Parable of talents (Perumpamaan tentang talenta)

Parable of talents (Perumpamaan tentang talenta)

Matthew 25:14-30

Life Focus: Using our abilities pleases God and bring us joy

Hook
Tell me the time you were able to earn money?

Who wished for the money would doubled by itself?

Today we'll talk about someone who had that wishful thinking..

Book
Read together: Matthew 25:14-30

We use the word talent to refer to someones ability or skill. In bible times word talent meant a large amount of money in a form of gold or silver

1 talent=60 mina=35 kg

Some calculate the talent in the parables to be equivalent to 20 years of wages for the common worker. Other scholars estimate more conservatively, valuing the New Testament talent somewhere between $1,000 to $30,000 dollars today.

But.. is Jesus really talking about money in the story?

The word meaning changed because of a story Jesus told

v.15 how do you think the master decides how much money to give each servant (He knew the ability of his servant well
v.16-18 What do you think the servant did to earn more money
How do you think the second servant might felt when he was given less money? Couldve been insulted, but he didn't waste his time being jealous. He went and did the best he could and got back double

v.18 How were the actions of the third servant different?

v.21,23 What did the master say&do for the first 2 servant?
v.26-27 Why was the master angry with him? He had given the servant a responsibility He knew the servant had ability to handle. Yet he wasted it and do nothing

This parable teaches us that the ways we use our abilities lead to very different result. People who use abilities God gives them usually find they enjoy using them and get better & better at using them.

We might have felt shy, nervous, lazy, jealous, or maybe it just seemed like too much work.

Take a look at this big name in the history:

Beethoven lost his hearing, but did he stopped developing his talent? He stopped being a conductor, but started to compose great masterpieces and hymns for praising God

God promises to forgive us if we've been wasting our abilities.. He wants me to share that gift with someone else. That's why He gave it to me. I won't keep it for my self.

Is not what we have that matter, but rather what we DO with what we have.

Look
Our Talent & Spiritual Gift

Talents  Drawing Singing Athletics Teaching Writing Acting Musician Artist Story Telling Construction Flying

Spiritual Gifts(For serving God)Having Knowledge & Wisdom Having Faith Healing Performing Miracles Preaching Showing Discernment Evangelism Pastor Teaching Serving Others Encouraging Others

(Table source is from here)

Offering: Joyful, joyful we adore Thee (Music composed by Beethoven)

Took
- My Talent, a God's gift (making a coin scratch card craft)

Poem adapted from My Utmost to His Highest Devotion for Kids

Free poem printable: here

- Spiritual gift test for elementary kids (take home to do with parents) 

http://cozmtzion.weebly.com/uploads/9/9/1/6/991676/92739299-youth-spiritual-gifts-test-1.pdf

Memory verse Matthew 25:21

Closing Prayer