Faithful Stewards
Steward - is a person that has the responsibility to take care of things that belongs to another. One who administers anything as the agent of another
As Christians we are stewards unto God.-----(not just clergy))
What does God require of us as His stewards.
1 Corinthians 4:2
Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.(NKJV)
Being faithful to the trust He has in us in what He has given us.
Our steward responsibilities are in what He has entrusted us with.
Some people are like the person give the one talent.
Matthew 25:25-26
And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.(NKJV)
I hid it---what you gave me is still here.
Wicked and lazy servant
What did he do that was so wicked-----he did nothing with what the Lord has entrusted him with.
Because he was lazy and idle he was also called wicked or evil
1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.(NKJV)
What gifts have we received.
As Christians we are all recipients of His manifold grace
Gift of salvation
Gift of righteousness
Gift of eternal life
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.(NKJV)
Glorify God in your body and in your spirit-----living a life that glorifies Him.
As a Christian I am not my own.
In the newness of live that God has given.-----Honoring God in the way that we
live.
Your old life is over!!! We not have this steward responsibility in the way that we live.
1 Peter 4:8-10
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.(NKJV)
Why should we have fervent love----Because we have been given fervent love.
Ministering what? What you have been gifted in above others?
Advice
Compassion
Ministering to the needs of others
By sharing our faith
By speaking a kind word
By helping others with what we have been given
An ability to organize
A mechanical ability
An ability to teach
Any other spiritual giftings.
Why do this? Because God has entrusted us with it.
It not something you inherently possess-----God gave you the ability.
We minister in direct proportion to what we have been entrusted with.
1 Peter 4:9
Practice hospitality to one another (those of the household of faith). [Be hospitable, be a lover of strangers, with brotherly affection for the unknown guests, the foreigners, the poor, and all others who come your way who are of Christ's body.] And [in each instance] do it ungrudgingly (cordially and graciously, without complaining but as representing Him).(AMP)
Complaining it a real possibility or it would have not been mentioned.
Without complaining but as representing Him.
What we have in our hand is from Him in the first place.
We have freely received and we freely give.
Romans 14:12
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
We individually shall give account of ourselves to God
For what God has given and entrusted us with.
Romans 14:13
Then let us no more criticize and blame and pass judgment on one another, but rather decide and endeavor never to put a stumbling block or an obstacle or a hindrance in the way of a brother.(AMP)
I have to give account to God in this area and because of this decide never to put a stumbling block in the way of a brother
Criticizing and passing judgment has to be a thing of the past.
Joyce Meyer said-----Instead of being so concerned about the offence that we have received we should have a greater concern of those we have offended.
1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.(NKJV)
A good steward is steadfast, immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord.
God is looking for faithful stewards that are not easily taken out.
The work that we do should not be a work for a church or for a person but unto the Lord.
Romans 13:11
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.(NKJV)
is high time to awake out of sleep; meaning a fatal indifference to eternal things
Referring to sluggish and idle attitudes ---indifference and apathy
Each of us are making a permanent record of our lives which can never be reclaimed.
We each have future opportunities that we can decide to make the best of
Let’s all go and stand at the end of our lives.. The last day
We’re you faithful to what God had trusted you with.
Giving and tithing
Speaking words of encouragement
Sharing your faith
Critical and judgmental
Ministering to the needs of others
Ministering to the Lord----expression of love and worship to God
Was your evaluation of your life to an acceptable level?
Could you have done better?
What did He say to the one with the five talents
Matthew 25:21
His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'(NKJV)
That’s what we want to hear------God recognizes the faithful---even over a few things
Matthew 6:19-21
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.(NKJV)
Since this life is temporal it makes good since not to lay up treasures here
Our treasure should be in Kingdom of God principles.
Luke 12:22-23
Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.(NKJV)
What are we actually supposed to do?
Luke 12:29-31
"And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.(NKJV)
Sometimes we have to redirect our thinking to Kingdom or God principles
Our attention is easily diverted.
What is it that God has entrusted me with-----Am I being a good steward?
Many of us are doing that but sometimes grow weary.
Galatians 6:9
And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.(AMP)
When we get weary we allow the Lord to renew us-----It’s not by our natural strength
Sometimes there is ingratitude among those we are trying to benefit.
It’s important to persevere----never becoming disheartened or discouraged.
Faithful Stewards
God has entrusted us with certain abilities and talents
We make the commitment to use those talents and be good stewards
We make the commitment to be faithful stewards,
We do His work without grumbling and complaining
We endeavor to become Kingdom of God minded
We are careful not to grow weary and lose heart
We allow the Lord to renew and strengthen us.