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Faithfulness That Grows | Dream Big | Week 6 · Life Community Church

0:02
SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is Jamie Bridges, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: All of our services are inspired and built straight from the Bible.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: Let's get into this week's message recorded at Life Community Church.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: Hey, if you got a Bible, let's go to Matthew chapter 25, continue in verse 14.
0:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to read these passages to us.
0:22
SPEAKER_01: They'll be on the screen.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: They're in our in our app if you want to jump on our app.
0:27
SPEAKER_01: You want to take notes.
0:28
SPEAKER_01: I believe we're in a very pivotal moment as a church where God has invited us to dream big.
0:35
SPEAKER_01: I believe this is pivotal.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: I believe this week and next week as we continue our spiritual journey, day 14 of praying and fasting and asking the Lord.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: Next week, we we are asking you when you come to take that spiritual commitment and also attach it to a financial commitment.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: What does that look like for you and your family?
0:55
SPEAKER_01: What does it look like for you and the Lord as you're asking the Lord this question?
0:59
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Sean's going to talk about this at the end.
1:02
SPEAKER_01: I just want you to understand where we are and what the Bible is declaring over Life Community Church, this incredible spot that, again, He's invited us to.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: He's inviting us into this moment that we get to be a part of.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: And it is an honor.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: It is a privilege with that invitation.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: When God invites, man, it's such a beautiful part of your story.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: There's some of you in this room, you didn't feel like God would receive you.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: He invited you.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: And he welcomed you in.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: Not in condemnation, but in love.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: And that's the reason you sit here today.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 25, again, Jesus continues and he's talking about the kingdom of heaven.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: Let me just say this the kingdom of heaven is different living than earthly living.
1:49
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't make sense.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't make sense to give God your 10%.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't make sense to live off your 90%.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom of heaven's finances are different.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: They're just different.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: Okay, it's hard to explain unless you experience.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: It's the reason God said, Test me in this.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: I didn't say it.
2:09
SPEAKER_01: Life Community Church isn't asking you to test them.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: The Lord, the one who invited you, is inviting you.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: And he's asking you to test him in this.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: It says, again, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: He called together his servants and he entrusted his money to them while he was gone.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: And then he left on this trip.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: Verse 16 The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: The servant with two bags of silver, he also went to work and earned two more.
2:47
SPEAKER_01: But the servant who received one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and he hid the m master's money.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account on how they had used his money.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss that.
3:03
SPEAKER_01: The servant to whom he entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I've earned five more.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: The master was full of praise.
3:13
SPEAKER_01: Well done, my good and faithful servant.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: You've been faithful in handling this small amount.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: Again, here's how you know this is the kingdom.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: A talent was worth about 20 years of wages times five talents.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: It's not a small amount.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: In the kingdom, though, that might be a small amount.
3:31
SPEAKER_01: Not earthly, though.
3:33
SPEAKER_01: He said, You've been faithful this small amount.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: So now I'll give you many more responsibilities.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: Let's celebrate together.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: Servant who'd received two bags of silver, he came forward and said, Master, you gave me two bags of silver.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: I invested, I've earned two more.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: The master said, Well done, good and faithful servant.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: You've been faithful in handling small amounts, so now I've given you many more responsibilities.
3:52
SPEAKER_01: Let's celebrate together.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, Master, I knew you were a harsh man harvesting crops you didn't plant, gathering crops you didn't cultivate.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: Look, here is your money back.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: But the master replied, You wicked and lazy servant, if you knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and gathered crops I didn't cultivate, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank?
4:15
SPEAKER_01: At least I could have gotten some interest on it.
4:17
SPEAKER_01: Then he ordered, Take the money from this servant, give it to the one with ten bags of silver, to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance.
4:27
SPEAKER_01: But for those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: Gets harsh right here.
4:36
SPEAKER_01: Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: Why does Jesus talk about money so much in the Bible?
4:47
SPEAKER_01: It's an important question.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, one that I think as a church we avoid because it gets uncomfortable, because we're finding out in this moment who we trust.
4:58
SPEAKER_01: In Matthew 25, Jesus is telling this parable, and it says that a master goes on a journey, he entrusts the people that work for him with his wealth.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: To one he gives five, to two he gives the other, and one he gives the other.
5:12
SPEAKER_01: The five-talent individual was an individual who lived trusted.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: It says to one he gave five talents in verse 15.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: Again, a talent was an enormous amount of wages.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: This was a lot.
