Tag Archives: Stewardship

June 23, 2014 · 2:56 pm

Stewardship of the Gospel

Peninsula Community Church

Stewardship of the Gospel

June 22, 2014

Colossians 1:24-29 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

As we look at this passage this morning, I would ask that you stop for a moment and consider how it was that you came to know Christ. My guess would be that it happened by way of a personal contact with someone in your life. It could have been a parent, a teacher, a coach, a good friend, or a co-worker. Now I also understand that your actual conversion or acceptance of Christ may have occurred at a church service, a revival meeting, or as you were alone but I am sure that even in that case there was someone who played a pivotal role in bringing you to that place of decision. The fact is relationships play an incredible role in seeing people come to Christ. It is noteworthy that studies have shown that the average person requires 5 significant encounters before receiving Christ as their personal Savior. This does not negate the power of the Holy Sprit to convict, but He works through His people to bring the hope of the Gospel to others. The Holy Spirit is always at work, but we get to share in the joy of the process.

It is for that reason that Paul acknowledges that he had been called to steward the Gospel of Christ. His focus was to make the Word of God fully known to everyone he encountered. He recognized that the Gospel had not been presented for him alone, but that it must be shared with others. In particular, he was called to minister to the Gentiles who were considered nonbelievers in his day. To facilitate this, he presented three ways to make the Word of God known. First, there is proclamation which carries with it the idea that the message is presented as a herald, it is done so urgently and it is spoken authoritatively. Secondly, there is warning which is reproof intended to correct a behavior that does not align itself to the word of God. And, lastly there is teaching which deals with specific issues of ignorance and lack of knowledge in certain Biblical concepts and principles. The key here is to speak to one’s emotions but also one’s heart must be enlightened as well.

Paul also deals with sharing the gospel at the end of his letter to the Colossians. Listen to what Paul says in Colossians 4:2-6. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

In this passage, Paul sets the example for us by praying for opportunities to present the Gospel. Paul proposes that the Colossians should pray for opportunities to share their faith with others. In particular, he requests prayer for open doors to share His faith. He knew that the God of all creation, who knows the hearts of man, also knows what they need to hear at any particular moment. So for that reason, Paul is asking for prayer that the need of the individual and the message will be united as led by the Holy Spirit.

Let me ask you a question? How often do you pray for opportunities to share the gospel? I can assure you that if you pray and if you keep your heart open to God, you will find many opportunities to speak to others about Christ. When we pray for open doors, we must then walk with an expectant heart, for there should be an expectation that God will open doors to share His word, if we ask Him.

The door of opportunity may include those who are battling issues in their life. It could be a next door neighbor who wants to talk. It could be having your friends and neighbors, who do not know Christ, in your home or at a restaurant, so that they get to know you better. It has been proven that most people today will not automatically come to church unless they get to know us first. I want to challenge you to consider to find a few friends, neighbors, or family members that you will share Christ with this year. Pray about having them at your home. Live out the example of Christ before them. Preach the gospel and when necessary use words.

Secondly, Paul tells us to walk in wisdom toward outsiders. First of all we don’t unload everything we know in one moment. We also attempt to ascertain the specific questions being asked so that we can answer the specific questions being asked. Too often, we are answering questions that are not being asked. I am convinced that if we sincerely answer the questions being asked by individuals that we will be given the opportunity later to ask the questions they are not asking. When answering questions, we must answer them in a way that points to Christ and to the Gospel as a means to secure their hope and the answers to life’s issues. We must recognize that there are many today who have no knowledge of the Scriptures. They do not have the anchor of hope found in the Gospel as most people, even believers, have failed to make the gospel a functional part of their life. It is for that reason that we must not assume that those we speak with have even a precursory knowledge of the Word.

