Two Masters

This one was hard, honestly, and I drew mainly from the Spark version.  I mean, what do you say to kids to talk about using earthly goods to store up heavenly rewards??Do you even talk about that or just talk about serving only one master? I wanted to focus more here on the benefits of serving others and serving God than on using money to manipulate, as serving fits well with the JLF that will have taken place at our church the day before. 

KFW  September 22, 2013

Two Masters (Luke 16:1-13; pp. 384-385 in the spark bible)

What does it mean to serve God—do you know?    Jesus wanted to help his disciples learn to serve God, so he told them a story:

Narrator:  Once upon  a time there was a rich man

(Rich man jingle coins in his pocket)

Narrator:  He had someone who worked for him and took care of his money

(Rich man hands his coins over to a manager)

Narrator: But this man was greedy and cheated the rich man so he could get more money for himself

(manager starts to put the money into a piggy bank, but we see him put some of the money in his own pockets)

Narrator: When the rich man found out what the worker had done, it made him VERY ANGRY.  GRRR!

Rich man:  (shocked!)  I can’t trust you!  Show me how you took so much of my money, and then leave!

(Manager turns his pockets inside out, while the rich man makes a sad face, slumps body posture, etc.)

Narrator:  The worker wasn’t honest.  He tried to serve the rich man and himself.  Jesus told the disciples

Jesus:  “My friends you must always be honest in what you do. Decide what is most important to you, because you can’t serve God and be greedy serving yourself at the same time.”

What are some ways you have served others this week? What are some things you have been tempted to keep for yourself instead of share or give to others?