Imagine you had a choice. Take $1 million today or take one penny doubled every day for 30 days. Which would you choose? Most of us would grab the million, let's face it. But that would be a mistake. You see, the million dollars tempts us and clouds our vision of the future. But if we paused and counted the cost, we'd see that a single penny doubled each day for a month would grow to over $5.3 million by day 30. That example may sound extreme, but it plays out in everyday life. Small choices multiplied over time shape our future. And yet, so many people live as though tomorrow doesn't matter. Instead of choosing a clear vision, we get sidetracked by pleasures on the periphery.
stealing our attention and squandering our resources. The result? Debt is at an all-time high, and saving for the future is almost non-existent in many households. Our vision for investing in both earthly and eternal future has become clouded, and that doesn't just affect us. It threatens the livelihood of the next generation. More importantly, it limits our kingdom impact for the future.
My name is Jeremy, and I'm the lead pastor of Mountain View Church. If you're new to our faith community, please visit mountainview.church slash connect or drop us a message at Mountain View Whitehorse. Today, we're wrapping up our Making Change series. We've walked through less is more, stress is bad, and giving is good. And now, today, a final reminder that tomorrow matters. Jesus calls us into a better story. He invites us to lift our eyes beyond the present moment and look ahead in faith. What choices am I making today that will shape my tomorrow?
Jesus calls us to invest in God's kingdom with the added benefit of a healthier financial future. To begin, let's read a parable that shows how today's choices can significantly impact the future. Hi, my name is Dagmar. Our scripture reading is from Matthew 25, verse 14 to 30. If you have a physical Bible, you can use the table of contents in the front to locate the book of Matthew. If you have a mobile device, you can download a Bible app or use the search function at bible.com. For it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.
Now after a long time, the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents here. I have made five talents more. His master said to him, Well done, and good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also heard the two talents came forward, saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here, I have made two talents more.
His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. He also, who had received the one talent, came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid. And I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.
But his master answered him, you wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have scattered no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers. And at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story about a master heading out on a journey. He entrusts his wealth to three servants. Using the measurement of a talent, it's like a first century weight of silver or gold, he gives five talents to one, two talents to another, and one talent to the last. The first two servants have a clear vision of what the master would want, and they go straight to work investing what they've been given. In the end, they took the risk and doubled what they had been given. The third servant somehow missed the goal that he was supposed to invest the money. Thinking that he was keeping the gold safe, he digs a hole and hides it.
When the master returns, he praises the first two, saying, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. But to the last servant, the master rebukes him for missing the opportunity to invest. He says, you wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers. And at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the 10 talents. For to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Notice how the master never praises the size of the return. He's not focused on the money itself. He's focused on what each servant has done with the resources they've been given. The faithful servants understood what their master wanted them to do, and they acted accordingly. Also, notice that the master doesn't praise the servants for how much they earned.
He doesn't measure them against each other. He celebrates both of them and rewards them individually for their own faithfulness, for the stewardship they've shown. Related to the reward they receive, there's two parts to it. First, they're given greater responsibility. He said, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Second, they're given a deeper relationship. He said, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master. Through this parable, Jesus shows us that faithfulness shapes both the tangible and the spiritual.
Tangibly, faithful decisions lead to more opportunities to steward resources for God's kingdom. But spiritually, faithfulness draws us into a deeper connection with the one who's entrusted us those resources in the first place. And in all of it, success is never measured by the size of the return, but instead the faithfulness of our stewardship. This is so important to grasp because one day we'll come face to face with our master. Each of us will give an account of our lives. How do we steward the gifts God placed in our hands? Managing our resources wisely is a good practice for life, but it's also connected to eternity. God is watching how we handle what we've been given in the here and now. Then one day we'll stand before him. And in that moment, our only desire will be to hear those words. Well done, good and faithful servant. Now, last week we highlighted three key resources that God has entrusted to us to manage.
Our time. Did we use our hours and days well? Our talent. Did we use the gifts and abilities we've been given? And our treasure. Did we use our money and possessions for God's kingdom? The choices we make today shape the lives we live tomorrow. And what's fascinating is how time, talent, and treasure shift throughout our life.
For example, when we're young, we have loads of time. Usually, if you're single or newly married, you've got more hours in your day and the passion and energy to use them than you'll ever have again. In this stage, talent is being developed. But treasure, let's face it, it's limited. However, by the time we hit middle age, time gets tighter.
