Matthew 25:14-29.
Reason for Parable: People were looking for Jesus to come back to earth to rescue them from their difficulties. They were being lazy, and Jesus wanted them to be busy – using the talents/abilities he gave them.
* Who is good at Maths?
Who is good at running fast?
Who likes to bake cakes?
Who thinks they are creative?
We are all different aren’t we. Not all of us are able to understand the workings of a car engine or how to make a floral arrangement. But we can do some things well! And God wants us to do things we can, with the abilities He has given us.
(Prep: Draw, colour and cut out pictures of presents/gifts, with the ability written on it. Draw 3 ‘people’ & name them. Place the gifts under each person’s name. )
This parable is about a man who was going away on a long journey. He called his 3 servants together and put each one in charge of some area of his house and property.
The servants all had different abilities and so he gave them different responsibilities. But the master told each servant what they had to do, and he also gave them some money to use wisely in looking after things. The amounts the master gave the servants varied according to their abilities and the jobs they were to do.
(have 3 leaders act out this part briefly with you as master)
Servant 1 received $5000
Servant 2 received $2000
Servant 3 received $1000
Then the man left on his trip.
Servant 1 went and invested his money wisely – he bought some tools and built things to sell. He made another $5000 for his master.
Servant 2 went and invested the money wisely also – he bought some fruit trees ad sold the fruit when it ripened. And he made another $2000 for his master.
Servant 3 was a bit resentful. He only had $1000 – so he went and dug a hole and buried the money.
After a long time, the master came back from his journey. He called his servants in to account for what they did while he was away.
(again have the leaders act this out with you, the master)
Servant 1: Sir, you gave me $5000. Look here it is – plus another $5000 that I have earned for you.
Master: Well done good and faithful servant. I am going to promote you to a higher position because you have done so well with this.
Servant 2: Sir, you gave me $2000. Look here it is – and also here is another $2000 I have earned for you.
Master: Well done good and faithful servant. I am going to give you a more important position because you have done so well.
Servant 3: Sir, I know you expect a lot from your servants. You want us to work hard and produce extra for you. I was scared I might not be able to do a lot for you so I went a dug a hole in the ground and buried your money. Here it is.
Master: You lazy servant. You didn’t even TRY to do any good with this money. You could at least have put it in the bank where it would earn interest. You haven’t tried serving me at all, so you no longer have any job with me. Go away.
(Thank-you leaders.)
One of the lessons we can learn from this parable is that God has given us all special talents or abilities. We will call them ‘gifts’.
(put up 3 posters & add ‘gifts’ under each)
Rangi: is great at maths, very friendly, is really strong, can run fast, plays the piano and is great at building things.
Sally: is wonderfully arty, very creative, always happy and a great speaker.
Sue: well, she can cook the most amazing food. She would win masterchef no problem!
These 3 girls have been given special abilities by God. But the servant number 3 might be like Sue – only 1 talent. What if Sue became resentful of everyone else because she could only do 1 thing well. So she did nothing. She buried her gift. What could Sue do with her 1 talent – her cooking gift….
Bake biscuits/cakes and sold them.
Cook meals for sick folk
Help with meals at home
Cook muffins for the school gala
The parable told us that the man took away from the lazy servant even the 1 gift he had. Wouldn’t it be sad to never use the abilities we have been given.
Ask members to share what other lessons we can learn from this parable – have some ideas already written out to blu-tack up on board. Write other ideas up as members share.
… we are all different.
… God has given us the abilities or gifts he wants us to use.
… we should use our abilities to help others.
… we shouldn’t want what others have.
… keep busy making the most of our life
Pray – thanking God for the abilities he has given to us and asking Him to show us how we can use them to bless others.
