My Gift Is Worth Investing In :: Unwrapped (Part 2)

they're in a series called unwrapped everybody say unwrapped and the thought behind this series is what if this Christmas the greatest gift that you unwrapped was you like like that was the whole thing I mean we're gonna be unwrapping all kinds of stuff we're gonna be giving gifts we're gonna be getting gifts we're going to be watching others get gifts and all these other stuff but what if the greatest gift was not a thing but it was what God placed on the inside of you being unwrapped to the world and I counsel a lot of people and I see a lot and I hear a lot and one of the things that keeps coming up because at the end of the year I'm like your spiritual tour guide at the end of the year I try to help refocus us as we go into this next year because people want to get all extra excited about starting something in January but I really believe the way you end the thing is the way you start a thing so so I want us to end the year right getting focused around our purpose and what God has called us to do and how he's called us to be a gift to the world not to just get gifts from the world God wants us to be an answer to somebody's prayer and so I said God how do we get unwrapped and he began to give us keys to being unwrapped if you were here last week we started off talking about that we have a gift according to first Peter chapter 4 verse 10 I want you to look at it because this is kind of our anchor scripture for this entire thing it says God has given each of you a gift somebody say I have a gift from his variety of spiritual gifts then it tells us to use them well and to serve one another so so if you want a 10 second recap from last week number one you have a gift number two use your gift number three your gift is not about you and when you start understanding that God's intention for making you was to give something to the earth that is not currently here see most of us life happens to us but it's time for us to believe that we're supposed to happen to life we were sent here with purpose that means nobody here no matter how you got here is an accident you have the cure for something you have the solution for something you are somebody who's supposed to make impact everybody say impact now I want you to say it with impact say impact multiplets never will live this life and make impact not because God didn't give us the ability because we never chose to be available to allow him to use us and I said god I don't want to leave the church who comes here week after week and it's wrapped up wrapped up in my own things wrapped up in money wrapped up in and what I can get out of it but it's time for us to be unwrapped so the only way that we can be unwrapped is if we start with what I call the Keystone gift that God has given every person as the gift of generosity and I just want to take a moment because as we started talking about that last week some of y'all was quiet and stiff and just sitting there just I don't want to even nod my head because that may mean I have to be generous after this people were just but but God told me he said whenever you talk about money and generosity it's heart surgery and people don't move and a man when there's heart surgery they're sedated and last week a lot of us were sedated because God came for our heart because where our treasure is our heart will be so when we start talking about doing random acts of kindness and giving a special offering and every everybody just sedated just like just Lord to work on my heart Lord but I'm so proud of you and I want to say that as a pastor because many times we go on to the next thing but I want to say I'm so proud of you because we're taking actual steps to move in our faith towards being generous and doing those things and we gave out random acts of kindness cards last week and I've heard of so many people going and doing random acts of kindness one person told me that God put it on their heart to give their neighbor a hundred dollars and the woman started bawling and crying and saying how much God meant that that $100 could have been honest shoes that were to get scuffed but that hundred dollars went into an act of kindness that may be the thing to make somebody's heart soft enough to receive Jesus we talked about giving up parking spaces how many people tried to give up a parking space this week listen to people three people okay listen look God's still working on somebody say guys still working on me he's still working on yeah but we're talking about doing random things that may be the hope somebody else needs to keep going and I'm so proud of you Church because we've been doing that the other thing I'm super excited about you just heard Jules say it but I got to reiterate it to you y'all we were able by your generosity and your commitment to come outside of yourself in the Christmas season we were able to impact over 200 children's lives yesterday oh we can give God praise with that with toys and we partnered with Kirk of the hills another Church in the city because we believe in unity as well as organization that helps people get toys for parents who were in prison and we were able to make impact and transformation in somebody else's life because we were everybody say generous and then we get to step further into this next week in the season where some of us are trying to figure out how to do all of these other things God said I really want to check your heart in the season that it bears my name in Christ Tomas I want to check your heart and the only way I can check your heart is by asking you to give a legacy offering to give an offering to my house and God's the one thing the two things I told God