{"id":2996,"date":"2025-09-23T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/?p=2996"},"modified":"2025-09-23T19:51:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T00:51:54","slug":"3-talents-3-servants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/2025\/09\/23\/3-talents-3-servants\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Talents 3 Servants"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_8547\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-2996-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3\">http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"2025-09-21.mp3\">Download<\/a> (Duration: 39:24 &#8212; 36.1MB)<\/p>\n<p>September 21, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Psalm 90:12<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Matthew 25:14-15<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 Chronicles 4:10<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Matthew 25:16-18<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Matthew 25:29<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text\/html' width='640' height='360' src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ndIyByn9NIE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Life is short, time is moving fast, and every day is a gift from God. Just like the parable of the talents, God has entrusted each of us with time, abilities, and resources. How we invest them determines the eternal impact of our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Points<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Life is a Vapor<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Time passes quickly\u2014from our teens to our later years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pastor Gene used a jar of jelly beans to illustrate: each jelly bean represents one week of life, and we only have so many.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The question: <em>How will you spend your jelly beans?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Stewardship Matters<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>God owns everything\u2014we are only managers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Our time, talent, and treasure must be stewarded for God\u2019s purposes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Life may not be fair, but God expects us to faithfully use what we <em>do<\/em> have.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use It or Lose It<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In the parable, the servants who invested were rewarded.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The one who buried his talent lost everything.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If we hide our gifts, God calls it \u201cwicked and lazy.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The principle is true: <em>use it, or lose it.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Recognize and Invest God\u2019s Gifts<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Pray boldly for God\u2019s blessing and expanded influence, like Jabez.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work diligently as if working for the Lord, not just an employee.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Saved people save people\u2014our gifts are meant to bless others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Eternal Perspective<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Material things fade, but what we do for God lasts forever.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Relationships and souls are what truly matter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We are blessed to be a blessing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Call to Action<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Invest your life in the things that matter most\u2014bringing people to Jesus.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Don\u2019t wait for \u201csomeday.\u201d Start with what you have now.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pastor Gene challenged the church to a vision: see 500 people saved next year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Challenge<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Every week is precious. Every gift matters. Every season of life is an opportunity to serve God. The question we must all answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 <strong>How will you invest the rest of your days?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_8549\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-2996-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3\">http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"2025-09-21.mp3\">Download<\/a> (Duration: 39:24 &#8212; 36.1MB)<\/p><p>http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025-09-21.mp3 Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:24 &#8212; 36.1MB) September 21, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[889],"tags":[843,438,911,909,910],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stories-of-Change-sermon-title.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5z53F-Mk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2996"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3002,"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996\/revisions\/3002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mydestinychurch.com\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}