Stewardship: The practice of living as entrusted ones; receiving, cultivating, and returning all of life to God in love.
Every blessing is a divine .
Luke 16:13 NIV
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Two Dangerous Temptations:
- Privatism: “Faith is something that happens inside me but doesn’t reshape the world around me.”
- Otherworldliness: “God only cares about getting souls to heaven, not about making the earth more beautiful, just, and whole.”
The Kingdom of God is wordly not otherworldly.
Money is a deeply matter.
If all my treasure belongs to Jesus then—
1. I work diligently to grow it and .
Matthew 25:14-18 NIV
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
Just because it’s doesn’t mean its .
“Business is a primary moving force of the love of God in human history. When it is done right, it serves everyone involved.” —Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines
2. I resist , reject , and live .
Mark 10:17, 20-23 NIV
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
“Simplicity is the only thing that sufficiently reorients our lives so that possessions can be genuinely enjoyed without destroying us.” —Richard Foster, Freedom of Simplicity
“Don’t waste any part of Christ’s treasure on indulging the desires of the flesh, the craving of the eyes, or the hunger for applause. Nothing can be more certain than this: The more we feed those appetites, the stronger they grow. Every time you spend just to please your senses, you’re paying for a deeper attachment to pleasures that vanish as soon as they’re used. When you spend money simply to please your eye, you’re paying to deepen your appetite for novelty, feeding a craving for ever-new, ever-better things that can never fill the soul. When you buy what earns human praise, you’re really buying vanity. Had you not then enough of hollow vanity, empty pleasure, and fleeting novelties before? Was there need of any addition? And would you pay for it, too? What manner of wisdom is this? Would not the literally throwing your money into the sea be a less reckless folly?” –John Wesley, The Use of Money, 1744
3. I give and .
Acts 4:32-35 NIV
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
One of the greatest of our salvation is how we for the poor.
Journey of Generosity
“Nobody gets to heaven without a letter of reference from the poor.” —James Forbes
Matthew 25:35-40 NIV
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Answer Key: entrustment; otherly; spiritual; wisely, ethically; legal, Kingdom; excess, waste, free; extravagantly, joyfully; indicators, care