What is Christian Stewardship

1
What is Christian Stewardship?
2
What is Christian Stewardship?

• A Steward is a manager - stewardship is managing
  and investing the property of someone else.

3
I. God Really Owns Everything
4
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 1. The world.
• Exodus 195 - Although the whole earth is mine,
  you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a
  holy nation.

5
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 1. The world.
• Exodus 195 - Although the whole earth is mine,
  you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a
  holy nation.
• Leviticus 2523 - The land must not be sold
  permanently, because the land is mine and you are
  but aliens and my tenants.

6
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 1. The world.
• Exodus 195 - Although the whole earth is mine,
  you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a
  holy nation.
• Leviticus 2523 - The land must not be sold
  permanently, because the land is mine and you are
  but aliens and my tenants.
• Psalm 241 - The earth is the LORDs, and
  everything in it, the world, and all who live in
  it for he founded it upon the seas and
  established it upon the waters.

7
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 2. He owns us.
• Deuteronomy 326 - Is this the way you repay the
  LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your
  Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?

8
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 2. He owns us.
• Deuteronomy 326 - Is this the way you repay the
  LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your
  Father, your Creator, who made you and formed
  you?
• Ezekiel 184 - For every living soul belongs to
  me, the father as well as the sonboth alike
  belong to me.

9
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 2. He owns us.
• Deuteronomy 326 - Is this the way you repay the
  LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your
  Father, your Creator, who made you and formed
  you?
• Ezekiel 184 - For every living soul belongs to
  me, the father as well as the sonboth alike
  belong to me.
• Romans 148 - If we live, we live to the Lord
  and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we
  live or die, we belong to the Lord.

10
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 3. Everything we possess.
• I Chronicles 2914 - Everything comes from you,
  and we have given you only what comes from your
  hand.

11
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 3. Everything we possess.
• I Chronicles 2914 - Everything comes from you,
  and we have given you only what comes from your
  hand.
• Psalm 5010- for every animal of the forest is
  mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

12
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 3. Everything we possess.
• I Chronicles 2914 - Everything comes from you,
  and we have given you only what comes from your
  hand.
• Psalm 5010- for every animal of the forest is
  mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
• Haggai 28 - The silver is mine and the gold is
  mine, declares the LORD Almighty.

13
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 3. Everything we possess.
• I Chronicles 2914 - Everything comes from you,
  and we have given you only what comes from your
  hand.
• Psalm 5010- for every animal of the forest is
  mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
• Haggai 28 - The silver is mine and the gold is
  mine, declares the LORD Almighty.
• Numbers 313 - for all the firstborn are mine.

14
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 3. Everything we possess.
• I Chronicles 2914 - Everything comes from you,
  and we have given you only what comes from your
  hand.
• Psalm 5010- for every animal of the forest is
  mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
• Haggai 28 - The silver is mine and the gold is
  mine, declares the LORD Almighty.
• Numbers 313 - for all the firstborn are mine.
• Matthew 633 - But seek first his kingdom and his
  righteousness, and all these things will be given
  to you as well.

15
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 4. We are accountable for our stewardship.
• Matthew 1823 - Therefore, the kingdom of heaven
  is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with
  his servants.

16
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 4. We are accountable for our stewardship.
• Matthew 1823 - Therefore, the kingdom of heaven
  is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with
  his servants.
• Matthew 1236 - But I tell you that men will have
  to give account on the day of judgment for every
  careless word they have spoken.

17
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 4. We are accountable for our stewardship.
• Matthew 1823 - Therefore, the kingdom of heaven
  is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with
  his servants.
• Matthew 1236 - But I tell you that men will have
  to give account on the day of judgment for every
  careless word they have spoken.
• Luke 1220 - But God said to him, You fool! This
  very night your life will be demanded from you.
  Then who will get what you have prepared for
  yourself?

18
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 4. We are accountable for our stewardship.
• Matthew 1823 - Therefore, the kingdom of heaven
  is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with
  his servants.
• Matthew 1236 - But I tell you that men will have
  to give account on the day of judgment for every
  careless word they have spoken.
• Luke 1220 - But God said to him, You fool! This
  very night your life will be demanded from you.
  Then who will get what you have prepared for
  yourself?
• Luke 1915 - He was made king, however, and
  returned home. Then he sent for the servants to
  whom he had given the money, in order to find out
  what they had gained with it.

19
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 4. We are accountable for our stewardship.
• Romans 1412 - So then, each of us will give an
  account of himself to God.