when I started ministry I said God I'll do whatever you ask but I won't lose my family I won't sacrifice my family for ministry and I said number two I won't fight with money and literally for three and a half years God has supernaturally provided because we have obeyed him and so today I'm not up here doing something because the church needs money this has been the best fiscal year of generosity and giving that our church has ever had oh we can give God pray that's that's that's that's you this is this is not about money but part of my opportunity as your pastor is give you opportunities to grow in your faith and next week some of y'all are gonna be out of town and different things are gonna happen and all this other stuff God's putting it out there I want this church to sow a seed to realign your heart for my house and for the vision that I'm going to do through this church and so we're not asking for amounts or asking for anything we want you to pray pray about it pray about and whatever God says to do do that we've made it very simple you can go online you can do it some of y'all just need to get it done now you just think that can't wait till next week cuz I know there's a sale that makes these tomorrow and do it if you go online you just go to where it says legacy or on the app and you give whatever God tells you and I promise you look at me I promise you if you obey God you can never ever beat God giving ever he's looking for a heart because he gives seed to the sower so church I'm excited because we get to rise to another occasion and build our faith next week it doesn't matter your color your socioeconomic class if you're a college student there was a story in the Bible that talked about people giving hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gift and a woman walked up to the box and gave two pennies and Jesus was sitting there watching what they were giving and because Jesus watched what we give like don't be don't be fooled like he know everything he was watching what they were giving and he said stop this woman has just given a greater gift than anybody because it was not about amounts it was about sacrifice so I encourage you hear from God let him see you and let's go unwrapped at a whole nother level amen amen amen so today we're gonna take it a step further so I started thinking about okay God how are we going unwrap this thing some more like let's let's peel this back one more time he said Michael I can't unwrap them any more until you give them permission and I was like give him permission to do what he said people are waiting for permission not to just have a gift cuz everybody knows you have a gift how many people know that there's something that God has uniquely designed you to do it may not be developed yet it may not be the best yet but how many people know that you have some type of gift okay hands all over the building okay some people like I'm confused about my gift right now it's okay we're gonna help you with that but this is what I want to talk to you about today and I'm so excited because I feel like some people are gonna be unlocked the title of my message today is very simply is I mean this is so simple but it's gonna free somebody my gift is worth investing in yeah my gift is worth investing in because many of us have gifts that are undeveloped unrefined and have never been invested in and so they are sitting in a place in a space that is not the fullness and we're judging our gifts based on an undeveloped state and I begin to think he said Michael my people need to know I've placed things on the inside of them not for them to leave them at that place but for them to get tools use resources get around people to develop those gifts into the greatest and the maximum potential that they can be in somebody's say my gift is worth investing in you said it like you don't believe it but passing like this job and these bills you know how many kids I have I missed that season Pastor Mike if it was gonna happen I should have done it then I mean these are the things that we might not say out loud but these are the thing I'm sitting here looking at people in this room who are amazing at communication but you don't talk to nobody I'm sitting here that our Pro food prolific writers but you don't even have a book in your drawer at your house with any notes on it I'm sitting here in this room with people who are gifted in encouragement but you've been so discouraged that you won't even use your gift I'm sitting in this room right now cuz I can feel it thank you Holy Spirit I'm sitting in this room with people right now who are nurturers by trade like literally if somebody gets hurt you don't even have to know them but your natural reaction is to go and nurture them that's a gift see the world would tell you if your gift is not dribbling a basketball down the court and you the 7-foot which nobody in here is or or your your your prolific or the only it's not a gift unless it's exclusive and that's a lie your gift doesn't have to be exclusive your gift has to be distinctive that's good your gift doesn't have to be on the only one who does this no it just has to be distinct to you your DNA your life experience is what God has placed in you you have a gift and your gift is worth investing in I'm sitting in here with some of the most creative people in art in fashion in music some people that have a knack for seeing details like you can walk into a place and you can just see everything that needs to be corrected tweaked turned some people call that OCD God might call it your gift see don't let the world label you because they don't understand what God's put you here for so in one season what may be a deficiency