5:25
SPEAKER_01: Five talents wasn't pocket change, this was life-altering responsibility.
5:31
SPEAKER_01: The master trusted him deeply.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: And I'll say this more than once.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: He trusted each of them.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: And notice this the man didn't ask for five, he didn't negotiate for more, he simply received what the master entrusted to him.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: God in trust based on capacity, not comparison.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: God and trust based on capacity, not comparison.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: Some of us spend more time wishing we had someone else's assignment than stewarding our own.
6:08
SPEAKER_01: But heaven doesn't measure by comparison.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom of God measures by faithfulness.
6:14
SPEAKER_01: The Bible also says he lived immediately.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: It says he who received the five talents went at once and traded with them at once.
6:24
SPEAKER_01: No delay, no committee meeting, no five-year strategic planning session.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: He moved immediately.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Faith that waits for perfect condition often becomes buried faith.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: If you're waiting for the perfect time, that time may never come.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: When God places something in your hand, a vision, a calling, a building, a ministry, a new step of obedience, you don't sit on that.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: You step into it.
6:52
SPEAKER_01: You step into this moment.
6:54
SPEAKER_01: Some of us are saying, I'm waiting on the Lord.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Let's be honest.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: The Lord is waiting on us.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: I think it sounds so spiritual.
7:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm just, I'm just sitting here doing what Psalm says.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm just waiting on the like wings of eagles.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: We sound so spiritual.
7:09
SPEAKER_01: And the Lord's like, let's go.
7:12
SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: Let's do this.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: Immediate obedience unlocks multiplication.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: This is what this guy did.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: He lived risking too.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: This was a huge risk.
7:24
SPEAKER_01: Trading in the ancient world meant exposure, it meant market fluctuation, it meant caravans being robbed, it meant investments failed.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: The servant risked losing everything.
7:35
SPEAKER_01: But hear this clearly.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: He viewed God differently than the one-talent guy.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: The one-talent guy said, I knew you were a hard man.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: The five-talent guy never says that.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: There's not one moment where he says, I know you're harsh.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Why?
7:53
SPEAKER_01: Because your risk tolerance reflects your view of God.
7:57
SPEAKER_01: Always.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: How I see God always affects how I live, how I give, how I serve, what I do with the talents of God.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: It always, if I view God as harsh, if I view God as an iron fist guy, if I view God as someone who pushes me away, I live totally different.
8:14
SPEAKER_01: But when I understand he's a loving father, when I understand he's compassionate, when I understand he's kind to the ungrateful and the wicked, I live differently.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
8:24
SPEAKER_01: This is what he's talking about.
8:25
SPEAKER_01: If you think God is harsh, you bury.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: If you think God is good, you build.
8:34
SPEAKER_01: You build.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: This is what the five-talent guy was.
8:39
SPEAKER_01: He was praying bold prayers.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: He was starting things.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't coming alongside.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: He was starting them.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: He was starting things.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: He was launching initiatives.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: He was inviting people.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: He was giving generously.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: He was living courageously.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: This is this guy.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: And not only that, he lived multiplying.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: He made five more talents.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: He's multiplying what he's doing.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't preservation.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: The goal was always multiplication, addition with this guy.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: He doubled what he was given.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: He didn't maintain it, he expanded it.
9:09
SPEAKER_01: We are not called to protect comfort.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: That's not what we're called to do.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: We are called to multiply impacts.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: That is why we tell our stories.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: That is why we serve.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: That is why we give.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: That is why we go out of our comfort zones and do things that God asked us to do to make us uncomfortable.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: You could easily say Mike and Aaron's story is we're going to just talk about how God's been faithful, maybe with a small group.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm going to blast it on a podcast because I know someone is going to be impacted by what I'm about to say.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: Someone's going to relate.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: That's why we say we're an empathy church.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: We're not just a sympathetic church.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: A sympathetic church feels bad for people.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: We feel their pain.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: An empathetic church says, I know exactly where you're at, and I'm going to meet you there.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: You know how we know exactly where people are?
9:57
SPEAKER_01: We're vulnerable with what has happened to us.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: We're vulnerable with our stories.
10:01
SPEAKER_01: We're unashamed to say, this is where I was and this is what God has done.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: And because of that, there are men and women who go, I relate to that.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: I relate to what he's saying.
10:11
SPEAKER_01: I know exactly.
