Blessed to Be a Blessing: Share Time, Talent, Treasure

Devotional

Day 1: Blessed with Purpose: Stars, Legacy, and Open Hands

A childless couple becomes the ancestors of nations. A $10 bill becomes a meal for a stranger. God’s blessings are never endpoints but launching pads. Genesis 12 reveals that Abram’s call to leave home wasn’t about accumulating comfort but scattering grace. Like sun-warmed seeds, blessings grow only when released. What if our deepest joys lie not in clutching gifts but letting them fall into hungry soil? [34:15]

The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(Genesis 12:1-3, ESV)

Reflection: What blessing are you tempted to hoard? How could releasing it—even in a small way this week—mirror Abram’s risky obedience?

Day 2: Lament as Honesty: Crying Out in the Sanctuary

One-third of Psalms are complaints. A dying man names both cancer’s cruelty and sunsets’ beauty. Faith doesn’t demand plastered smiles but permits raw prayers. The “fine family” facade crumbles when we admit life’s grit: layoffs, addiction, silent dinner tables. Yet lament isn’t despair—it’s how light leaks into boarded-up hearts. [30:43]

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God.
(Psalm 13:1-3, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you said “I’m fine” when you wanted to scream “How long?” What one truth could you share with a trusted friend this week?

Day 3: Ten Dollars and a Thousand Possibilities: Seed Money for Grace

A crumpled bill buys cookies for scouts, coffee for a grieving widow, gas for a stranded driver. The reverse offering isn’t about money but noticing—the cashier’s tired eyes, the neighbor’s overgrown yard, the friend who cancels plans again. Every act of love, however small, unravels the lie that we’re powerless. [38:39]

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
(Matthew 25:40, ESV)

Reflection: What ordinary moment this week could become holy ground if you invested attention (not just $10) in someone’s hidden struggle?

Day 4: Sunrise in the Shadowlands: Blessings That Outlast the Dark

A man counting months learns to count robins at dawn. Abraham died without seeing star-sized descendants, yet his obedience echoes in us. Blessings aren’t always bright flags but sometimes flickering candles held steady in the wind. The deepest gifts—love, hope, resilience—often grow in soil watered by tears. [32:36]

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live.
(Ecclesiastes 3:11-12, ESV)

Reflection: What fading dream or unresolved pain might God be redeeming in slow, unseen ways? How can you practice joy today while waiting?

Day 5: Beyond the Hashtag: When Blessings Demand Shoes

#Blessed trends with beach vacations and promotions. Yet true blessing wears work gloves, stays late listening, mutes the phone to pray. Abraham’s legacy wasn’t a trophy shelf but a trail of altars built in foreign lands. The $10 challenge isn’t a stunt but a drill—training our eyes to spot holy opportunities disguised as ordinary days. [36:55]

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:8, ESV)

Reflection: What “drudgery” in your routine (commutes, errands, chores) could become an act of worship if done with love’s intentionality?

Sermon Summary

Life is difficult, and that sentence is allowed to stand without pretending. The Psalms know the difficulty of life, with about one third of those prayers crying out in lament, “How long, O Lord?” Psalm 13 gives language for grief, uncertainty, fear, broken relationships, dashed hopes, and enemies that keep winning. The “fine family” picture exposes the habit of coming to church dressed up, smiling, and saying “fine” while the inside story is falling apart.

The call of Galatians gives a better way than pretending. Bearing one another’s burdens means making space for honesty, sadness, struggle, and real care. A day centered on blessings does not erase pain or make Christian life easy, perfect, and happy all the time. The Christian task holds both realities together, life is difficult, and blessings still need to be noticed.

A dying man’s testimony shows that tension clearly. Grief, heartache, and unfulfilled dreams are real, yet a lake, a sunrise, a sunset, family, and the gift of a lived life can still become visible blessings. Blessing does not mean darkness has disappeared. Blessing means God can train the eyes to notice grace even in a really, really dark place.

Genesis 12 places blessing at the foundation of faith. God calls Abram to leave land, family, and father’s household, and God promises to make him a great nation, bless him, make his name respected, and make him a blessing. God does not bless Abraham and Sarah so they can be proud, comfortable, and impressed with themselves. God blesses them for a purpose, to be a blessing to all the families of the earth.

God’s love in Jesus Christ works the same way. The steadfast love shown in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection cannot be separated from God’s people by death, life, or anything else in creation. Jesus gives that love its direction, love God, love neighbor, and love enemies. Covenant’s language of learning God’s love and living God’s love simply names that movement.

The hashtag blessed trend raises the needed question: what is the blessing for? Vacations, clothes, restaurants, and smiling faces may be good gifts, but blessing becomes thin when it stops with display. The reverse offering turns that question into practice. A ten-dollar bill becomes a small, concrete nudge to give, listen, feed, encourage, buy flowers, share coffee, help family, or pray for a way to make love visible.

The invitation goes beyond money. Time, talent, and treasure all become ways to care, call, listen, pick up trash, contact an elected official, and pay attention to loved ones. The closing prayer asks God to shape and mold ordinary people so Christ’s love, light, grace, justice, and righteousness can be experienced in a broken and hurting world.

