Well Done Good and Faithful Servant- BCA Sunday
Series: Mision Month 2026
Speaker: Paul Sampson (BCA)
Date: 11th October 2026
00:00:00 --> 00:00:08 If you're going overseas for some time, one of the things you have to do before you go is to get someone to look after your valuable possessions.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:17 ! December, a number of years ago, my brother and his family were going overseas for a time and they asked us to look after their dog.
00:00:17 --> 00:00:21 They had a Labrador, Rufus, his name was, a lovely dog.
00:00:21 --> 00:00:26 We didn't have a dog at the time, so we gladly agreed that we'd look after their dog while they're on holidays.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:32 So Rufus came to our place and all went well for a couple of days.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:39 Then I came home on the third day and I noticed that the side gate was open, which was a little bit unusual.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:45 So I went inside to my wife, Cathy, and said, hey, have you got Rufus with you?
00:00:45 --> 00:00:46 And she said, no.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:50 The dog had gone.
00:00:50 --> 00:00:54 Cathy then called upstairs.
00:00:55 --> 00:00:57 Kids, come down now.
00:00:57 --> 00:00:58 Rufus is gone.
00:00:59 --> 00:01:09 Now, the timing was pretty bad because at that moment, my daughter was on a call to her niece, her cousin, I should say, my niece, who was in Germany.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:13 And she heard Cathy shout upstairs, the dog is gone.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:14 Her dog is gone.
00:01:14 --> 00:01:15 She went into a panic.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:20 She called her mother, who was in another part of Germany at the time.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:22 She called her dad, who was in the US at the time.
00:01:23 --> 00:01:25 Called her brother, who was in Japan at the time.
00:01:25 --> 00:01:30 It seemed within 10 minutes, the world knew that we were incompetent dog minders.
00:01:32 --> 00:01:37 I said to my daughter, quick, can we put up an ad on Facebook?
00:01:38 --> 00:01:40 Rufus, Labrador, gone missing.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:42 And she did.
00:01:42 --> 00:01:44 And then we stopped and prayed.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:46 Maybe we should have done the other way around.
00:01:46 --> 00:01:47 But we stopped.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:48 We prayed.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 Five minutes later, a message came up.
00:01:51 --> 00:01:56 Rufus is down the street, 200 metres, sitting watching television with one of our neighbours.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:56 All right.
00:01:57 --> 00:01:58 All is well.
00:01:58 --> 00:02:07 The point is, if you're going away, it's important to entrust your valuable possessions to someone reliable.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:12 Someone who would take care of them in the way that you intend.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:17 As an aside, two days later, I was going for a walk with Rufus around the blocks.
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 And this random person came up to me.
00:02:19 --> 00:02:20 I've never met.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:21 And they said, is that Rufus?
00:02:22 --> 00:02:25 So the dog had become more well-known in the community than I was.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:26 Anyway, put that aside.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:31 Matthew 25 tells this story similarly, that a man is going away on a journey.
00:02:31 --> 00:02:37 And he called his servants and trusted his wealth to them.
00:02:38 --> 00:02:39 An enormous amount of wealth.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:46 Verse 15, in some translations of the Bible, it says, to the one he gave five talents.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 The word talents is a bit misleading for us.
00:02:50 --> 00:02:53 When we hear the word talents, we think of gifts or abilities and that sort of thing.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 So it's not that.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:57 A talent was a measure of weight.
00:02:57 --> 00:02:59 So in English, we have the word pound.
00:02:59 --> 00:03:05 Initially, that was a measure of weight, but then became a large unit of money.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:16 The commentaries tell us that one talent was about 20 years of a labourer's wages.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 About 20 years of a labourer's wages.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:21 So let me give you some kind of relativities.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:23 I looked this up during the week.
00:03:23 --> 00:03:37 The national minimum wage in Australia from 1st of July this year, $26.44 an hour, which is about $1 a week, which is about $52 per annum.
00:03:37 --> 00:03:45 So 20 years of a labourer's wage is about a million dollars in today's term.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:47 A million dollars.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 One talent, a million dollars.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:56 Two talents is what a labourer would earn in an entire lifetime.
