using what god has given
Summary: God gives each of special abilities and expects us to be faithful in using what we’ve been given. Instead of “hiding” our gifts we’re to invest them in kingdom service. There’s no getting around the fact that we are responsible for what we’ve been given
Scripture: Matthew 25:14-25:30 (add scripture)
Tags: Talents, Service, Gift, Account, Gifts General, Smile (add tag)
Denomination: Baptist
Audience: General adults
Brian Bill
A man from out east had always dreamed of owning a cattle ranch and had finally saved enough money to buy his dream spread in Wyoming. His best friend flew out to visit and asked, “So, what’s the name of your ranch?” His buddy told him that he had a really hard time coming up with a name that he liked. He and his wife couldn’t agree on what to call it so they settled on, “The Double R Lazy L Triple Horseshoe Bar-7 Lucky Diamond Ranch.”
His friend was really impressed and then asked, “So where are all the cows?” To which the new rancher replied, “We had quite a few…but none of them survived the branding!”
As we’ve been focusing on some ways that we can improve our serve, I want to suggest this morning that it’s possible to get so caught up in what we call our spiritual gifts that we might not survive servanthood. The key is not so much to identify what we have but to use what we’ve been given. 1 Peter 4:10: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
Please turn in your Bible to Matthew 25:14-30. We started this series with the words of Jesus about servanthood and now we’re going to conclude with His teaching about our responsibility to use what He has given us.
Let’s set the context. This parable comes in the section of Matthew’s gospel where Jesus is giving an answer to the disciples’ question about His Second Coming in Matthew 24:3: “…When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus
Scripture: Matthew 25:14-25:30 (add scripture)
Tags: Talents, Service, Gift, Account, Gifts General, Smile (add tag)
Denomination: Baptist
Audience: General adults
Brian Bill
A man from out east had always dreamed of owning a cattle ranch and had finally saved enough money to buy his dream spread in Wyoming. His best friend flew out to visit and asked, “So, what’s the name of your ranch?” His buddy told him that he had a really hard time coming up with a name that he liked. He and his wife couldn’t agree on what to call it so they settled on, “The Double R Lazy L Triple Horseshoe Bar-7 Lucky Diamond Ranch.”
His friend was really impressed and then asked, “So where are all the cows?” To which the new rancher replied, “We had quite a few…but none of them survived the branding!”
As we’ve been focusing on some ways that we can improve our serve, I want to suggest this morning that it’s possible to get so caught up in what we call our spiritual gifts that we might not survive servanthood. The key is not so much to identify what we have but to use what we’ve been given. 1 Peter 4:10: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
Please turn in your Bible to Matthew 25:14-30. We started this series with the words of Jesus about servanthood and now we’re going to conclude with His teaching about our responsibility to use what He has given us.
Let’s set the context. This parable comes in the section of Matthew’s gospel where Jesus is giving an answer to the disciples’ question about His Second Coming in Matthew 24:3: “…When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus