A stewardship sermon prepared by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett and preached at Faith Community Church on July 17, 2011.
1. We must be good stewards of what God gives us.
• Everything we have comes from God. - 1 Chronicles 29:14, 16
• We must be good managers what God gives us. - 1 Corinthians 4:2
• When we manage our resources well, God will give us more to manage. - Matthew 25:20-21
2. Return God’s portion to Him
• Though everything we have is a gift from God, God has asked us to give a portion of what He has given to us back to Him.
• God does not actually need this, as He can create whatever He wants.
• God asks us to give back to him to see if we are willing to be obedient, faithful and sacrificial both for God and for others.
• In numerous places in the Bible we are told to “tithe” of our income.
• The word “tithe” means tenth.
• Therefore, God wants us to return one tenth of our income back to Him.
• We give the tithe through the local church and it is to be used for the God’s work.
• We can also give offerings in addition to our tithes if the Lord leads us to do so.
• In 2007, the research revealed that just 5% of adults tithed.
• When we fail to tithe, we rob God.
• Malachi 3:8-11 (For a complete study on Malachi, see: "Malachi: Finding Hope in the Midst of Adversity.")
3. Prepare for the future
• We should have an emergency fund. - Proverbs 22:3
• If we set aside a small amount each time we are paid, then when an emergency happens we will have at least some of the money that is needed.
• We should be saving for “change of life” events such as children going to college or our eventual retirement. - Proverbs 30:7-9
• We should save in advance for big purchases such as buying a car, or appliances, or a home. Luke 14:28
• Far too often we fail to count the entire cost of a purchase. This will always get us in trouble.
• Take the time to count the full cost.
4. Avoid Debt
• Debt should not be the way we finance our life. - Romans 13:8
• Some people owe everyone, and that is no way to live.
• We should NEVER become slaves to our debt. - Proverbs 22:7
• We are in debt whenever we have purchased something with borrowed money and if we were forced to sell the item we would not be able to make enough money to pay off the debt.
It was a very helpful sermon.
ReplyDeletewish someone had taught me this a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteThis was absolutely wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI like this.
ReplyDeleteplease preach on thsi subject more often. Debt and money become people's GOD's...... many a "Christian " ahve given up their prioirites, marriages, futures, legacies, " to fulfill selfish desires and "things" whiel robbign God , robbign their families. I have seen so many people on a week-end, go and eat out, drink , buy "things" , yet when Sunday comes "oops , forgot about God"...... Pelase make this a regular sermon topic, epseically in realtion to how money makes people selfish/self absorbed,etc..... we see it happenign everywhere.
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