Pastor Hung Truong teaches about stewardship
On Thursday, April 25, Pastor Hung Truong spoke about the importance and meaning of good stewardship at middle and high school chapels. Truong is the son of Vietnamese refugees and has been pastoring for the past 25 years. In January 2020, his family planted a multi-racial church in Norcross called Grace Emmanuel.
Truong shared various stories with middle and high school students. Some of the stories were true and some fictional, and Truong explained that he ultimately hoped the stories would point students to the most beautiful story ever told: the life of Jesus Christ.
“Stories matter, and I hope these stories will connect with you so you can know me and know Jesus,” states Troung.
Troung shared about wanting to buy ice cream as a young boy in school, but being unable to when his parents wouldn’t loan him the 25 cents needed to purchase ice cream from the lunch lady. He shared about how he sneakily stole what he thought was a $1 bill from his mom’s purse. To his surprise, the bill he stole was $20, so he problem-solved by purchasing ice cream for his classmates.
When he returned home from school, he was met by his father’s deep disappointment in the $20 being stolen. He recounted his many lies and decisions that ultimately led to his older brother taking the blame for stealing the $20 and facing the punishment Huong deserved.
“That’s what big brothers are for,” he remembers his brother stating.
After sharing this story, Truong also pointed students to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 which tells the story of three servants who were required to steward the wealth and possessions given to them by their master. Two of the servants were good stewards and invested the money wisely, but one servant was not wise with his money.
Truong reminded students that just as the servant in the story who failed to steward his money well, every human has fallen short of stewarding the gifts, blessings, and talents we have been given.
Encouraging students to be good stewards, he also reminded students that when they fall short, they have a God who still loves them and desires to know them. They have a big brother figure willing to take on their shortcomings just as his own big brother bore the punishment for the stolen ice cream money.
"You have a big brother Jesus who took on sin and death on the Cross,” beamed Truong.
Thank you, Pastor Truong, for teaching our students about the importance of stewardship and the beautiful story of the Cross of Jesus.