in another season is your expertise but if we don't see it correctly and we don't invest in that gift we will literally call what God has placed in us that is special something that we need to get rid of you know how many people I've looked at and they're judging their gift based on the undeveloped state how many of us would judge a life a person's life at three years old because if I judged my daughter at three years old I did well she's a failure she's still patties on herself sometimes she doesn't eat all her food her diet consists of fruit snacks and macaroni and she like if I judged her based on a forming state if I didn't invest in her if she didn't get investing in herself then she probably would be there but because she's going to be exposed to things and her environment is going to continue to allow her to learn new things and people are gonna speak life into her and her gift is worth investing in and I came to dispel the lie I'm kind of fired up today because I hate seeing people in a paralytic position in life you're paralyzed I work this job I go home I watch Netflix chill live life for the weekend go to church they got married like and we're living life paralyzed to purpose like I know you got a career but you have a purpose like like like I know you spent eight years doing that but is that what God created you to do come on see College don't teach you this type of stuff and honestly parents you are the reason why we are messed up so much it's parents fault because because you played it safe in your life you decided not to cultivate the gifts that your kid had so you told them to play it safe so you told them get good education go to school get a good job settled there and I said I never created you to even do this yeah I want you to have resources to help you discover and unearth and bring out the gift that I gave you but I never called you you know you a CEO and you working in this but you always work there cuz you've never invested in your gift so today I came to give you permission if we're gonna be unwrapped as a church and don't try to figure it all out right now you just first need to have the faith to know that I'm worth investing in what God has placed in me it's worth me going to school for that it's worth me getting a mentor for that it's worth me starting to try and see look at the yep my gift is worth by the end of this message there's gonna be something on the inside of you that's gonna have you questioning everything okay well when do I need to move right now God is amazed it time is it because until you wake up the dreamer the visionary the you're not too old you haven't missed it but my Bible says that all things even my delay even me having to focus this season on my kids even that divorced all things work together gather for those who are called in that love it that means that everything got placed in you he still wants it out well when I was young I used to he said and when you're old you gone to oh I'm sorry I know that was country and Ebonics but I'm just feeling a little ignant today okay I'm just I'm just tell me well what whoa whoa in this season I was I could have and God said if you trust me you will your gift is worth investing in can I help you your career and your gift are not synonymous some of y'all are in professions right now for payment you're not in a profession for purpose and you're so locked in to how this happens that you won't even pray for God to show you a plan if he can deliver the children of Israel out of slavery you don't think he could deliver you from FedEx if he can literally make a way out of no way for Daniel in the lion's den you don't think that he can deliver you from Wall Street I serve a god that makes ways out of no ways I serve a god that looked at what he placed in me and said if you'll let me I'll let it come out I'll bring it up my gift is worth investing in but until you believe it nobody can make you believe it when you have people telling you Bank you really should you really shouldn't you know no I just know there's some people I just want to walk up to with the most holiest intentions it's just like have you ever met somebody who's super gifted like and you wish you could just like like y'all know I see mermaid I wish I was Ursula in the Little Mermaid and they can start singing and their voice come out and it comes to meet young John Cena Little Mermaid yo y'all faith like it's just the host XE but like if you could transfer their gifts to you me this is the thing God told me about that he said Michael you feel that about somebody else but somebody feels that about you the things that you're wishing you could get from somebody else somebody else is watching things that you do that you've discounted and they're saying if I could just be organized like that if I could just use my hands like that if I and God said that's why I've asked you to develop you and invest in you somebody just say it like you mean I'm worth investing in say it like this my gift is worth investing in I need y'all to get that because I'm gonna take you to my first point that you have to understand if you're gonna realize that your gift is worth investing in and you're gonna begin to be unwrapped is that your gift is different that's the first thing I want to tell you you need to believe my gift is different in a world of extremes and sameness that's what our culture tells us they either you have to be this extreme crazy person over here on the side doing crazy stuff that everybody's looking at or you have to be the same as everybody else God celebrates diversity and gifts everybody's not supposed to be on the platform that's why I hate how church makes it be like you need