Be Faithful With What Belongs to God

Short Talk (SHT169) Be faithful with what belongs to God © Jane Hulme 2019 SHORT TALK: “Be faithful with what belongs to God” Aim of Short talk: Use of Short talk: Main themes: Biblical references: Lectionary: Props: To teach people that money does not belong to them; it has been entrusted to them by God to use faithfully and wisely. This is a short All Age talk picking out one issue from the Lectionary Gospel reading of the Sunday main service. The talk stands alone and assumes that the Gospel Bible reading may not yet have been read to the congregation. It could be used for example, for the whole congregation before the children go out to their age specific groups, leaving the adults with a full sermon later. Money, Entrustment, Faithfulness Luke 16:1-13, Psalm 24:1 Year C – 14th Sunday after Trinity You need the following props in a bag: • Picture of a house with a swimming pool on an A4 piece of paper • Car keys, • Sunhat, • Pair of rubber gloves .................................................................................................................. I want you to imagine for a moment that you have just inherited ten million pounds from a long lost relative that you didn’t know existed! • I wonder how you would spend it. Your first thought might be to buy a much bigger house, (Hold up picture of house) • with its own swimming pool, • games room, • private cinema, • sauna and • hot tub. You might then be tempted to change your car for a black Bugatti Veyron (Hold up car keys) • and having bought that you may choose to go on an expensive safari holiday to Kenya. (Pick up sunhat and put it on.) Having bought some nice furniture to kit out your luxury home, you then need staff; • someone to clean for you, (Pick up rubber gloves) • and to do your garden each week. © Jane Hulme 2019 2 That wasn’t difficult was it, spending 10 million pounds? • But hang on a moment, was that 10 million pounds really yours to spend? • I know that you inherited it, but do you really own that money? The truth is that Father God really owns everything in this world including money. • In Psalm 24:1 we are told that: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” So, if Father God owns money, how should we think about the money that comes into our possession? • The best way to think about it is that Father God trusts us with His money. (Luke 16:10-12) He trusts us to use His money faithfully; • for the growth of His Kingdom and to meet the needs of people who are poor, • as well as for our own needs. So, let’s think about that ten million pounds again. • I think that Father God might want us to give some of the money to provide clean water in places where people can only drink from dirty rivers. • He might want us to give some of the money to provide food for our local food bank. • He might want us to give some of that money to buy Bibles for Christians in Algeria, as well as giving generously to our local church. Because Father God is generous, He will also be happy for you to spend some of that money on the things that you need, • but you know, the more money you have, the greater the responsibility that comes with it. Jesus said about money that “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. (Luke 16:10) Now not many of us will have 10 million pounds to handle but most of us have some money to look after. • If you get pocket money or a salary, think about how Father God would like you to spend it. • Think about where He wants the money to go so that you can be faithful in the way that you use it. © Jane Hulme 2019 3