Hey all, it's Zach again! Here I am to bring you yet another update on just what has been going on this summer.
This update is going to be focusing on what the messages focused on during week three of LT 2013.
This man right here. His name is Chad Frank. He is one of the head pastors at H2O in Kent State in Kent, Ohio. He is a very awesome guy, with a really awesome family, a wicked soul patch, and frankly just an all around awesome personality that just jives with me. Plus he's my staff mentor this summer. So I suppose it's a good thing that we mesh well.
But anyways, having an awesome guy speak is always a good thing. So we are in for a real treat!
As mentioned before, every monday session that we have the speakers are talking about different parables that Jesus talked about during his ministry. So this monday was no different. Chad spoke on the Parable of the Talents. The scripture reference is in Matthew 25:14-30.
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and his his master's money."
"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, ' you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' His master replied, ' Well done, good and faithful servant! You hve been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master's happiness!"
"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, ' you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' 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 in your master's happiness!"
"Then the man who had received the one talent 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. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 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? 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. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
This is a pretty heavy story. This is because the parable is actually talking about the end times and what will happen to those who are faithful and those who do not work for the good of the Kingdom.
We received a bit of history before we actually divulged into the Word. So now I am going to do the same for you. A talent, in biblical terms, is not exactly what we would think of in terms of spectacular abilities that one possesses. It actually is a monetary unit, and quite a large monetary unit! In comparison to life savings, one talent usually referred to approximately half of it. That's a lot, and definitely a very weighty amount. So the moral of the story in this case is that a lot rode on what Jesus was talking about.
The talents, aside from being money in this case, actually also refer to what are our talents (our gifts) that we have been given according to what God has called us to. We all have a responsibility within the Kingdom, something that is meant to be shared with the world. And they are VALUEABLE.
The question that was asked of us was this: "How should we treat all of our attributes (our talents) that we have between Jesus's ascension and return?"
We've all been judged, and in some cases we have dealt with being judged in things in our life (such as auditioning for something, competing for a trophy, etc.). It's an overwhelming feeling. And in this story, the servants were facing the same situation: judgement from their master.
We are the servants, and Jesus is the Master of our stories. And as far as the story goes, we eventually will be judged for what we have done, and whether or not we have placed our faith in Him. God is a good judge, and he is the Ultimate Judge because of, well, a lot of reasons:
1) He is just.
2) He is omniscient (all-understanding)
3) He is omnipresent (everywhere)
4) He is omnipotent (all-knowing)
After all, we want to know one thing: That God is pleased with us and God BELIEVES in us. It isn't about the quantity of the things that we do in our lives that impresses the Lord, it's our FAITHFULNESS to Him that will bring us good judgement.
Things that we could apply to our lives from this message: we shouldn't live our lives comparing ourselves to each other. In this story, this is all that the servants did when they were competing for their master's attention.
But why did the third servant face such harshness from his master? Well...he didn't go about being faithful to him. He did things the incorrect way. But how?
1) He didn't work hard (see Colossians 3:23)
2) He didn't take a risk (see Hebrews 11:6)
3) He didn't believe truth.
Risk requires faith. God has not called us to a life of safety. We don't have to perform to be accepted by Christ. We are ALREADY ACCEPTED. Just the way we are. Faith in Christ will give us the chance to perform.
ENTER MIDDLE OF THE WEEK HERE. WORK AND WORK AND WORK AND PROJECT DAY (to be added later.)
So enter thursday night. The title of the sixth main session was "Christ the King." We focused on the Psalms this time around. More specifically, Psalm 2.
"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. 'Let us break their chains,' they say, 'and throw off their fetters.' The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 'I have installed my King in Zion, my holy hill."
"I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, 'You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.' Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him."
This psalm gets at one particular person: Jesus. Shocking. But awesome. It's an ordination psalm, so it's meant to demonstrate the ordination and anointing of Jesus as King. And Chad broke down the psalm in four parts:
1) We need a king
2) There is a King
3) We hate the King
4) We were made for the King
Part one talked about how people seem to need a king, a leader who is present to represent the nation as a whole. Every nation has one, and typically, every one falls flat at some point. Kings crack under pressure, have problems, and usually deal with the exact same things that you and I do. Ultimately, it is IMPOSSIBLE to find an example of a Godly king, even in the Bible. Not ONE has ever been perfect. We are fascinated with having kings and leaders because we are hardwired to know and follow them.
But there is one Godly King: Jesus. He is not safe, he is quite powerful. But He is good, very very good. (Note the Narnia reference in there about Aslan.) He is very present and very ready to lead in our lives. The question is do we want Him to?
Part three talks about how we hate the King. Basically, we have beef with Jesus. Though we are followers of Jesus and believe in his power and have received salvation from Him, we still struggle to accept him as our leader and ruler of our lives all the time. We don't want to accept that there is someone else governing our lives, but there is. And He does. And when we don't get what we want or aren't able to to be in charge, we develop hatred and anger, so ultimately we sin out of rebellion.
That part really stuck out to me. I don't think I ever really put my sinful nature as a rebellion. I know that I struggle with a lot of things that cause me to stray from God, but I have never really put it into perspective as a intentional running from God. It was really convicting, but also really good to think about.
But despite all of it, Chad mentions in part four that we were in fact made for the King. Like Chad mentions before, we are hardwired for adoration of things. And ultimately, if we don't find a king in the Lord, then we find something ELSE we adore. But the little things don't suffice. We try so hard in life to find things to take the place of the Lord, but nothing ever truly fills our appetite.
So the next question was asked: "How do we treat Christ as King?"
1) Expect great things from Jesus.
2) Put Him on the throne of our life but SUBMITTING to Him: through following his commands and leadership and also to his sovereignty.
Despite the hardships, God is wanting to do something big in our lives. It's honestly the bottom line that every one of us needs to know. It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite verses that I learned last year while I was here at LT, and I think that it would be a good note to end on for this installment of LT 2013:
"I have told you all of these things, so that IN ME you may have peace. In this world, you will have troubles. But take heart! I have overcome the world." -John 16:33
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