20
I. God Really Owns Everything

• 4. We are accountable for our stewardship.
• Romans 1412 - So then, each of us will give an
  account of himself to God.
• I Peter 45 -But they will have to give account
  to him who is ready to judge the living and the
  dead.

21
I. God Really Owns EverythingII. Descriptions
22
II. Descriptions

• 1. The faithful steward.
• Luke 1235-38 - Be dressed ready for service and
  keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for
  their master to return from a wedding banquet, so
  that when he comes and knocks they can
  immediately open the door for him. It will be
  good for those servants whose master finds them
  watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he
  will dress himself to serve, will have them
  recline at the table and will come and wait on
  them. It will be good for those servants whose
  master finds them ready, even if he comes in the
  second or third watch of the night.

23
II. Descriptions

• 2. The unfaithful steward.
• Luke 161-8 - Jesus told his disciples There
  was a rich man whose manager was accused of
  wasting his possessions. So he called him in and
  asked him, What is this I hear about you? Give
  an account of your management, because you cannot
  be manager any longer. The manager said to
  himself, What shall I do now? My master is
  taking away my job. Im not strong enough to dig,
  and Im ashamed to beg I know what Ill do so
  that, when I lose my job here, people will
  welcome me into their houses. So he called in
  each one of his masters debtors. He asked the
  first, How much do you owe my master? Eight
  hundred gallons of olive oil, he replied. The
  manager told him, Take your bill, sit down
  quickly, and make it four hundred. Then he
  asked the second, And how much do you owe? A
  thousand bushels of wheat, he replied. He told
  him, Take your bill and make it eight hundred.
  The master commended the dishonest manager
  because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of
  this world are more shrewd in dealing with their
  own kind than are the people of the light.

24
II. Descriptions

• 3. Faithfulness is essential.
• I Corinthians 41-2 - So then, men ought to
  regard us as servants of Christ and as those
  entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it
  is required that those who have been given a
  trust must prove faithful.

25
II. Descriptions

• 3. Faithfulness is essential.
• I Corinthians 41-2 - So then, men ought to
  regard us as servants of Christ and as those
  entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it
  is required that those who have been given a
  trust must prove faithful.
• I Peter 410 - Each one should use whatever gift
  he has received to serve others, faithfully
  administering Gods grace in its various forms.

26
I. God Really Owns EverythingII.
DescriptionsIII. Giving a Proportion of Your
Income
27
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The Old Testament Example.
• a. Voluntary.
• Genesis 2822 - this stone that I have set up as
  a pillar will be Gods house, and of all that you
  give me I will give you a tenth.

28
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The Old Testament Example.
• b. Obligation to tithe.
• Leviticus 2730-32 - A tithe of everything from
  the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit
  from the trees, belongs to the LORD it is holy
  to the LORD. If a man redeems any of his tithe,
  he must add a fifth of the value to it. The
  entire tithe of the herd and flockevery tenth
  animal that passes under the shepherds rod
  will be holy to the LORD.

29
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The Old Testament Example.
• b. Obligation to tithe.
• II Chronicles 315 - As soon as the order went
  out, the Israelites generously gave the
  firstfruits of their grain, new wine, oil and
  honey and all that the fields produced. They
  brought a great amount, a tithe of everything.

30
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The Old Testament Example.
• b. Obligation to tithe.
• Malachi 38-10 - Will a man rob God? Yet you rob
  me. But you ask, How do we rob you? In tithes
  and offerings. You are under a cursethe whole
  nation of youbecause you are robbing me. Bring
  the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there
  may be food in my house. Test me in this, says
  the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw
  open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so
  much blessing that you will not have room enough
  for it.

31
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The Old Testament Example.
• c. They gave part of the tithe to the Levites.
• Numbers 1821 - I give to the Levites all the
  tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return
  for the work they do while serving at the Tent of
  Meeting.

32
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The Old Testament Example.
• c. They gave part of the tithe to the Levites.
• Numbers 1821 - I give to the Levites all the
  tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return
  for the work they do while serving at the Tent of
  Meeting.
• Deuteronomy 1429 - so that the Levites (who have
  no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the
  aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in
  your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and
  so that the LORD your God may bless you in all
  the work of your hands.

33
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.

34
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• a. Giving to people in need.
• Galatians 210 - All they asked was that we
  should continue to remember the poor, the very
  thing I was eager to do.

35
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• a. Giving to people in need.
• Galatians 210 - All they asked was that we
  should continue to remember the poor, the very
  thing I was eager to do.
• Galatians 610 - Therefore, as we have
  opportunity, let us do good to all people,
  especially to those who belong to the family of
  believers.

