Keys To Thriving in the Place You are Planted: Being a good steward.

Matthew 25:14–30 NKJV

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Introduction

A. Review.

A couple of weeks ago, we began discussing the subject called: Thriving in the Place you are planted where we were looking at the Story of Isaac in Genesis 26:12-22.

Genesis 26:12-22 tells the story of how God prospered Isaac, continued to prosper him, until he became very prosperous.

Moreover, here we learned three things Isaac did in order to prosper, continue to prosper, until he became very prosperous:

Isaac identified and sowed in the place God has destined for him.

He Identified and sowed in the land God had intended for him.

We must uproot the people and things that are meant to block our blessing.

We must dig again, moving on from where we were and dig another well.

We learned that identifying the place has a lot to do with positioning ourselves well.

We also learned the importance of investing ourselves in that place.

2. We learned the importance of recognizing and uprooting the things and people that are meant to stop the flow of our blessing.

Today we want to continue on this subject, and specifically look on how we can become good stewards.

3. We learned that in order for us to thrive in the place we are planted, we must learn to move on from where we were and dig another well.

B. Overview:

Definition:

Stewardship is the responsibility of managing something that belongs to someone else with care, purpose, and wisdom.

Today we want to continue the subject entitled: Keys to Thriving in the Place you are planted, and specifically speak about Being a good Steward.

Q. What does the word Stewardship mean? Why is stewardship essential when it comes to Thriving in the Place God you are planted?

Today we are going to see, how being a good stewards means we are to recognize that what we have been entrusted with is not ours, its the Lords, and we are to be faithful with what we have been given, not being hindered by fear understanding that one day we will be held to account.

Stewardship is the responsible management, care, and use of the resources, relationships, and opportunities entrusted to you by God. It involves honoring God through faithful oversight of what you have- whether it is your time, talents, finances, or influence- for the benefit of others and the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Thesis:

Stewardship is essential when it comes to thriving where you are planted because it means you manage your resources well (time, gifts etc). It cultivates responsibility, excellence, and faithfulness in which are qualities that builds trust and opens doors of opportunity for you to have greater impact.

In order to thrive in the place we have been planted, we must understand what we have been entrusted with, and it is our responsibility to be faithful with what is given to us and we must apply wisdom and care in doing what is right with what is been given because there is one day we will be held to account.

Context:

To understand how we can be good stewards and thrive in the place we are planted, we are looking at the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. As we read the gospels, there are three key teaching methods Jesus would use that would cause his message to be powerful, memorable and transformative, this includes Parables which has to do with story telling, sayings which were taught with authority and were concise yet deeply profound, and miracles which would demonstrate something about himself or about the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 25:14-30 we see Jesus teach something about the Kingdom of God using a parable. In this parable would help illustrate kingdom principles in which they could understand, while also provoking thought and reflection.

In this parable, we see Jesus provide a story where there is a master, and three servants in which he would provide goods to. Moreover as we read the story, we see how he didn’t just give them goods, he gave them with the intention that they would manage his resources well, causing them to multiply and grow what was entrusted to them.

For the servants, we see that the master entrusted them with money. This shows that he invested in them, believing that they would utilize wisdom and do what was right with what was entrusted to them. Moreover, here the master gave them their money based on their ability.

The word ability refers to a persons God-given capacity, skill, or potential to steward responsibility. We must understand that ones ability is not compared to others, it is individualized. This is true because we see how to one he gave five talents, to the another he gave two, and the other he gave one.

Although they were entrusted with resources based on their ability, the expectation is that they would be responsible, wise, and be able to grow what was entrusted to them.

Message:

I. We must take responsibility to manage our gifts, talents and abilities.

The thing that we must understand is that we all have been given gifts, talents, and abilities.

A. What is a gift?

When the scripture refers to gifts, it is a special empowerment given by the Holy Spirit to believers, with the purpose of building up the church for the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

We can see how the Holy spirit administers gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 with 1 Corinthians 4:11 “To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.”

Romans 12:6–8 “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”

1 Peter 4:10–11 “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

The purpose of a gift is to build up the church and glorify God.

B. What is a talent?

Talents have to do with your aptitudes or proficiencies a person is born with or have developed over time. Such things like your artistic, athletic, musical, or leadership things are natural abilities, or abilities you have developed over time.

This is where our text is involved. Here talents are seen in terms of money, but this also includes your skillsets, opportunities, and responsibilities.

C, What are abilities:

Are abilities have to do with competence and ability to perform a task.

To put it plainly, it is our responsibility to cultivate the gifts, talents, and abilities God has entrusted to our to us.

II. We must care for what has been entrusted to us.