to be a pastor there are more pastors that should not be pastors out here because because but it's we've glorified this position we've glorified and God say no no I need some of y'all to prophesy I need some of y'all to serve I need some of y'all to be apostles and go out and start doing other stuff don't glorify one thing I love diversity look at every face in this room God loves diversity and so I want you to just say this it's gonna be kind of like therapy today cuz some of y'all's gifts been so wrapped up we're gonna unwrap them just say my gift is different I want you to look at your neighbor and say it to them say my gift is different than yours say this - my gift is needed no tell somebody some of y'all look at my gift is needed like look at somebody and say my gift is needed now now take it another level say my gift is special and I want you to just take it to that that next level right here and I want you to say it like this say my gift makes us better when the less time you celebrated your unique gifts when's the last time that you you say you know what I I'm organized on purpose y'all nasty y'all messy but God has given me the gift of organ enough to encourage people I love to serve people your gift is different on purpose I'll prove it to you look at the Bible where it says in Romans chapter 12 verse 4 and this is so beautiful it says just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function so it is with Christ's body we are many parts of one body and we all belong to each other is my favorite part so in His grace God has given us everybody say it with me different gifts he's given us different gifts for doing certain things well this freed me because there is something that intrinsically comes more naturally to you than it does to me that's your gift Pastor Mike what's my gift what comes natural what is that thing that you don't even have to think about that that when you do it and when you see it when you hear it when you feel it there's something you may have discounted it so your perspective may be a little off right now but that thing that you do naturally just it just comes out of you that's a gift it might not make a bunch of money in an undeveloped stage but it's a gift I think about I think about my lead executive assistant director Bri she literally has a gear to organize things and structure things I don't have that gift this church would not be here today without her gift because I'd be on the corner preaching everybody come and I preach for five hours and hour and I would be excited and everybody we'd be broke because I would be in the gave everybody a t-shirt I would have done all kinds of stuff but when she comes in and looks at a situation she sees it she assesses it and naturally what comes out of her is the plan what now truly comes out of me as the encouragement you can do this is how we're gonna do it but we need each other to be able to be the fullness of what God has called us to be this is what I'm saying your gift wrapped is making the whole body suffer like like you not being who you were created to be is making us all of us weaker and you think it's preserving yourself and all you're making all of us worse because you won't develop what God's given you the if my hand stopped work decided to divorce my body and stop working they would call me disabled because a member of my body will not function with my body what does the body of Christ look like right now a bunch of people with functions special functions that are not working together and not developing so that we can become everything God's called us to be and this is what God wants us to really realize and I was in my prayer time and I was just going through this and God said Michael I want you not to do this don't ignore what God has engineered don't ignore the way he puts you together don't discount how he developed you because it is a piece of the body that we need look at description Paul goes on to say so if God is giving you the ability to prophesy speak out with as much faith as God has give you verse seven if you have a gift of serving others serve them well then if you're a teacher you got to teach if your gift is to can encourage everybody boy you better encourage them if it is giving give generously if God has given you leadership ability take that responsibility seriously and if you have the gift of showing kindness to others do it gladly Paul goes on a rant right here you say y'all sitting over here I can't I can't stand these gifted people sitting up here not using their gifts can you serve can you prophesy can you teach do it can you encourage do it can you give generously do it can you be kind do it and he literally could have listed all kinds of things I'm here on a rant this morning too can you so do it can you love do it can you take care of children naturally like it's your do it can you sing do it can you play do it can you organize do it can you exegete the Bible do it whatever God has given you do it because God cannot unwrap which you are unwilling to develop oh my god he cannot present to the world an uncooked meal and some of y'all sitting here's so wrong just just God why why am I not ready to be elevate you wrong like nobody nobody wants to eat this undeveloped this if you got the iPhone in in in in developmental stage you would give it back cuz it doesn't work yet and God wants to unwrap you but he wants you to be responsible for your development Oh God okay help me Lord that's why James 1:17 look at it says every good and perfect gift comes from above it comes down from the father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows every person listening to me has a unique gift and your gift is