EMPOWERED: CONNECT TO MEANING

 We begin a new sermon series this week entitled Empowered. We are only two weeks after Easter Sunday when we were proclaiming that Christ is risen! After the celebration, we always have a sense of “let down” and are even a bit disillusioned! To make matters worse, when we confront the circumstances of life it is easy to feel overwhelmed, resentful, and even angry. We forget that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is still at work in our hearts and lives to empower us beyond what we can even imagine. The first sermon is Connect to Meaning. When we have a strong sense purpose, we can find a deeper meaning for our lives. When we look at the early apostles it is amazing that they were able to overcome all the obstacles to start the church. They were empowered by a greater purpose, greater strength, and the power of a resurrected Jesus through the Holy Spirit. We turn to Matthew 25:19-29. This is part of a parable of Jesus and it is a complicated story. It is easy to read this through the eyes of guilt and shame that we have not done enough or we have misused our time and energy. Jesus’s purpose here is not to load our lives with guilt, but to lead us to being empowered for service and to find that we have been given great gifts. Jesus is seeking to direct us not discourage us. Jesus wants to help us discern our choices in order to live beyond despair!  As you read Matthew 25:19-29, it is our prayer that you will be encouraged by the gifts of your life and how you have the power to use them to God’s glory and honor. Matthew 25:19-29: “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. (NIV)