WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:23.795 Last but not least, Don, Pastor Don, and Ray Lynn are away today. So we have our very own David Sauls who's gonna be bringing the message today. If you're not familiar with who he is, yes, yes, yes, give it up, give it up. He's one of our elders here at the church, also serves as a treasury of the church as well. He and his wife, Meredith, host a small group in their home and we are just so blessed that he's with us. 00:00:23.795 --> 00:00:29.040 So just brace yourself folks, high energy is coming your way, Mr. David Sauls. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:48.695 I'm not trying to be lazy now. I'm going to go fast today because I only got thirty minutes to capture you. I only got a little bit of time. And as I get older, time becomes more urgent to me. I don't know, maybe it's just because it takes me longer to get out of bed than it used to. 00:00:48.695 --> 00:01:13.065 Maybe it's because I helped raise my little niece, and even though she doesn't have any ailments, when my little niece gets out of the floor she goes, oh. You've been around me too long. Maybe it's that. Maybe it's because I finally captured that there's so much with time that I have no control over. I can't save my time. 00:01:13.065 --> 00:01:27.280 I can't make more time. I can't borrow time. I can't reach back to the old day and try to make it the new day. And I can't put so much energy to the future that's not even promised to me. There's so much about time that I have no control over. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:45.645 So it brought me to my knees. It brought me to this great book. And listen, I want you to hear this from the heart of a guy that's just coming to you. Look, I have no academic credentials to be talking to anybody about the word of god. I don't have a seminary degree. 00:01:46.285 --> 00:01:58.280 I never learned Greek. I don't know Hebrew. Although, I do know a couple of cool words. But I've served. I've showed up when nobody else showed up. 00:01:58.520 --> 00:02:14.675 I stacked the chairs when nobody would stack the chairs. I swept the parking lot when nobody would sweep the parking lot. I went and found Kleenex when there was no Kleenex at the altar. I gave what little bit of money I had. I gave that money to people that needed it more than me. 00:02:15.475 --> 00:02:26.910 And that's the authority of which I'm preaching to you today. You see, I'm not a preacher. I'm just a guy. But I got a gift. And that gift I don't bury. 00:02:27.310 --> 00:03:01.710 And that's what we're going to talk about because I've been convicted that there's a lot of buried gifts under the sound of my voice today. You've got so many gifts, and they're buried so deep. And man, CNN puts some shovel of dirt on top of your gift, and Fox News puts some shovel on the top of your gift, and who's in office puts a shovel of dirt on your gift? Your bad boss puts dirt on your gift. Everybody trying to bury your gift. 00:03:02.350 --> 00:03:22.760 So that brings us to a story in the Bible. There's a story in Matthew chapter 25. It's verse 14. So if you want to turn there, you you can find your way to it. I'm going to read it from the New Living Translation but you know, you guys can Google me if I mess something up and send an email to Don. 00:03:25.400 --> 00:04:09.825 Let me give you a little backstory to this because I love doing this with the Bible. When I get into a scripture, I wind up going down rabbit hole, especially now that I have chat GPT and I can just start googling stuff and figuring stuff out and one of these cool things about this particular scripture that Jesus is talking about, he he he preaches this as he has just left the temple for what he knows will be the last time. He he knows he will never go to the temple again. He knows that he will be crucified. He knows that and right before this happens in Matthew 25, if you read that whole chapter, it weaves a beautiful story about the second coming and what does that second coming mean and what is it like and what's going to happen. 00:04:10.465 --> 00:04:37.235 Here's some truth for you. As Jesus is preaching this, within forty years, the temple is destroyed and he talks about the temple being destroyed and within forty years, it's rubble. But in that story, he's talking about when the master comes back. So so if you'll bear with me while I I read through this, I'm in Matthew chapter 25 and verse 14. It's called the parable of the three servants. 00:04:38.115 --> 00:05:09.710 Again, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and he entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, one bag of silver to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. The servant who received five bags of silver began to invest the money and earn five more. 00:05:09.710 --> 00:05:23.005 Let me pause right there. Growing up in the Baptist religion, I never really fully understood this. He gave five, he gave two, he gave one. I never fully understood that. And I also didn't understand the weight of that. 00:05:23.245 --> 00:05:44.010 When you go down the rabbit hole, this talent is actually a bag of money. Some scholars think it's 75 pounds of silver. So this one dude has five bags of 75 pounds each. So there's some abundance to this story, right? It's not just five, two, and one. 00:05:44.090 --> 00:06:08.280 There's abundance to this story. So that abundance is right there when he says, he gave those five bags to him. The guy invested the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver, he also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver, dug a hole in the ground and he hid the master's money. 00:06:09.320 --> 00:06:58.175 After a long time, the master returned from his trip and he called for them to give an account of how they had used the money. I'm going to put a period right there. Listen, I know this is not popular in a in a culture that says everything's okay and everything's all good but I gotta tell you, as a man of god preaching the word of god, I've got to tell you, if you've not made a decision, a legitimate decision to stand on the word of god and say that I believe Jesus came and died for me and was resurrected and rose again. If you've not made that decision, you've got a reckoning I can't help you with because the master is returning. I know that's too tough on a Sunday morning when you're just trying to watch the Bucks lose to the Vikings. 00:06:58.175 --> 00:07:08.460 I get it. But let me tell you something. There is a reckoning coming. The master's returning. The eastern sky is going to crack open. 00:07:08.780 --> 00:07:25.935 Everything you read in that storybook is going to come true. Whether you believe it or not, the master's returning. The master's returning. He wants to come back to see you as a faithful servant. But you've got to make a real choice. 