CHRIST STEWARDS FELLOWSHIP
Libjo Central, Batangas City
Sunday Worship Service
Libjo Central, Batangas City
Sunday Worship Service
January 09, 2022
How to be a Faithful Steward
Matthew 25:14-30
Speaker : Pastor Celso C. Namuco
Background Music - Aik Flores
God is For Us - CityAlightt
Once for All - CityAlight
Jerusalem- CityAlight
May the Peace - Keith and Kristyn Getty
Introduction:
Utilizing our material wealth for eternal values is surely a matter of faith and following God's Word. It is also a matter of wisdom. "He who invested in temporal things is smart temporarily but fool forever. But whoever invested in eternal things is truly wise."
Remember the traveler in the parable of Matthew 13:44, after his discovery we are not to pity the man but envy the man. His sacrifice is inferior in comparison to his reward by buying that piece of property. "The kingdom is so valuable that losing everything on earth but obtaining the kingdom of heaven is the most satisfying trade off you could ever have." As David Livingstone and other missionaries had said, "We are not sacrificing, this is a happy exchange."
All our sense of security depends on God. He is our sure foundation on whom we can completely rely and trust. This morning, we will check who owns the title deeds in all the world and the universe. Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." He owns everything. His name, and His alone is on the the title deed to the world and the whole universe.
If you view your wealth- money, house, car, clothes, appliances, gadgets, education... everything. Pause for a moment to make sure you don't leave anything out, even those things you ignore but you have possessions of it. Read Matthew 25:14-30.
*Deuteronomy 8:17-18*1 Chronicles 29:11-14*1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Remember: "Sa tuwing iisipin natin na tayo ang may-ari, kapahamakan ang kasunod nito." It is a warning.
It is good to know that God owns our possessions and we don't so you won't be in love with it. As Job says, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be name of the Lord." All good things comes from God. He is the ruler in our lives, and He is sovereign over the affairs of all men.
*He did not blamed God, others and himself.*He kept his faith for God is overlooking the affairs of all men.
Going back to our text in Matthew 25:14-30, if God is the owner of everything, what is our role? We are His managers (stewards) of the wealth He entrusted to us.
In Biblical Greek, the word "talanton", the etymological ancestor of talent, meant a measuring unit of weight, often of money, such as a talent of gold or silver. In the New Testament, a talent was the largest unit of monetary value and some estimate its contemporary value in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"A steward manages assets for the owner's benefit. The steward carries no sense of entitlement to the assets he manages. It's his job to find out what the owner wants done with his assets, then carry out his will." -Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle.
This parable of the talents illustrates the disaster of wasted opportunity. The man (lord) who goes on the journey represents Christ and the servants represent professing believers given different levels of responsibility. Faithfulness is what he demands of them. The Lord himself supplies the believers with everything they need, both with their wealth and abilities to manage them.
It is nearly impossible to convert how much the first century talent worth into modern currency but we know it is large unit of monetary value. Jesus illustrates that He entrusted talents according to their capacity to handle it. Each received something of great value.
This also has a clear implication: we must not undervalue what we have been given. Some are given more, some are given less, but all are given much. And Jesus tells us “everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48).
This is why the master was so angry at the servant who did nothing with the talent he was given (Matthew 25:26–27). The servant blamed the master’s character for his lack of diligence (Matthew 25:24–25). But the master saw through this smoke screen and called the servant what he was: “wicked and slothful” (Matthew 25:26).
These are words we never want to hear from our Master. This parable is meant to strike the appropriate fear of God in us and force us to ask what we are doing with the grace that has been given to us.
What are we doing with our talents? with the grace God has given to us?
But the question is also wonderfully liberating, for at least two reasons:
*1) God himself supplies us with everything we need, both our possessions and our strength to manage them — both our wealth and our capabilities. (Ang Diyos ang nag su- supply na ating pangangailangan, pag-aari at kakayanan para ating pamahalaan.)
*2) Realizing this frees us from comparing ourselves with others. We can be free from envying servants who have more wealth and/or have greater capacities than we do. And we can be free from judging servants who have less income and/or have lesser capacities than we do. God is the giver of wealth and power-giver, and he holds each of us accountable only for the “grace given to us.” (Sa pag-unawa natin nito, mapapalaya tayo sa pagco-compare sa iba na may mas malaki o kaunting pag-aari at kakayanan. Ang Diyos ang nagkakaloob ng lahat at sa Kanya tayo magsusulit ayon sa biyaya Niya na ibinigay sa atin.)
Thinking like as a steward may not be easy at first, but it is guaranteed to bring great fulfillment. We were made to be stewards and when we act like owners we invite stress, wrong perspectives and destructive choices. Look at Matthew 25:21, 23.
Conclusion:
You have been given talents. They are valued very highly by the Lord. What are you doing with them? Let this question quiet you and liberate you. For to every servant who is faithful with the talents entrusted to him, the Master will say, “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” (Matthew 25:23). This is what we want to hear.
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