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[0:00] Now I ask if you would stand with me. I'm going to read to you out of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 14-30.

[0:25] If you want to follow along with me, I have the English Standard Version. Matthew 25, beginning in verse 14. For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them his property.

[0:41] To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability, and then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five more.

[0:57] So also he who had two talents made two more talents. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

[1:08] Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more and saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents. Here, I have made five talents more.

[1:25] His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

[1:36] He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed.

[2:09] So I was afraid, and I went and I hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours. But his master said to him, You wicked and slothful servant.

[2:22] You knew that I reap where I do not sow, and gather where I scatter no seed. Well, then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest.

[2:35] So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

[2:50] May God add a blessing to the reading of his word.

[3:02] Would you please be seated? In 1991, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about a couple in Wisconsin.

[3:15] And this couple, they were antique collectors. And they had invited an appraiser to their home to appraise all of their things. They had a lot of furniture and a lot of old paintings. And so as the appraiser entered into their house, he happened to also, they didn't realize, he happened to also be an art prospector.

[3:34] And so as he's going through this couple's house, he stumbled across a painting that he later found out, and this is a true story, was an original Vince Van Gogh, printed by Vincent Van Gogh.

[3:46] The painting called Still Life with Flowers is a treasured part of Van Gogh's collection. And at auction, this painting sold for $1.4 million.

[3:59] Can you believe it? Now, yes, I asked Lee to present a picture of it. I think it's kind of ugly. Obviously, I can think of 1.4 million other ways that I would spend $1.4 million.

[4:10] But I thought that you would probably be interested to know what it was. And in the day and age with iPhones and Google, I don't want you looking that up while I'm preaching the word to you. But there it is.

[4:22] You know, and if it weren't for that appraiser walking through this house and spotting that painting just offhand, no one would have known, they would have had no idea, that in their house was a masterpiece that was worth $1.4 million.

[4:42] So I share that story with you this morning because I believe that in this parable that I just read to you a moment ago, we come across a kind of spiritual, scriptural Van Gogh in this passage.

[4:54] Now, there's no secret Bible code. There's no code to encrypt. We don't need some kind of enchanted seer stones to be able to have that message pulled out for us. This isn't some kind of, you know, those magic paintings that you used to have to stare at and cross your eyes to try to get the picture.

[5:12] Well, we don't have to do that with this parable to get this masterpiece out. It's right there for us to see. But we've got to do a little digging if we're going to pull it out.

[5:26] And so that's what I want us to do this morning. You know, God's word is very deep. And there are great treasures for us to take out of it. But we've got to be willing to dig deep enough in order to acquire those treasures.

[5:40] Now, tragically, not enough of us are willing to do that with the word of God. R.C. Sproul said, So let's do some work this morning, shall we?

[6:15] Let's get to the heart of this parable. Let's pull out that Van Gogh and see what the Lord has to say to us through it. And on our way to discovering that masterpiece, we will discover three aspects that are true of the Christian life.

[6:32] Three aspects that are true of the Christian life. And I'll read those for you now, and we'll go over them here shortly. The first aspect that we will discover about the Christian life is that the Lord gives us talents that we are accountable for.

[6:48] The Lord gives us talents that we are accountable for. The second aspect that we will discover about the Christian life is that the Lord expects that we actively use the talents that we've been given.

[7:01] That we actively use the talents that we've been given. And the third aspect that we will discover about the Christian life is that those who have been accountable and have been active in regard to their talents will be awarded.

[7:16] They will be awarded. Now, the parable of the talents is the second of two parables that Jesus tells there in Matthew 25. And he tells these parables to illustrate the way that he wants us to live in readiness, in anticipation, in waiting for his second coming.

[7:37] And so most people, when they read Matthew 25, they walk away from this text with the thought that Jesus is simply addressing our need to be good stewards of the resources that he's given us.

[7:47] And that is true. That's very true. But it's also a shallow understanding of this parable. There is so much here for us to discover.

[7:58] So let's begin to dig. The first aspect that we discover about the Christian life is that the Lord gives us talents and we are accountable for them.

[8:10] That comes from verses 14 and 15. For it will be like a man, the Lord says, going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them his property. To one he gave five, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability.

[8:26] And then he went. So the man going on the journey was planning on being gone for a while. Perhaps a year or maybe even longer. And so he gathers together three of his servants and he entrusts them with his property while he prepares to go on this long journey.

[8:44] So there when it says for it, well what is it referring to? Well again, in reference to the context of these parables that he's teaching, it represents the kingdom of God. And the Lord's second coming.