10:13
SPEAKER_01: I don't, when someone passes away or someone is going through a divorce, I'm not going to someone who's never been there.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to someone saying, you need to share your story with this individual.
10:24
SPEAKER_01: Why?
10:24
SPEAKER_01: Because we're an empathetic.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: We understand impact.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: We understand.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: This guy understood what this was all about.
10:32
SPEAKER_01: And ultimately, the five-talent guy, he lived for the return.
10:36
SPEAKER_01: He lived for the master to come back.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: Every faithful life is lived with that day in mind.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: God is going to return.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: He's going to do what he said he was going to do.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: The master, you delivered to me five talents here.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: I've made five talents more.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: He did not say, look what I did.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: He said, You delivered, I made.
11:00
SPEAKER_01: He understood stewardship.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: He understood it wasn't his.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: He understood what he was entrusted with, and he made more.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: He said, You delivered, I made.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: The master replies, Well done.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: Good and faithful servant.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: You've been faithful over this little, I will set you over much.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: Enter into the joy of your master.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: Five talents.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: Again, was called little.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom scale is different.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: When I think of our miracle goal, or I think about all the things that we're talking about.
11:36
SPEAKER_01: And the things that now you guys may not know this about me.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: I've had dreams on Saturday nights where I needed to switch up what I was sharing on Sunday morning, and I literally watched the whole service.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: I wrote it down in a journal.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I don't even remember writing in a journal.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: And the next morning I changed up what we're talking about on Sunday.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I dream things.
12:09
SPEAKER_01: And so, yes, the first day that we started fasting, I had a dream.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm very hesitant to share this with you.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying to you this is exactly what will happen.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying, but it was enough to shake me to the point where when I was started to tell Kelly, I said, I'm still processing this.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: I meet with Sean every Tuesday morning.
12:27
SPEAKER_01: I didn't tell Sean on Tuesday morning because I was still processing.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: I was like Mary, contemplating in my heart, processing in my heart what had just been said to me that I felt was from the Lord.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: It was a um, if you've been around at all, I had this dream 10 years ago where and it happened twice, and I felt like it happened.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: And the dream was weird.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm outside of a place, there's reporters in front of me, and as reporters are talking, they're asking about someone's faithfulness.
12:59
SPEAKER_01: They're asking about someone who followed Jesus, and I'm sharing their story on their behalf.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: That happened twice, the exact same dream.
13:07
SPEAKER_01: And again, in August of 2019, I believe that was fulfilled.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: When I stood on Waterloo's junior high football field and ABC and NBC and Channel 5 and Fox is in front of me, and I'm declaring the type of man that Nick Hopkins was.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about his role as a father, how he followed Jesus, what he was doing.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: I felt like that happened.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: Like it did.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: And it was wild to me.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: And I remember people saying, like, that was the fulfillment of the dream.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
13:36
SPEAKER_01: February 1st, our first day of praying and fasting, I had a dream, and this dream was very similar.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: And the dream was that there was someone that was, again, reporters, they're interviewing, and they're talking about all that Jesus is doing.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: All that Jesus is doing.
13:54
SPEAKER_01: And I'm talking about, I'm talking about healings, I'm talking about restoration.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: And then I finally look at a couple that I don't know, and I said, I'll let you share your story.
14:05
SPEAKER_01: And they start talking about how they were divorced, how they've raised kids, and how God has brought them back together.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: They've reconciled, they're in the marriage, all these things are happening, and I walk away from that.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: And as I'm walking away, someone walks up to me that I do not know and hands me an envelope.
14:21
SPEAKER_01: And in that envelope was a check for$14 million.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: And blew me away.
14:28
SPEAKER_01: I was like, Well, 14 million?
14:30
SPEAKER_01: That's not even been on my radar.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: That's not even something that we've even talked about.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, God, I don't know what this is.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: And he said,$14 million, you'd be debt-free of everything that I want you to do on that 57 acres.
14:41
SPEAKER_01: And I just said, Praise God.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what that means.
14:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm simply saying it to you because it happened to me.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: And I'm processing through this.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: This is the kind of bold things.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I know heaven scale is different.
14:55
SPEAKER_01: That makes no sense in my mind.
14:58
SPEAKER_01: No sense.
15:00
SPEAKER_01: No sense mathematically.
15:02
SPEAKER_01: Does that make any kind of sense?
