I WANT TO GROW
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Retell the Parable of the Talents
Introduction: Retell the Parable of the Talents
There once was a wealthy man who was going to go on a trip. This trip was going to take him to a far away place and he was going to be gone for a very long time. Instead of just hitting pause on everything he had going on, he entrusted vast sums of his wealth to three servants who were going to manage his assets and estate for him while he was away.
READ MATTHEW 25:15-30 (ESV)
READ MATTHEW 25:15-30 (ESV)
Matthew 25:15–30 (ESV)
15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
WELCOME/REVIEW:
WELCOME/REVIEW:
Well, welcome to Community Christian Church! We are nearing the end of our 4-week financial series called Money Talks. Now, we get that money can not actually talk to you. Benjamin Franklin doesn’t have a voice box and can not audibly speak to you. But, make no mistake, your money can communicate to you and we have been training ourselves over the past couple of weeks to listen to and learn from our money.
Two weeks ago (week 1), we talked about how money tells us that it’s not the most important thing in our lives and we searched our hearts and lives by working through the 5 Capitals. Capital is anything that is in your possession that you can invest. You can invest your financial capital, intellectual capital, physical capital, relational capital, and last but certainly not least, you can invest your spiritual capital. But, in order for you to not be a slave to your money, then your financial capital needs to be down at the bottom and we worked through this form that you see right now.
Last week (week 2), we talked about how money is uniquely positioned to reveal our hearts and who we truly are on the inside. It shows us whether we are greedy or generous; seeking God’s kingdom or trying to build our own; or whether we are taker or receiver. This past week, I hope you have been working through your Money Talks Spending Tracker which was free to download and use. If you did not download that, then you need to get caught up. Here is the link (or you can pick up your copy here at the building). Working through this money tracker should help you see where your heart is and where God’s money is going.
God is VERY interested in where your heart is and where His money and his resources are going. If you want to properly manage God’s money you have to properly prioritize it (5 Capitals), properly monitor it (Money Talks Tracker), and properly position it for growth (Spending Plan).
Attention:
Attention:
Do you want to grow your money? Do you want to be like the first two servants in that story? Do you want to be seen as good and faithful over the resources you have?
Guess what, God wants you too. Yes, God wants you to grow your money. He wants you to be like the first two servants and not that wicked, slothful guy the story ends with. He wants you to grow what he has given you.
Need: How do I faithful grow what God has given me?
Need: How do I faithful grow what God has given me?
Transition:
Transition:
First, we need to realize that money is telling us what God is telling us today, that it wants to grow.
Point #1: Money says, “I WANT YOU TO GROW ME”
Point #1: Money says, “I WANT YOU TO GROW ME”
Explanation: Money is not bad. Wanting to grow your money, to build wealth, and manage your resources is not bad. What you want to do with it could be good or bad though. I know people who love making money and building wealth for the sole purpose of using it to bless others and expand God’s kingdom. Money, in and of itself, is not bad or evil.
Read 1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)
Read 1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)
1 Timothy 6:10 (NLT)
10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Loving money produced a ton of evil: greed, jealousy, murder, anger, workaholism, self-centered, you name it.
Wanting to grow your money the way God wants you too is not loving money, instead it using money to love God and others in a more impactful way.
1. God cares about money.
Not true! God very much cares about what we do with the money and resources he gives to us. There are over 2,000 instances in the Bible where money is talked about. Jesus’ primary method of teaching was through parables (basically stories that spiritual truths baked into them) and he talked about money in almost a third of them. The Bible has a lot to say about money because God cares about what we do with what he has given us.
2. Growing money DOES NOT EQUAL the prosperity gospel.
Not true! If anyone was going to be rich, it would have been the Apostle Paul yet he says this of his service to God in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 (NLT)
2 Corinthians 11:24–28 (NLT)
24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches.
3. God wants you to grow your money.
God wants you to grow what he has given you, including money. This is a principle that we can see playing out throughout Scripture:
Garden - Genesis 1:28 (NLT) - be fruitful and multiply
Genesis 1:28 (NLT)
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
God gives us the ability to produce wealth - Deuteronomy 8:18a (ESV)
Deuteronomy 8:18 (ESV)
18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
Great Commission - Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT) = Don’t bury the good news, share it!
Matthew 28:18–20 (NLT)
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The master in this story represents God and he wants his servants to use and grow the resources He gives us. He even gets mad at the last servant because he refused to even try and grow or use what he was given.
Reiteration: Money says, “I want you to grow me.”
Transition: In order to properly manage God’s money, then you need to understand that money wants to grow. But it also wants to be used.
Point #2: Money says, “I WANT YOU TO USE ME”
Point #2: Money says, “I WANT YOU TO USE ME”
Explanation:
When the master approached his three servants only two of them used the money he had invested in them.
First manager received 5 talents > traded/invested > grew it to 10
Second manager received 2 talents > traded/invested > grew it to 4
Third manager received 1 talent > secured it > did not grow it
What’s a talent?