[8:57] That's what it is all about. And so the man, as we see later on, is identified as the master who then represents Jesus. So it represents Jesus' time between his going and second coming.

[9:12] The master represents Jesus. And then since Jesus is the master, we see that his servants would represent those who follow him. Those who call themselves his disciples.

[9:24] Now we've got to figure out what's next. Is these talents that he entrusts them with? His property. What do those represent? What does a talent represent?

[9:35] Well, talent used in the immediate context would refer to money as it's used there. But the word itself simply represented a measure of weight. And so Jesus' point in using a talent was to emphasize accountability for differing levels of responsibility based on each servant's ability to handle that responsibility.

[9:58] So there are several clues here that the Lord provides us in this parable to help us identify what exactly he means by a talent. What does a talent represent?

[10:10] Well, the first clue is that these talents are the Lord's property. They belong to him. These talents are not something that we give to God. They are something that God gives to us.

[10:23] So they represent the Lord's property. The second clue is found in the way the master distributes his talents to the servant. If you remember, to the one he gave five.

[10:34] To another he gave two. And to another he gave one. Each according to his ability. And we've got to understand that the talents aren't natural abilities that are given to the servants by God.

[10:47] But they are given based on the natural abilities that the servants already have. Now this might not sound very nice. Especially in our culture where everybody wins a trophy, right?

[10:58] At the end of the season. Nobody gets out and t-ball like my son plays. Everybody gets on base whether you hit the ball or not. And so we think, well that doesn't sound fair. But it's the truth.

[11:09] For example, now I may be risking myself here. I may be putting myself in peril. But at the last NBA finals, Kevin Durant, forgive me. Forgive me.

[11:21] Kevin Durant was on fire, was he not? And you knew that in a moment in the game where the tide could change, the ball was going to be in the hands of Kevin Durant.

[11:32] That's just life, right? If you're talking about a basketball game and you're down by two and you've got less than a second to make the final shot, you're not going to have your center shooting a three. You're going to have your point guard or your shooting guard based upon his ability to make the shot.

[11:47] And so that's just the way life is. The third clue is not given, but it's implied by the master's response to the servants when they returned. And that's this. That he expected his servants to invest the talents that he had given them.

[12:03] And that he expected also that they would invest and that their investment would return a gain. The talent is something that can be invested, we see.

[12:13] And it's something that also, as you know, when you invest, you also risk losing or gaining. We, like the servants in the parable, have a choice as well.

[12:25] We can either choose to take that risk like the two did, or we can refuse like the last servant. Now, the fourth and final clue, likewise, is not given, but it's also implied that the talent is invested, the talent that is invested must be made solely for the benefit of the Lord who gave it.

[12:48] The Lord is the one who benefits from the investment. The talents were not given to the servants for their own use. It was entrusted to these men, but it never became their property.

[13:01] It always remained the property of the Lord. And so if they were going to risk, it was going to be on the Lord's behalf. Some time ago, actually a while ago, when I began serving as a youth pastor, my very first time on church staff, we had a girl in our youth group whose family was going out of town, and they had this really, really nice house out in the country.

[13:26] And so what they asked us to do was to come and to take care of their house for a week. And so we'd feed their cows, we'd feed their dogs. I think they had some cats or something like that. But we basically, we lived in this house.

[13:38] We would go to work. Danny and I, we'd come back at night. We'd go take care of our dogs at home, but we would come back, and this is the place that we lived. And, you know, Danny and I, especially the sunsets, were beautiful out there in the country, and we would sit out on their back sunroom and just imagine if this place was ours.

[13:54] Now imagine if they had come back, this family who owned this property, and I had changed all the locks, right? And I said, well, I like this property, and I want it to be mine. Well, guess what would have happened?

[14:06] One, I probably would have gotten arrested, and two, that's a really bad way to start ministry, right? Not a good way to start. This is the Lord's property, these talents. And he gives them as he sees fit, and then he expects that the talents are invested, and that they be multiplied, and that the work of investing and multiplying these talents are done for his benefit, for his glory, not for our own.

[14:33] So taking these clues together, these four clues, here's what I believe the talents represent. I believe that the talents represent opportunity.

[14:47] Opportunity. What do I mean by that? Well, let me explain. About four years ago, I had a lady at our church whose husband, for the longest time, and she had been a member of this church for 40 or so more years, her husband had never come to church in any of that time.

