Parable Of The Talents

Introduction:

Martha Berry was a lady with a vision to help children. She began a school for poor children. She had no books, no building and no money. But she had a dream. She went to Henry Ford to ask for a donation. Mr. Ford reached into his pocket gave Martha Berry a dime. Most people would have been insulted, here he is a multi-millionaire and all he could give was a dime. But Martha took that dime and bought a packet of seeds and planted a garden, raised a crop, sold it and bought more seeds. After three or four harvest she had enough money to purchase and old building for the children. She returned to Mr. Ford and said, “Look what your dime has done.” The man was so impressed that he donated a million dollars to Berry School.

The question that underlies the message that I am bringing this morning is: “what will you do with what God has given you?”

I hope that we all can realize that we each can make a difference in the world and in eternity. The things that we do in on earth matter and make a huge difference, but before we can choose to impact the world, we must first choose to implement what God has given us.

I have always heard that within the church 20% of the people does 80% of the work. It is a noble thing that some people are willing to invest so much time into the Lord’s service, but the truth is the Lord has given each of us talents to use in the service of the Kingdom. I sometimes wonder what would the church be like if every servant used their talents to serve the Lord. Sometimes we are so focused on ourselves that we do not have time to focus on using our gifts to serve the Lord and some times we love the status quo so much that we do not want to do anything, or just want to do enough to get by.

We can learn so much from the parables of Jesus. Jesus gives these earthly stories to express heavenly truths. Much of Jesus’ teachings came through parables. I love the Parable of the Talents. In this story we hear of a master who went away and gave three servants different talents according to their ability. The master expected those servants to do something with those things they have been entrusted with.

Jesus has left us with talents and abilities that he expects us to do something with. He expects us to use those gifts to:

1) Multiply the Kingdom

2) Edify our brothers and Sisters

3) Grow Individually

One great thing about our God are that he has not left us here on Earth helpless. Jesus did not leave us with the Great Commission helpless to carry it out. He has gives us talents, he has given us gifts that we can use to accomplish the task we have been commanded to do. It is my suggestion today that we move beyond the status quo, that we leave behind our laziness and complacency, that we use what the Lord has given us. So often we view doing work for the Kingdom as an option, but the truth is it is not an option if we want the rewards of salvation.

Christianity is not a religion where you simply join and stay a part of, Christianity is not a spectator religion, but it is a religion that every true member must equally participate in. What gifts has God given you? Are you using those gifts appropriately?

Text: Matthew 25:14-30

I. We have all been given gifts

As we see in the Parable of the Talents, three men were given talents. The master left different talents to each of his servants. I am a firm believer that we as Christians have been given special gifts from God that we can use to help build up the kingdom and fulfill the great commission. The question for you this morning is what gifts has the Lord given you? It is difficult sometimes to determine the areas in which we are gifted. The truth is many of us may be gifted in more than one way, but we all are gifted differently. I believe that we can determine how we are gifted and we have no excuse for not using our gifts. It is not an excuse to say, “I have no gifts” because God has given each person a gift. It is not an excuse to say, “I don’t know how to use my gifts”, because there are always opportunities to use your gifts. Your gift may not be preaching, but it may be serving. You can not use the excuse “I don’t know how to tell what my gifts are” if it is not clear to us we must make an effort to figure out our areas of giftedness. I have learned that giftedness can be determined by: