Changing Hearts

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Changing Hearts

• Iowa District West
• Stewardship School
• September 2008

Rev. Wayne J. Knolhoff
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Stewardship

• Christian stewardship is the free and joyous
  activity of the child of God and Gods family,
  the church, in managing life and all of lifes
  resources for Gods purposes.

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Nanny Diaries
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Identity

• Who is (put your name here)?

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Who Am I?

• George Barna
• Our research indicates that churchgoers are
  more likely to see themselves as Americans,
  consumers, professionals, parents, and unique
  individuals than zealous disciples of Jesus
  Christ. Until that self-image is reoriented,
  churches will not have the capacity to change
  their world.

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Christian

• A Christian is a child of the Holy Spirit, an
  heir of eternal life, a companion to the holy
  angels, a ruler of the world and a partaker of
  Gods divine nature. He is a wonder of the world,
  a terror of Satan, an ornament of the church, a
  desirable object of heaven with a heart full of
  supplications and with hands full of good works.
  Martin Luther

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Disciple

• Disciple means simply, one who follows Christ
  and learns from him.
• What we do as Christians is always secondary to,
  and a result of, who we are as children of God.
  Our actions flow from our attitude, an attitude
  of trust in Jesus Christ. --Robert Kolb

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Steward

• A child of God who realizes his/her role in
  life as a partner, a trustee, a manager, a
  caretaker or temporary custodian of gifts that
  belong to God. The Christian steward receives
  Gods precious gifts gratefully, manages Gods
  precious gifts carefully and responsibly, shares
  Gods precious gifts with others generously, and
  returns Gods precious gifts joyfully with
  increase.

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Blurred?

• Because of the lack of sound teaching on
  stewardship, the image of the steward offered by
  the church has become blurred. Perhaps the
  primary understanding today of the term steward
  is one who shares ones own resources with
  others. Here the characteristic mark of the
  biblical steward handling with integrity the
  resources of another is completely lost. -R.
  Scott Rodin

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Key Question

• Owner or Steward?
• Job 121
• 1 Corinthians 619-20
• Psalm 241
• Why is the answer to this question crucial?

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Gods Word

• Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked
  shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has
  taken away blessed be the name of the Lord.
  
• 
  Job 121

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Gods Word

• Or do you not know that your body is a temple
  of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from
  God? You are not your own, for you were bought
  with a price. So glorify God in your body.
• 1
  Corinthians 619-20

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Gods Word

• The earth is the Lord's and the fullness
  thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.
• 
  Psalm 241 

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Key Issue

• The Culture of the Congregation
• Levels of Conversation
• Higher Level Mission
• Higher Level Identity
• Lower Level Administration/Finances
• Lower Level Personal Preference

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False Start

• Date July 29, 1996
• Place Atlanta, Georgia
• Event Summer Olympics
• Person Linford Christie
• Story 1992 gold medal Olympic title as the
  fastest man in the world
• Result Two False Starts-Disqualified

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False Start

• Believing we own what we have and can do with
  it whatever we want.

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Gods Word

• And he told them a parable, saying, The land of
  a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he
  thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have
  nowhere to store my crops? 18 And he said, I
  will do this I will tear down my barns and build
  larger ones, and there I will store all my grain
  and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul,
  you have ample goods laid up for many years
  relax, eat, drink, be merry. 20 But God said to
  him, Fool! This night your soul is required of
  you, and the things you have prepared, whose will
  they be? 21 So is the one who lays up treasure
  for himself and is not rich toward God.
  Luke 1216-21

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False Start

• Encouraging members of congregations to give to
  rather than from.
• Churches often encourage members to give so the
  budget can be met or to serve merely because of a
  specific need.
• What is wrong with this approach?

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False Start

• Living a birth to death reality.
• What is wrong with living this way?

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Into Gods Word Mt. 6

• 19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on
  earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
  thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for
  yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
  moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not
  break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure
  is, there your heart will be also. 22 The eye is
  the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy,
  your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if
  your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of
  darkness. If then the light in you is darkness,
  how great is the darkness! 24 No one can serve
  two masters, for either he will hate the one and
  love the other, or he will be devoted to the one
  and despise the other. You cannot serve God and
  money. 

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False Start

• Asking the members of the congregation to do
  what the leaders are unwilling to do.
• How does this happen?

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False Start

• Focusing on quick fix solutions to symptoms
  rather than doing the hard work of adaptive
  change.

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False Start

• Technical changes are the kinds of changes we
  make on the outside. They are intended to fix
  something quickly.
• Adaptive changes are the internal changes in our
  attitudes, beliefs, and feelings.

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What Do You Think?

• At council last night we discussed our budget
  woes and decided we need to do another
  stewardship drive.  I couldn't stand the thought
  of another round of people standing up in church
  asking for people to hand over their money.  So I
  suggested doing something a little more creative
  like having a pile of rocks in the narthex with
  different amounts of money on them totaling our
  current debt.  People would take the rocks of
  amounts they want to donate and when the pile is
  gone, so is our debt.  The idea went over great
  but .

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Stewardship Individual

• God gives His gifts to individual believers to
  manage for His purposes.
• God is the owner
• I am His steward
• I am accountable

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Stewardship Congregation

• God calls us into a family of faith where we
  can serve Him and others.
• God calls us
• God equips us
• We serve

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Faith Aflame 360 Degrees

• It is the Gospel that motivates and empowers
  the Christian steward.
• Stewardship Basics
• Personal Stewardship
• Corporate Stewardship
• Stewardship Leadership
• Personal Financial Stewardship

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Changing Hearts

• Iowa District West
• Stewardship School
• September 2008