INTRODUCTION

“Keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” – Matthew 25:13 (NIV)

Waiting is hard. Because the in-between period feels like a waste of time. 

If God’s plan is truly to redeem this broken world, why did He need to leave us after the resurrection? Why could He not just snap His fingers and create an entirely new Jerusalem – a world free of pain and suffering? Why does He want us to wait?

As we study the Parable of the Talents this week, let us keep these questions at the back of our minds. The primary question we will need to answer first is the following: What does God want us to do as we wait?

DISCUSSION

1. Think of something that you would like to own. What do you do in the meantime when in order to receive it, you have to wait for:
   
   a. Five minutes?
   b. Five months?
   c. Five years?
   d. Fifty years?
   
   
2. Read Matthew 24:3, 36-44.
   
   a. Do you think “the end of the age” (v3 NIV) is important?
   
   (i) If you do, why do you believe it to be important? How has its importance influenced the way you live your life?
   
   (ii) If you don’t, why do you believe it not to be important? What might it take for you to be convinced of its importance?
   
   b. When is “the end of the age”?
   
   (i) Does Jesus’ answer trouble you? Why or why not?
   
   
3. Read Matthew 25:14-30.
   
   a. What do you notice about the servants?
   
   (i) How were the talents distributed? Was it fair?
   
   (ii) Paying attention to v24-27, what did the servant with one talent do that the other servants did not do? What was his reason?
   
   b. How does this passage relate to the “end of the age” (Matt 24:3)? With whom do we identify?
   
   (i) What would it mean for us to have the attitude of the servant with one talent? What are some ways we can dig a “hole” and put in the talent that the Lord has entrusted to us?
   
   (ii) What would it mean for us to be “good and faithful servants”? What can we do this week or this year?
   
   c. It would take a long time before our master returns (v19). What can we do as a group to keep each other faithful?

WHAT WILL YOU DO

God wants us to prepare ourselves for His kingdom, by working for the increase of His rule and reign over the earth. This is not about establishing political power per se, but about multiplying His lordship in the hearts of people geographically and generationally.

That “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language [would] stand before the throne and before the Lamb” ~ Revelation 7:9 (NIV).  

But before thinking about strengthening the people far away and in the future, consider: What about here? What about now? What about the people around us?

MEMORY VERSE

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. – Matthew 25:29 (NIV)