God's Talent

KiDZ Message

SLIDE - KiDZ Message

volunteer + ball + basket close

ask: easy or hard? move farther back ask: which felt harder?

sometimes we like what feels easy

sometimes God asks us to do hard things

Moses had a big job from God

Moses said: “I’m not good at talking”

Moses wanted God to send someone else

God did not say “never mind”

God said: “I will help you”

SLIDE - KiDZ Big Idea

Big Idea: God helps us obey, even when it feels hard

examples: telling the truth saying sorry praying out loud helping someone being kind

God helped Moses

God helps us too

prayer: God, help us obey You when things feel hard thank You for helping us. Amen

Main Sermon

SLIDE - Title

On-Ramp

Last week: time

full life / misaligned life

not yours to own / entrusted by God

This week: talent

most people hear “steward your talent” = use what you’re good at

true, but incomplete

Exodus 4 pushes deeper

not just “What can Moses do?”

“What is God sending Moses to do?”

We often assume:

God will send me where I already fit

God will commission me where I already feel capable

God will use my strengths, not stretch my weakness

Moses’ story says otherwise

SLIDE - Big Idea

God often sends us past our current strengths

God’s mission reaches beyond your natural wiring, and an engaged steward takes that seriously

If that is true, then...

What do faithful stewards do when God’s assignment requires more than what comes naturally?

Scripture Exposition

SCRIPTURE - Follow along

God gave the assignment

Exodus 3:10 “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Moses’ has a bunch of “yeah...but” questions.

Exodus 3:11 “But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?””

Exodus 3:13 “13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?””

Exodus 4:1 “Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?””

Exodus 4:10 “10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.””

Moses measures the assignment by his limitation

That is what we do, we take a God-sized assignment and respond with a self-sized reaction

God’s response to each question is important

He does not deny Moses’ weakness, and He does not let Moses’ weakness be the final word.

You won’t ever see God use the Disney philosophy of “believe in yourself”

God says:

To “who am I that I should go?”

Exodus 3:12 “I will be with you" (and here is the evidence)

To “What am I supposed to say?”

Exodus 3:14 “God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ””

To “What if they don’t believe me or listen?”

Exodus 4:2-5 The staff into the snake

Exodus 4:6-7 The hand made leprous

Exodus 4:8-9 The water into blood

To “I am slow of speech”

Exodus 4:11–12 “The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.””

Moses’ weakness may be real but it is not decisive.

not sovereign

not the final word

Verse 13 is the turn that shows where Moses’ heart had been this whole time

Exodus 4:13 “13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.””

no longer just limitation but outright refusal

Even here, God does not abandon Moses. He confronts his resistance, yet still provides help.

Exodus 4:14–16 “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.”

Aaron is provision, not replacement

Moses is no longer just naming weakness. He is resisting God’s call, and God is not emotionally indifferent to that. The Lord’s anger burned against him.

God is patient with Moses, but He does not treat this resistance as harmless.

Moses’ problem is not merely insecurity. It is that he keeps treating his limitations as more decisive than God’s presence.

God gives help but does not remove the assignment

Let’s remember today’s big idea...

SLIDE - Big Idea

God often sends us past our current strengths

God’s mission reaches beyond your natural wiring, and an engaged steward takes that seriously.

IV. Application

Our 4th core value at Valley Chapel is to be Engaged Stewards. That means working WITH God rather than against him in the assignments he has entrusted to us.

Stewarding talent is bigger than using what comes naturally

It includes offering God what you can do now AND growing where obedience requires more

Some talent is natural, Some is nurtured

So the question is not only: What am I good at?

It’s Also: What does obedience require?

We tend to say:

I’m not good at that

That’s not how I’m wired

That’s not really me

Someone else would do that better

Sometimes that is honesty, yet Sometimes that is an excuse that lets us stay disengaged.

Every time we let “that’s not really me” become our final answer, we may be asking someone else to carry an assignment God gave to us.

My example: Spanish

Not natural for me. Memorization is hard and I often freeze and feel really dumb.

but Ecuador requires it, relationships require it

obedience requires it

So I am learning it, not because it is my obvious gifting or because it is easy

because God’s mission reaches beyond my natural wiring

I wonder what it may be for you? What does obedience require?

hard conversations

leading others/ taking responsibility for others.

prayer out loud

Being more engaged with others/ accepting help

discipling kids

apologizing

self-discipline

patience & intentional practice

boundaries

listening well

V. Response

The good news is not that God only uses people who are already ready. The good news is that God is patient with reluctant people, present with inadequate people, and determined to work through people who need help.

In Jesus, we do not just receive an assignment. We receive mercy for our resistance and grace for our next step.

SLIDE - This Week

1) Identify

Where have I been using “I’m not good at that” to stay disengaged?

2) Discern

What has God actually entrusted or assigned to me that may require growth?

3) Accept

Am I willing to believe God’s assignment may be right even when it stretches me?

4) Act

What concrete practice, training, habit, or help do I need to pursue so I can grow in faithfulness?

If you want to spend time with these questions and dig deeper this week, grab an “All of Me: Workbook” at the connect center.

VI. Conclusion

Moses says: I do not speak well, send someone else

God says: Go, I will help you

SLIDE - Big Idea

God often sends us past our current strengths

When Stewarding the TALENTS God has entrusted to you...

do not only inventory current gifts

pay attention to what obedience now requires

do not let present ability become the boundary of faithfulness

Faithful stewardship is not just using what comes naturally, It is growing where obedience requires more

VII. Prayer

Thank You for not being limited by our current strengths

Show us where we are hiding behind limitation

Show us what You have entrusted to us

Give us courage to accept Your assignment

Give us grace to take one faithful step toward growth