to complete us and we we've said all of those things but I need you to hear it like this your gift is not to compete your gift is to complete see if my hand started being mad at my foot because my foot gets to touch the ground all the time what would happen is I would have war within the same body and they wouldn't work together and what God is saying is I am so amazed and everybody else's gift in the world but I can't compete with you because I was not made for the same function as you that's why when I see TD jakes and Steven Furtick and all those other people I used to have an issue even up to this last week I mean the Holy Spirit had to convict me on something listen I'm not sitting up here perfect I'm sitting up here progressing and God said listen those people are there to help you become who you are but if you start putting your focus and your eyes on them to compete you'll never complete what I asked you to do see some of y'all are so focused out here that you won't work right here you're looking out here and you won't put your eyes on what God has placed you to do and until you stop competing and you start completing your gift is undeveloped and God can't use you the way he wants to use you and so I'm asking us to know that our gift my gift no matter how big or small it's worth investing in because this is really the revelation gift does not equal giftedness let me explain if somebody gives me a guitar I got a gift it is a undeveloped gift so if somebody asked me to play an a minor or a D flat or anything I can't get up here and lead us through praise and worship because I have not become gifted and the gift I've been given and God has given gifts but we are responsible to become gifted this is something nobody told me but I want to help you God never gives fruit he only gives seeds here what I'm saying to you today he asked us in Genesis 1:28 to be fruitful first command to humanity and multiply but he didn't give them a lemon or an apple he gave them a seed so until now what God you mean cuz you don't tell us to be fruitful but you're only gonna give us our gift in seed form and it doesn't just work with this he gives wives and husbands in seed form - oh you know this was gonna be marriage counseling - but you thought you married the finished version the fruitful version of no you married the seed baby you married the seat and it's up to you to start developing and cultivating and bringing out who they are supposed to be I promise you that's why most people get divorced it's cuz they realized six months into oh I'm married - see I did not marry the fruit but that's why people get married ten times because they haven't figured out the equation you'll never marry fruit fruit and marriage doesn't exists only seeds and he gives it to his people to cultivate the same way with your gift you have a musical inclination and you can do things better yeah I just play by ear I'll just sit down and I'll play by ear but take a lesson take a lesson Paul no bro you know I'm saying when I get down I'll just you know it just comes to me like it's just you know I feel it it's aura and then I get down and it but God sees you doing movie scores but because you have not become gifted you can't even speak the language so you can play it but you can't speak it so now we got to get this cheque to somebody else we got to give this influence to someone else because you are gift you have a gift but you didn't become gifted you didn't develop it until it became something that people were called you for you didn't work on it until well I can sing and you in the shower and you making vine videos and YouTube stop running singing don't straight let's see how long you can breathe get a vocal coach because you do have a gift and we all see it but a gift is potential and to me in my life potential is a cuss word because potential means there's something that somebody else can see that I could be if I would just do it so people come to you to the bow you're full of potential be scared be be be very aware cuz because you may be on the verge of being in a place where you have not developed the gift that God has placed in your life I'm here to tell you your gift is different and you have to start developing your gift can I tell you one more thing that really helped me because I see this is where a lot of people are right now you will be you will be disappointed if you are looking for fruit where there is only a seed and a lot of people are looking for a develop thing in a place where God says no that's all I'm gonna give you I'm gonna give you the ability to be encouraging I'm gonna give you this ability to just have a knack for for being somebody who can serve you're a serving Samurai I mean you just if anything needs to be done you're just like what needs to be done he said but I'm gonna ask you to cultivate that gift listen to me walk with me pray pray and ask me to direct your steps so that as I move in you we can just see how this gift can become and as I started looking at this I started thinking of a parable in Matthew 25 and I want you to go there right now because if we're gonna say you know what my gift is worth investing in there's something God's place to me that I have to vest in and then we're gonna sit here and we're gonna say and you know what my gift is unique it's different my gift is different I begin to think okay what we do have different gifts how are we supposed to do that because it's very hard to not look at my brother and my sister and think about where I where I could be if I had their start come on can we be honest some of us if we if we got a better start if my parents wasn't crazy if if I would have went to the school they went