00:07:26.335 --> 00:07:40.430 You've got to really do this. You can't just fumble your way through it and think everything's going to be okay. You have ownership. Nah, you have stewardship. I'm going to teach you the difference between those two. 00:07:40.430 --> 00:08:00.795 Like I said, I'm not an academic. Don is a theologian. I've been in his office studying and praying this morning. He's got degrees after degrees after degrees in that office. And a little redneck boy like me that struggled to get through East Bay High School out of Waimama, Florida, that's intimidating sometimes, right? 00:08:01.110 --> 00:08:12.870 Sometimes it's even intimidating when you're in your own living room and you have a group of people tell you that you're not qualified to preach. Doesn't that hurt? Yeah, that hurts sometimes too. But you know what? None of them are what's got. 00:08:12.870 --> 00:08:27.715 I'm waiting not waiting on any of them to come back. I'm waiting on the master to come back. The master's coming back. The master has given you talents. He's given you something and you got a choice just like these three people had a choice. 00:08:28.950 --> 00:08:56.110 Two of them go to work, they do what they need to do. After a long time, the master returned from the trip and he called them to give an account of how they had used the money. The servant to whom he had entrusted five bags of silver came forward with five more. And he said, Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, but I've earned five more. The master was full of praise. 00:08:56.670 --> 00:09:18.065 Well done, my good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in handling this small amount. Pause right there. Do you really think the dude that only got one bag thought that the dude with five bags had a small amount? He probably thought he had the small amount, right? 00:09:18.785 --> 00:09:33.180 He probably looked at that dude with five and said, well, why would you, why would Jesus say, the guy with five bags only had a little? It's because Jesus is on a different economy than us. You gotta think it's all his. It's all his. One of those verses up there. 00:09:33.180 --> 00:09:52.375 I'm not I'm not going to go to it. So so we can send the Email to Don about me not reading that scripture but that scripture is up there. Psalm twenty four one that says the whole earth and everything in it belongs to God. So in God's economy five bags of silver is no big deal. It's really nice. 00:09:52.375 --> 00:10:04.740 It's small. It it it doesn't matter. So, master, you gave me the five bags of silver to invest but I earned five more. The master was full of praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant. 00:10:04.900 --> 00:10:26.400 You've been faithful in handling a small amount. So now I will give you more responsibility. Let's celebrate together. The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest and I have earned two more. And the master said, well done my good and faithful servant. 00:10:26.880 --> 00:10:46.345 You've been faithful in handling this small amount. So now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. And then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, master, I knew you were a harsh man. You harvest crops you didn't plant and you gather crops you didn't cultivate. 00:10:46.745 --> 00:11:16.535 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back. But the master replied, you wicked and lazy servant, if you knew I harvested crops I didn't plant and gathered crops I didn't cultivate, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it. Then he ordered, take the money from this servant and give it to the one with 10 bags of silver. 00:11:17.130 --> 00:11:40.395 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they will have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into the outer darkness where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let's pray together. Dear lord, I'm so grateful for your word. 00:11:41.035 --> 00:11:59.110 I'm so grateful that these holy scriptures are so readily accessible to everybody in this room. All of us can get our hands on a copy of your word. All of us can read your words. All of us can hear your holy spirit as it presses into us. And I pray right now for my brothers and sisters. 00:11:59.735 --> 00:12:40.435 I pray right now that not my words but your words fall on fertile hearts that want to hear and that want to grow. I pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. You see, I want to talk about what do you think you own. You don't have to say it back to me because that would be kind of confusing but just think through your list of things that you own. You own a house, you got a car, maybe you got a bank account, maybe you got a business, maybe you got a little property, maybe you have some talent, maybe you have some influence. 00:12:41.795 --> 00:12:55.200 You've got those things. You've got life, and you say, it's my life. Those are all owner mentalities. That's an owner mentality. An owner thinks he's got control over these things. 00:12:56.155 --> 00:13:15.360 And that's a very dangerous place for a Christian brother or sister to be. I don't own my life. I did not create myself. I did not do anything to generate these talents. This is all stuff that came from me or came to me, not from me. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:47.170 So when I say what do you own, you run down this list of things that you own and in my mind's eye, I see all the seagulls from Nemo going, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, None of that is where God wants us. Not one bit does he want us there. You didn't give yourself your gifts. You didn't give yourself your breath this morning. You did not do those things. 00:13:47.170 --> 00:13:58.195 Quit taking credit for what God did. Oh, you didn't hear that. I'll say it again. Quit taking credit for what God's done. You can't take that and say that's me. 00:13:58.515 --> 00:14:12.390 It's actually the opposite. Remember when I told you the earth is the Lord's and the fullness of it is all his? Everything belongs to him. Think about that. Reverse that thinking. 00:14:12.470 --> 00:14:31.210 Instead of thinking you own the house, think that it's God's house. Because if you think it's God's house, you'll have no problem using that house to help people. You'll have no problem doing it. But if it's your house, you might not want somebody putting their feet on your furniture. Might not want somebody using the good dishes. 