[15:07] And he was sick. He was in the hospital. He had had a colon cancer, and he had an issue afterwards with his intestines being twisted up. And all I knew of this man was from her daughter, who was also a member of our church, and his son-in-law and his kids who were teens in the youth group.

[15:27] And what I knew about Melvin was that Melvin was an ex-sailor. He had tattoos, and that he was tough. And so, and I also knew that the family had been praying, especially Sharon, for years and years that her husband would come to know the Lord, that her husband would come to church.

[15:42] And so I found out that he was in a hospital far away from Leavenworth, where she was staying. She didn't like to drive. She didn't feel comfortable driving that far. And so she took the opportunity to ask me if I would take her to see her husband.

[15:59] And so I thought, sure, I have the time. It's Friday. I have nothing else going on. I would be glad to take you to see your husband. And so we got there, and I didn't really know what was going to happen. But then she took the opportunity, and she asked me, Pastor Mike, would you please come?

[16:13] Would you please see Melvin, and would you pray for him? And I'll never forget going in and seeing Melvin for the first time. I could tell he was in a lot of pain. I could tell that he was a tough old sailor, as had been described.

[16:23] Not only that, he had the grovely voice, you know, hello, Pastor. And so I wasn't there very long. I knew he was in pain, but I prayed for him, and I left. And when I came home, my wife, Dani, said, how did it go?

[16:35] And I said, well, either he really liked me or he really didn't like me. I can't tell. Well, sure enough, about a week later, he got out of the hospital. And a week after that, he called me at the church.

[16:47] And he said, Pastor Mike, would you please come to my house? I would like to talk to you. And I'll never forget sitting across from him at his kitchen table and him talking to me about his relationship with God growing up, or lack thereof, that he was sent to church by his parents who never thought it was important enough for them to go.

[17:06] They just wanted to send their kids there. And when he was supposed to be baptized, his parents didn't come. And so he thought, well, if it's not important enough for my parents to be here, I'm not going to go through with it.

[17:16] So he never did. And so we had this conversation about his salvation. He said, you know, while I've been in the hospital, I've been thinking about death, and I'm uncertain about where I'm going to end up going.

[17:27] And so here I had another opportunity to share the gospel with him, and that's what we did. I took him through the Romans Road, and at the end we prayed, and he seemed like a completely changed man.

[17:38] This tough old sailor was getting emotional. He was bearing his heart with me, and he said, I wanted to be baptized. And so about another week later, I had another opportunity to baptize him in front of our church and the opportunity to see his family, who thought that that would never happen, see what God can do.

[17:59] Last week, and you'll come to find out I'm a little bit emotional, I had the opportunity to preach at Melvin's funeral.

[18:10] He passed away. He had lung cancer. And he had a lot of friends. He didn't have a whole lot of time. He had about three years where he was really a Christian. He was there every single Sunday, excited to be there. When he couldn't be there, it broke his heart.

[18:22] And I had the opportunity to preach the gospel to his friends, whom he had been trying to reach during that three years. See, opportunity creates opportunity. That's what Jesus is trying to get across to us.

[18:37] Talents are opportunities that give us opportunities to serve him. And we will give an account for how we either invested in those opportunities or how we let them go to waste.

[18:54] So now that we have established what a talent is, we can go through this a little bit more quickly. The second aspect that we discover about the Christian life is that the Lord expects that we actively use the talents that we've been given.

[19:08] Verses 16 and 18. He said, He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five more talents. So also, he who had the two talents made two more talents.

[19:20] But he who had received the one talent went and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. So to illustrate this point about being active, as he expects, Jesus goes into detail about how each servant reacted to the talents that they had been given.

[19:37] The first servant, as we've seen, went immediately. He's given five talents. He's got plenty of opportunity, and he immediately takes action. He takes advantage of what the Lord had entrusted him with.

[19:51] He's got an opportunity, and he's going to make the most of it. Immediately in the Greek is uthyos. It means just what you would think. At once, instantly, instinctively, this man had gotten what the Lord had given him, and he went right away to put it to work.

[20:08] Now, notice that he doesn't brag about it, right? He doesn't sit around and wait to see, I wonder what Jesus is going to give, or the master's going to give the other two, right? And sees the one coming out with two. I got five. You got two. Guess who the master really loves, right?

[20:20] He doesn't do that. He doesn't boast. He doesn't brag. He goes right to work. And he risks by investing his master's money.

[20:35] Well, how could it be that he would be willing to risk something so valuable, knowing that it may not produce a gain? Well, I believe it's because of this. He knew his master well.