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 A huge amount of money.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:06 So I think the more recent translation of bags of gold is probably much better.
00:04:06 --> 00:04:13 See, what's on view is that the Lord gives his people responsibilities in the light of their abilities.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:17 He entrusts enormous responsibilities to his servants.
00:04:18 --> 00:04:21 He wants to be able to rely on his servants.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 Now, at this point, I need three volunteers.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:28 Can I ask three volunteers to come up the front here?
00:04:28 --> 00:04:30 You won't be harmed in this process.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:32 Three volunteers.
00:04:32 --> 00:04:33 Otherwise, oh, I saw them.
00:04:33 --> 00:04:34 Yes, come on up.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:34 Come on up.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:35 Fantastic.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:37 That's one.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:38 Two.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:39 I see a volunteer down here.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:42 And I see another volunteer, sir.
00:04:42 --> 00:04:43 And that's right.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:44 Could you come up here?
00:04:44 --> 00:04:45 Thank you very much.
00:04:45 --> 00:04:45 Thank you.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:47 That was a volunteer right there, I saw.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:48 Oh, yes.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:49 Come on up.
00:04:49 --> 00:04:52 And can we welcome our volunteers here, right?
00:04:54 --> 00:04:54 Okay.
00:04:55 --> 00:04:56 All right.
00:04:56 --> 00:04:57 So we've been listening to the story.
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 Let's hear it again, though, the first part.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 Thank you.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:04 You can be going to do it.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:05 Okay.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:07 And he entrusted his wealth to them.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:09 To one he gave five bags of gold.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:11 To another two bags.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:15 And to another one bag, each according to his ability.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:18 Then he went on his journey.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:18 Okay.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:22 So to one he gave five bags of gold.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:24 Oh, just a second.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 To one he gave two bags of gold.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:33 And to one he gave one bag of gold.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:34 Okay.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:38 And then we read that they were sent off.
00:05:38 --> 00:05:41 So I'm going to send them off over here.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:42 You guys go over there.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:43 That'll be good.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:44 Just over there.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:45 That'll be terrific.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:47 And then we'll see what happened next.
00:05:47 --> 00:05:51 For a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:55 The man who had given five bags of gold brought the other five.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 Master, he said, you entrusted me with five bags of gold.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 See, I have gained five more.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:01 Okay.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:03 We'll just pause there.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:04 Come on back here.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:04 Come on back.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:06 Come on back.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:07 Okay.
00:06:10 --> 00:06:12 So you were given five.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:13 How many have you got now?
00:06:15 --> 00:06:16 Five more.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:17 Five more.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:19 And you were given two.
00:06:20 --> 00:06:21 And how many have you got now?
00:06:21 --> 00:06:22 Two more.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 And you were given one.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:26 And how many have you got now?
00:06:30 --> 00:06:31 I know.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 I know.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:33 There's you.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:34 You've got five more.
00:06:35 --> 00:06:36 You've got two more.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:39 And you've got no more.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:39 No more.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:40 Okay.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:41 Let's read what happens here then.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 His master replied, well done, good and faithful servant.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:48 You have been faithful with a few things.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:50 I will put you in charge of many things.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:53 Come and share your master's happiness.
00:06:54 --> 00:06:56 The man with two bags of gold also came.
00:06:56 --> 00:06:59 Master, he said, you entrusted me with two bags of gold.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 See, I have gained two more.
00:07:02 --> 00:07:02 Okay.
00:07:02 --> 00:07:07 And notice what the master said to this one who came back with two.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:10 He said, his master replied, well done, good and faithful servant.
00:07:10 --> 00:07:12 You have been faithful with a few things.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 I'll put you in charge of many things.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:16 Come and share your master's happiness.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:16 Okay.
00:07:16 --> 00:07:22 But then the third man came back who'd been entrusted with one bag of gold.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:24 What did we read?
00:07:24 --> 00:07:27 Then the man who had received one bag of gold came.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:31 His master, he said, master, I knew that you're a hard man harvesting where you've not sown
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:38 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 See, here is what belongs to you.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:46 Notice what the master said to this servant.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:51 His master replied, you wicked, lazy servant.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:59 So you knew that I harvested where I've not sown and gathered where I've not scattered seed.