00:14:31.290 --> 00:14:51.145 Oh, y'all didn't have good dishes growing up? Oh, we had good dishes. And now when I see the good dishes at like a yard sale, and those were our good dishes. The brown glass with the like diamonds on the side, kind of amber colored, you know what I'm talking about? Growing up in Wyoming, Florida, those were the good dishes. 00:14:52.345 --> 00:15:04.300 You might not watch somebody touching your good dishes if you think it's yours. But a steward has a different mentality. Your house belongs to him. Your money belongs to him. Your children belong to him. 00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:18.285 Your marriage belongs to him. Your business belongs to him. Your career belongs to him. Your ministry, your gifts, it's all his. And your life, it belongs to him. 00:15:19.405 --> 00:15:44.405 You know, it's kinda like this, you know, if I were to say this, if I were to say, it belongs to god. I say this is an easy thing to to think of here but it's a hard thing to put here. I say that's a say easy, do hard. It it's easy to say everything belongs to god but it's hard to live that way. Maybe it's not you, maybe it's just me, but I'll be transparent with you. 00:15:44.405 --> 00:16:05.900 Sometimes my confidence and my security comes from what I know I have in the bank account. I look at that bank account and I go I'm okay right now. There's been times we weren't okay, but I look at that bank account and I say, oh, my bank account is okay, I'm stable right now, I'm doing well. That money's not mine. That account is not mine. 00:16:05.980 --> 00:16:16.005 That's not... And guess what? God loved me more when I had nothing. He was more real to me when I had something than when I got something. Y'all not feeling that. 00:16:17.125 --> 00:16:46.680 When I was broke and busted and disgusted, living in a pop up trailer, a borrowed pop up trailer in the back of my brother's fake mother in law's house. Some of y'all will get that. It's confusing, I'll give you that. But when I was living in that pop up trailer and it leaked on one end and all my clothes was on all one end and I slept on the other end, I didn't have nothing. All my family had left me. 00:16:46.680 --> 00:16:58.200 My friends had left me. My job had left me. I didn't have a single thing. And Jesus was so real to me in that pop up tent. I was sitting on it one night when it rained. 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:09.025 I was on this side where the bed was. Was. It's one of those pop up tents where it comes up and then it folds out and there's a little canvas on both sides. That's where I was living in. And I lived in the backyard of Bradenton, Florida. 00:17:09.025 --> 00:17:33.525 First of all, if you've never been to Bradenton, Florida, just imagine like Atlantic City and like Detroit had a baby. It would kind of be like that. I could hear the gunshots at night through the backyard. The rain came down one time and I was sleeping on this end and that end I could see the water coming down the canvas. And you know what I thought? 00:17:34.405 --> 00:17:43.650 It's going to blow your mind what I said. And I wasn't being holed in now, I really meant it. Thank God I'm not on that end. Sleeping over here. I'm on this end, I'm okay. 00:17:44.050 --> 00:18:01.225 The next morning got up, ran a line, put my clothes out there, started getting things dried up. And the Lord pressed into my heart at that very moment, my provision is always enough. I didn't want a pop up tent. I wanted a house. I wanted a family. 00:18:01.225 --> 00:18:19.190 I wanted a job. But I had that pop up trailer that I was living in. And I thought, man, I'm so grateful for this pop up trailer. Remember when you didn't have much? How grateful you were for what was happening because you weren't an owner, you were a steward. 00:18:19.655 --> 00:18:40.910 Stewards think differently. A steward says, hey listen, God, you've given me something, I gotta take care of it. There's a Swiss watchmaker and he's got an advertising slogan. He says, you don't buy this watch. You take care of it for the next generation. 00:18:41.710 --> 00:18:58.045 You're just taking care of this for the next generation. So many things in our life were just taken care of for the next generation. Ownership says it's mine. Stewardship says God gave it to me. Ownership says I can do whatever I want to with it. 00:18:58.125 --> 00:19:07.690 Not stewardship. It says God expects something from me. What? A god with expectations? Yes, a god with expectations. 00:19:08.490 --> 00:19:35.860 He has given you things. We have things that we naturally take for granted that we claim ownership over that we do not own. Being born in our country, learning our language, being able to move around freely. Those are things that were given to us that we just say, yeah, they gotta wait in line. They gotta wait in line for that. 00:19:35.860 --> 00:19:51.515 Let them wait in line. That's not what a steward does. A steward says, I've been given these things. What will I do with what I've been given? What will I do with this beautiful church, with these beautiful chairs, with a beautiful worship team? 00:19:51.515 --> 00:20:09.880 I I don't, you know, I always love the story behind the story. I'm big into that. A lot of you don't know this, but I have the opportunity. On Friday nights, Meredith and I, we go down to Southwest Florida. There's a high school that started down there. 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:27.810 It's called Welland Park High School. And I have a relationship with the head coach from years and years. I've been a football chaplain for, I started in 2001. At the time when I started in Sarasota County, there were no chaplains. I was the one chaplain in a public high school. 00:20:27.810 --> 00:20:51.345 Now, Cardinal Mooney, some of the Catholic guys, had chaplains. But true public schools, I was it. By the time I stepped down out that position in Sarasota County, every school had Christian chaplain. Every school. So fast forward to now, all this time's going by, this head coach bounces around, he winds up going to start this new school. 00:20:52.140 --> 00:21:07.845 The very first call is, Davey, will you come with me? Sasha, I'm three hours away, man. I can't pull that off, man. Well, know, just do your thing you do. He's talking about prayer, right? 00:21:07.925 --> 00:21:23.050 Just do your thing you do and give me a callback. I'll call you back next week. In about forty minutes, I was like, I have this gift. Am I going to bury this gift or am I going to bring this gift out? I don't wanna drive three hours on a Friday night. 