bury my gift. Therefore, I must experience God and the True gift of salvation. I do this through experiencing his kindness and grace and understanding what that means. I do this by being trustworthy with the message. Trustworthy to go out with excitement and put it to work that it will bear fruit. I will not focus on my fears but on His power. Then, I will experience God in taking responsibility for the work. I will not fear or make excuses but I will spread the Gospel with joy and love. I will experience God by reckoning what He has done in me with Him. I will account for my fruitfulness in full measure and accept the consequence of what that means. In the end if I am working for God, it will produce and will not return void. I know this because I know the Lord. Won’t you join me in this confidence and joy in spreading the Gospel message, wont you join me in being ready for His return to give account with excitement what we have done for Him. Won’t you join me in being ready to offer life to others?