The Stewardship of Life
II Cor 8:1-7
You have seen the title of this message, now you have put your earplugs in and are ready to go to sleep. Stewardship has never been a popular teaching of the Bible. But there is no way that we can get around this important doctrine. Jesus talked more about money than any other single subject. This morning I want to talk about the stewardship of life. The stewardship of life includes money but is hot limited to money. We are talking about all of life.
A sideshow strongman was exhibiting his strength and as a final trick he squeezed the juice from a lemon between his hands and then offered ten dollars to anyone in the audience who could squeeze a single drop out of it. Several husky men tried, to no avail. Finally, a small frail looking man came forward. He took the lemon in hand, and to the delight of the audience, managed to squeeze one more drop from the lemon. As the strongman paid out the ten dollars, he asked the man, "What is the secret of your strength. How did you manage to get that last drop?" "Oh," the man replied, "I was the treasurer of the Baptist church for 30 years."
Several scriptures 1. II Cor. 8:1-7
2. 1Co 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
3. Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Prayer:
I. Before I can talk about stewardship I must talk about relationship.
A. If you have no relationship then stewardship is meaningless.
1. The relationship is between you and God.
2. If you give time money and talent they mean nothing if you don’t know the savior.
3. Believe it or not I have heard of people who will faithfully give 1/10 of their income to the church and never darken the church door.
B. Relationship with God means that:
1. You have realized that you are a sinner and know that sin must be forgiven
2. That you have repented of your sin
3. That you have received Jesus into your heart.
4. By that action you have become one of His sheep.
C. Once that relationship has been established your stewardship becomes meaningful.
1. People who practice stewardship before they become Christians are trying to buy their way into heaven.
2. They are trying to make their good deeds outweigh the bad.
3. Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
4. Your money is a poor substitute for the blood of Christ.
Since we are talking about the stewardship of life I will start with the stewardship of time.
II. The Stewardship of Time
A. All are given the same amount of time. We must use it wisely Paul said, Eph 5:15 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk--not as unwise people but as wise--
making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
B. What is a Tithe of Time? We have 24 hours a day 1\10 of that is 2.4 hrs. or 2 hrs and 15 minutes.
1. Our time, our life is but a – dash - between our birth and death
2. We must be accountable for all of our time
3. All of our time is given to us by God
See chart of time spent. Some of the things we spend time on:
Hours per day
Personal care and activities 9.43
Sleeping 8.63
Household activities 1.82
Shopping .80
Working 7.04
Leisure and sports 5.14
Religious and spiritual activities .12
Telephone calls etc. .18
I know that most of you are above average and that you spend more time than the average bear on spiritual things. If you attend all the services of the church plus 2 hrs of committee work per week that equals 6 hrs per week. The tithe is 16.8 hours per week. Even if you spent 1 hr per day in prayer and devotion that equals a total of 13 hours per week. My point is that most of us do not even give God a fraction of our time.
The Bible says, “To every thing there is a time”
To every season there is a rhyme.
Time goes on with a relentless pace
Our lives are spent before we erase
Those dark secrets of the mind
Those secrets we want to leave behind.
Time is a product from days of old,
But time is a Commodity that can’t sold.
Yet each of us has so many days,
We cannot add to this life’s maze.
To buy one hour may be our goal,
It’s still the truth no time is sold.
To the human race, much time is given,
For each to choose by what he’s driven.
Our misused time is gone forever,
But well used time is wasted never.
We must use our time bringing help to others,
Bringing light and joy to all our brothers.
Richard Hosea
So I say with Paul use your time wisely because all of your time belongs to God.
III. The Stewardship of Talents or Gifts
A. What talents and gifts have been given to you by the Lord?
1. I would not toot my own horn but to illustrate how to use your gifts for the glory of the Lord and the good of man.
a. I have a mechanical ability. This talent supplied my family’s needs as I worked my way through Bible School and college. I was also able to help my fellow students to fix their cars when they could not afford to put it in the shop.
b. I also was able to use this talent while I was pastor in Wimauma helping young boys to learn how to work on engines.
c. I have an ability to do woodwork. I have used this to make a living but also to help people to have a piece of hand made furniture.
d. For what its worth I write a poem now and then with the idea of inspiring someone.
e. The Lord called me to preach and I use this calling every chance I get.
f. I have learned to be computer literate so that I can use the computer to bring honor to God.