15:05
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
15:06
SPEAKER_01: Heaven scale is different.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: What he saw as little, God said, nope, is different.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: This is the real question.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: Am I living like a five-talent servant?
15:16
SPEAKER_01: Am I living like this?
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Not so much in how much we are giving, but in how boldly we are stewarding it.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: Am I living like that?
15:24
SPEAKER_01: What about the two-talent man?
15:26
SPEAKER_01: The middle child.
15:27
SPEAKER_01: We're my middle child people.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, be proud.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: Be proud.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: We're middle children.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: Not the best for last.
15:37
SPEAKER_01: The best in the middle.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: You are the stuffing in the Oreo.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: Without you, it's just an Oreo.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: But man, and some of you, you're double stuffed.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
15:50
SPEAKER_01: Like you bring more to the table.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: You mean more?
15:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't even know why I said that.
15:54
SPEAKER_01: But anyway, this represents the majority of us.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't given the most.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't given the least.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: He was given the middle.
16:03
SPEAKER_01: And he lived.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: How he lived reveals some powerful character traits about him.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: He was content without comparison.
16:11
SPEAKER_01: We see this.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: To one he gave five.
16:14
SPEAKER_01: To another, he gave two.
16:15
SPEAKER_01: Imagine watching someone receive five while you receive two.
16:19
SPEAKER_01: No protests, no complaints, no Instagram rant.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: No, and here's what's more powerful than anything.
16:26
SPEAKER_01: He never compares himself to the five-talent man.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't do that.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: Because we understand comparison kills calling.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Always.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: It will always kill what God has asked you to do.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: If you're always trying to be someone else, it will kill you.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: The two-talent man didn't try to prove something, he just stayed faithful with what he had.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: He acted with the same urgency.
16:51
SPEAKER_01: So he also, the Bible says in verse 17, who had the two talents, made two talents more.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: Again, the phrase, so also, just like the five talent, he went to work.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: He didn't think it's only two, it won't matter.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm not as gifted.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: He doubled what he had.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: He matched the five-talent servant's faithfulness, not his capacity.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: He proved something powerful.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: God rewards faithfulness, not volume.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: Hear that today.
17:21
SPEAKER_01: Those of you who say, My gift don't count.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: He rewards faithfulness, not volume.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: He still took the risk.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: He still traded.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: If he lost it, it was everything he had.
17:34
SPEAKER_01: He trusted the master enough to move forward.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: The difference between him and the one talent servant wasn't talent amount, it was perspective.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: The one feared the master, the other servant trusted the master.
17:50
SPEAKER_01: He was courageous.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: And that courage was rooted in a relationship with the master.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says, and this is the most shocking part, he received the same reward.
18:00
SPEAKER_01: Well done.
18:02
SPEAKER_01: Good and faithful servant.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Enter into the joy of the Lord.
18:08
SPEAKER_01: This is the same war.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: Same reward.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Not similar, not adjusted, identical.
18:16
SPEAKER_01: Because the kingdom is not about equal outcomes.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: Again, it's about equal faithfulness.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't told you're almost as good.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't told you're second place.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: He didn't say he didn't hear nice effort.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: He heard well done.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: He heard well done.
18:33
SPEAKER_01: And that tells us something about heaven.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: Heaven doesn't rank faithfulness by size, it ranks it by obedience.
18:42
SPEAKER_01: Am I being obedient with what God has entrusted me with?
18:46
SPEAKER_01: That's the question.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: This guy says, I'm faithful without spotlight, I'm faith, I'm content without comparison, I'm courageous without the applause of man, I'm productive without pressure, I'm secure without envy, I'm obedient without excuses.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: He represents the steady, consistent believer who doesn't need attention to be effective.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: That's who he represents.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: They show up, they serve, they give, they pray, they build, they build, and the kingdom of heaven says, Well done.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: Now, the one talent man, my opinion, he's probably the most misunderstood.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: And here's why.
19:25
SPEAKER_01: Because I don't believe he was lazy.
19:27
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe he was even rebellious.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe he was careless.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: I believe he was paralyzed spiritually with fear.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: His character is a warning that Jesus intentionally put in there.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: He intentionally put it in there, and it's a warning for the people who look religious but live restrained.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: Like this is the warning and the reason Jesus put it in there because he was trusted, but he lived fearful.
19:56
SPEAKER_01: To another, he gave one talent.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: Again, one talent is an enormous amount.
20:02
SPEAKER_01: 20 years of wages.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: This man wasn't given almost nothing.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: He was given a lot.