00:07:59 --> 00:08:05 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers so that when I returned,
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 I would have received it back with interest.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:12 So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has 10 bags.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:20 For whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:25 Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them
00:08:25 --> 00:08:30 and throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness
00:08:30 --> 00:08:34 where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:40 Can we thank our servants here?
00:08:42 --> 00:08:42 Hold on, you guys.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:43 It's all yours.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:44 I get to keep it?
00:08:44 --> 00:08:45 Yeah, yeah.
00:08:45 --> 00:08:45 Oh, yeah.
00:08:50 --> 00:08:50 Okay.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:56 What we see is a very vivid, it's a dramatic story.
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 But what is the point?
00:08:59 --> 00:09:00 What is the point?
00:09:01 --> 00:09:02 The point is faithfulness.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:05 The faithfulness of the servants.
00:09:09 --> 00:09:14 The faithfulness of the servants towards the absent master who will one day return
00:09:14 --> 00:09:20 and who will want to know what business the servants have conducted.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:22 Notice the key word is faithful.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:27 It's used twice in verse 21 and twice in verse 23.
00:09:27 --> 00:09:31 Two servants are described as faithful.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:37 But the point is that all the servants are called to be faithful.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:42 One servant receives five bags of gold,
00:09:44 --> 00:09:46 another two bags of gold,
00:09:47 --> 00:09:49 and another one bag of gold.
00:09:49 --> 00:09:50 Then the master went away.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 The one who received five gained another five.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:55 The one who received two gained another two.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:59 But the one who had received one didn't do anything with it.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:01 We read in verse 18,
00:10:02 --> 00:10:08 But the man who had received one bag dug a hole in the ground and hid the master's money.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 How should we assess what he did?
00:10:13 --> 00:10:15 You think, wasn't that the safe option, right?
00:10:15 --> 00:10:20 He put it in the ground where it would be safe as long as it could be found.
00:10:20 --> 00:10:22 That would be a safe option.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 But notice what the master said when he came back.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:27 He didn't say, well done, good and faithful servant.
00:10:27 --> 00:10:28 No, no, no.
00:10:28 --> 00:10:32 He called him a wicked, lazy servant.
00:10:33 --> 00:10:37 In economics, there's a thing called the rule of 72.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:39 This number 72,
00:10:39 --> 00:10:41 if you take the number 72,
00:10:41 --> 00:10:43 you divide it by the rate of compound interest,
00:10:43 --> 00:10:47 you get the number of years it takes for your money to double.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:51 So if you invest at the rate of 7%,
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 it'll take 10 years for your money to double.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:56 72 divided by 7 is 10.
00:10:57 --> 00:10:59 If the rate of return is 10%,
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 the money doubles every seven years.
00:11:01 --> 00:11:03 And people in real estate in this part of the world
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 and all around Sydney have seen this, of course, in action.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:12 We read that the master returned after a long period of time.
00:11:12 --> 00:11:13 We need to note this.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:17 So even if the servant was getting a really low rate of interest,
00:11:17 --> 00:11:21 just a couple of percents on deposit with the bankers, as he said,
00:11:21 --> 00:11:24 it would have been worth significantly more than the original amount.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:29 The master didn't have unrealistically high expectations,
00:11:30 --> 00:11:37 but he absolutely expected that it would be invested wisely
00:11:37 --> 00:11:40 and generate a return on his investment.
00:11:41 --> 00:11:42 Remember, of course,
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 that even when we're thinking about the third servant,
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 he was given an enormous amount of money.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 In today's terms, about a million dollars.
00:11:51 --> 00:11:54 20 years of wages to be wise with.
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 He did nothing with his bag of gold.
00:11:58 --> 00:11:59 He hit it in the ground.
00:12:00 --> 00:12:03 It was considered a safe place in the ancient world.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:04 But what's the point?
00:12:04 --> 00:12:05 What is Jesus saying?