2. You have been given talents far above what I have been given.
3. If you are to be a good steward you must use what God has given you.
B. Use it or loose it.
1. Some things that you learn will never be forgotten such as riding a bicycle.
2. Some things will be forgotten without use… language, piano, or musical instrument.
a. I have heard some of you say I played some instrument in high school…but…
C. The point is use what God has given you for His glory and to bring others closer to Him
IV. The stewardship of Leisure.
A. You may say in my leisure I don’t want to think about stewardship
1. May I suggest that you should use your hobby to bring glory to God.
a. Your hobby is fishing.
(a) Take a lost man fishing with you and show him that Christians can have fun
(b) Just don’t lie about the one that got away.
b. If your hobby is sports use it in such a way that it will help others to know that God is revealed in many ways in sports.
B. What ever you spend your leisure time on find a way to bring glory to God and help others in the process.
Could use my truck and an example
V The Stewardship of Possessions.
Many of us are like Bill Fitch (NBA Coach)
"I’m independently wealthy. I have enough money to last me the rest of my life--provided I die tomorrow."
A. Now don’t go talking about money. You have stopped preaching and started meddling.
1. Jesus talked about possessions and money more than any other subject.
B. When thinking about stewardship of possessions, we know that the tithe is the starting point in giving to God.
1. When some people are baptized they carefully remove their pocketbook so it will not be baptized too.
2. The Pharisees said we tithe of everything even our garden spices
3. Jesus said that you should have done and not left the most important things undone
C. In the O.T. a 10th was a starting point and they gave much more than that.
D. The Christian view of the tithe.
1. All that I have belongs to God
a. Some think if I give a tithe then it does not matter what I do with the rest.
b. We are responsible to God for 100% of what he gives to us.
c. We should not purchase that which God does not want us to have.
d. We should take care to spend and save wisely.
2. We are responsible to begin giving what is required 10%
3. After the 10% all other gifts become an offering
4. So you cannot give an offering until you have given the 10%
E. Giving should not be on a legal basis.
1. If you only give because you feel that it is God’s hard fast rule then you are legalistic
2. Giving should be out of your Love for God and what he has done for you.
3. The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver. The word cheerful means “hilarious”
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
If your motive to give is to get more you have missed the point
Musician John W. Peterson, who penned some of the twentieth century’s most popular Christian songs and hymns, including "It Took a Miracle," "Over the Sunset Mountains," "So Send I You," "Springs of Living Water," "Heaven Came Down," "Jesus Is Coming Again" and "Surely Goodness and Mercy", wrote in his memoirs of his surrender to Christ. Shortly before graduating from high school, someone gave John several biographies to read. As he read the stories of D. L. Moody and Charles Finney, he longed to give his life to God in a special way.
Then he read the stirring, tragic story of John and Betty Stam, who were martyred for their faith in China. "As I turned the last page of that book," Peterson recalled, "something broke inside me. How could it be, Lord that this bright, promising couple should be cut down at the very outset of their ministry? Why?"
But John realized that God did want people to lay their lives on the line for Him. After several hours of intense inner struggling, Peterson prayed: "Here I am, Lord. I don’t know what You want of me, but even if it’s China and martyrdom, I’m willing."
Toward evening, an inexpressible joy and peace filled the bedroom of that old house in Kansas, and it set the direction of the young man’s life.
Have you ever prayed like that?
When you became a Christian your commitment to God should have been complete, without reservation. Giving him your whole life your prayer should be, “Here I am, Lord. I don’t know what You want of me, but even if it’s China and martyrdom, I’m willing.”
Commitment must be total, or it’s no commitment at all.
