Picture This Week 2: The Parable of the Talents

by admin | Jul 27, 2020 | Picture This, Sermon Audio and Notes

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 25 : 14 -30

As we are continuing with our new sermon series based on the parables of Jesus, this week we hear from Pastor Humphreys from our sister church Flood Lilongwe. He sheds more light on how Jesus teaches us how Considerate, Generous and rewarding He is. Also how demanding He is from his servants. 

Usually the first question becomes, what are the bags of gold? What is it that Our master has entrusted to us as we are navigating how to live/behave in the in-between time after our master/Jesus has gone away and before he returns? Is it money, talents, time, truth, resources, responsibilities, etc. 

Whatever great deal of responsibility Jesus has entrusted to us, Our Master has done so according to our abilities. Also he is very considerate to walk with us in our faithfulness and He will generously, joyfully reward our stewardship and faithfulness. 

1. Identify an area in your life where you need to be considerate this week.
2. Recognize how the Lord has been generous to you this week.
3. Recognize how the Lord has joyfully been rewarding you in your walk of Faith.

Catch up on earlier Picture This sermons: Week 1

Picture This Week 1: The Parable of the Sower

by admin | Jul 21, 2020 | Picture This, Sermon Audio and Notes

^{13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”}

Matthew 13: 1-9

This week we are kicking off a new sermon series based on the Parables of Jesus. We are in some unprecedented times, and I think we can all agree we need some hope in our world. So, we are going to be taking a journey through the Parables of Jesus and taking a look at how they provide a window into God’s Kingdom here on earth. While we might not be fully living in the Kingdom yet, Jesus provides us a glimpse of hope with each story that he tells.

For our first Parable, we hear from Andee with a fresh take on the Parable of the Sower. Usually, we hear this passage taught with specific reference to the soils and how each soil represents the different hearts that he Gospel lands on. However, Andee provides a new perspective by focusing on the Sower instead of the soil and how when we shift our focus to the person sowing the seeds in abundance we get a picture of how generous and gracious our God is. What an amazing gift to serve a God who freely gives.

1. Listen to the thorns in your life.
2. Receive God’s grace and recognize those unknown limits – He is FOR US
3. Prepare for change and persevere in it with patience