Blessed to Be a Blessing

In one paragraph

Brad opened on Labor Day weekend with the parable of the talents from Matthew 25, using it to press a single question on the congregation: what are we doing with what God has entrusted to us while the Master is away? The sermon sat inside Jesus' Olivet Discourse, his teaching on the end times and his return, and Brad kept that frame in view throughout. Brad was careful from the start to say that...

Read together

1. Psalm 92:1 quoted at the opening as the basis for the sung worship
2. Proverbs 3:5-6 quoted as the scriptural basis for the song about not leaning on your own understanding
3. Matthew 25:14-30 the full parable of the talents read aloud by Grant Galloway as the sermon text
4. Isaiah 40:8 quoted before the offering song to speak of the permanence of God's word
5. Matthew 22 referenced as Jesus summarizing the law and prophets in the great commandment
6. Romans 14:23 quoted to show that whatever is not from faith is sin, applied to the third servant's fear
7. 1 John 4:16-19 quoted to show that perfect love casts out fear and that we love because God first loved us
8. Matthew 7 referenced to note Jesus warned that some in the church will be revealed as false followers
9. Hebrews 13 referenced to show that leaders will give an account for souls under their care
10. Romans 5 referenced to say we have peace with God because we have been justified through Jesus Christ
11. Revelation 21:5 quoted directly: God on the throne saying he is making all things new

Talk about it

1. Brad talked about the parable of the talents in the context of Jesus preparing his disciples for his return. How does knowing that this parable is about the second coming, not just about productivity or career, change the way you read it?
2. Brad described the two faithful servants receiving identical praise even though one returned five talents and the other only two. What does it look like practically, in your own life right now, to be faithful with what is in front of you rather than measuring yourself against what someone else has been given?
3. Brad said that fear is a terrible primary motivator and that it can drive us either to wrong action or to inaction, as it did with the third servant. When has fear, rather than love, been the thing driving how you engage with God or with others? What did that look like?
4. Brad drew a distinction between running to Christ out of fear of the alternatives and running to him because his perfect love is what we have been looking for our entire life. How would you describe, in your own words, what motivates your walk with God right now?
5. Brad closed by saying he does not want people to tell him whether they enjoyed the message but to tell him what they are going to do about it. So, what is one specific thing this text is calling you to do differently this week with the talents and opportunities God has placed in front of you?