Three Servants: Three Rewards Series

Three Servants & Three Rewards

This life is very much a test. In fact it could be said that our life is a trial that reveals our character and nature. In this story – one of the few parables in which the author reveals it’s meaning – Jesus reveals the importance of what we do with what we have when we have it.

We are sending 8 people to the Ukraine this March

Ukraine Trip

Who are they?

Why are they going?

Why are we sending them?

We are Investing in the building of the Kingdom of God

Why is that so important – why use all that money that way?

Before I answer these questions consider some of the dumb things people have said through the years:

1859 – "Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to find oil? You’re crazy!" - the employees to Edwin L. Drake before his first successful oil well near Titusville, Penn

1899 – "Everything that can be invented has been invented." Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner of Patents

1903 – "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad." A president of Michigan Savings Bank advising against investing in Ford Motor Co.

1936 – "I have no political ambitions for myself or my children." Joseph P. Kennedy

1943 – "I think there a world market for maybe five computers." Thomas Watson, President of IBM

1954 – "You ain’t going nowhere son. You ought to go back to driving a truck." Grand Ole Opry’s Jim Denny to Elvis Presley

Nov. 18, 1963 – "For the majority of people, the use of tobacco has a beneficial effect." Dr. Ian G. MacDonald, Los Angeles surgeon, quoted in Newsweek

1977 – "There is no need for any individual to have a computer in their home." Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment Corporation

1981 – "640k ought to be enough [computer memory] for anybody." Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft

September 9, 2002 – “In matters of public policy and personal transformation most churches are irrelevant.”

Peter Sawtell, Seeker Magazine

Wrong! The Church is the bride of Jesus. She may be ugly sometimes but she is still the bride of Jesus. Don’t mess with the bride of Christ!

I am sold out and totally committed to the truth that the church is the most relevant, personally transforming organism on the face of planet earth

I belong to this body and Jesus is my boss! He told me to tell everyone about him. Make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them.

Sending people to the Ukraine to explore relationships where we can help our Christian brothers and sisters tell their part of the world about Jesus.

We’re investing in people! That’s why!

That makes this story about three servants a very important story for us today.

Matthew 25:14-31 (NCV)

A Story About Three Servants

14 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was going to another place for a visit. Before he left, he called for his servants and told them to take care of his things while he was gone. 15 He gave one servant five bags of gold, another servant two bags of gold, and a third servant one bag of gold, to each one as much as he could handle. Then he left. 16 The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money and earned five more bags. 17 In the same way, the servant who had two bags invested them and earned two more. 18 But the servant who got one bag went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master came home and asked the servants what they did with his money. 20 The servant who was given five bags of gold brought five more bags to the master and said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of gold, so I used your five bags to earn five more.’ 21 The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.’

22 “Then the servant who had been given two bags of gold came to the master and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of gold to care for, so I used your two bags to earn two more.’ 23 The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.’

24 “Then the servant who had been given one bag of gold came to the master and said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. 25 So I was afraid and went and hid your money in the ground. Here is your bag of gold.’ 26 The master answered, ‘You are a wicked and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things I did not plant and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed. 27 So you should have put my gold in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would have received my gold back with interest.’