We have a bit more treasure, but like time, it's spread very thin at middle age. Work and family responsibilities are piled up at this point. However, this is the stage when our talent is strongest. We've developed skills, we're specialized, and we've settled into our spiritual gifts. Middle-aged talent is such a valuable commodity. Then we move to later in life, and the balance shifts again. We get back some of our time, that's true, but we need more rest and sleep. Our talents remain, but our energy starts to wane, and the physical impacts.
of aging, they start to impact our ability and our talents. So this all limits how much we can do with the hours and skills that we have. And yet, these same years are often when we've built up the most treasure. When seniors look at the money and possessions they've accumulated and the years they have left, there may be room for treasure to be invested that wasn't there earlier on in life. So as you can see, faithful stewardship in the present often depends on the stage of life you're in.
And while all three resources, time, talent, and treasure, all of them matter, the future is most often tied to our finances when we're seniors. So choosing a clear vision means investing for tomorrow and for eternity. So as we pivot to some of the wisdom literature, we're going to focus specifically on how we use our treasure today with tomorrow in mind. Now, throughout this series, we've taken a moment, each message, to see how Old Testament wisdom supports Jesus' teaching. And so let's do that again. We'll start with the Proverbs. Proverbs 13, 11 says, So faithful stewardship over time produces real growth. This is true with tangible resources, but also our spiritual investments. Moving on to Proverbs 21, verse 20. It reads,
Wise people prepare for tomorrow. Fools waste everything in the moment. Planning and preparing for the future is a lot easier with a clear picture of where we're headed. Moving on to Proverbs 24, verses 3 and 4, which reads, By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established. By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. This means that a wise builder uses a blueprint. He keeps the final project in mind, and he keeps going back to it, letting that vision guide the construction. He's got the end goal in mind.
Finally, let's look at Ecclesiastes 11 verse 2. It teaches to divide your portion to seven or even to eight, for you do not know what disaster may happen on earth. The context of this text is ancient diversification. The principle is to spread the risk, preparing for uncertainty. You see, sometimes having a clear vision for the future means knowing that the future isn't always clear. So when we step back and we look at the future, we can make adjustments, make plans, set things in place. Now, looking at all these principles together, including Jesus' parable, a pattern emerges, doesn't it? God's word keeps pointing us toward the long game, not the short game. Whether it's saving steadily, planning wisely.
Building carefully or preparing for uncertainty, the theme is the same. Faithfulness and stewardship today lead to fruitfulness tomorrow. This is why having a clear vision of the future matters so much. If we can catch that, or when we catch that, hopefully after today, we see how these timeless truths of the Bible actually play out in real life. So now let's circle back around to Jesus' parable and get honest with ourselves. At some point in our lives, every one of us has been that servant who buried what God's entrusted us with.
We've all wasted time, talent, and treasure at some point. We've squandered those opportunities that we've been given. We've lived like tomorrow doesn't matter. There's good news though. And the good news is that Jesus never did. He's the ever faithful servant.
He lived in perfect obedience, investing every moment within the will of the Father. And then he gave his life for us, and we didn't deserve it. And that's where our hope rests. His faithfulness, the faithfulness of Jesus shown at the cross, covers our failure. With this in mind, and as we close out this message series, it seems only fitting that we have a time of communion together. If you would like to participate, wherever you're watching or listening from, simply pause the video and collect some bread or crackers and some wine or juice and come back.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that Jesus sat with his disciples at the table. They had come to partake in Passover, a remembrance of Israel's freedom from slavery. But Jesus was about to transform it into a remembrance of freedom from sin that would be available for all people. Now, I'm going to pray over the bread and the cup. Then we'll take them together as we read through the communion passage found in Matthew 26. Let's pray. Dear Father, I thank you for this bread and the cup.
The bread that represents your body, Jesus, that was nailed to the cross, beaten, whipped, and torn apart, taking the punishment for our sin. And Jesus, this cup which remembers your blood that was shed at the cross. And that blood shed is the final sacrifice, the final atonement for all sin, for all people, for all time. As we take this bread and cup, we choose to remember your sacrifice. Somewhat somber and yet also with thanksgiving. Please bless this to our bodies in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. The parable of the talents ends with the Master saying, Enter into the joy of your Master.
At the table, Jesus said, I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Both of these statements point forward. They give us a clear vision that we should keep in our mind's eye. They remind us that tomorrow really does matter, not only in how we steward what God has entrusted us in this life, but in the eternal joy that awaits us in the next life. As we move into our application for this message, I want to get really specific and center in on our local church. I realize that many who watch our content are not Mountain View Church members.