[20:47] And because he knew his master well, he knew his master's will. And he knew that this is what his master would want him to do, and so he goes, and he invests it, and it multiplies.

[21:00] And then the second servant, likewise, is given two talents. Not as much, but still plenty of opportunity. And he also takes action, and he takes advantage of that opportunity that had been given to him.

[21:12] Both of these servants demonstrated supreme commitment to their master by making the most of what they had been entrusted with. But then we have the third servant.

[21:25] He was given one talent, and he also took action, but his action was to take that talent and to bury it in the ground. Now, to us today, that sounds very strange, right?

[21:37] That sounds like something kids would do, but actually in this culture, in this time, that's what a lot of people would do. If you had something valuable, you didn't have such a thing as a bank vault or a safety deposit box, and so you would bury your valuables in the ground.

[21:51] And so that's what this servant did. But here's the problem. He had received that talent. He had been given that opportunity not to safeguard it, not to bury it, but to invest it.

[22:06] So now let's tie all of that together as we come to the third aspect, which is this. The third aspect that we discover about the Christian life is that those who have been accountable and active in regard to their talents will be awarded.

[22:22] They will be awarded. The award of the first servant, he gained 100% return, right? In terms of application, the parable serves to remind us that this is the way that we are to live, to make full use of all the opportunities that the Lord gives us.

[22:40] This man felt a sense of urgency, and he had a desire to use all that the master had given him and to multiply it, knowing that he would not himself profit from it personally, but that all the profit would go to the Lord.

[22:59] He risked the possibility of loss to himself, but because he knew his master well again, he knew his master's will, and he knew that that risk was all going to be worth it.

[23:11] And then in verse 21, we have the award from his master. He says to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.

[23:23] Enter into the joy of your master. Well done, good and faithful servant. The master commended the servant's character, which expressed itself in excellent service.

[23:37] He not only gave him high praise, but he gave him high reward. He said, Enter into the joy of your master. What's that joy that he's speaking of? Well, in the book of Hebrews, it says of Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God.

[24:00] It is the joy that comes with accomplishment. It's the joy that comes with knowing that you've pleased God. It's the joy of knowing that you took advantage of your opportunity to share and show the love of Christ.

[24:17] Then we see the award of the second servant. In verse 23, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

[24:30] The man who had two talents gained two more. Now, right, math is my worst subject, but even I know that four is less than ten. So you think that maybe the award is different, but it's not. See, because they both multiplied.

[24:42] They both gained a hundred percent return on what had been invested. And so we see there that not a syllable, not a word of difference between what the master says to the first servant and what he says to the second.

[24:57] You see that? He's pleased with what both have done. Not a word, not a syllable is different. As I've gone through this process of meeting with your search committee and many of you asked me yesterday, who is my favorite preacher?

[25:15] I have many that I like, but I would say if there was one guy, if I'm going to be trapped on a deserted island for the rest of my life and for some reason I can only hear one preacher, who would that one preacher be?

[25:26] And it would probably be John MacArthur because he does such a good job. All right, I gained some fans. I didn't hear any boos. I don't know. We'll see. All right, there we go. John MacArthur, because he does such a good job, I trust the work that he does and he is an excellent preacher.

[25:42] He is an excellent teacher. But I don't know how good of a job John MacArthur would do running a nursery at the church. I don't know how well he would do at running a VBS.

[25:53] Could you imagine that? I just can't see him in that setting doing very well. He's been given plenty of opportunities because he's such a great teacher, because he's such a great preacher. I don't know how well he'd fare in a situation like that.

[26:04] That's not really an opportunity meant for him. And so I say that because I think this is Jesus' point that what you do for him matters greatly. It matters greatly to him.

[26:19] Even the smallest task that is done for the Lord is done to advance the kingdom of God and it does not go unnoticed by him and it will not go unrewarded by him.

[26:32] You've got to understand that. Maybe the church doesn't see, maybe the pastor doesn't see, but God sees it all and all that you do in his name for his glory and advancement of his kingdom does not and will not go unnoticed and there will be an award for you.

[26:53] In the church, there are obviously many people and we're gifted in many different ways. Some may be those who get the five talents of opportunity, some might be the one who get two, but all of us have been given opportunity and all of us must invest in that opportunity that the Lord has provided to us and it takes all of us, great and small, little tasks, great tasks, whatever the task may be, it is important and it takes all of us together taking advantage of those opportunities for the kingdom of God to really rock a community and it can.

[27:28] 1 Corinthians 12, we read Romans 12, they're perfectly fitting, for just as the body is one and has many members and all of the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ.

