Memory Verse: "To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey." (Matthew 25:15. NIV.)

LESSON FOCUS: The One Who gave us different talents will come asking us for an account. Therefore our focus in this lesson will be on effective ways of working for the Lord.

INTRODUCTION: The parable in Matthew 25:14-30 teaches us a number of lessons:

• The Lord is the Giver of talents to us, and He matches the latter according to our different abilities, v.15.
• What He commends and rewards is faithfulness in the use of the talents He gave us, whether the talents were small or great to begin with, special or ordinary, spectacular or normal, vs. 20-23.
• The person who fails to use his/her talents will always have excuses, including blaming the Giver, vs. 24-25.
• Such failure will not keep the Lord from exposing our laziness and wickedness. He believes we can do something positive, no matter what, if we but applied ourselves to the task, vs. 26-27.
• Those who use their talents well will receive more, while the lazy ones will not only lose what they have, but will be severely punished as well, vs. 28-30.

The Lord expects every one of us to use the talents He has given each of us in serving Him. No matter how small or big the talents are to begin with, the more we use them, the more they grow & the more the Lord is pleased. Matt. 25:20-23.

We need to spend time with the Lord in prayer so the Holy Spirit will begin to guide us into areas where we can be useful to the Lord, Acts 13: 2-3. The Holy Spirit Himself can arrange seemingly "accidental" or "chance" meetings for us, Acts 8:26-31; 16: 9-10.

Very soon the challenge will come to answer perplexing questions authoritatively from the Bible.

The more mature Christians, like the Prophets, do not stay forever. They will pass on or move elsewhere before long, and you will inherit their responsibilities, I Kings 19:19-21.

It is usually easy for us to say, "I can’t of course replace the Pastor, Deacon or Sunday School Teacher." But who says you can’t pray for the Preacher of the day, before the message, etc? As you become proficient in small things, the Lord will help you to expand your activities, Matt. 25: 22-23.

Some of the practical examples include:

i). Providing transportation to church for people, e.g. using your car, paying bus/tram fare for those who need such help, or even walking along with someone to church.

Andrew is a good example in this area –

• He brought his brother, Simon Peter, to Jesus, John 1: 40-42;
• He brought the boy with the five loaves and two fishes to Jesus, and the feeding of the 5,000 followed that, John 6: 7-9; and
• He also introduced certain Greeks to Jesus, John 12: 20-22.

ii). Giving your money, if not your time as well, for missions at home and abroad, Luke 10:33-35.

iii). By encouraging those who minister in the Church.

You need to help them keep actively fighting the battle. Even our Lord needed to be encouraged at a critical point in His life on earth, Luke 22: 41-44.

Even a smile or a handshake may go along way in this matter.

iv). By active involvement in Home Fellowship meetings. In many cases your neighbours or friends may feel less intimidated or "exposed" to attend such a gathering, and from there, he could not only have the opportunity to know the Lord Jesus personally but be more willing to identify with the Lord’s people in a church setting

v). By giving out tracts.

vi). By giving food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, Matt. 25: 34-36.

vii). By caring for the fatherless and widows, James 1: 27.

Your duty as a layman is to do what you can, as best you can and all the time. But you sure do need to pray to God for help if you are to effectively serve Him.