Reverse Offering! $20 talent - What are you going to do?

The Parable of the Talents
Last Sunday we took a different type of offering at Westview. Instead of giving you the opportunity to give offerings to God, we asked you to take $20 from the offering basket. We held a reverse offering! Our scripture for the morning was Matthew 25: 14-30, the Parable of the Talents. In this parable, Jesus tells the story of 3 servants who receive talents (a measure of weight or money) from their master. They are to invest the master’s talents while he is away. Two of the servants invest their talents and make a 100% return. The third servant digs a hole and buries his talent until the master returns.

$20
We gave out the $20 bills to represent talents given by God. We are asking you to invest your $20 in the kingdom. How will you do this? That’s up to you. We want you to pray about it and take a risk. You may have a person you want to help, or a kingdom issue that you are concerned about. There’s no timetable, there’s no hurry, but there is the responsibility of stewardship (don’t bury your talent!). You are responsible to manage what God has given you to manage (which is everything you own and everything you are). The money we gave out (almost $2,000) was a donation expressly given for this reverse offering.

Let Us Know!
We would like to hear from you regarding what you decided to do with your $20! Please email the church if you would like to share your story with others at Westview. Already I am hearing of small groups talking about joining their money together for a certain project. I hear of families who want to help neighbors. Individuals are excited about what God is saying to them.

Did You Miss Out?
Maybe you weren’t here this past Sunday to get a $20 bill. We won’t be giving out more money, but you can still participate! Set aside your own $20 (I know it didn’t come from our anonymous donor, but remember, it’s all God’s money anyway!). Take $20 and begin to pray about how God wants you to invest it for His kingdom. Remember, God’s kingdom is all about loving God (your vertical relationship) and loving others (your horizontal relationships). Pray and ask God how He wants you to serve him and others through your $20. And use this exercise to help you think about how he wants you to use all that He has given you!

God bless and have fun!

Jay Braband