to or if they would at least given me an opportunity I I really could do better God like I really would be better if you just wiped out the student loan like like if you would allow this to get off my net you understand I could I could really do something and God showed me the parable of three sollars in Matthew 25 and I want us to look at this because I believe there are truths in the Word of God that are talking about something else but their principles that we can be able to apply everywhere and this scripture is talking about talents okay and that was a form of money back in this time but I think it was a double entendre as Will Smith would say it's a double entendre because this is talking about gifts and talents and and how God gives us gifts and gives us things but we have to do something with them so I want to see if we can find some truths about investing in our unique gifts right here we're gonna start on Matthew 25 verse 14 it says and the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip he called together his servants and entrusted his money to them or let's say a gift to them he gave each of them a gift while he was gone he gave five bags of silver or five gifts to one two gifts to another and one gift to the last dividing in proportion to their abilities and then he left on the trip can I help you with point number three my gift is what I can handle now see it said that he divided it in proportion to their abilities and the thing that excited me about that is abilities speak to this moment this is not talking about a person's capabilities capabilities aren't looking down the road like he's capable of doing this this church is capable of having five thousand people in it my business is capable of reaching but God does not give you gifts according to your capability because we would squander it he gives us gifts according to our ability right now and this should encourage somebody because if he started out with five or you started out with one he's just talking about how much you can handle now he's not talking about how much you can always handle and what we do is we get discouraged what why is why is my gift the one that's not on the platform why is and God said because it's what you can handle I'm only going to give you what you can handle can I help you the house you have is the house you can handle the money you have is the money you can handle uh-oh if I had more money I would be no no but you're not handling the money you have property so a good investor a good person they're not going to give more than what you can handle at that month the relationship you have is the one you can handle and until you see this you won't realize that it's funny if that needs a thank you lord until you see this though you will be disappointed because you will be comparing your gift instead of looking at God like he's a loving father can I help you because I love my children all my kids are getting cars when they're teenagers but I can't give it to them now because they can't handle it I would be I would be an irresponsible parent to give my kid what they will have in the wrong season oh that's good so if God gives you the influence in the wrong season he would be an irresponsible parent because you can't handle it I'm grown but you're immature and character your characters immature you have age but you still get mad at everything like so God's telling you he's saying I want to develop that so that when I get you what I'm giving you and this is so good God still gives you gifts even if you don't have a lot of ability right now cuz he wants to see what you will do with what he's given you does everybody understand that so my gift is what I can handle now stop thinking that God is keeping something from you but he's keeping you for something this is God's will for you and that's why we have to develop our gift so then we look at verse 16 it says the servant who received the five bags of silver begin to invest his gift and earn five more then the servant with two bags of silver or the servant with two gifts went to work and earn two more but the servant who received the one gift dug a hole in the ground and hid his gift have you dug a hole in the ground and hid the thing that God's called your gift because if you had today it's time to unwrap it because I want to give you this next point that you have to realize is that my gift is my responsibility to develop Pastor Mike a door for you your husband or your wife won't do it for you and some of us are sitting there with every excuse in the world but I love this parable because it told them that God gave them a gift but he didn't give them a game plan it didn't say that they all went and did the same thing and they had he said I gave you a gift make that gift work for you the one with five was like I already know what I'm gonna do I'm a this is how my mind works I make t-shirts so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take these five talents and I'ma buy up every t-shirt I can't and I'm gonna put this logo on the top on the front of it and I'm gonna sell these t-shirts and I'm gonna flip this gift until I got more than what I started with and the other dude with tools like I think got five but you know what I got this peanut business my cousin has ankle injuries so I'm gonna go over there and I'm gonna take these eight horns and these walnuts and all the imma make bags or nuts for people and I'm gonna work my gift until these two become four and the one with one thing I didn't get enough why did they get picked why did they have a easier road in school why didn't anybody abuse them when they were young at least it would be playing field even playing field well