Sermon 7-11-10 personal, giving, generous life
Parable of the talents mt 25:14-25
14"Again, the kingdom of heaven will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the 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. 20The man who had received the 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 the 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 the 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. 25So 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? 27Well 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" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
What shall we talk about today?
We were scheduled for Gideon this week.
And I have this other message from the vacation.
On vacation
Things wind down. Listen better.
Maybe I heard God talk to me.
Too much of that scares me, but I hope our preacher hears God from time to time.
All of us need that sense that the cobwebs are pulled back for a moment
and we hear the voice and see the face of God a little more clearly.
That Jesus is real and that we can sense him in this life
So here we go
when we are quiet long enough to listen -How does God peel the onion of your life
what will he find?
Dysfunctional home
Weren’t we all
How do I know this?
Parents did not love each other
We were not taught to communicate- guilt, fear, manipulation
We humans spend a good deal of our lives trying to overcome our repressive upbringing
I know my parents gave me more than they had
I hope to give my children a better upbringing than we had
But everyone has their stuff to over come
In our search to become
We hide from our problems
We self medicate
We ignore them, pretending that they are not there
We are satisfied being ignorant of them
If all of that isn’t enough to overcome,
Now lets add to all of the confusion of Jeff’s life- call to ministry
I have never told this story to a group before.
Today I felt that I should
13 years old in the 8th grade
21 years old – I want you to give your life for me
You can see that it floats around in my mind from time to time. It is a piece of my history that is always with me’
And so the wheels have stopped turning and this story is in my head
Here is where I got stuck-
I want you to give. Give your life
Parable of the talents
Time, talent treasure
Not of guilt, never will I act in response to guilt
I am just full of a deep love and appreciation for God
Treasure-
Tither, building campaign, buy your lunch,
There is something more
Don’t know what
Kim Berwald email
I want to tell you a little story.
I sent in a prayer request last week asking for prayer for a 7-year old little boy named Logan Wells. Last year, Logans family found out that Logan, had a brain tumor. Long story . . . they have been at Children’s Mercy in NY (almost all of this past winter) and then back to KC and Children’s Mercy. Earlier this summer they got to go home until Logan had a relapse.
Anyhow, last week, I received a note that they were back in KC at Children’s Mercy and it didn’t look good. So I had a thought that I’d send a prayer request through the WCC website. I received a call from a member of the prayer team last night. She told me that someone from WCC had offered up an apartment in their basement (with a private entrance) for the family if they needed it and they had also collected an envelope of cash for this family.
I am amazed that there WCC folks donated $280 to them and don’t even know them. It’s one thing to give to help those we know . . . it’s quite another to give an amount of that magnitude without even knowing the family.
Heartwarming story of the people of WCC . . . so glad I am a part of such a wonderful, giving group. I learned from this tonight and felt like I was the hands and feet of Jesus when I delivered this money to the family.
Michelle audo email
We heard about the needs of the Spofford Home due to the donations coordinated thru WCC. For her 7th birthday our daughter decided to accept donations in lieu of gifts, and she chose Spofford Home as the recipient. She raised $180.00 and we took the donations to Kira on Monday, she gave us a tour of the facility and explained to Josie how the money she raised is going to help the facility and other boys and girls who are going thru a difficult time. This was such a life changing experience for all of us. Many of those parents have also stated that they are now going to be doing the same thing in the future.
Time
Add god to the schedule
To the already full schedule
Clear the schedule of absolutely everything
What to add back on: Work, Church, ?
Talents
Talent not as in money, but as in abilities and talents
With more time open,
I have time to use my talents for God
What are my talents?
Preaching, leading a church
More than that- car repair, paint a houjse
Maybe I will paint your house
God is asking me to live a more generous life
I want you to give your life for me
What does a more generous life look like
When we hold onto our time talents and treasure or use them without asking God about priorities, we are like the man who buried them in the sand.
When the master returns we have nothing to show him
We have used our lives for ourselves
A generous life comes to believe that all of this belongs to god
And I want to give it back to him as he leads
Lord I am listening
I want to learn to live a more generous life
If god peeled away some of the onion of your life
Where do you find yourself? Do you relate to what I am saying?
Are you interested in joining me on this journey?
This is something that everyone of us can do.
Young people, you can clear your schedule except for what God wants
Each of us can be more generous with our stuff
And we all have talents. Are we using them for God?
I hear him calling me to a more generous life.
How about you
As we close today, we ask you to pray for our team going to Guatemala tomorrow
If they are here, please come fwd as I call your name
Josh Shepherd, Adam Doppenberg, Greg Hogan, Bradley LaPlante, Shawn Franssens, Catherine Franssens, Julia Fleenor, Audrey Fleenor, Shawnna Fleenor, Charley Fleenor, Michael Barker, Kenna Stephenson, Blake Stephenson, Tricia Shepherd, Stephanie Mutert
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