Good morning everyone, and welcome to Church. It is such a pleasure to see everyone.
Last week we had a wonderful service! We talked about how God is calling every believer to greatness. We were created in the image of God and since God is Great, He is also calling us to be Great. We talked about how greatness does not come by accident. Rather, it takes a determined heart and life! We become great for God by serving others, expecting big things from God, by being persistent and being a giver.
This week we are continuing down this path that God has us on. This is an exciting path no doubt. This week we are talking about being a great steward for God.
Speaking of stewardship, I want to share a story with you about a fellow Assembly of God pastor. A women from his congregation came to him and said “ Pastor my dog passed away, and I was wondering if you would be willing to do a funeral? This good Assemblies of God minister said “I’m sorry, but we do not do funerals for dogs.” Then this pastor had a thought, and he said to the woman “ Maybe you should try the Lutheran pastor down the street.” And the women responded “ Thank you so much for the information, Do you think $2,000 would be enough for the funeral?” The Assembly of God Pastor said “ $2,000, You did not tell me your dog was Assemblies of God, I would love to do the burial. “
In case you are wondering, No we do not do pet funerals for $2,000, and no we do not charge people for funerals. While we may not think about being great and stewardship are related they really are two peas in a pod. Stewardship really touches all the things that God has given to us and how we use these resources. When you look at stewardship, really in the purest sense, is dealing with trust. God entrust us with many blessings and it is His desire that we value the things that He trust us with and that we use them in a way that we honor Him with!
I. Principles of stewardship
A. Formula
a. There are many key principles that we are going to discuss here this morning pertaining to stewardship.
b. First, we must understand the principle between ownership and steward ship.
c. This escapes many people. They feel like they own everything that their name is on.
d. The owner of everything on the earth is not Bill Gates, Donald Trump, George Soros, the Koch brothers, Jeff Bezos.
e. No, the real owner is God.
B. Defined
a. In looking at the biblical definition of stewardship, Charles Bugg defines stewardship in the Holman Bible dictionary as such: Utilizing and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation.
b. When we look at the principle of stewardship, there are two main facets that standout.
i. Authority- This is delegated authority. In other words, it is where authority is passed from one person to another for a specific purpose.
ii. Secondly, Responsibility which really deals with having a duty to deal with something or having control over someone else. Because of this responsibility we are accountable for what we do.
C. Character
a. What will drive us being a good steward will be the character that we have within us.
b. Character speaks to the level or our personal integrity.
c. With great abilities also comes a tremendous amount of temptation and accountability.
d. In fact, the bible says in Luke 12:48b(NKJV) 48 For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
e. When God gives you a lot, He also expects a lot.
f. For some they have been given little, yet they are faithful in the little. While others may have been given a lot and are not faithful with the lot that they have been given.
g. This is an important principle to understand because we are not to compare ourselves to others.
II. Talents
A. Talents
a. So often people fall into the trap of thinking that they have nothing to offer God. Yet, God has given each and every one of us talents and abilities.
b. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 12:11(NKJV) 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
c. The talents that we have been given, we are called to use for the glory of God. We are called to use these talents to bless others. 1 Peter 4:10(NKJV) says: 10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
B. Spiritual abilities
a. The bible says in Romans 12:6-8(NKJV) 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
b. When our talents are anointed by God, they become supernatural. God uses these gifts and talents to bless the church and to win the lost.
c. Some of these supernatural talents included in Romans are:
i. Prophecy- This is when God speaks through people to the church body.
ii. Teachers – teaches others about loving and knowing God
iii. Giver- this supernatural gift is when one desires to give money, time or self to God so that the church will proper.
C. Blessing others
a. When you and I use the talents that we have been given to bless and help others, God will in turn pour out a blessing on our lives.
b. There is a caution here and that caution is that if we withhold our talents from the Lord, we will miss out on all that God has for us!
c. Therefore use your talents for God by blessing others!
III. Time
A. Our Time
a. The second element of stewardship we are looking at here this morning is time.
b. The bible says in Ephesians 5:15-17(NKJV) 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
c. We are called to make wise use of our time. We are to spend our time on building the kingdom of God.
d. Your typical day may look something like this: 8 hours of sleeping, 8-10 hours of work, that leaves us 6-8 hours for other activities. Some of this time will be used for eating, recreation, etc.
e. We need to make sure that we are taking some of this time for God. Even if you can take 15 minutes a day for prayer and devotions to the Lord.
B. No promises for tomorrow
a. There are no promises for tomorrow. Sometimes people act like they are going to live forever.
b. The bible says James 4:13-17(NKJV)13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
c. Only God knows what will happen in the future. Therefore, we need to look to Him and include Him in our plans. It would be foolish to not consult God about His direction.
C. Make the best of it
a. In order to make the best use of our time there are several things we can do.
b. First and foremost, we need to pray and seek God’s direction.
c. Secondly, we need to align our priorities to match what God is calling us to do.
i. Whatever our priority, God should be at the top of all our lists.
ii. Spending time with God by doing a devotional, praying, and time in worship.
iii. These are all things that every born again believer should be doing every single day.
iv. Other ways we are called to spend time is with our church family, serving the Lord, with neighbors and friends, along with taking time for yourself.
d. As we close talking about time, one practical word of advice is to have a balanced in your life. When our priorities are right , when our lives are balanced, we will be a growing and thriving believer.
IV. Treasure
A. Stewards of money
a. The last thing I want to talk about is being stewards of the money that God has entrusted to us.
b. Please do not worry, we have already taking the offering.
c. Let me say this, everything that we have belongs to God! He made it! He gave it to us! We simply use what He has given
B. Better to give
a. This might fly in the face of our culture, but these are Jesus words not mine. They are shared with us in the book of Acts Chapter 20 verse 35 where Jesus declared ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.
b. It is better to give than to receive. This is a powerful truth! If believers all around the globe adopted this strategy, this truth, there would be nothing that they could not accomplish.
c. We talked a bit about this last week, but if we do not sow a seed into the ground, we will not reap a harvest.
d. We need to sow that seed so that we can have a harvest.
C. A picture of our hearts
a. God calls us to be faithful in our giving!
b. The bible says in Luke 16:10 (NKJV) 10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
c. This is such a powerful truth. I have heard so many say “ Well Pastor if only I had more money coming in, then I would begin to tithe and give to God. “
d. This verse flies in the face of that type of thinking, because if you are not faithful with the little that God has given to you, how in the world can he trust you with more.
e. The solution: be faithful with the little and God will bless you with more!
D. Given back
a. When you give to God, He in turn gives back to you. Now do not give to get, but give because you desire to be faithful to the Lord.
b. I love the verse found in Luke 6:38(NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
c. God will pour back into our lives the same measure that we give to Him. We do not give grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful give.
Closing:
As we wrap up here this morning, stewardship is such a key part of our faith. God is calling us to be good stewards of what He has given to us. We are called to use our talents, time and treasure for Him. For there will be a day that every single one of us will have to give an account. In fact, the bible says in Revelation 20:11-14(NKJV) 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
As believers, we will not be judged because of our sin because the blood of Jesus took care of that! We will be judged for our works. Whether these works were done with the right heart! Therefore, be mindful that there will be a great reward for those that give generously while there will be a tremendous disappointment for those that give sparingly.