00:21:23.610 --> 00:21:46.745 Especially, I'm just being real transparent with you, my work life is pretty rough. I travel during the week, I know you guys get to see me every Sunday and I look so good and so happy and you just think, David just got it going on. No, by the time I get to you, I've only been home for a couple of hours. I'm usually only home Saturday. By the time I get home Saturday, my whole life is still going on without me. 00:21:46.745 --> 00:22:08.885 I'm a stranger in my own house sometimes. Things get moved and I don't know where we moved them. That don't sound like a big thing, but when you're looking for something and you can't find it, and 90% of the time I'm the one that's moved it, so on the 10% that I'm not the one that moved it, it bothers me. Sasha says, I want you to come down there. I said, hey, we're gonna do it. 00:22:08.885 --> 00:22:17.925 We're gonna go down there. So, we've been going down there all for these games. We go down. We we have a chance to speak with the boys. We we pray with them. 00:22:17.925 --> 00:22:32.310 We talk to them about what's going on in their life. We talk to them about what's going on but you knew where most of the ministry is happening right now in this? It's not with the teenagers. It's the coaches. 28 and 29 year old men that don't know Jesus. 00:22:33.715 --> 00:23:05.415 That have influence over our next generation, and that influence can either be positive or it can be negative. And for some reason, the Lord has plucked a little redneck from Hillsborough County and stuck him in the middle of an affluent I say affluent, they make Avalon partly like the hood. They're affluent, they got money. I mean Jumbotron, a $600,000 field, I mean it's He's using me in that little spot. It's not because I'm special. 00:23:05.815 --> 00:23:22.790 It's because the exact opposite. I'm not afraid to pick up the trash. I'm not afraid to scrub the toilet. I'm not afraid to get the phone call at two in the morning and come up out of my bed and do some ministry, do some stuff over the phone. And guess what? 00:23:22.790 --> 00:23:32.735 My talent is this. I'm the dude with one talent. Some of you out there got five. Some of you got two. You got a chance to do something. 00:23:32.815 --> 00:23:49.920 You got a chance to do something here in Orlando that has never been done. Listen, I'm not sharing this because I know any special things. I don't want you to think, oh, David's on the finance team, David's the treasurer, David's on the other board, he knows something we don't know. I really don't. Actually, I probably know less. 00:23:50.240 --> 00:24:03.525 I know that's not comforting, but that's the truth. But I feel a sense. I I feel I feel a shift. I feel it right now. And guess what? 00:24:03.525 --> 00:24:14.290 That's not to be spooky or scary. But we serve a holy spirit that is invisible. Right? We we have a Jesus that you've never seen but he still shows up. You feel that. 00:24:14.290 --> 00:24:32.065 I don't know why we feel that but that's how god made us. We feel this stuff and I feel a shift in Avalon. I don't know what the shift is. In my heart of hearts, I feel like winter's coming. And when winter comes, you've got to do some different stuff when winter comes. 00:24:32.625 --> 00:24:51.470 You've got to be ready. You've got to be prepared. You've got to be ready for the toughness that the wintertime brings. So where does that come from? Well, God expects something from you because God gave it to you. 00:24:54.025 --> 00:25:12.590 So we'll do a little audience participation right now. Let me ask you a question. I want you to think right now in your head what's your favorite color? Just think about that color. I know Meredith is thinking pink, but like glitter pink, just regular pink. 00:25:12.830 --> 00:25:26.205 I know that. I know that's what she's thinking. Think about your favorite color. I'm going to count to three. When I say three, I want you to tell me your favorite color as loud as you can because I got the thing in my ear, I can't hear you. 00:25:26.205 --> 00:25:37.240 Okay, you ready? Favorite color. One, two, three. I think I heard brown. Did somebody say brown? 00:25:37.800 --> 00:25:52.675 Nobody said brown? That's how confusing it is. Now, not because I'm a Florida Gator fan, but just because it's a cool color. When I say three, I want you to say blue. Everybody say blue as loud as you can say blue. 00:25:52.915 --> 00:26:14.270 One, two, three. Man, the power of god's people united. That God's God's people coming to the table saying, Listen, I only got this little bit of talent, but I'm going to bring it to you. I'm going to give you everything I got with this. You know, we get so involved in the stuff that we're doing. 00:26:14.270 --> 00:26:31.575 We get so involved in about, you know, I don't have this and I don't have that. That's never what god called you to. Listen, Jesus talks about he when he's in that story and he talks about leaving. He calls those three servants. One with five, one with two, one with one. 00:26:32.410 --> 00:26:50.265 I can't help believe that the guy that only got one, he probably felt cheated. He probably felt like, why didn't I get five? Why did you just give me one? I don't understand that. It's not fair. 00:26:51.465 --> 00:27:08.370 Some of you look at me and think that because I'm so pretty. And you think it's not fair that you're not pretty. I'm so funny and you're not funny. And you think why is he so funny? You think man, why has he got such a pretty wife? 00:27:08.690 --> 00:27:30.150 I don't know, I'm just kidding, you probably don't say that. You see, there's a lot of things in the Bible that are very clear, and there's a lot of things that are not so clear. And man, we get caught up in that sometimes. We get caught up in the unclear things, and we won't settle into the things that are very clear. And I'm calling you, Church. 00:27:30.150 --> 00:27:46.495 I'm calling you. Especially, listen, and I'm saying this, this is on record, so Don will know I said this. I don't want to be a church of bylaws and articles of incorporation and blah blah blah. Every time we have those meetings, I'm under duress. I just want you to know that. 00:27:46.655 --> 00:28:01.670 I'm on record, and they got me caught up in a room. I can't leave, and I can't play on my phone. I gotta pay attention. And I no more wanna be a church of articles of incorporation and a church of bylaws. You know what I wanna be? 00:28:01.670 --> 00:28:14.355 I wanna be a church of little snotty nosed kids running down poking holes in the wall. I wanna be a church that doesn't do 250 Christmas boxes. We do 500 Christmas boxes. I wanna be a church that not only... We're so worried about... 