In Matthew 24:3, the disciples ask Jesus a question: “What will the end of the world be like?”And Jesus answers their question by telling three stories in a row. First, He tells the Parable of the 10 Virgins. The primary point of this parable is: “Be ready, be prepared, don’t miss the party.” Then Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents. This story would seem to say, “Don’t waste your life!” Finally, He tells a story about some Sheep and some Goats. The point of this story could be summarized with “Take care of hurting and forgotten people!”When you stack these three stories together, Jesus answers their question about the end of the world with: “I want you to depend on the Gospel, declare the Gospel, and demonstrate the Gospel. If you do those three things, you will be fine.” They want to know what they end times will look like, but Jesus is more concerned about how they live and act in light of the end times. They want to know the future, but Jesus wants them to live in the present reality of the Kingdom. This weekend we’ll look closely at the middle story: The Parable of the Talents. One of the ideas here would be, “If you want to be prepared for the end times, don’t waste your life!” It’s going to be a powerful weekend, and you won’t want to miss it.