[27:39] If we were all a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. You see, he's getting this point across to us that what you do with your opportunity is important and it must be an opportunity that collectively as a church we invest in.

[27:56] And so now we come to the climax of this story and we are beginning to arrive at the masterpiece, that piece of information that I believe the Lord wants us to discover and he wants us to make a decision about.

[28:11] And that's this, partly. If we don't risk our talents, there will not be any gain, only loss. If we do not risk our talents, there will not be any gain, only loss.

[28:27] And so now we come to the third servant who had gained nothing because he had risked nothing. There was no increase because there was no investment.

[28:38] When the master returns, he has a little speech, it seems, prepared. What am I going to say to the master when he comes back? Maybe he's seen the other two servants and he says, oh, they've really done a good job. What am I going to say? And so he carefully comes up with this speech and this is basically what he's saying in our own words.

[28:54] He's saying to the master, you're an unreasonable man. Again, you expect a lot of other people and you expect them to do the dirty work for you while you go away on trips.

[29:06] So I was afraid to risk what you gave me because I knew that there's a chance that I might lose it and that in losing it I would have to face you when you returned.

[29:19] But I've outsmarted you. I've outwitted you. I didn't lose what you gave me. Here it is. Exactly what you gave me for you to take back.

[29:30] Notice that the master does not challenge his character as described by this last servant. Obviously you can tell that the servant doesn't really know the master based upon how he speaks to him.

[29:43] But he doesn't debate his character with the man. Instead he takes him at his own appraisal and he says to him basically, so what you're saying to me, if that's true, if this is the way that you view me then you should have at the very least taken my money and put it in the bank where it would have at the very least collected interest for me.

[30:01] But of course the real problem with the man is that he had no intention of being the kind of servant that he pretended to be. He pretended to be in the service of the master but he had no intention to actually serve the master.

[30:18] everyone in the church is given at least one talent. Everybody in the church is given at least one opportunity. And you know what that one talent is?

[30:30] You know what that one opportunity is? It's to risk yourself. To risk yourself on what? Well to risk yourself on the word of God. To risk yourself on the redeeming grace of God.

[30:46] to rest upon and risk yourself upon the work that Christ did for you on the cross and believe that it's truly been paid in full.

[30:58] We've all been given that one talent. That one opportunity to risk. And if you risk that opportunity what you find is that more opportunities follow after that.

[31:10] But if you've never made that decision you'll never take advantage of those opportunities. they won't come your way. C.S. Lewis said it may be hard a hard thing for an egg to become a bird.

[31:22] It's a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while it is still an egg. We are like eggs today and we either must be hatched or go bad. And this servant had gone bad.

[31:34] So now we have arrived at last and come to Jesus' point of telling this parable. Here it is. This is it. What are you trying to say to us Lord through this parable and I believe that it's this.

[31:47] Risk. Risk. Step out. Be courageous. Be bold. You have a message that will change and transform a person's life.

[32:01] Take advantage of those opportunities. Risk your comfort. risk. Risk. That other people would know me.

[32:15] Jesus told his disciples we must work the works of him who sent me while it is still day. Night is coming when no one can work. Ladies and gentlemen night has not yet come.

[32:28] It is still day and the message is still true. We must get to work. And as you see the world that we're living in there is a lot of work that needs to be done is it not?

[32:41] And that work must be done by God's church. By the church of Jesus Christ. Step out. Risk. Take chances. And I'm not talking about you know I'm not you might think we think of risk and we think you know you're challenging me to do something that's really hard.

[32:58] Where do I begin? Well it's very simple and it's very easy. You guys have VBS coming up? Volunteer for VBS. Teach a Sunday school class.

[33:09] Go to a Sunday school class. Teach a Bible study. Go to a Bible study. Right? You have neighbors. You have co-workers. You have an opportunity as you see them going through life and them facing difficulties to pray for them.

[33:24] To share the gospel with them. That will mean risking your comfort but I'm telling you as Jesus tells us through this parable it's all going to be worth it. More worth it than you could ever have thought.

[33:36] You know I never would have thought that a car ride would end in what it did but I thank God that it ended up being what it ended up being. Risk yourself. You risked yourself to become a Christian.

[33:49] You couldn't be saved. You couldn't do it yourself. It all had to be done by Christ. And you risked yourself in believing that that was true and it is true. So now that you've risked yourself in believing that and becoming a Christian now risk yourself again and again and again as each opportunity arises.