00:12:06 --> 00:12:09 Well, firstly, the Pharisees are being called out.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:14 They had effectively buried their opportunities,
00:12:14 --> 00:12:15 their responsibilities,
00:12:16 --> 00:12:19 and they're called worthless servants.
00:12:20 --> 00:12:20 Wicked.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:21 Lazy.
00:12:21 --> 00:12:24 You can't put a positive spin on that.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:26 Jesus is rebuking them.
00:12:27 --> 00:12:30 What they have will be taken away from them.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 Worse still, see the language there.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 They will find themselves outside of the kingdom,
00:12:36 --> 00:12:37 in the darkness.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:40 And Jesus uses these words here.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:42 It paints a truly gruesome picture.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:43 Verse 30.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:47 A place where there'll be weeping and gnashing teeth.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:54 Now, we need to note that the implications go much wider than the Pharisees.
00:12:54 --> 00:12:59 It applies to all who refuse to act on the responsibilities
00:12:59 --> 00:13:04 and the opportunities that the Master has provided for them.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:09 So, friends, be aware this may well be us.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:15 For we have been given so much to use for God's kingdom.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 You've been given the good news of the gospel,
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 the forgiveness of sins by faith in Jesus,
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 reconciliation with God.
00:13:24 --> 00:13:27 By faith, you've been given God's Holy Spirit.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:32 And you have received extraordinary ministry training through your church.
00:13:32 --> 00:13:38 If you've been part of this church or like a similar church in Sydney for a while,
00:13:38 --> 00:13:42 you've had systematically been taught well the Bible.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:48 We had to notice a similarity between a spiritual and natural phenomenon.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 I want you to think about muscles for a moment.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:56 When it comes to muscles, the axiom is clear.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 Use it or lose it.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:05 If you develop our muscles, then we can lift heavier weights more easily
00:14:05 --> 00:14:08 and still feel good and not injure ourselves.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:14 Jesus reminds us, to those who have, more is given.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:19 But if you lie in bed and do nothing, atrophy takes over.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:21 The muscles you have deteriorate.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 We can do less and less.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:25 How far can you run?
00:14:26 --> 00:14:30 If you train regularly, you can run further and further.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:34 But if you just sit and watch Netflix,
00:14:34 --> 00:14:40 you'll be able to run less next time than you did last time.
00:14:41 --> 00:14:45 Recently, our son and his wife did the Mudgee Marathon.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 42 K's.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 But they didn't just get up that morning and say,
00:14:50 --> 00:14:51 let's give this a crack.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:53 We'll knock out 42 K's.
00:14:53 --> 00:14:55 No, you see, they trained,
00:14:56 --> 00:14:59 gradually increasing the distance they could run each time.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 It is like this in the spiritual realm as well.
00:15:02 --> 00:15:09 When we act faithfully, using the responsibilities and taking the opportunities that the Lord gives us,
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 our capacities will grow.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 But if we do nothing with them,
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 our ability to respond will diminish.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 We need to hear this message.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:29 There's a potent challenge for all of us to respond in the service of the Master.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 Regardless of our physical capabilities,
00:15:31 --> 00:15:33 that's not what's on view here.
00:15:34 --> 00:15:36 But it's a warning against being slack.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:42 It's a warning against being unwilling to take risks.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:50 Notice the response that the five bags of gold and the two bags of gold servants received.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:51 Identical commendations.
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 Verse 21, 23.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:55 His master replied,
00:15:55 --> 00:16:11 Both used what had been given to them.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 They both used it wisely.
00:16:15 --> 00:16:19 It is how we use what we have given that is important.
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 Friends, you've been given the gift of salvation.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 Through faith in Jesus.
00:16:27 --> 00:16:28 We haven't earned it.
00:16:28 --> 00:16:32 And it's an extraordinary, extravagant gift from God.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 Through his son, the Lord Jesus.
00:16:35 --> 00:16:39 Begiven and set free by faith in Jesus.
00:16:39 --> 00:16:41 That is indeed an extraordinary gift.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:44 And we are to use the gift.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 So the question is, what might that look like for you?
00:16:49 --> 00:16:52 Well, it'll depend on your individual circumstances, of course.
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 But see what verse 29 says.
