Episcopal Diocese of Alaska
|
|
|
Financial giving is an important element of our spiritual relationship with God. According to Herb Miller, author of Full Disclosure, there are twenty financial stewardship themes that recur and evolve in the Old and New Testaments. Full Disclosure identifies these themes, lists their historical importance, and illustrates contemporary application for each theme. The themes fall into three categories: (1) Why should we give? (2) How does giving benefit us? And (3) How should we give? Anyone looking for practical information and help in planning for preaching or teaching about financial giving will find this book useful. Four stars from Amazon.com: $10.50. Try on these eight principles of Christian Stewardship, as adopted by the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, and see what further thoughts and biblical support they excite in you! Christian Stewardship is the free and joyous activity of the child of God, and God's family, the church, in managing all of life and life's resources for God's purposes. I. GOD'S STEWARDS ARE GOD'S STEWARDS. God's stewards are stewards by virtue of creation and their re-creation in Holy Baptism; therefore, they belong to the Lord. Is. 43:1 But now, this is what the Lord says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Rom. 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. II. GOD'S STEWARDS ARE MANAGERS, NOT OWNERS. God's stewards have been entrusted by God with life and life's resources and given the privilege of responsibly and joyfully managing them for Him. Ps. 24:1 The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. 1 Chron. 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. III. GOD'S STEWARDS ARE SAINTS AND SINNERS. God's stewards rejoice in and live out what God has declared them to be through the cross. At the same time His stewards recognize they are sinners who fight sin and its consequences each day. 1 John 3:1-2 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. IV. GOD'S STEWARDS ARE UNIQUELY SINGULAR, YET PROFOUNDLY PLURAL. God's stewards recognize that their lives are not solo performances but are personal responses to God, lived out within the community of faith to benefit the whole world. 1 Pet. 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. V. GOD'S STEWARDS ARE IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF THE WORLD. God's stewards recognize that the Lord sets them apart from the world and by the transforming power of the Gospel sends them into the world to live out the Gospel. John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. VI. GOD'S STEWARDS ARE LOVED AND LOVING. God's stewards recognize that their stewardship flows out of God's act of love for them in Christ which empowers then, in turn, to love others in acts of Christ-like love. Gal. 5:6b The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love. VII. GOD'S STEWARDS ARE SERVED AND SERVING. God's stewards recognize that their stewardship involves a Gospel-powered style of life which is demonstrated in servanthood within all the arenas of life. John 13:15-17 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. VIII. GOD'S STEWARDS LIVE WITH AN AWARENESS OF THE PRESENT AND FUTURE, OF TIME AND ETERNITY. God's stewards live intentionally in the light of God's eternal purpose while being firmly committed to His rule in the here and now. Phil. 3:12-14,20 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. 3:11-12a Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.
Stewardship ResourcesLuther Seminary; St. Paul, MN. Stewardship Pages of the Episcopal Church Center Ministry of Money: Exploring money and spirituality The Stewardship Connection Stewardship Pages of the United Methodist Church “Effective Approaches to Growth and Stewardship in the
Small Church” (article) “Eight Ways Congregations Raise Pledges” (article) One Minute Stewardship Sermons, the Rev. Charles
Cloughen, Jr. Church Fundraising that Works The Alban Institute Upcoming Conferences and Workshops The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS)
|
|
Send mail to
lwinfrey@gci.net with
questions or comments about this web site.
|