[34:11] I preached this sermon this morning. You know there are many things that I thought about preaching. I thought about some old ones that I felt pretty good about being good. But I was like no this is it. This is the one that God kept putting on my heart because this is the basis for my philosophy of ministry.

[34:26] This is what I think a pastor is about. This is what I think a church is about. What we are to do. This is where I'm at. We're both looking to take a risk.

[34:37] Me with my wife and Jack and Hazel. Jack's already taken that risk it sounds like. But you know what I'm saying. Us with you. And you with us.

[34:47] There is risk involved. But I tell you this and I'm not trying to buddy you up because I know there's a vote tonight. I'm really not. And I'm standing behind a pulpit. So you know as a pastor believe that I'm telling you the truth.

[35:01] I think that there is great opportunity here. I think that there is an immense opportunity here. The way that you guys are set up and the location that you're at and the building that you have to you.

[35:12] But more importantly that the people I see sitting in these pews. And as I've gotten to meet you I can tell that there is a passion and there is a hunger to reach this community and you just need somebody to blow the spark of flame.

[35:33] And the Holy Spirit I believe will do that. And you know what why wouldn't we want that? Who doesn't want that? Who wouldn't want the Lord to use their life and their church in amazing ways to impact their community?

[35:48] Who wouldn't want that? the only type of person that wouldn't want that is the one who is like the man with one talent. But we see clearly that Jesus wants us to risk because he himself undertook a staggering mission to die for our sins in our place.

[36:13] To endure the wrath of God towards our sin. What a staggering mission. But he did it willingly. Why? Because he knew his father well.

[36:24] He knew his father's will. He knew that he wasn't taking a gamble with his life. He knew he wasn't gambling for our salvation because he knew though the cost was high, the outcome was certain.

[36:37] And so it's not really a risk when we step out and we take these opportunities because we know that the outcome is certain. And so we can step outside of our comfort zones and we can risk for the Lord.

[36:50] And we must be like Jesus. who trusted his father to accomplish his plan knowing that he would restore him. Knowing that as he gave his life as a sacrifice for our sin that he would be resurrected.

[37:05] That he would be seated at the right hand of the father where he's waiting to come back and between now and then we've got a lot of work to do. Let's do it. Christianity is not about fear.

[37:17] It's not about retreat. It is about advance, growth, and faith. It is about becoming someone greater in Christ than you ever thought possible by taking risks with the opportunities that he's given you for his name's sake.

[37:33] And by the spirit's power we can do that. What an awesome goal. But I want to end by saying that maybe you're here this morning and as you've heard about the three different servants you keep feeling like I'm the one who's got the one talent.

[37:52] I'm here. I know the Christian lingo to use to pass to make it seem like I'm a disciple but maybe you're truly not. Or maybe you're here and you're hearing all this for the first time.

[38:04] I know many of you but not all of you. You know what the Lord wants you to do. You know he wants you to risk. You've been given that one talent and if you're here this morning you've received that one talent.

[38:18] What are you going to do with it? Jesus Christ came. The Son of God came in the flesh.

[38:30] Humbly. Born in a manger. Right? Born in a stable. Put in a manger. Fully God. Fully man. Risk.

[38:43] In his life everywhere you see it. Going and sharing the gospel. Telling the good news. Letting people know that he had here and what he had come to do. Knowing that his life had a purpose and that purpose was ultimately to go to a cross and there to die in your place for your sins.

[39:03] And that's exactly what he did. Willingly. He hung there. Naked. People ridiculing him. Insulting him. If you're truly the Son of God come down off of that cross and prove to us.

[39:16] But he knew that he had to stay and he did it for you and he did it for me. And there he died. The good news that's good news.

[39:29] Greater news is that on the third day he arose from the dead. Proving that who he was was in fact who he was. That he was God's son.

[39:41] That he was able to pay the price for our sins. That he was able to overcome death and that in so doing we will too. That's good news isn't it?

[39:53] That's good news we're sharing. And so if you're here this morning and you're hearing that for the first time we'll have an invitation here in a second. And I invite you to come down. I just want to pray for you. And I want to encourage you to invest that talent.

[40:07] And as you do it you'll be amazed to see the things that God will do and wants to do in your life. And if you're here this morning and you've heard that and you think okay I hear about the five I hear about the two and maybe you've been hesitant and unsure.

[40:23] Don't be. Don't be. You'll never ever regret it. And when that day comes as we all stand before the Lord and he says to you I hope he says to me well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master.

[40:43] It'll all have been worth it. All of it. Even putting up with those honorary VBS kids. Amen.

[41:02] Thank you.