Faithfulness: Stewarding God's Gifts for His Glory

1. "One of the ways that Jesus brings blessing into our lives is through reliability. He's going to get us set for that today. In fact, he was so concerned about this as he was telling his disciples in Matthew chapter 24 and 25, he was going through like the end times. He's going through, here's what happens when I come back and here's how it's all going to work. And he says, you're going to want to be aware of certain things. You're going to want to make sure certain things are top of mind, like being faithful and being reliable with the things that I've delegated to you." [00:58] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Everything that you've been given are things God has given you. And even though we might not always think about it like this, he has a plan and a purpose for that. And sometimes there's seasons that we're dealing with that. Sometimes it's within our possession or within our influence. And other times, maybe that season is ending. But throughout our entire lives, God is giving us stuff. He's giving us lots of stuff and he wants us to do stuff with that stuff." [02:38] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Have you considered that it's God that gives you the breath in your lungs? It's God that gives you all the great relationships you have in your life. He gave you those. The childhood that you had, all the good parts, that was from him. All the skills, all the talents that you have, all the things that you can just kind of do better than everybody else, the personality quirks that you have, all those things, every opportunity you've ever had, every place you've ever worked, every place you've ever tried to work, the cousins you had, the different people that have come in and out of your life, everything is from God." [03:13] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "The point of all these talents is, you'll notice, the people didn't have to find the talents. They were just, the master just gave it to them right away. And so often, we're looking to get more talents or add more talents, and there's nothing wrong with that, but we need to understand some of the things we're called to be faithful with, most of the things we're called to be faithful with, they're already right in front of you. They're already in your hands. They're the day in and day out things. They're the people around you. They're the opportunities you have now. They're the resources you have now. It's not someday, it's right now. What are you doing with this now?" [05:35] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Zealous, faithful action yields opportunity and increase. Increase. Zealous, faithful action yields opportunity and increase. Here now and in our eternal home. Verse 20, the man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. Master, he said, you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I've gained five more. The master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful. You have been reliable. With a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness." [11:21] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "It's not success that is rewarded. It's faithfulness. God is asking for faithfulness, not success, the way that the world defines it right now. And recognize that there might be some things we should all think about. There might be some things that God is asking us to be faithful with, or to rethink through. Maybe, maybe there's some reflection that could should come from this message today. Maybe there's things like, did I let go of something that maybe, maybe I really should have kept doing, or is there something that, that it's in my heart a little bit to do, and maybe it's something I could do at church, or maybe it's something that we could do in the neighborhood, or something that God is, maybe it's something I can rally together with the family." [17:05] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "Playing it safe leads to regret. Playing it safe leads to regret. Use it or lose it. Fearful, resentful inaction loses even what it had. That's scary right there, yo. Fearful, resentful inaction loses even what it had. Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. Master, he said, I knew you were a hard man. Harvesting where you'd not sown, gathering where you'd not scattered seed. So I was afraid. Went out, hid your gold in the ground. See, here's what belongs to you. And the master replied, what did he say? He said, you wicked, lazy servant. You knew that I harvest where I've not sown and gathered where I've not scattered seed. Okay. Well then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers. So when I returned, I would have received it back with interest." [19:10] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "Fear God instead. Just figure like, man, I don't know about all that. God has given me this stuff and I best do something with it. Instead of complaining, instead of looking at other people's talents, I'm just going to look at, my own God. Listen, God has not stacked the decks, the decks against you. He's not. He stacked it for you. He died for your sin, baby. Like he got you out of hell. What else do you want? Everything good in your life. Who is that from? It's from your gracious God who didn't like me. Didn't just like give up on you and forget about you. He said, I'm going to be patient with him. I'm going to keep working with him." [23:23] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "You and I are never going to be completely obedient, but there was one who was completely reliable all the way up the hill of Calvary. Step by step. He was. He was reliable to take those nails for you and for me. So you don't have to have perfection. What we ought to do is celebrate and fall back into the sweet arms of Jesus. He says, I got you, baby. Don't don't worry about being perfectly reliable, but check this out. Everything he's given you and I to be reliable about. Here's what's so awesome, because in this parable, the master of the father entrusts people with these with these talents. And here's exactly what we do. As soon as we figure this out, as soon as you realize what's in your hand, here's what you do. You entrust the results back to him. You say, okay, God, I'm gonna, I'm gonna try to do this. And I'm trusting you that you're such a good God. You're not just a master that says, go and do you say, go and do, and I'll go with you. Let's do it together. And then it will be maximally fruitful." [26:08] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)