We must also guard against always trying to a point. We do not share our faith with others to propagate our particular doctrinal nuance or even our favorite Scripture. Instead, we are to be sensitive to the needs and concerns of others. Through wisdom, in our everyday life, we have the opportunity to steward the Gospel in a way that honors God, that brings Him joy, and that expands the Kingdom of God. When we look at the needs of others we will see them in a different light.

Thirdly, make the best use of your time. When God opens a door, go through it. If it seems a door is open, then enter through that door. It is at that moment we do not have to pray about the open door, we simply go through but we never go beyond the level that the door is open.

Fourthly, let your speech be gracious. While we speak the truth in love, we must be careful and not be too quick to judge those we are speaking with. I have seen this illustrated personally for me. In 1981, I was doing inner city Bible fellowships in NYC and the five Burroughs. One the fellowships I led was in the Bronx. We were averaging 40 to 50 adults each time we met. It was a lively group and they seemed to be growing and maturing in Christ. All was well until my overseer came to one of the meetings. He did two things that set things into a tail spin. First, he began to push that the group should become a church. This was something the group was in no way ready to do at that time. Most of them were young believers who did not have a concept of church, and what little ideas they had about the church were negatively couched. The second issue was that he began to vehemently argue against alcohol consumption of any kind. To fully understand why this was a problem, 90% of those in attendance were Italian and they consumed a glass of wine or a beer at almost every meal. In fact, my overseer and two of the men who were key leaders in the group fiercely argued over this issue. It became quite heated. Needless to say, we never met again after that. My point here is that sometimes we major on things that we do not need to major on. Once a person matures and grows in Christ, they will come to these decisions on their own or by being lovely taught the truth.

Paul also admonished us that our speech should be and must be seasoned with salt. Salt is an amazing thing. Salt under applied makes the item seem bland. Without salt there is little taste. Too often, we present the gospel in a way that is bland and without excitement. But I am glad that the Gospel is alive and brings life to those who hear it. The Gospel presented correctly will move us and motivate us to joy. Salt also can be overused and the item we are tasting will be rejected, as it will be too salty. We must be careful also and not use a salt substitute. This does not mean that we cannot use philosophers and current thought to make a point but we must always point them to Christ. Paul was the master at this as witnessed by his encounter with the people of Athens. He found common ground so that he could speak into their lives. As he was meeting with them in the midst of Aeropagus in Acts 17, Paul does not condemn them. He notes that they are indeed very religious. He moved on their sense of self worth by way of the gods they worshipped. Then he was very wise as he found a way to turn the discussion to God. He commented that he saw that they had an altar set up to the “unknown god.” He used that as a launch point to tell them about the unknown god they worshipped. In the end, not everyone joined him but many did. The point is Paul began at a point of commonality and used that to bring them to a discussion about God.

In essence, Paul is saying let’s have a measured response to the questions being answered. To do this we must experience the Word of God for ourselves so that it is a supernatural natural response for us to give an answer because we have tried the principle and know that it works. We must love the gospel. We must Live the gospel. We must Give the gospel.

For an Audio copy of this message you may go to www.pccministry.org

Stewardship of God’s Creation

Peninsula Community Church

June 8, 2014

Stewardship – Stewardship of God’s Creation

Genesis 1:26-28 “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

In recent years we have heard much news on the environment, global warming, and climate change. We know that billions of dollars have been spent to attempt to evade what some are calling a cataclysmic problem that could destroy the world, as we know it. Proponents of these ideas continue to press the issue by pushing for less coal production, less oil drilling, less gas extractions by concentrating on more natural energy sources such as wind mills and solar panels. While all of this is a valiant effort, it seems to me that little has changed with the climate, although there has already been a large amount of money spent, jobs lost, and prices have drastically increased.

While we may argue the validity of such claims, the point is we do have a level of responsibly to properly steward the earth and the creation of God. But we must do so in a way that is balanced and Biblically based. The fact is, God has created the world and everything in it. By way of God’s creation, we find that creation itself points us to God and in so doing creation proclaims the glory of God. The intricacies of creation point to a God who is the creator, sustainer, and protector of the earth and His creation.

