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Once Upon a Time … In Real Life. Parables of Jesus (Two-for-One) ------------------------------------------------------- Pastor Dave shared two parables about the return of Christ from Mt 25:1-30. Part 1: Parable of the 10 Virgins ------------------------------------------ In Biblical times, the bride would wait for the groom at his family’s house. Then, bridesmaids would circle him with torches and escort him to his bride. In this parable, the groom was delayed. When he arrived to meet with the bridesmaids, 5 of them were ready with the oil that they needed and 5 were not. If the 5 that were ready shared their oil, they would not have had enough light to escort the groom to his bride. When the foolish bridesmaids were finally ready, it was too late. This parable shows that those outside of God’s family do not get to come in after Christ comes again. We need to live ready for Jesus’ return Application points: -- Don’t sleep on Jesus. Nobody knows when Christ will return (Matt 24: 36-44). Stay alert! -- It’s been a while and sometimes it’s hard, but keep living in the light of Jesus’ return. -- This is personal, and your true identity is at stake. You are a child of God. Being ready for His return means that we need to live and do what he told us to. Part 2: Parable of the Talents ---------------------------------------- God expects some things from us, not because we want to perform for him, but because of who we are. We can’t do all of God’s work alone, and it would be easy to feel like a failure. God asks us to act justly, love faithfully, and walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8). We should live our daily life with ALL belonging to God. We don’t know all that we can do, but God does. He gives us our talent and capacity, and entrusts us with people, life, minute, hours, and days. We need to be faithful with what God gives to us. He doesn’t set us up for failure. And remember, He not only calls us, but also equips us. Application points: -- God knows you; He is way more than fair. (We don’t want “fair.” We want to hear Him say that we are a good and faithful servant. -- Give your best. God is worth it. -- Never forget to who it all belongs. Receive your reward from Him. -- Trust God that he is your solution, not your problem. It all comes down to who doesn’t know the Master – who doesn’t know Jesus. As a child of God, the greatest joy in life is not “our” success, but instead to be faithful to Him. God blesses the faithful. We are to be a voice of hope in a dark world. Our job is to tell people about Jesus, even if they don’t want to hear it. Be inspired that He KNOWS us, and still entrusts us, and equips us to do His work.