Alumnotes, Summer 2019

A L UMNOT E S Summer 2019 If you love Cedarville University − home of the Yellow Jackets − this is the place to shop. Browse Cedarville apparel, gifts, and athletic-branded products available online. Visit yellowjacketzone.com VISIT THE YELLOW JACKET ZONE CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY October 4–5, 2019 Save the Date Have you ever thought about what it means to be a good steward of the time, talents, and treasures that God has given to you? In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells a parable about a master who gathered his servants together and distributed a significant sum of money to each, according to his ability. To one servant the master gave five talents (a talent was about 20 years’ wages), to another two talents, and to another one talent. The master went away for a time, then returned to see what the servants had done with the talents that were given to them. The servants who had been given five talents and two talents, respectively, were industrious and doubled their master’s money. To each of these servants he said, “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.” The servant who had been given one talent had taken the talent and buried it in the ground out of fear. Unlike the servants who had been good stewards, this servant misused his talent, did nothing, and the one talent that had been given to him was taken away and given to the faithful servant with 10 talents. In this parable, Jesus is teaching his followers that there are two kinds of servants — faithful and unfaithful. The faithful servants used their talents, put them to work for their master, and had much increase, joy, and favor. The unfaithful servant squandered his talent, and instead of using it, he hid it, did nothing, and ultimately went away empty-handed. This parable gives us an opportunity to evaluate our own life and how well we are stewarding our God-given time, talents, and treasures. Are we the faithful servants? Are we putting our God-given resources to work for His glory and our joy? Are we striving to make an impact for Christ and His Kingdom? Or are we more like the unfaithful servant? Have we been poor stewards of our God-given resources and squandered the opportunity? I hope you will read The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14–30 and evaluate where you are investing your talents for Kingdom impact. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (ESV). For His Glory and our exceeding joy, Rick Melson, Ph.D. Vice President for Advancement Office of Alumni and Parent Relations Alumni and Parent Relations Executive Director Jeff Beste ’87 Assistant Director of Student Philanthropy and Young Alumni Rahul Jacob ’17 Coordinator for Alumni and Parent Engagement Melanie Edris ’17 Coordinator for Communication and Regional Programming Kaileigh McCann V ANTAGE P OINT