A Story about Three Servants 14 The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. 15 The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed five thousand coins to the first servant, two thousand to the second, and one thousand to the third. Then he left the country. 16 As soon as the man had gone, the servant with the five thousand coins used them to earn five thousand more. 17 The servant who had two thousand coins did the same with his money and earned two thousand more. 18 But the servant with one thousand coins dug a hole and hid his master’s money in the ground.

19 Some time later the master of those servants returned. He called them in and asked what they had done with his money. 20 The servant who had been given five thousand coins brought them in with the five thousand that he had earned. He said, “Sir, you gave me five thousand coins, and I have earned five thousand more.” 21 “Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my 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.’

 Old testament 10% minimum  1 st Born male – child or animal  Sin offering  Fellowship offering  Maybe 20-25% total

Warning against Bragging 13 You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” 14 What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. 15 You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” 16 Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud. 17 If you don’t do what you know is right, you have sinned.

The poor are ruled by the rich, and those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders.

An evil person borrows and never pays back; a good person is generous and never stops giving. Get out of Debt ASAP

1 Corinthians 4:2 And since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for,

And religion does make your life rich, by making you content with what you have. 7 We didn’t bring anything into this world, and we won’t take anything with us when we leave. 8 So we should be satisfied just to have food and clothes. 9 People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. 10 The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.

 Our Budget Is it in your account?

If you cannot explain it clearly to your spouse and you don’t agree don’t do it!

Every item must be needed

How much will it bring at a garage sale?

NO impulse buying – you plan ahead

You can afford it

As Jesus was walking down a road, a man ran up to him. He knelt down, and asked, “Good teacher, what can I do to have eternal life?” 18 Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. 19 You know the commandments. ‘Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. Do not cheat. Respect your father and mother.’” 20 The man answered, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these commandments since I was a young man.” 21 Jesus looked closely at the man. He liked him and said, “There’s one thing you still need to do. Go sell everything you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come with me.” 22 When the man heard Jesus say this, he went away gloomy and sad because he was very rich.

 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “It’s hard for rich people to get into God’s kingdom!” 24 The disciples were shocked to hear this. So Jesus told them again, “It’s terribly hard [a] to get into God’s kingdom! 25 In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God’s kingdom.”a  26 Jesus' disciples were even more amazed. They asked each other, “How can anyone ever be saved?”  27 Jesus looked at them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.”

 38 Parables – 16 dealt with money  Money is mentioned more than heaven or hell combined  5 times the number of verses on money than prayer  Over 2000 verses on money

Are you caught up in sinful materialism?  Anxiety - worrying not managing  Covet things  Preoccupied as to what others will think  Are possessions more important than relationships

How do you eat an elephant?

“Usually pay on the one with the highest interest”

Have you ever made a list of your debts and the interest to pay? Have you ever been debt free? Have you ever tried to budget? Nothing complicated — for several months keep a list of what comes in and out.