00:28:14.355 --> 00:28:33.840 And I've had this with the articles and the bylaws and all this thing. We're so worried about what's happening overseas, and we got homeless people walking the streets of Avalon Park right now today. We got people walking the streets in Avalon Park. Listen, you got to start where you're at. In football, we tell the boys, be where your feet are. 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:46.295 Because this happens with the young men. I know it doesn't happen to you, it won't apply. But sometimes the young men, they have a responsibility. And their responsibility, they got a couple of responsibilities. Okay, I'm supposed to watch that hole, and I'm supposed to watch that guy, what he does. 00:28:46.295 --> 00:28:58.460 That's what I'm supposed to be doing. But the play goes that way three times in a row. The play goes away from him. Guess what this young man starts doing? Because he wants to play. 00:28:59.020 --> 00:29:17.105 Guess where the ball's going? So I tell the boys, be where your feet are. If this is your responsibility, stand in your responsibility. Stand in your calling. Take that gift and do not bury it. 00:29:18.945 --> 00:29:36.040 See, here's the problem. And I'm saying this from me. I'm not saying this from you. I've I've had this conversation with god multiple times and I know this is not necessarily scriptural but again, I'm not the theologian Don is. So, give me some grace. 00:29:36.760 --> 00:29:49.825 I've had this conversation with god. God, if you let me win the lottery, I promise I'll do it right. If you let me win it, I'll do it right. I'll give 10% to the church. I'll take care of this. 00:29:49.825 --> 00:30:03.570 I'll take care of that. I'll take care of that. I got this whole list. I'm embarrassed to say this, first of all, I don't play lottery regularly, but I have played it from time to time. I actually sat down one time, it's at my house, didn't I? 00:30:03.570 --> 00:30:19.865 Mira's shaking her head right now. I wrote down what I would do with the lottery money by name, by organization, by amount. I sat there and played with it all night. I marked some people off. Added a little here, did a little of that. 00:30:21.225 --> 00:30:44.775 The problem with that is, you can get so worried, I can get so worried about somebody else's five talents that I don't know what to do with my one talent. And that's robbery. It's absolute robbery. What God is really calling us to is to work year one. You look at your neighbor and say, work year one? 00:30:45.015 --> 00:30:58.870 Work year Work year one. And now here comes the big one. Stop worrying about their five. Look at your neighbor and say, stop worrying about their five. Stop worrying about their five. 00:30:59.110 --> 00:31:13.915 God ain't called you to manage their five. God called you to unbury your one and to work that one. You gotta work it. Listen, I don't say this to be braggadocious, although it comes across that way. I say this because this is true. 00:31:14.555 --> 00:31:27.080 If you'll let me, I'll preach for just a minute. I'm just telling you, this is the problem. You're looking at somebody else's marriage. You're looking at somebody else's business. You're looking at somebody else's ability to sing. 00:31:27.080 --> 00:31:50.625 You're looking at somebody else's ability to teach. You're looking at somebody else's car. You're looking at somebody else's house. And all you're doing is robbing yourself of the great relationship you could have with Jesus Christ and that talent that you have. If you would lean into that talent, unbury that talent, and start investing that talent, it would change everything you're doing. 00:31:50.625 --> 00:32:21.605 And the reason I know that is because it's in First Peter. First Peter I know this aggravates some people because y'all just used to just clicking it on your phone and it's just right there but I'm old school. I like to touch. First Peter says, You can't make this stuff up. God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. 00:32:22.645 --> 00:32:39.620 Use them well to serve one another. I'm gonna put a period right there because there is a period there. Serve one another. Not the elks, not the Kiwanis. Oh I know I'm getting too close. 00:32:40.205 --> 00:33:19.895 I'm all in between people's makeup right now. There are things right now that are happening in the church and I'm saying this from a position of authority where the church doesn't always do a good job reaching outside the four walls. So there are good standing members that will then reach around that and they'll do that service and there's nothing wrong with that. As matter of fact, it's it's needed in many places but when you start working outside of doing what god wants you to do, whatever that ministry was, pick pick a ministry. Whatever that ministry was, it can run you ragged because the ministry has no love for you. 00:33:19.895 --> 00:33:30.210 What do mean by that? We will never cure homelessness in America. I'm convinced of it. Why? Because things just don't make sense, right? 00:33:30.210 --> 00:33:52.165 Right now there's enough vacant buildings in Orlando for everybody to have a place to sleep tonight. Just vacant buildings. And we're not doing it and we haven't done it and we're never going to do it. We're not going to do it. So I kind of gave up on that dream that one day everybody would have a roof over their head and then the Lord stirred up in me, it's because your economy is wrong. 00:33:52.980 --> 00:34:16.955 You think the whole economy is here. There will be a day where everybody will have a place. There will be a day where there'll be no Greek, no Jew, no Gentile, no man, no woman. There will be a day where we will not need to eat and feed our bodies. There will be a day where the things that you lust for and yearn for today won't even matter to you anymore. 00:34:17.115 --> 00:34:34.200 You'll be in a whole different level. That day is coming. Peter says very clearly, look, there's not much to argue about here. You've all been given a talent, some more than others. Are you using that talent to serve one another? 00:34:35.005 --> 00:34:47.165 Are you serving the body with your talent? Man, so powerful. God didn't call you to be them. He didn't give you their assignment. God didn't give you their story. 00:34:47.165 --> 00:34:55.950 God didn't give you their gifts. He didn't give you any of that. He didn't give you their experience. Listen, I'm never gonna be a little kid in Lima, Peru. That ship has sailed. 