“Biblical Stewardship”
Luke 12:42-48 & Luke 19:12-26
By: Bro. Stacey Shiflett
October 02, 2018 – TN
Biblical stewarding is the most prominent in the Bible.
The first thing most people think of when they think of stewardship is putting money in the plate; but that is just a small part of what stewardship is really all about. There is so much more to stewardship than putting money in the offering plate.
Stewardship – God giving and entrusting something of value to you and what you do with it.
- Illustrated in the Garden of Eden – Genesis 1-3
After God created man, He gave them some things.
God gave Adam:
A job
Food
Drink
Companion
Control over creation
Some conditions
Some sweet communion
Gave him choices
With this giving though came responsibilities; but they misused their responsibility and disobeyed God’s laws.
Because they disobeyed God’s law God gave them some more things; things that were not what God wanted to give them.
God gave them
A covenant
Curses
Clothes
Children
More choices.
THE KEY to steweardship is what you do with what God gives you, which determines what God gives you next.
Good choices brings blessings, and bad choices brings chastisement and cursings.
God started the stewardship and then he put it in our court.
- Initiated – By the things that God gave
James 1:17
John 3:16 – God gave you His only begotten son.
By not accepting Jesus, you are reject Him.
Ephesians 2:8-9 – He gave you salvation.
2 Corinthians 1:2 – He gave you His Spirit
Psalm 68:11 – He gave you the Scriptures
You have a responsibility to do something with the things that God has given You.
If you take them for granted it will cause you to misuse them.
When you misuse the gifts you are despising the gifts of God.
You can despise the church of God
You can despise preaching – 1 Thessalonians 5:20
You can despise the man of God – Titus 2:15
You can despise the chastening of the Lord – Hebrews 12:5
Luke 19:11 – Stewardship started
Stewardship starts with God give to you.
Hiding His gifts is not what stewardship is about.
Stewardship is an action.
Luke 19:26 – You will one day give an account of what you did with what He gave you.
- Inventory – Luke 1
The word much is relative.
You want to minimize what God gave you when in reality what He gave you is much.
What is in your hand will work for God. What is in your hand is much.
To God anything is much.
Look what Moses had in his hand, a rod.
Samson had the jawbone of an ass in his hand
David had a sling
The lad all he had was 5 loaves and 2 small fishes.
Whatever is in your hand will work.
All 4 of these mentioned above took inventory of what they had.
God will never ask you to give what you do not have. He only wants what you do have.
- Invested
People spend time not invest time.
There is a huge difference between spending and investing.
Spending us using what you have, you diminish. Investing is you gaining from what you already have, it increases.
Matthew 25:16
He did not spend, he invested. He got more with what he started with.
If you are to be a steward what is our problem? Our problem is we are spending instead of investing.
He gave you a spouse, and when God gave you a spouse your spouse became stewardship.
Your children are a stewardship.
Your job is a stewardship tool.
Invest and increase in value what God has given you.
Your church is something God gave you.
God gave you the great commission.
God gave you the ability to preach, to sing, to teach, to work in the print shop, to witness, to testify, etc. God gave you one or more of these abilities.
Who are you investing in? Who is a better Christian today because of you?
Who have you influenced? Whose life have you increased the value of?
You invest in missions; you do not give to missions.
You cannot out give God.
Give to invest.
He gave it to you to work it.
What are you doing with what God has given you?