00:16:54 --> 00:16:59 The point of the parable is that we all need to be ready for Christ's return.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:05 All his servants understood that the master would return.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:09 We're reminded in Jesus' parable in the first half of the master's return.
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 We are to be ready.
00:17:12 --> 00:17:16 Where can we invest now?
00:17:16 --> 00:17:19 Our time.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:19
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 And our money.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 And our abilities.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:31 In a way that we believe is most in accord with God's desire to make disciples of all people.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:38 So we need to ask ourselves, yes, certainly, where is our potential for numerical and spiritual growth?
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 And we can look to the low-hanging fruit.
00:17:41 --> 00:17:47 But our mission field, as has been highlighted already this morning, is beyond the kind of comfort circle of where we live here.
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 It includes the hard, rocky ground.
00:17:49 --> 00:17:54 Ministers with BCA are ministering in those sort of places.
00:17:54 --> 00:17:57 The under-resourced regional, rural, and remote parts of this country.
00:17:58 --> 00:18:02 Places like Lightning Ridge and Cobar and Broken Hill and Walgett and Colorado Bryant.
00:18:03 --> 00:18:11 Sydney churches and, indeed, BCA are in many real senses like the first two servants who have just been blessed abundantly.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:15 Compared to most churches in the world, we have enormous amount of resources.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:22 The language of Matthew 25, we have been entrusted with many bags of gold.
00:18:22 --> 00:18:28 And we must continue to think through and pray through carefully how we use those abundant resources.
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 That remains our responsibility.
00:18:30 --> 00:18:37 But it remains our responsibility to seek to gain more, to use wisely and courageously the riches that we've been given.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:44 So that might continue to grow, to support kingdom growth here and further afield.
00:18:45 --> 00:18:53 Now, I can assure you that in many churches I'm familiar with, the application of this passage would be to give more money.
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 But that is not what Jesus is saying here.
00:18:56 --> 00:19:02 This is not a call to give, but to use.
00:19:02 --> 00:19:32 This is not a call to give, but to use.
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 Reminder is that Jesus is coming back.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 And when he returns, none of us will hear from him.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 None of us will hear from him.
00:19:40 --> 00:19:43 Well done, good and successful servant.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:50 What we hope to hear is, well done, good and faithful servant.
00:19:51 --> 00:19:54 So what is God calling you to do?
00:19:54 --> 00:19:57 He's calling us to be wise.
00:19:57 --> 00:19:58 Not act in faith.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 Not act in fear.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 But in faith.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 Use what we've been given for his kingdom.
00:20:08 --> 00:20:15 Jesus teaches that readiness for his return involves active faithful service, not passive waiting.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:23 He calls his servants to courageously invest their lives in ways that honour him.
00:20:24 --> 00:20:32 Trusting that one day Jesus is coming back and will one day be rewarded for our faithfulness.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:42 It's said sometimes that we overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in five.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:47 In just a moment's time, I'm going to lead us in prayer.
00:20:47 --> 00:20:55 But before I do that, I want to invite you to take a moment, literally take a moment now, to crystallise your thinking.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 We have been given much.
00:20:58 --> 00:21:00 Take a moment to make a plan.
00:21:00 --> 00:21:08 What is one concrete thing that you can do with what God has given you?
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 What's one concrete thing you can do for the purpose of his kingdom?
00:21:14 --> 00:21:19 Is it to use your knowledge to lead and teach others?
00:21:19 --> 00:21:29 Maybe scripture in schools or maybe leading ministries here, teaching kids here at church on Sunday morning?
00:21:30 --> 00:21:33 Is it to use your wealth to support a ministry?
00:21:34 --> 00:21:37 The Fergusons in Walcott, perhaps.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:43 Is it to use your time and energy to support others on a service roster here at St. Paul's, maybe?
00:21:43 --> 00:21:55 So now take a moment to plan over time what might you do that could make a huge difference.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 Take a moment now.
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 Think of that one thing that the Lord is prompting you to act on.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:06 One thing you'll take away to look to implement as a result of hearing God's word this morning.
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 Let's do that.
00:22:13 --> 00:22:43 Thank you.