00:34:56.990 --> 00:35:20.410 But I was a little dirty street rat kid in Waimama and guess what? Meredith's family used to come to our place to do a mission trip. That's where I lived at. I was the one getting the stuff playing with it. What I'm telling you is where you are right now spiritually is not where you're gonna be five years from now, ten years from now. 00:35:21.290 --> 00:35:31.530 Good and bad. Things are going to change. So when I heard somebody say, hey, I really hate change. I was like, really, that's probably one of the dumbest things to say. Because everything changes. 00:35:32.385 --> 00:35:47.265 Even the thing that you think is not changing has changed. Who remembers when we could drive without GPS? Anybody? Anybody remember driving? And I mean driving y'all, listen to the youngsters, I mean driving y'all. 00:35:47.480 --> 00:36:03.045 Like we went from New York to Florida and back and out west. And we had zero maps. Had a little y'all are to think this is archaic. There was a little computer service that you could go to the place. They didn't print it for you. 00:36:03.045 --> 00:36:15.445 You had to go there. And they would give you a copy of every street and where to turn and what to do. You remember the little cryptic? Remember that little thing? We would take that and we would tape it to the dash of the car. 00:36:16.270 --> 00:36:28.510 And then you mark them off as you go. I remember the old man saying, boy I hope they never change this. I really like this. I like this. In the old days, I had to use Atlas. 00:36:29.425 --> 00:36:48.540 And I thought to myself, I can't wait for this to change. This is stupid. Literally, I sit in my SUV and I talk to my car like a crazy person. I did it just yesterday. We were on the way home, and I wanted to go a little side trip. 00:36:48.540 --> 00:36:59.555 I wanted to go see Solomon's Castle in Ona, Florida. If you've never heard of it, it's a little Florida off the road thing. This dude just built a castle in the middle of the swamp. Pretty cool. It costs you $30 to go walk and see it. 00:36:59.555 --> 00:37:19.780 But it's just a cool shameless plug for Solomon's Castle. But I just talked to the car. I said, hey car, I'm on my way to Avalon Park, but can the next stop be Solomon's Castle? And the car just boom, Solomon's Castle. And I thought, man, things are changing. 00:37:20.580 --> 00:37:43.950 Things are going to change. God's not looking for fame, He's looking for faithfulness. He never said everybody would get the same thing. God's not asking you to be faithful with somebody else's stuff. God's not asking me to be faithful with the lottery that I haven't played and I haven't won. 00:37:44.110 --> 00:37:58.835 That's not what he's asking me to do. You know what I should have done with that two hours I wasted writing that fake lottery list? I should have been doing what really could affect. How can I take the little bit I got and give it to people that need it? That's where I should have put my identity. 00:37:58.835 --> 00:38:20.290 That's where I should have put my time, but I wasn't a good steward. I felt like I was an owner instead of being a steward. Once you work year one, things change. When you quit comparing, things change. I wish I had what they had. 00:38:22.245 --> 00:38:45.810 He didn't call you to be them, he didn't give you their story. You see I say this all the time because I get this sometimes in the ministry that we do outside of the four walls. I have a discerning knack that allows me to walk the streets, I'm not scared to be in the streets because I came from the streets. I'm not scared of the streets. Sometimes I get in tough situations that I really shouldn't be in. 00:38:46.770 --> 00:39:07.920 My skin color has allowed me to go places where other people couldn't go. And because of that, when I learned that my skin color would allow me to go certain places other people couldn't go, I started going. I said hey, I can go there and not have what he's going have when he gets there. Let me go get there first. Once And I get there first, can calm this thing down so when they get here, it won't be all this nastiness. 00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:22.065 All this will be gone. We'll pray this out of the room. In the process of doing that, sometimes I would get taken advantage of. They thought they were taking advantage of me. I already knew what they were doing. 00:39:22.865 --> 00:40:13.470 I already knew and it's going to be a little PG-thirteen but I already knew when the street lady came up to me and said she really just needs $20 because she's having issues and she needs to go buy something with that $20 and she's telling me in graphic detail what she needs for that $20 I knew she was lying to me. I knew that's not what she was gonna do with that $20 So I didn't give her $20 I gave her $10 She went around, she got not the things that she said she was going to get. Thirty minutes later I see her using the things that were not the things she said she was going to get and I looked at her and I gave up this prayer to god. Don't let me have a hard heart, lord. Don't let me be crippled by this because Jesus is never going to say to you, what did they do with what you gave him? 00:40:15.075 --> 00:40:32.260 You gave away that talent, you gave them that talent, what did they do with it? He's not going to say that. He's going to ask you what you did with what you were given. That's the accountability, that's the reckoning. God's not looking for fame, he's looking for faithfulness. 00:40:32.980 --> 00:40:52.315 You see there's some phrases that happen in that Matthew chapter 25. He says to the guy, the five talent guy, he says, well done my good and faithful servant. The word is faithful. Let me put a period right there with faithful. Faithful means you come to Avalon even when things aren't going well. 00:40:53.035 --> 00:41:14.460 When relationships are rough, when finances are tight, when you're tired from working two jobs, you're still faithful. You see, I'm going give you a secret. God sees your faithfulness. He sees it. He sees you taking care of those kids at two in the morning when there's nobody around to help. 00:41:14.985 --> 00:41:37.880 He sees you doing that. He sees you trying to teach a one year old to blow their nose and the frustration that all of that entails. If you've never tried to teach somebody to blow their nose, can I get an amen that's frustrating? That's frustrating, man. And they don't speak your language and they're mumbling words and you're trying to hold your little head down and make them blow their nose. 00:41:39.160 --> 00:41:58.045 Let me tell you something. In those moments when you're faithful, god sees you. Listen, he could've said, thank you, my wealthy servant. Thank you, my servant that preached anytime he was asked. Thank you, my servant that gave me this and gave me that and multiplied my ministries. 