But perhaps our story and our current journey will spark an investment in the kingdom work that's happening in your congregation, or maybe even prompt you to join with us and invest with us from afar. Our current facility, which I'm filming in right now, was built in 1961. Back then, the congregation had a bigger vision, to reach Whitehorse and the Yukon with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They knew that a physical location to gather was a crucial part of fulfilling their vision. So they pooled their resources of time and talent and treasure together. And the White Horse Star newspaper recorded the events of the building dedication on April 13th, 1961. It reads, the pastor announced the church was free of indebtedness except for a last few hundred dollars, whereupon the congregation promptly reached into its pockets to clear away the remainder of the building account.
This church is built and maintained by free will gifts of a people who love the Savior, who gave his life to redeem a lost humanity, remarked Reverend Lang. Your only indebtedness now is to get the gospel to all the world. And they did it. This building has served us well for many decades. The gospel has been proclaimed here. Thousands have come to faith, being baptized and discipled because of the work here, all because a group of people had a clear vision for the future. That being said, we've been discussing and saving for a new building over the past decade. In the next few months, you'll hear some of those plans begin to take shape. We've already established a building fund and gathered a small building team, and we're in the process of selling our undeveloped property to use the funds for the reconstruction of this location.
All of this is a great start, but it won't be enough to finish the project. The big ask for today is whether you'd be willing to capture our vision for the future of Mountain View Church. We're not asking for resources right now, but we are asking you to make a vision investment, in your mind's eye, for our new facility. Would you be willing to start setting aside some money for a future date when we'll be needing it? That way, when the official ask comes forward, you'll be ready and able to give freely, knowing that you've already prepared those resources ahead of time.
The people who had a vision for this current building are now grandparents or they've gone home to be with Jesus. The reality is that our grandchildren and maybe even our great-grandchildren will be the ones to receive the blessing of our next building many years in the future. The vision for our new facility will provide gospel impact for the next generation and potentially the one after that. It's an investment in the future, but ultimately it's an investment in God's kingdom. So with that in mind, It's application time. And just like in the past three messages, you'll need a pen and paper or a notes app on your mobile device. Together, we're going to create a Tomorrow Matters action plan that you can put into practice starting this week. After each step, there will be a prompt to pause the video or audio so you can take the time to work through the action step. Number one, write a long-term vision. Where do you want to be spiritually, financially, and relationally in 10 years? Tomorrow matters. Pause the video and write out your vision for the future. Number two,
Make one decision this week for your future. Start saving, reduce debt, or set a new boundary. One step today can shape tomorrow. Pause the video and make your decision. Number three, invest in our future as a church. Create an investment plan for our future facility and for gospel impact in the next generation. Pause the video and allow that vision for our future to guide your savings plan. Number four, ask God for alignment.
Pray that your short-term actions this season would line up with His eternal purposes. Tomorrow matters when today is aligned with Him. Pause and spend time in prayer and planning. Lastly, number five, create an eternal investment plan. Identify three ways you'll intentionally invest in kingdom work this next year with your time, your talent, and your treasure. Faithful stewardship today leads to eternal reward. Pause and complete this last step.
By walking through these action steps, you're making small choices that open up a clear vision for the future. Tomorrow matters for us, for the next generation, and for eternity. One day, each of us will stand before our master. The question is, will we have lived only for today or with a clear vision for tomorrow? In the end, faithfulness and stewardship with what God has entrusted us with will lead to the greatest reward. Hearing those words, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master. So let's pray to that end.
Dear God, thank you for entrusting us with resources, relationships, and opportunities. Help us steward them faithfully. Give us a clear vision so we live for what truly lasts. Shift our hearts from consuming today to investing in tomorrow. May we live with eternity in mind, longing to hear your words well done. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Thanks so much for joining us today. We would love to connect with you. Once again, go to mountainview.church slash connect or reach out on social media at Mountain View White Horse. And if you're a parent, don't miss our Base Camp children's program. Each week, we post downloadable video lessons and activities at mountainview.church slash base camp. It's a great way to disciple your kids right at home.
Next week, we're launching a brand new series called Identity, Found in Him. Pastor Aaron will be launching our series focused on being faithful in Christ. If you've ever wrestled with where your true identity comes from, this series will help anchor your life in Jesus Christ. This is also a great series to invite that friend or co-worker who has questions of faith. That one invitation could transform their life on earth, but more importantly, for eternity. It's worth asking, and we'll see you next Sunday.
If you prayed to receive Jesus today or would like to connect with our church community, visit mountainview.church and click the connect link. If this podcast and radio ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider partnering with us or making a tax-deductible donation at mountainview.church. Thanks for listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Join us next week for more Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City of Whitehorse UConn.