Focus On Faithfulness

General Introduction (5min)

Honouring a Father

Bite Sized Bible

Conference

Discipleship Series: Total Stewardship

READ PASSAGE MATTHEW 25:14-30

Message Introduction

Story about me being pessimistic

I focus on what is wrong in the world and that reveals my pessimism. It’s no-ones fault, that’s just me. If you are optimistic you see the good.

What we focus on the most in moments of our life reveals what think is important to us.

Sporting event & watching the game - the game OR talking the whole time - people

Same as the Bible - what did you focus on in that reading?

It’s almost too natural for us to focus on the quantities in the story - How many bags of Gold & why? - How much return did they each get? And how did they get that much - How much responsibility has the master given each of them - How long the master was gone for

These are important details, but not the focus

The focus isn’t about quantity, but about quality.

What Jesus is trying to highlight is the type of servants in the story and not the mechanics of the how’s and the what’s. Jesus is highlighting FAITHFULNESS, not FRUITFULNESS

CONTEXT

Jesus is telling a story to communicate a truth about God’s Kingdom

The current climate is a broken faith system

The focus is wrong. It’s become about the externals - what it looks like on the outside aka religion.

It’s easy to keep a set of rules, but it’s hard to keep a right heart. But Jesus is wanting us to focus on one main idea.

FOCUS ON FAITHFULNESS

FAITHFULNESS VS FRUITFULNESS

“Well done good and faithful servant” - v21

Faithfulness (define) Consistently being obedient to God, no matter the situation

Keep showing up and keep doing it God’s way

It’s not a sexy word. When you go on a first date and your asking each other questions to get to know one another, no ones asks “so are you into faithfulness?” At a job interview, you don’t put on your CV “I’m a faithful person” - you highight your skills, and they’re worried about KPIs etc. Sadly, in our Churches “faithfulness” isn’t regarding as high as it should. I’ts seen as “not cool/edgy”, “kind of old school”, not on insta bio.

Actually if we’re honest we are more concerned with “fruitfulness” not “faithfuness” The quantities and not the quality.

The world we live in is “the bigger the better” and it’s shaped how we outwork our faith

We trade the seat for the stage

The basket for the feast

The ministry for the microphone

The small for the big

The right time for the now

The 1 for the 99

The next step for the end result

What you have for what you want If we focus on the fruitfulness, the blessing, what we produce we don’t become the people God wants to be & we actually end limiting ourselves to all the amazing things God does want to release through us. God doesn’t say “good and fruitful servant”, but “faithful servant”

How can we be faithful?

Understand “He gave” - v15 Everything you have has been given to you When you understand this you understand you’re now stewarding You’re not the owner, you’re the manager. He gives depending on the abilities. - Watch out for comparison and jelousy You didn’t earn it. Some of you think you earnt it, and although you had a moment of enjoying the glory you’re now anxious and worried worrying about how you’re going to do it again as someone who is limited in ability and resource. God is unlimited and when you tap into that and understand He gave and can give without limits it frees you of worry. You taking the credit is really just his mercy allowing you get to a place of learning this lesson.

Respond realtive to what you’ve recieved We either: - Think too selfishly about what we have & become life hoarders - Wait for others to succeed and share in their glory so we can assume success or wait for others to fail and blame them for what we lose - not take responsibility for our own lives. He looks at what you did with what you have been given a) The time you have been given b) Miracles d) What you can do that no-one else can do e) Your money and possessions What has God given you:

relationsips

family

connect group

business

He trusts you Otherwise he wouldn’t have given it to you

We will all guve account

Fight fear - v25

Where the 3rd servant lossed wasn’t because he only had one talent, it wasn’t for lack of opportunity - the master trusted him. It was fear Maybe the reason he only got one was because the master “YOU TAKE WHAT YOU HAVEN’T EARNED YOURSELF”

Justifies inaction

Either

The 3rd servant buried the treause to hide it out of fear that he would return, and in doing so hoped that he wouldn’t return so he could keep it for himself. You hide things in hope it wouldn’t be found.

He wasn’t too pleased with the fact that the master would get the return “If I earned it, it should belong to me”

Some of you are hiding what God has given you, in hope that God wouldn’t see.

FRUITFULNESS A RESULT OF FAITHFULNESS

Naturally, fruitfulness comes.

When you grow a tree, the tree is focused on being a quality tree and the fruit comes

Story of River wanting “THE WHOLE BAG”, but billie just said “can I have more, after she had eaten the one she had. River wanted more, but recieved less. Billie asked for less but received more

Some of you are too focused on “wanting more”

God is saying “focus on being faithful with what you have”, He’s got enough to go around of what ever you’re wanting. “Set your eyes on heavenly things where moth and vermon cannot destroy” Money can dissapear, churches can die, businesses can close down, relationships can become a memory, you can wake up one day with a long term illness that effects your abilities But your FAITHFULNESS cannot be destroyed

Only 3 remain, “faith, hope and love”

JESUS

Jesus pretty much allowed his influence and ministry to boil down to just him, God and a few onlookers. He went from someone who had “multitudes” of people following him for the miralces and preaching to almost everyone abandoning him because of what he decided to do and say. Jesus focused on faithfulness over fruitfulness And in the end he became the first born (first fruits) among many who would then believe in his name And the Church was birthed, the multitudes returned in more numbers than anyone could ever dream of. Because one man was willing to be faithful God said “You can steward those 3 years you had to minister”, I’ll give you the entire world - and now Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father ruling over the whole universe.