00:41:58.205 --> 00:42:07.780 No. He said, well done. Good and faithful servant. Faithful when nobody is watching. Faithful when nobody says thank you. 00:42:07.860 --> 00:42:24.615 Faithful when the money is tight, when you're tired, when ministry is difficult, when people criticize you. Faithful when you don't understand what God is doing. Man, have you been there? Have you ever been in a season where you have no idea what God is doing? I've been there. 00:42:24.695 --> 00:42:39.050 I'm in a season like that right now. I have a brother who's five years younger than me. And we found out some tough news. We found out some tough news. We found out that he had something going on and it was tougher than any of us imagined. 00:42:39.770 --> 00:42:59.160 Double cancer, two different types of cancer. One in in here and one in his kidneys. Double cancer. And he and I have been on a journey these last two weeks as we're as we're learning this and as we're trying to understand it and we're trying to reunite as brothers. Listen, this is not a this is not a Walton's family. 00:42:59.240 --> 00:43:14.225 Wasn't like we all grew up happy and healthy. He and I were estranged for over fifteen years. We didn't talk. Just three or four years ago, the Lord brought us back together again. We've had a sweeter time this last three or four years than we have ever had. 00:43:14.625 --> 00:43:35.805 And if you stalk me on my Facebook, you'll see a picture in the corner. It's my brother getting baptized. That means more to me than anything that Wells Fargo can tell me today. And I know some of you don't feel that because you take this for granted. You take this life for granted. 00:43:35.805 --> 00:43:42.925 You take this church for granted. You take me for granted. I understand that. I'm not condemning you for that. That's where you're at in your journey. 00:43:42.925 --> 00:44:02.965 But there's gonna become a time when those things are so sweet to you. When they sing today, they were singing today, the story behind the story, I was in here while the worship team was going, and they started playing. I couldn't hardly stand still, y'all. I could feel the Holy Spirit moving through this place. My Spanish brothers, say para pelo. 00:44:03.045 --> 00:44:17.360 I was, ugh. I could just feel it moving through here. They hit me one time with something they were singing. I was down there praying over seats and I was putting the little giving things in the right spot because they're everywhere and it bothers me. My OCD can't take it. 00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:31.200 So on this row they're all lined up in the second chair. If you look all the way down the second chair you'll see them lined up. You'll see them all lined up right here. That's what I was doing. And as I was doing that, the Holy Spirit hit me with that song and I thought, oh God, I can feel you beating in my heart. 00:44:32.585 --> 00:44:52.180 My heart's beating because you're letting it beat. It's not my heart, it's your heart and I'm going to use it for you. You may never preach to 10,000 people. I got close today, that's how I'm going to tell them. But that's not about it. 00:44:52.820 --> 00:45:12.835 It's about you doing what you need to do when you need to do it. Listen, I've run out of time. I could preach for another two hours if you would stay, but I know William would be really mad at me. Plus, I'm using William's microphone right now, so he'd really be mad at me. So I don't have a lot of time. 00:45:14.120 --> 00:45:29.905 So, I'm going to ask the the praise team to come up with me. Praise team and the prayer team. If you start making your way up here with me. All of your gifts are god's property. He owns your house. 00:45:29.905 --> 00:45:46.430 He owns your car. He owns your bank account. And if you can learn how to give your time and your talents to Him, things change. Burdens that you're carrying are not burdens anymore. When you lean into him, things change. 00:45:46.830 --> 00:46:09.365 Also, when you quit looking left to right to see who's got what and you just focus on what you have and how do you use what you have, things get very clear. Things get very simple. God gave you something not for you to bury, not for you to hide, not for you to compare. He gave it to you to use. Somebody in this church can sing. 00:46:10.020 --> 00:46:19.620 We know they can all sing. There's somebody out there that can sing. Then I say sing. There's somebody that can teach. Then I say teach. 00:46:20.100 --> 00:46:32.245 There's somebody that can lead. Then I say lead. Somebody can build, so I say build. Somebody can encourage, I say encourage. Somebody can give, I say give. 00:46:32.245 --> 00:46:52.520 Somebody can organize, I say organize. Somebody can pray, I say pray. You look at me and you'll say to me, I don't have anything to offer. And I'll say to you, that's the saddest thing you could say to me. If God's given you breath, you've got something to offer. 00:46:53.160 --> 00:47:10.180 If he's given you experience, you've got something to offer. If God's brought you through something, you've got something to offer. You see, your scars can become someone else's testimony. Your failure can become somebody else's warning. Your experience can become somebody else's wisdom. 00:47:10.980 --> 00:47:26.685 If you've got influence, use your influence. If you've been given it, use it. Love on your kids. Love on your grandkids. Love on your spouse, your coworker, your friends, your neighbor. 00:47:26.685 --> 00:47:46.920 Let me tell you something. Spend this week being the most loving person you come across. Spend this week loving the people that are unlovable. And, man, I got some unlovable people in my life. I told you one time before, when I walk the factory, sometimes I make a pass so I don't have to go be by the unlovable ones. 00:47:47.895 --> 00:48:02.510 I got a 100 problems, so I'll be like, I don't wanna walk by that guy. He's gonna be mean to me, so I'll go this way. Let me tell you something. That's the way we need to go. We need to go to the unlovable. 00:48:02.670 --> 00:48:17.495 We need to go to the ones that are hurting. And even if you don't preach to them or teach them, you just sit and listen. Just be there for them. Be encouraging. Your life is preaching before you ever open your mouth. 00:48:17.655 --> 00:48:24.775 Your attitude preaches. Your marriage preaches. Your work ethic preaches. Your honesty preaches. Your generosity preaches. 00:48:25.750 --> 00:48:38.870 Your anger preaches. But your forgiveness preaches. Your integrity preaches. The way you treat people who can't do anything for you, that's preaching. So here's the question. 