36
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• a. Giving to people in need.
• Galatians 210 - All they asked was that we
  should continue to remember the poor, the very
  thing I was eager to do.
• Galatians 610 - Therefore, as we have
  opportunity, let us do good to all people,
  especially to those who belong to the family of
  believers.
• Hebrews 1316 - And do not forget to do good and
  to share with others, for with such sacrifices
  God is pleased.

37
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• b. Giving to needy Christians.
• Romans 1526 - For Macedonia and Achaia were
  pleased to make a contribution for the poor among
  the saints in Jerusalem.

38
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• b. Giving to needy Christians.
• Romans 1526 - For Macedonia and Achaia were
  pleased to make a contribution for the poor among
  the saints in Jerusalem.
• I Corinthians 161-2 - Now about the collection
  for Gods people Do what I told the Galatian
  churches to do. On the first day of every week,
  each one of you should set aside a sum of money
  in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that
  when I come no collections will have to be made.

39
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• c. Giving to full time ministers.
• I Corinthians 913-14 - Dont you know that those
  who work in the temple get their food from the
  temple, and those who serve at the altar share in
  what is offered on the altar? In the same way,
  the Lord has commanded that those who preach the
  gospel should receive their living from the
  gospel.

40
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• c. Giving to full time ministers.
• I Corinthians 913-14 - Dont you know that those
  who work in the temple get their food from the
  temple, and those who serve at the altar share in
  what is offered on the altar? In the same way,
  the Lord has commanded that those who preach the
  gospel should receive their living from the
  gospel.
• Galatians 66 - Anyone who receives instruction
  in the word must share all good things with his
  instructor.

41
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• c. Giving to full time ministers.
• I Timothy 517-18 - The elders who direct the
  affairs of the church well are worthy of double
  honor, especially those whose work is preaching
  and teaching. For the Scripture says, Do not
  muzzle the ox while it is treading out the
  grain, and The worker deserves his wages.

42
III. Giving a Proportion of Your Income

• 1. The New Testament Christian Practice.
• d. Giving to missionaries.
• Philippians 415-16 - Moreover, as you
  Philippians know, in the early days of your
  acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from
  Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the
  matter of giving and receiving, except you only
  for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me
  aid again and again when I was in need.

43
I. God Really Owns EverythingII.
DescriptionsIII. Giving a Proportion of Your
IncomeIV. Your Attitude While Giving
44
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 1. Give unpretentiously.
• Matthew 61-4 - Be careful not to do your acts
  of righteousness before men, to be seen by them.
  If you do, you will have no reward from your
  Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy,
  do not announce it with trumpets, as the
  hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the
  streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the
  truth, they have received their reward in full.
  But when you give to the needy, do not let your
  left hand know what your right hand is doing, so
  that your giving may be in secret. Then your
  Father, who sees what is done in secret, will
  reward you.

45
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 2. Give freely.
• Matthew 108 - Freely you have received, freely
  give.

46
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 3. Give generously.
• Romans 128 - if it is contributing to the needs
  of others, let him give generously.

47
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 3. Give generously.
• Romans 128 - if it is contributing to the needs
  of others, let him give generously.
• II Corinthians 82 - Out of the most severe
  trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme
  poverty welled up in rich generosity.

48
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 3. Give generously.
• Romans 128 - if it is contributing to the needs
  of others, let him give generously.
• II Corinthians 82 - Out of the most severe
  trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme
  poverty welled up in rich generosity.
• II Corinthians 95 - So I thought it necessary to
  urge the brothers to visit you in advance and
  finish the arrangements for the generous gift you
  had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous
  gift, not as one grudgingly given.

49
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 3. Give generously.
• Galatians 67-8 - Do not be deceived God cannot
  be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who
  sows to please his sinful nature, from that
  nature will reap destruction the one who sows to
  please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap
  eternal life.

50
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 4. Give cheerfully.
• II Corinthians 97 - Each man should give what he
  has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly
  or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
  giver.

51
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 5. Give as a proof of your confession of Christ.
• II Corinthians 913 - Because of the service by
  which you have proved yourselves, men will praise
  God for the obedience that accompanies your
  confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your
  generosity in sharing with them and with everyone
  else.

52
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 6. Give in proportion to your income.
• II Corinthians 812 - For if the willingness is
  there, the gift is acceptable according to what
  one has, not according to what he does not have.

53
IV. Your Attitude While Giving

• 7. The results of generous giving appear to be
  the increased ability to give more.
• II Corinthians 99-11 - As it is written He has
  scattered abroad his gifts to the poor his
  righteousness endures forever. Now he who
  supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
  will also supply and increase your store of seed
  and will enlarge the harvest of your
  righteousness. You will be made rich in every way
  so that you can be generous on every occasion,
  and through us your generosity will result in
  thanksgiving to God.