##

Key Takeaways

1. Lament belongs inside faithful life. The Psalms do not treat grief as a failure of faith. Psalm 13 gives holy words to the person who feels forgotten, defeated, and worn down by waiting. Honest lament keeps pain in conversation with God instead of hiding it behind the “fine family” mask. [29:35]
2. Blessing always carries a purpose. Genesis 12 does not present blessing as private comfort or spiritual status. God blesses Abraham and Sarah so that “all the families of the earth” will be blessed through them. Blessing becomes distorted when it ends in self-display, but it becomes faithful when it moves outward in love. [34:15]
3. Darkness can sharpen gratitude. A man facing four to six months to live still noticed lakes, sunrises, sunsets, family, and the shape of his life. That kind of gratitude does not deny grief or rush past heartbreak. It reveals that blessing can be seen most clearly when illusions of control have fallen away. [32:10]
4. Small gifts can become invitations. The ten-dollar reverse offering was not mainly about the amount of money. The bill became a question placed in the hand: how can this become care for someone else? A small gift can train attention, awaken prayer, and make love concrete in a specific place. [38:39]
5. Love must take practical shape. The call to be a blessing includes listening, calling, cleaning up trash, caring for loved ones, and seeking justice. Christian love is not only a feeling held in the heart, but a shape taken by time, talent, and treasure. God’s grace becomes visible when ordinary acts carry the weight of Christ’s compassion.

## [44:40]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[26:59] - Children on Time, Talent, and Treasure
[28:40] - Life Is Difficult
[29:35] - Psalms Give Room for Lament
[30:23] - The “Fine Family” Mask
[31:42] - Holding Difficulty and Blessing Together
[33:04] - Genesis 12 and the Call of Abram
[34:55] - Blessed for a Purpose
[36:27] - Rethinking Hashtag Blessed
[37:17] - The Reverse Offering
[38:39] - Ways to Use the Ten Dollars
[41:02] - Time, Talent, and Treasure as Blessing
[44:40] - Offering the Self Beyond Money

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Genesis 12:1-3
“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” [34:15]

Psalm 13
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” [29:44]

Galatians 6:2
“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” [31:13]

Observation questions

In Psalm 13, what repeated questions does the psalmist ask God, and what pressures or fears show up in the prayer? [29:44]
In Genesis 12:1-3, what does God ask Abram to leave behind, and what blessings does God promise to give him?
According to Galatians 6:2, what are believers told to do for one another, and what does that suggest about life together in the church? [31:13]
What are some concrete examples of being a blessing to someone else with a small gift, time, or attention? [38:39]

Interpretation questions

About one third of the Psalms are prayers of lament. What does that suggest about the place of sadness, confusion, and waiting in a faithful life? [29:35]
God tells Abram, “I will bless you... so that you will be a blessing.” How does that shape the meaning of blessing, and how is that different from treating blessing as private comfort or public display? [34:55]
Psalm 13 moves from “How long, O Lord?” to trust in God’s steadfast love. How can both sorrow and trust exist in the same prayer without canceling each other out?
Bearing one another’s burdens requires more than polite conversation. What kinds of honesty and care would make that command real in an ordinary church community? [30:23]

Application questions

Where is there pressure right now to act like the “fine family” and say everything is fine when it is not? What would honest but wise openness look like with one trusted person this week? [30:23]
If life is genuinely difficult right now, what words from Psalm 13 feel closest to home? Is there a “How long, O Lord?” that needs to be spoken plainly to God? [29:44]
Blessing is given for a purpose. Looking at this season of life, what blessing has been placed in hand right now—money, time, energy, experience, encouragement, influence—and who might need it? [35:11]
The question is not only whether someone is blessed, but what will be done with the blessing. What is one practical way to turn an ordinary gift or opportunity into care for another person this week? [36:57]
A small gift can become a concrete act of love. What is one simple action that could happen in the next seven days: buying coffee, giving flowers, listening well, helping with groceries, or something similar? [38:39]
Some burdens are hidden behind smiles. Who in life might need a phone call, a longer conversation, or patient listening instead of a quick “How are you?” [44:40]
Love takes shape through time, talent, and treasure. Which of those three feels most available right now, and what would it look like to offer it in a way that makes Christ’s love visible? [41:13]

Sermon Clips

38s

#BlessedButReal

“``So on this Sunday, when we're focusing on our blessings, it's important to acknowledge that life isn't all full of blessing automatically. And just because you came to church today, just because you call yourself a Christian, it doesn't mean life is going to be easy, perfect, and happy all the time. So we need to hold this sort of nuance together to recognize the the difficulty of life, but at the same time, to look for the blessings, to look for those blessings.”

46s

#PsalmsOfLament

“The Bible knows about the difficulty of life. Our faith knows about the difficulty of life. You might know that in the middle of the Bible there's a book called Psalms that has a 150 prayers in it. About one third of those Psalms, about one third of those prayers are prayers of lament, are prayers of people crying out to God just like Psalm 13 saying, How long, oh lord? How long will you forget me? How long will I suffer? How long will my enemy keep defeating me? One third of the Psalms are in this spirit of recognizing the difficulty of life.”

52s

#BlessedToBeABlessing

“God did this not so that Abraham and Sarah could be proud of all their kids and go on nice vacations and post pictures on Facebook and say how wonderful their family is. God blessed them for a purpose, for a purpose, to be a blessing to other people. The title of the sermon says it all, we're blessed to be a blessing. In Christian language, this means for us that in Jesus Christ, God loves us And we hear that over and over again in various ways through the life and ministry, the resurrect, the death and resurrection of Jesus that we are loved with a steadfast love. We affirm what Romans says that neither death nor life nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God. That love is always with us,”

38s

#CarryEachOther

“You've been anybody like that? Now it's it's good to be positive. It's good to be upbeat. But I'm glad that here at Covenant, we're making space for each other and places where we can kind of let down our guard and be honest and open with each other and do what Galatians calls us to do to bear one another's burdens, to carry the load for each other, to help one another out, to recognize that life is difficult and that we need one another.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Covenant Presbyterian Church (Madison, WI) This sermon · AI assistant

How should Christians hold lament and blessing together?

What does being blessed to be a blessing mean?

How can small gifts become meaningful blessings?