00:48:39.350 --> 00:49:06.740 What is your life preaching? I'll say something for the parents in the room, and I had to ask this question to myself first. If your children copied your relationship with God, would they be closer to Jesus? If your employees copied your integrity, would your business be stronger? If your friends copied your generosity, would people be blessed? 00:49:09.455 --> 00:49:18.735 That one talented man, he buried it. Think about that. He just buried it. It's so sad. He he didn't steal it. 00:49:19.055 --> 00:49:33.330 He didn't destroy it. He didn't misuse it. He just buried it. You see how dangerous it is just to sit and do nothing with your talent? That posture got him cast out. 00:49:33.730 --> 00:49:46.115 Remember the story? Celebrated with two of them, did not celebrate with that guy. I know all the excuses. I've heard them. I've been in ministry for quite some time. 00:49:46.675 --> 00:49:52.560 I've heard all the excuses. I'm too old. I'm too young. I'm not qualified. Listen. 00:49:52.560 --> 00:50:03.760 I've said on myself, I'm not qualified. I'm too young. I'm too old. It's funny how you could claim both of those. I've said nobody needs me. 00:50:04.160 --> 00:50:18.135 I've said somebody else can do it. I've even said I've already done my part. Let somebody else do their part. I buried it. I want you to get the gift out of the ground. 00:50:18.455 --> 00:50:29.520 I want you to get that dream out. I want you to get what God is calling you out of you. I want you to get that generosity out. I want to get the ministry out. I want to get the gifts out. 00:50:29.920 --> 00:50:43.245 Bring that out of the ground and see what happens when we do this together. I told you the part we don't like. We don't like accountability. We don't like accountability. We want grace. 00:50:43.325 --> 00:50:58.340 Right? And here's the funny thing. I want accountability for you, but I want grace for me. You know, if you're gonna stand up on stage, you got all these... You need to be accountable, and I agree with that to a certain extent, but I'd much rather have grace. 00:50:58.900 --> 00:51:09.325 Much rather have grace than accountability, but guess what? I'm not the one that picks. There is accountability. There is responsibility. There is a weight that comes with this. 00:51:11.405 --> 00:51:23.910 The master's coming back, and he's gonna hold an account. He knows what he gave you. You can trick us. You could tell us you don't know nothing about the little kids. You could tell us you can't sing, and you could trick us, but you can't trick the one who made you. 00:51:24.310 --> 00:51:49.050 He's going to give that account. One day we're going to stand before God, and he's not going to ask how many people knew your name, how impressive was your house, how cool was your car. Though if I ever do get the lottery, a q x 80 is probably in my future. He's not gonna ask you how many followers did you have on Facebook. He's not gonna ask you what did you do. 00:51:49.530 --> 00:52:01.035 He's he's going to ask you what did you do with what I gave you? What did you do with your time? What did you do with your money? What did you do with your family? What did you do with your gifts? 00:52:01.195 --> 00:52:20.730 What did you do with your opportunities? He's gonna say, what did you do with your testimony? What did I... What did you do with what I put in your hands? So as we close, I wanna give you one more story and then I'm gonna read you a prayer. 00:52:20.730 --> 00:52:31.205 I tried to write a prayer. You know how know how Don does that so well. I'm not gonna do it so well, but I did try. I gave it my all. But I wanna leave you a story before that. 00:52:32.485 --> 00:52:54.600 Moses is there and he's got all these problems. He's got he's got speech impediment and he's got all this this weight that's been on him And and now it's time for him to start giving to god's people god's word, and he's afraid they won't listen to him. So god says to him, he says, how how will they know that I've come from you? How how will they know that? And and you know what god tells him? 00:52:54.600 --> 00:53:10.310 This this this is Exodus four:two. He says to him, Moses, what's in your hand? And Moses says, A rod, a shepherd's staff. That's all God asked him. What's in your hand? 00:53:10.310 --> 00:53:30.705 This old ordinary staff that you've had since your youth? This little ordinary staff, that's all you have. And the Bible says this, that God told him to throw the staff down, and when he threw it down, it turned into a serpent. And then God told him, grab it by the tail, and it'll turn back into a staff. And he let him do that. 00:53:31.345 --> 00:53:51.750 Can you imagine being Moses in that moment, that the staff turned into a serpent, then he grabbed the servant and turned back into a staff. Listen, God uses what's in your hand already. He didn't ask Moses, what does Aaron have? Didn't ask you, what else do you have? That's not enough. 00:53:53.025 --> 00:53:57.185 That that doesn't make it. What else do have? He said, no. What what do you have? Oh, I got this. 00:53:57.185 --> 00:54:04.225 Boom. Okay. Show them this sign. When they see this, they'll know that you're from me. Oh, by the way, listen to what I'm teaching you. 00:54:04.650 --> 00:54:45.510 If you exercise your rights with God, you exercise, you learn how to lean into him, learn how to pray, learn how to read, learn how to give, learn how to steward, you learn those things, you're prepared for when an account comes to you. I want you to be prepared for the account. Let's pray together. God, everything I have comes from you. Everything I am belongs to you. 00:54:46.870 --> 00:55:07.510 Show me what you placed in my hands. Forgive me for what I've wasted. Forgive me for what I've buried. Give me the courage to use everything you've entrusted to me for your glory. And when my time is finished, when my assignment is over, when I stand before the master, I don't need him to say, well done, my wealthy servant. 00:55:08.230 --> 00:55:24.235 I don't need him to say, well done, my successful servant. I don't need him to say, well done, my famous servant. We wanna hear, well done, good and faithful servant. That's what we're living for. That's what we're working toward. 00:55:24.235 --> 00:55:39.670 That's what we're praying for. That's what I want for you. Be faithful with your one. Be faithful with your time, your treasure, your gifts, your influence. Be faithful with your life. 00:55:43.510 --> 00:56:06.230 Even if you think you're towards the end and you don't have much time, be grateful for the life. Everything you have, push it into God's hands. We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.