20:07
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot that he was given.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: Yet the Bible says the problem wasn't what he received, the problem was how he saw the master.
20:16
SPEAKER_01: He said in verse 25, I was afraid.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: Not sin, not rebellion, fear.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: And fear always shrinks what God intends to grow.
20:32
SPEAKER_01: This is what it talks about.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: He misunderstood the master.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: I knew you to be a hard man.
20:39
SPEAKER_01: This is the most revealing part of this whole parable.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: The five-talent man trusted the master.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: The two-talent man trusted the master.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: This one made an assumption about the master.
20:52
SPEAKER_01: Same master, same instructions, same delay, different perception.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: Many, many people today live with the same distorted theology.
21:06
SPEAKER_01: The same.
21:07
SPEAKER_01: When you believe God is harsh, you avoid risk, you avoid obedience, you avoid responsibility, you avoid accountability.
21:19
SPEAKER_01: Bad theology always produces bad stewardship.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: It always does.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: It always produces bad stewardship.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: He confuses caution with faithfulness.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: I went and hid your talent in the ground.
21:34
SPEAKER_01: In the ancient world, burying money was considered safe.
21:40
SPEAKER_01: From the outside perspective, this looks responsible, but Jesus calls it wicked.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: Why?
21:47
SPEAKER_01: Because the master didn't ask for safety, he asked for faithfulness.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: He didn't ask for safety.
21:55
SPEAKER_01: This man didn't lose the talent, he lost the opportunity.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: He lost the moment.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: Some people don't ruin their lives.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: They just waste them away really carefully.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: This is what this man did.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: He lived to avoid failure, not fulfill purpose.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: He lived to avoid failure.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: The one talent man's goal wasn't obedience.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: It was not getting in trouble.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: That's what he was doing.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: He didn't ask what could this become?
22:28
SPEAKER_01: He asked, What's the least I can do and still be okay?
22:30
SPEAKER_01: And this is the most dangerous mindset in the church right now.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: What can I do that makes me okay to just get in?
22:41
SPEAKER_01: To just be okay.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: Fear-based living always buries potential.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: Always.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: And here's how else you know.
22:53
SPEAKER_01: He blamed the master instead of taking accountability for himself.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: If you find yourself blaming other people, at some point, we need to make an observation about our own lives and say, Maybe it's me.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's me.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: He says, Look, here is your money back.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: This is what he says.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: Look, here is your money back.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: Nothing gained, nothing lost, problem solved.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: But then the master responds, You wicked and slothful service.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: Why wicked?
23:24
SPEAKER_01: Because being passive in the kingdom is not neutral, it's rebellion.
23:31
SPEAKER_01: It's complacent.
23:34
SPEAKER_01: It's mediocre.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: It's getting by.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: It's saying things like, Well, I'm not the two-talent, I'm not the five-talent, I'm seeing the least.
23:43
SPEAKER_01: He's making excuses, he's deflecting instead of owning.
23:48
SPEAKER_01: Like the kingdom of God is looking for owners, not deflectors, problem solvers, not people who can complain.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you a hundred things right now that we can do better if that's what you're looking for.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking for people to see those hundred things and let's let's make a solution to it.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: Let's go together.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: Like what's happening in the last couple weeks is what we're finding out.
24:09
SPEAKER_01: The Bible talks about wheat and the tares.
24:12
SPEAKER_01: And they look very similar.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: From the naked natural eye, you look at it, you go, I can't tell if that's a wheat or a tear.
24:21
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what that is.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: Right now, what's happening is we're finding out where the wheat is, and we're finding out where the tear is.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: That's what it is.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: And this isn't about money, you guys.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: This is about obedient, being obedient with God has entrusted you with.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: Not what I've entrusted, I haven't entrusted you with it.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm not the master.
24:41
SPEAKER_01: God has entrusted you.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: But if you see it as something that you've done, you've worked for, I'm the producer of this, you'll always be God to yourself.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says we can't serve two masters.
24:55
SPEAKER_01: You can only serve one.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: This guy, neutral.
25:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna just play it safe.
25:02
SPEAKER_01: So many people in the kingdom of God are playing it safe.
25:07
SPEAKER_01: Man, gosh.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: Here's the crazy part is the Bible says to everyone who has, more will be given.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: The guy with 10 now had 11.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: And because he had 11, people were going, man, how come he has so much?