why why did I get stuck with this portion that's that's essentially what we said why is my gift not like theirs and I need you to hear me say this the season of excuses is over like I'm coming to give you permission nothing that happened to you can hold you back if you don't let it that's why God says any man that be in Christ he's a the old has passed behold Tata AHA everything's become new no more being held back by what happened or what didn't happen God is saying if I've given you one gift if you just got one I need you to do something with the gift that I've given you the problem is it's hard to identify value when it's an undeveloped gift I don't know how much this is worth because I haven't worked on it so I could put all my effort and energy into it but why don't I play it safe and put it the effort and energy into something somebody else is built and never reach purpose see God knows what you have but nobody else does and it's our job to develop it until people can see the God in us God told me this when I was praying he said Michael I give you a gift but I don't want it to stay in that form I need you to grow it and give it back to me he said I want to stand and gaze at your gift not squint at it oh yeah there it is he wants to be able oh you took that one idea that I gave you and you turned it into it you took that one thing and you turn you took that nurturing your family and you turned it into a template that other people can use to learn how to parent like you you took you took what I gave you it did something with it but we over here with neon signs pointing out our gift gift here gift here and gods like where is your singing gift nice it is look how undeveloped did it still that your gift is worth investing in look at the rest of this story verse 19 after a long time so the master gave them gifts went away for a long time the master returned from his trip and called them to give account you're gonna be accountable for how you use the gifts God's given you to give a count of how they use this money the servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver or the five gifts came forward he was proud father Master you gave your boy five gifts to invest I did that I've earned five more the master was full of praise and said well done my good and faithful I want you to realize that that same phrase is the phrase that the Bible tells us that God is going to say when we get to heaven so this parable is is a forecast or a story with the truth of what's actually going to happen in your life so he said well done my good and faithful servant you have been faithful in handling this small amount wait whoa hold on the master called the one with five gifts a small amount so that means that when I'm here with one give comparing to somebody with five gifts the master still sees it essence so it's never about where somebody starts it's about what they do with what they've been given God is not saying and holding somebody to another standard because they started out with more he's saying what did you do with what I've given you I just want you to realize that the one that has more than you starting out doesn't have more to you in God's eyes it's all about what we do with it he said let's celebrate it together because I'm gonna give you more responsibilities verse 22 the servant who had received the two gifts came and said master you gave me two bags of silver to invest and I've earned two more the master said the same thing well done my good and faithful servant you have been faithful in handling the small amount so now I will give you more responsibilities let's turn up together verse 24 then the servant will one gift came and say hey master man you know what you're looking good looking good man since the last time I seen you you know I knew you was a harsh man I knew it harvesting you know I'm saying where you didn't plan and gathering crops where you didn't cultivator and you know honestly if I can have a hot moment I was afraid I would lose your gift I I was afraid that the gift wouldn't make the impact that it could have made I was afraid to actually believe and have faith enough to use my gift and so I hid it in the earth I hid it behind personality I hid it behind insecurities I hid it behind what other people said I couldn't do and my background I hid it and so he I mean I don't know if you still want it but here's your gift back here's my talent here's here's that speaking ability that you gave me that was undeveloped nothing's changed here you go let me dust it off here here's here's I know you called me to change my family and and and and break the general generational curse of poverty but I never stepped out and I didn't give generously and I didn't I didn't use my gift of giving I just played it safe so here here's back that gift you tried to give me but I didn't develop and use here you go and look at the master to reply you wicked and lazy servant now that scares me then no I'm dead serious like when people talk about the fear of God that scares me that I would get face to face with God and his first words wouldn't be son serving my man it would be you wicked and lazy servant I gave you some I sent you to earth to give that to the world and you hid it I didn't I didn't call ya you made a million dollars but yeah you made fifty million dollars but that's not what I purposed you for I purposed you to bring the cure to that one family that's what your job was was to be a gift to that family and you are wicked and you're lazy because you did not do what I asked you to do with what I gave you so give it back y'all that won't be true for you in this room because your gift you're gonna begin to invest in it you're