September/23/ 2018
Beyond Success
Part 4
Choices
1. Successful people choose the important over the urgent.
Matthew 25:16-18 “The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
a. what is required of me?
b. what brings my greatest return?
c. what gives me the greatest reward?
2. Successful people choose the pain of discipline over the pain of regret
Matthew 25:16 (NCV) “The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money and earned five more bags.”
Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
3. Successful people choose the risk of progress over the safety of protection
Matthew 25:24-25 MSG “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’ 26-27 “The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God.”
4. Choose Trust over fear
Verse 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.’
September/16/ 2018
Beyond Success
Part 2
Work hard
Success is simply… fulfilling your maximum potential.
Matthew 25:14-15 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work…”
“The difference between success and failure is often as simple as hard work!”
verse 16 “The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.”
Genesis 2:15 “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it”
Ephesians 2:10 “we are God’s workmanship… created to do good works…”
5 things we can learn about work:
1. When to work
verse 16 “The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work”
Anything I procrastinate today takes time away tomorrow but anything I do today creates more time tomorrow.
a. I will not be freaked out as much about surprises.
b. I will have margin to love people.
c. I will have margin for me.
d. I will raise the level of excellence.
2. What kind of work to do
verse 15 “a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.”
3. How to work
Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’
I Thessalonians 4:11-12 “and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
4. Why to work
Matthew 25:21 NCV “The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.’”
a. Reputation
verse 21 the Master called the servants who worked hard “good a loyal servants.”
b. Promotion
verse 23 “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”
c. Satisfaction
verse 23b “Come and share my joy with me.”
5. Who to work for
Matthew 25:20 “‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of gold, so I used your five bags to earn five more.’
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
September/09/ 2018
Beyond Success
part 1
Potential
If we have a wrong view of success the result will be a wrong approach to life.
1.We think success is magical so we wish for it
2. We make success an idol and we worship it
3. We think success is unattainable so we dismiss it.
Matthew 25:15-29 “14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “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. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
John Maxwell “The only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have been and what we have become.”
Tommy Barnett “When I die I want them to say about me that this man came closer to living up to his potential than any other person who ever lived.”
Ephesians 5:15 “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.”
1. Everyone has potential
Matthew 25:15 “To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag”
Matthew 25:15 “To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.”
2. Not everybody lives up to their potential
Matthew 25:18 “But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”
verse 25 “ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.”
verse 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!
verse 19 “after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.
3. Wasted potential leads to regret
Matthew 25:26 “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.
verse 30 “And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
4. Maximized potential opens doors to more potential
verse 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!’