54
I. God Really Owns EverythingII.
DescriptionsIII. Giving a Proportion of Your
IncomeIV. Your Attitude While GivingV.
Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left
55
V. Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left

• 1. Dedicate everything you possess to the Lord.

56
V. Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left

• 1. Dedicate everything you possess to the Lord.
• 2. Use wisdom in your spending.

57
V. Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left

• 2. Use wisdom in your spending.
• a. Remain debt free as much as possible!
• Romans 138 - Let no debt remain outstanding,
  except the continuing debt to love one another,
  for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the
  law.

58
V. Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left

• 2. Use wisdom in your spending.
• b. Invest wisely cautiously with what you
  have been entrusted.

59
V. Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left

• Luke 1912-19 - He said A man of noble birth
  went to a distant country to have himself
  appointed king and then to return. So he called
  ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. Put
  this money to work, he said, until I come
  back. But his subjects hated him and sent a
  delegation after him to say, We dont want this
  man to be our king. He was made king, however,
  and returned home. Then he sent for the servants
  to whom he had given the money, in order to find
  out what they had gained with it. The first one
  came and said, Sir, your mina has earned ten
  more. Well done, my good servant! his master
  replied. Because you have been trustworthy in a
  very small matter, take charge of ten cities.
  The second came and said, Sir, your mina has
  earned five more. His master answered, You
  take charge of five cities.

60
V. Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left

• Luke 1920-26 - Then another servant came and
  said, Sir, here is your mina I have kept it
  laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of
  you, because you are a hard man. You take out
  what you did not put in and reap what you did not
  sow. His master replied, I will judge you by
  your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did
  you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did
  not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why
  then didnt you put my money on deposit, so that
  when I came back, I could have collected it with
  interest? Then he said to those standing by,
  Take his mina away from him and give it to the
  one who has ten minas. Sir, they said, he
  already has ten! He replied, I tell you that
  to everyone who has, more will be given, but as
  for the one who has nothing, even what he has
  will be taken away.

61
V. Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left

• Matthew 2514-21 - Again, it will be like a man
  going on a journey, who called his servants and
  entrusted his property to them. To one he gave
  five talents to another two talents, and to
  another one talent, each according to his
  ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who
  had received the five talents went at once and
  put his money to work and gained five more. So
  also, the one with the two talents gained two
  more. But the man who had received the one talent
  went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his
  masters money. After a long time the master of
  those servants returned and settled accounts with
  them. The man who had received the five talents
  brought the other five. Master, he said, you
  entrusted me with five talents. See, I have
  gained five more. His master replied, Well
  done, good and faithful servant! You have been
  faithful with a few things I will put you in
  charge of many things. Come and share your
  masters happiness!

62
V. Obligation to Use Wisely What is Left

• Matthew 2522-29 - The man with the two talents
  also came. Master, he said, you entrusted me
  with two talents see, I have gained two more.
  His master replied, Well done, good and
  faithful servant! You have been faithful with a
  few things I will put you in charge of many
  things. Come and share your masters happiness!
  Then the man who had received the one talent
  came. Master, he said, I knew that you are a
  hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and
  gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I
  was afraid and went out and hid your talent in
  the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.
  His master replied, You wicked, lazy servant!
  So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown
  and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well
  then, you should have put my money on deposit
  with the bankers, so that when I returned I would
  have received it back with interest. Take the
  talent from him and give it to the one who has
  the ten talents. For everyone who has will be
  given more, and he will have an abundance.
  Whoever does not have, even what he has will be
  taken from him.

63
I. God Really Owns EverythingII.
DescriptionsIII. Giving a Proportion of Your
IncomeIV. Your Attitude While GivingV.
Obligation to Use Wisely What is LeftVI. Steps
in Achieving Biblical Stewardship
64
VI. Steps in Achieving Biblical Stewardship

• 1. Decide now not to go into debt for an item
  which will depreciate.

65
VI. Steps in Achieving Biblical Stewardship

• 1. Decide now not to go into debt for an item
  which will depreciate.
• 2. Pay off current debts as soon as possible.

66
VI. Steps in Achieving Biblical Stewardship

• 1. Decide now not to go into debt for an item
  which will depreciate.
• 2. Pay off current debts as soon as possible.
• 3. Put half of previous payment in a savings
  account so you can pay cash for items in the
  future - give the other half to the Lord until
  you are giving 10 of your gross income!