Romans 1:19-20 verifies this. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. We also find confirmation of this in Colossians 1:16-17. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

To fully understand the stewardship of creation, we are reminded that God is the creator of all things in heaven and on earth. The undeniable fact is, He is the creator; and He has ultimate ownership of all things. This is confirmed throughout Scripture and particularly by the Psalmist in Psalms 24:1-2. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.”

While God created the heavens and the earth, He also created mankind to be intricately involved in creation. Man was not designed to be a passive bystander but he was to be involved. We must understand that God created man to steward His creation. As we have noted before, man gets to enjoy the creation of God, to honor God through our use of what God created, and we have the privilege of using God’s creation to point to people to Christ, glorify God, and to expand the kingdom of God.

In our passage, we find there are three things that speak to man’s stewardship of God’s creation. First, as a steward of God’s creation, man has been called to be fruitful and multiply. This concept coincides with the parable of the talents. The servants who were complimented were complimented for multiplying their talents. Mankind was called to populate the earth and to multiply what they had been given. The debate is not about how many children you may have but whether you are multiplying what you have. The fact, is God is blessing families and He is blessing the idea of children.

Second, man was to subdue the earth. Man was to rule the earth under the direction of God and according to the laws of God. As we look at society today, we find that man wants to rule the earth without understanding the laws of God, and they do so without obedience to God. Too often this leads to worshipping the earth, but there is a big difference between ruling the earth and worshipping the earth. People, today, are fulfilling the warnings of Romans 1 in unprecedented ways. There is no doubt that people have succumbed to creation worship rather than God worship. The result is a devaluing of man and God. Secondly, when we put the earth, trees, and other living things on equal footing with God, we have created a problem for ourselves and for others. When this occurs, we are in fact minimizing God’s purpose for man and we in fact are devaluing God. Now, let me be clear about something. Our view of God does not change who God is or what God purposes for our lives. It does, however, change how we interact with God and how we do what we do for God. You see it is about our understanding of God and not about God, as God does not change.

You see Paul warned the Christians of Rome about the potential to worship the creation at the expense of worshipping the creator. This kind of worship falls within two extremes. First, there is materialism. Through materialism people are motivated by greed and natural problems are resolved redistribution of resources. The earth is in essence destroyed for personal gain. We do so without any concern of glorifying God but solely for personal gain.

The second extreme is to believe that God is in everything and is a part of everything. We call this Pantheism. Pantheism is the belief that God is the chair, the tree, the ocean, or the dog. To believe this and to propagate this idea is to minimize the character and grandeur of God. People revere nature to the degree that nature is not allowed to be used for anything at all for everything is sacred.

Third, man was to have dominion over the animals. The animal kingdom was created to serve mankind. When Adam was placed in the garden, he was to tend and care for the garden according to the standards God had established. Adam was to work. Adam was to plant. Adam was to harvest the crops. Adam was to tend to the animals and the plants in the garden. You see the Garden of Eden was not an absence of work. This was evidence by the fact that we believe that work was not hard because they not experienced a fallen creation. Some Christians have a faulty view of this idea of dominion. They use dominion as an opportunity to destroy the earth and do whatever they want to with the earth, without any responsibility. Still others promote the act of dominion as the authorization for Christians to take over the world, take over kingdoms, and build a kingdom here on earth.

In Genesis 2:15, we find that man’s mandate was to work the garden and to keep it. Man was not to destroy the earth by doing whatever he chose. He was not to have dominion by way of setting up a kingdom here because God’s kingdom is not of this world. From the beginning of time, God’s plan was for man to work and to steward the gift of God’s creation. Do we need to take care of the earth? Absolutely, yes! Any good farmer knows that if you do not tend to the ground that you plant, your productivity will be reduced. Throughout the Old Testament, we see God establish natural laws that guide us as to how we are to tend for God’s creation. For example, when God created the heavens and the earth, He modeled the need to rest and to be revitalized. While we have been placed on the earth to care for the earth, we must never place a higher value on the environment that we do on mankind, who inhabits, subdues, and has dominion over it.