gonna begin to look at what God is giving you not as a curse but you're gonna ask God show me okay cuz I'm not gonna be called wicked ain't lazy that's that's too much for me can you please show me how I can use my gift and look they said but the master replied you wicked and lazy servant if you knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and you knew I gathered crops I didn't cultivate if you knew I wanted to return on my investment why didn't you deposit my money in a bank well why wouldn't you at least use your gift on a low level like why wouldn't you at least go and and use it in a place where nobody will notice you but you could have you could have done something with your gift he said because at least I could have gotten some interest on it my last point my gift must be giving back with interest if you're gonna be unwrapped God didn't give you a gift to come back but the same amount that he gave you somebody asked me the other day said what's your what's your purpose in life like what what do you feel like success is coz you know culture defines success and all that and and he said what is your what is your idea of success and boy I just came out of me it said literally I want to give God back double what he gave me that would be success like if the gifts that I know he placed in me for speaking and music and Holly if I could give him back double what he placed inside of me I got it and now I got scripture backing for it I didn't know where it came from but the one with five he got ten the one with two he brought back for the one with one only had to bring back two and he would have been considered a good and faithful servant he didn't have to bring back to him he only had to bring back two and I'm asking you will you take the one gift the two gifts the five gifts that God has given you and can you just double it can you work on it long enough can you get a coach can you get a teacher can you find somebody around you to mentor you can you do something so you can double it for so many people look at what he will you only got one time I did some research that one talent and that day is equal now to almost 1 million dollars so imagine the parable went like this God gave somebody 5 million 2 million and 1 million could you do something special with 1 million dollars I know I could so it was not about amounts about it was about willingness to invest and what God had given them just as the master expects his servants to do more than passively preserve what has been entrusted to them that's what he's asking from all of us don't passively preserve your gifts unwrapped them use them discover them cultivate them grow them water them it's not too late if your gift is worth investing in this is the key phrase that the Holy Spirit said he said Michael these servants were given enough to produce more and you have enough right now to produce more if you don't have it you don't need it you have enough right now to produce more this whole time that I've been standing up here I've had a gift in my pocket that somebody gave me had a balloon and this gift from one of the people in the children's area is how God gives you your gifts this is what it looks like here make something out of this and if I leave it here and I bury it and then I give it back to God like this he calls me wicked and evil but he said if you would just invest in it it's already more than it ever had been before because I put my breath my energy my activity my sacrifice and he said why don't you get a teacher why don't you get a mentor why don't you find somebody who's doing better than you in the field or in the calling that God has have and serve them don't ask for a paycheck just serve them what happens is you begin to invest in your gift and then it's hard to bury a gift that's developed it's hard I could keep investing in this and then when I try to hide it this is why people pick people that are gifted because even when they try to hide their gift you can still see it yes you cannot hide a developed gift you can try I'm gonna keep investing in it nobody's gonna see me I'm like David in the field I'm investing and so when they look around and the uncircumcised philistine is making remarks about your God and you gift it but you've developed it on the backside of a mountain and nobody is seeing you but you woke up and you're just sitting there like what who is this uncircumcised philistine you can't hide a developed gift your gift is worth investing in but it's so easy to stop and too high what's undeveloped God wants to unwrap you and he wants you to invest in your gifts father I pray that you spoke today and God I thank you that you've given us gifts from your great variety of spiritual gifts I thank you that my gift is different god I thank you that then I understand that I'm responsible for this gift that I have to develop but God today is a church we're just saying we need your help God I need your help to develop all that you've placed in me come on that needs to be somebody's prayer right now God needs your help God cause life and society and I tried before and it didn't work and I did all these things but God I need your help and I'm asking you to do something so that I won't live 2018 wrapped up but I'll become unwrapped you will get how to me what you put in me and more and I declare it and I believe it because that's what you're calling for God my gift is worth investing in in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Transformation Church

Views: 108,956

Rating: 4.9080267 out of 5

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Id: EtB2fRczpNk

Length: 55min 58sec (3358 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 11 2017