A talent is actually a measurement of weight that is about 75 pounds. According to The Lexham Bible Dictionary, “In the New Testament, the talent was the largest named quality of money, worth about twenty years’ wages for the average day laborer.” So, 5 talents would have equaled about 100 years of wealth; 2 talents would have equaled about 40 years of worth; and 1 talent would have been worth about 20 years of wealth. All total the master had given these three guys 160 years of wealth with the only understanding that they were to use this investment and grow it while he was away. (LOWER 3RD ARTWORK)
One scholar has attempted to put a dollar sign on all of this money and based on his calculations, this master was giving these guys nearly two million dollars to work with!
I don’t know about you, but I could figure out something to do with all of the money. I’d pay off our student loans immediately. We’d buy a piece of a land and build a home on it, even though lumber has basically tripled because of the pandemic. I’d invest a ton of it and I would hire someone to help me manage it. I’m a pastor, not a financial adviser, so I’d need some help with that.
These guys knew what was required of them. According to Craig Keener, “In the Roman Empire, slaves could earn wages and bonuses and could acquire property, hence they would have more incentive to look out for the master’s property than slaves in many cultures do. Thus the servants understand very well what is required of them.”
The first two servants used their masters money to grow wealth by investing (v. 16-17)
The third servant did not use his masters money and instead kept it safe, he eventually lost everything (vv. 18, 28-30)
The amount isn’t the important thing. The important thing is that these servants used their master’s wealth in order to grow more wealth for their master and possibly for themselves.
Good and Faithful managers
The master labels these two servants as ‘good and faithful.’ Even though the first guy grow the 5 talents into 10 and the second servant only grew 2 into 4, did not matter one bit to the master. What mattered was that they used what they were given and grew it. Being a faithful manager of the money and resources God invests in you pleases Him master more than the actual return on his investment.
If you want to be “good and faithful,” then you have to continually meets the standards expected of you, which shows that you are a responsible and trustworthy managers of what has been given to you.
Joy of the Master
There are three ways that we can understand this phrase. Come on in, let’s celebrate your hard work. I’m going to share some of this wealth with you and I’m going to put you in charge of even more of my money!
You were created to work, to be fruitful and multiply, to grow what God has given you and use it for your good, for the good of others, and ultimately to give him glory!
God made you on purpose and for a purpose: to use and grow the things he has given you so that he can receive the glory and others can benefit (including you). God has given you things on purpose.
Reiteration: Money says, “I Want You to Use Me.” Money says, “I Want You to Grow Me.”
Transition: So, how do we use and grow our money? Well, we do it by listening to the third thing money is telling us today.
Point #3: Money says, “I WANT YOU TO MANAGE ME”
Point #3: Money says, “I WANT YOU TO MANAGE ME”
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Benjamin Franklin
Illustration: WATER ILLUSTRATION
Water into large container - most of us live this way. It is unmanageable, untraceable, and does not position what God has given you for growth.
Water into 3 small containers
Give (10%)
Save (10%)
Spend (80%)
Explanation:
1. Good and Faithful servants had a plan and they worked their plan. They knew that their master wanted them to grow his wealth, so they got busy doing it. These two faithful servants worked their plan and doubled their masters wealth. Most likely, they build profitable businesses with what they master had given them.
2. Wicked and slothful servant did not have a plan. He knew what his master wanted him to do with his investment, but he didn’t do that. Instead he took zero responsibility for what the master had given him. All he did was keep it safe. But by doing so, he ham-stringed his masters investment and eliminated any potential growth that could have come from it.
In fact, it would have been better if the master hadn’t even invested in this guy. The master was taking a change and giving this guy an opportunity to grow himself and his masters wealth and he completely missed his shot.
The master could have made more money if he hadn’t even given it to this guy because the master could have given it to the bankers and received some interest off that money.
Don’t be like the wicked and slothful servant. Get a plan and work that plan.
The wicked/slothful servant is like the 72% of Americans, according to Dave Ramsey, that are in debt.
A Gallup poll found only about 1/3 of Americans (32%) maintain a household budget.
“… to each according to his ability.”
“Ultimately, the Parable of the Talents tells us to recognize the resources that God has placed in our hands, to make the most those resources, overcome our fear, and take a step of faith with what God has given us.”
What kind of plan should you and I have?
ANY PLAN IS A GOOD PLAN AS LONG AS IT HAS THESE 3 THINGS AREAS OF GROWTH:
Giving, Saving, and Spending.
10/10/80 - Minimum Plan
Proverbs 21:5 (NLT)
5 Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
10% - God
17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—
and he will repay you!
Malachi 3:8–10 (NLT)
8 “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!
“But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’
“You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!
Matthew 23:23 (NLT)
23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
1 Corinthians 16:2 (NLT)
2 On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.
2 Corinthians 9:7 (NLT)
7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
10% - Savings
Proverbs 6:6–8 (NLT)
6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
7 Though they have no prince
or governor or ruler to make them work,
8 they labor hard all summer,
gathering food for the winter.
Proverbs 13:11 (ESV)
11 Wealth gained hastily will dwindle,
but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
80% - Living Expenses
1 Timothy 5:8 (ESV)
8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Conclusion/Call to Action:
Get a plan and work that plan.
Download your Money Talks Spending Plan right now.
Reiteration: Money says, “I WANT YOU TO GROW ME; TO USE ME; AND TO MANAGE ME.”
PRAYER