25:34
SPEAKER_01: And that guy seems to always win.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: That guy seems to always be winning in life.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: God continues to bless him.
25:42
SPEAKER_01: He's like, you know what?
25:43
SPEAKER_01: I was just faithful.
25:45
SPEAKER_01: How many things have been taken away from us and given to somebody who's been faithful?
25:49
SPEAKER_01: That's a scary question, you guys.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: You see, people who have a lot, maybe it's not because they're the producers, maybe they're good stewards.
25:59
SPEAKER_01: Maybe if we see it differently than that, a lot of us said God's just mad at me for what I did in seventh grade, or mad at what I did when I was going through a divorce, or mad what I did over here, and God could never love me.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: Blow that up right now.
26:11
SPEAKER_01: That is not the God we serve.
26:13
SPEAKER_01: That's not the God of the Bible.
26:14
SPEAKER_01: That is a God that you're serving that you made up.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: You made it up.
26:19
SPEAKER_01: What this guy did, he made up who God was.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: I knew you to be a harsh, harsh man.
26:26
SPEAKER_01: I knew you to be very difficult, and that's how he viewed him, and that's how he lived.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: The kingdom of God does not stand still.
26:34
SPEAKER_01: You're either multiplying or you're losing ground.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: The one talent man, fear-driven, risk average, theologically confused, passive, defensive, opportunity to bury, responsibility avoiding.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: He didn't rebel loudly, he quietly withdrew.
26:51
SPEAKER_01: Withdrew.
26:52
SPEAKER_01: He contemplated.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: As the other guys went immediately, he stopped and thought, and that's dangerous.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: Some of you in this room, you know why you're not obedient?
27:01
SPEAKER_01: Because you're overthinking it.
27:04
SPEAKER_01: God said, Go a long time ago.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, God, if you could show me one more sign, God goes, Godly, how many more?
27:11
SPEAKER_01: How many more?
27:12
SPEAKER_01: How many more?
27:13
SPEAKER_01: How do you want me to make this more obvious?
27:16
SPEAKER_01: You're like the person who prayed for the person to come save them from the rain.
27:19
SPEAKER_01: He's like, I sent it all.
27:21
SPEAKER_01: Good night.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: You're afraid of heights?
27:24
SPEAKER_01: So you didn't go with the helicopter?
27:26
SPEAKER_01: You're afraid of water, so you didn't go with the boat.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're just afraid.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is not warning pagans here, you guys.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: He's warning church people.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: That's who he's warning.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: What has God entrusted to you?
27:42
SPEAKER_01: That you've buried.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: What has God entrusted to you that you've buried?
27:48
SPEAKER_01: A talent.
27:52
SPEAKER_01: Man, a gift that you have.
27:55
SPEAKER_01: That you've played the comparison card and you've just buried that thing.
28:00
SPEAKER_01: Imagine, imagine saying this to the Lord.
28:03
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I didn't mess it up.
28:05
SPEAKER_01: The Lord responds, but you didn't move either.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: The tragedy of the one talent man is not what he lost, it's what could have been.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: Guys, I don't want to be the church of what could have been.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: I was on that staff, you guys.
28:21
SPEAKER_01: And they're still operating with 50 people.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: And they're still saying, What could have been?
28:29
SPEAKER_01: I'm watching people 20 years ahead of me, 25 years ahead of me, and I'm going, I don't want to be that.
28:36
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be that.
28:39
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be a part of that.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: This is not a message.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: This is not a sermon.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: This is our moment.
28:46
SPEAKER_01: How do we want to move forward?
28:47
SPEAKER_01: That's the biggest question.
28:49
SPEAKER_01: That's the biggest question that we're asking.
28:51
SPEAKER_01: Would you pray with me right now?
28:53
SPEAKER_01: Jesus.
28:55
SPEAKER_01: God, we can't do this thing without you.
28:57
SPEAKER_01: We need you.
28:58
SPEAKER_01: We lean into you.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: God, we want to be obedient with what you've given us.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: And because, God, I know in this room you've entrusted people.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: God, there's so much talent, there's so much gifting in this room.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: God, we don't want to be a church that wastes that.
29:13
SPEAKER_01: We want to be a church that brings that to life.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: You're a mover, you're a shaker.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: This is about going deeper places because of what the Lord has done.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: Not us, not our own abilities, not our leadership style, because this is what the Lord has done.
29:31
SPEAKER_01: God help us today.
29:33
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: Amen.