Hi there friends! Today we begin a two week series on thinking about stewardship. Stewardship is often considered an "icky" topic in churches. Many people hear its stewardship time and tend to take a month off from church because they are worried that it will be "all about money." But stewardship is so much more than just money. It's about all that God has given to us and wants to give us in the next year. For these next two weeks I'll be offering different angles on the idea of stewardship as a gift and share some testimonies from our members along the way.
Each day for the next two weeks I'll be including a button to direct you to our online pledge card. As you feel moved in the next two weeks through worship, prayer, study in our devotionals and in witnesses from our members I hope you'll thoughtfully decide how you can give back a portion of what God has given to you in time, talents, and treasure.
Scripture to Read
Everything we have been given is a gift. Everything. This includes the car you’re driving, the house you live in, the job you have and the family you were born into. God was purposeful in placing you in this time and in these circumstances.
The dictionary tells us a steward is “a person who manages another’s property or financial affairs.” In the parable of the talents, a man asks three servants to steward his property. Each one responds to this call according to his character. Two servants increase their master’s investment, bringing him greater wealth and honor, and the master rewards them for their faithfulness. But one servant acts foolishly and hides the master’s money. He is rebuked and punished. The little he was entrusted with is taken back, and he is abandoned.
Stewardship takes the idea that everything we have is a gift to its logical conclusion. If all that I am and all that I have is from God, then how should I care for and use it? Psalm 24:1 says, "the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.”
Therefore, we ought to consider why God gave us what we have and use it to those ends. We have been given body, knowledge, resources and relationships, not to squander as we wish, but to glorify God. “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
How do I spend wealth so it honors God? How do I steward friendships? How do I take care of the body He gave me to be His temple? How do I use knowledge and education in the best way possible? We do all of these things by seeking God’s will in every decision, reading his Word and listening to the Holy Spirit. We do this by acting generously and obediently, ethically and morally.
Questions to Consider
Based on our readings and the thoughts above - what are you steward for? What is a gift in your life?
What about our church are you grateful for?
What is the best gift you've ever received?
Praying through Praise
Come, Thou Font of Every Blessing is a beautiful hymn that calls us into remembrance and celebration of all the blessings that God has given to us and the promise of the blessings yet to come.