Resolve for More: Transforming Stewardship Text: Luke 19: 11-27 Founding Pastor Ken Werlein 1. When you hear the word stewardship, what comes to mind? 2. What does the Bible mean when it speaks of the Christian as a steward? Use the following verses to help you in your understanding. A definition of biblical stewardship might read as follows: Biblical stewardship recognizes that God s resources are to be deployed through God s people to accomplish God s mission. How would you define it based on the verses below? a. b. c. d. Psalm 24:1 Genesis 1:26 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 Matthew 28:19-20 3. We have been entrusted to effectively steward that which God has given us. Are you operating like God owns everything? Or do you see some areas where you are operating as if you own it? Is there a particular way you feel God calling you to be a more faithful steward? (If so, how can you act on that this week?) 4. Consider the statement, Rich is a moving target. Do you consider yourself rich? (The actual answer, not what you think should be the answer.) Now consider the following statements. (https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-global-poverty) a. Nearly 1/2 of the world s population more than 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty less than $1.25 a day. b. 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat. c. More than 750 million people lack adequate access to clean drinking water. Diarrhea caused by inadequate drinking water, sanitation, and hand hygiene kills an estimated 842,000 people every year globally, or approximately 2,300 people per day. d. 1/4 of all humans live without electricity approximately 1.6 billion people.
e. 80% of the world population lives on less than $10 a day. f. Does this change your thinking? How does that relate to the statement that Rich is a moving target? 5. Read the following Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 5:10, 1 Timothy 6:6-10, and 1 Timothy 6:17-19. a. What warnings do you see for those who either are rich or desire to be rich? b. Conversely, what positive commands do you see? c. What are the benefits to those who are faithful to those commands? d. How do we truly find contentment? e. Do these principles that we are discussing apply only to money? If not, what is the broader principle that God seems to be trying to communicate to us, and what practical steps can we take? f. Now read Philippians 3:7-11. What view does Paul want us to have of our worldly grounds for boasting (riches, power, etc.), and what does he want us to pursue instead? Challenge: What steps can you take this week to view your financial decisions as spiritual decisions and as Pastor Ken encouraged us to do, wrestle before you spend? Prayer: Dear Lord, You are an amazing God steadfast in your love, abundant in your mercy, and wise in your actions. You are a wonderful creator God who has provided a magnificent creation with abundant resources for us to enjoy. We recognize our sinfulness and thank you for your mercy and grace extended to us through Jesus on the cross. We confess that we often operate as if we are the owners. Lord, we desire to be good stewards. We do not want to waste resources or use them selfishly with sinful desires of personal gain. Allow us to align our priorities with yours, give us wisdom to steward all that you have entrusted us with. Allow us to have a greater passion for the Gospel and spreading the Good News and a desire to use our resources for the Great Commission. God grant us wisdom to know when to speak and when to act so that we live in such a way as to glorify you with all of our words and our deeds. In Jesus name we pray through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen
STUDY DEEPER Stewardship: Being Co-Managers With God stew ard ship (stü-ərd ship) Carefully and responsibly managing something entrusted to one s care. Most Christians could probably give a fairly accurate definition of stewardship but far too many don t practice good stewardship. As a matter of fact, we don t use the word stewardship much in everyday conversation, but we re all familiar with the term management. A business manager oversees the use of a company s resources including money, machinery and personnel in order to profitably provide a product or service in harmony with the company s purpose and values and that s stewardship. The Bible tells us that God created the earth and everything that s in and on it. So, it is safe to say that God owns it all as in lock, stock and barrel. The earth is the Lord s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers (Psalm 24:1 2 NASB). And the Bible clearly indicates that we have been created in the very image of God and are given the task of managing God s wonderful property all of it. God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves o[or creeps ]n the earth (Genesis 1:28 NASB). The LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it (Genesis 2:15 NASB). Whatever else created in God s image indicates, at least it implies that we have the prospect and privilege to be full partners with God in maintaining His vast creation, not as slaves of menial tasks, but as gifted managers commissioned to creatively oversee the resources around us in order to produce what God values most. However, problems can arise in the struggles of day-to-day living that cause us to lose sight of our awesome and honorable assignment as managers, or stewards, of God s property. God has divided the job among so many of us that most of us have direct responsibility for what may be only a very small amount of resources.
What resources has God asked you to manage? Of course you ve got a car, maybe a house with a mortgage and possibly some money in the bank. Chances are that you don t see those things as assets you re managing on behalf of God you see them as your possessions. But, are they yours? What might happen if you were to understand that those things that you consider yours really belong to God? Your life would dramatically change if you were to understand that what you ve thought of as yours really belongs to God, and you need to manage those things according to His values and in pursuit of His extremely important agenda. Admitting that what you have belongs to God doesn t limit your importance in a faulty world. Instead, this perspective actually gives you dignity you may not have known was yours. God s goal isn t simply to keep you and your family reasonably comfortable He has a kingdom to build, and you re a part of His management team in accomplishing that plan. The bad news is that often we re prone to behave as though we own what we can get our hands on and then set our own rules for how we use those things. But if we look around us we can see how mismanagement lack of good stewardship based on sin has yielded some pretty disastrous results. The good news is that when King Jesus came to earth, the kingdom of God arrived. And as the King s voluntary subjects, Christians are to acknowledge Jesus as the rightful owner of the resources we manage. That means we re to manage His property according to God s values and to accomplish His will according to His Word stewardship. Christians need to understand that opportunities to achieve God s agenda in building His kingdom involves not only our material possessions, but also our abilities, knowledge, skills and relationships. To make it really simple everything from your backyard and bank account to your mind and body - is a resource that you must manage for God. No false humility required here, you are an important member of God s management team stewardship. You may be thinking, Sure, sounds good, but I have a job, medical bills, the car needs tires, the kids need braces and the economy has all but flat-lined. So, if God owns everything can t He do most of this stuff Himself or at least help with some of my bills? Building the kingdom of God and stewardship aren t simply nice ideas for which missionaries, pastors, Bible teachers and youth workers are responsible. Kingdom building certainly includes those responsibilities, but ministry and stewardship begins with God working inside of you and me. The key to having an appropriate sense of stewardship, with the ability to make clear and wise choices, is to consciously take this first step: hand over ownership of all your resources to God. You could look at it this way. You don t have and you never will have enough money, possessions or time not to take this step. The alternative will draw you to, or keep you in, the modern rat race that leads nowhere.
Stewardship can seem daunting. After all, being managers of our families, possessions, the earth and builders of a kingdom isn t small stuff. But remember, God promises us that He ll never require something of us that we cannot accomplish. Furthermore, whatever God may require of us, He provides the ability to achieve. God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed (2 Corinthians 9:8 NASB). http://www.focusonthefamily.com/faith/faith-based-family-finances/stewardship/stewardship-being-comanagers-with-god