Through our discussion, we are reminded that God is the creator of all things. But we are also reminded that sin has destroyed God’s original intent for mankind and for God’s creation. Because of the sin and the failure of mankind, the earth has become corrupted. Not only is there a curse on man but there is a curse on the earth. It is for that reason, we see that the earth and the creation of God is awaiting the coming of the final and complete redemption by way of Christ’s 2nd coming. But here’s the problem, when mankind sinned the very ground was cursed. Instead of work being a joy, it was now labor. Man now had to work by the sweat of his brow. He had to deal with weeds and thorns that challenged his labor. This is confirmed by Paul’s words in Romans 8:22-23. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

So how do we live this out? First, we take only what we will use. When I was growing up my dad was a hunter. His rule was this, what you shoot you eat. We never hunted for sport, we hunted for food. The same was true of fishing. We would fish for food and not sport. He did not know what catch and release was.

Second, we plant and restore what we have destroyed. Once again when we were kids my brother was a member of the 4-H Club. He purchased hundreds of pine trees which we took to my grandfather’s house where we planted them. Why? Because my grandfather was a lumberjack and he had a desire to replenish the land.

Third, this means what we possess we need to take care of. What is the condition of your car? What is the condition of your home? Are you a good steward of what you possess? Do you treat what you have as if it is owned by God. Once again, I remember my dad’s rule was that if we borrowed something from someone, we were to return it in better shape than we borrowed it. He wanted us to understand that we were stewards of what we were borrowing.

And lastly, how are you using what you have been given to glorify God and expand the kingdom of God? We have all been given a part of God’s creation and how we steward that speaks to who we are and what we are about.

So how are you doing? If there are things that need to change, we can do so by the power of the Holy Spirit and through making choices which honor God.

Visit www.pccministry.org for the audio version of this message. Note that the notes presented here and the audio message with vary in detail.

Stewardship – God Owns It All

Peninsula Community Church

May 18, 2014

Stewardship – Be Rich – Do More, Give More

We began our study on stewardship two weeks ago. We will continue our study, today. As we read the passage before us, we see there are many principles at play in our understanding of stewardship.

As Jesus’ life was coming to a close, He was asked a question about the 2nd coming of Christ. It is interesting to note how He answers this question. In Matthew 24, Jesus deals with the condition of the world and society at the 2nd coming. But, then Jesus seems to shift from the culture to the character of those who are awaiting His return. These stories presented by Jesus speak to how we treat others (24:36-52), how we steward the gifts of God in our lives (25:1-13), and how we steward the talents given to us by God (25:14-30). What is being communicated is that stewardship is a critical part of our Christian walk and it has a bearing on our anticipation of His coming. This is the basis of the text we will read this morning, Matthew 25:14-30. Because it is a lengthy text, I will only read a couple of verses and then summarize the rest of the story. Jesus said “For it (the return of Christ) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away….

In this story, we find that a landowner was going away on a trip. Before he left for the trip, he entrusted each of his servants with a specific number of talents. In Jesus’ day one talent was worth 6,000 denarii. One denarius was worth about one day’s wage. Therefore, let’s assume in today’s economy that a worker would make a $100 a day. Using that number would mean that one denarii was worth about $600,000. With that in mind, we find that one servant was given 5 talents or $3 million. The second servant was given two talents or about 1.2 million. And, the third servant was given 1 talent or $600,000.

As you read this passage, note that the talents were distributed to the servants according to their ability. The word ability here is the word “dunamis.” It is the Greek word for power and carries the idea of resident power within something. It is where we get our word dynamite from. There is power resident in the dynamite but the resident power is not experienced until the fuse is lit and the dynamite explodes. The implication here is that the master discerned the ability within each servant to do what was right but they had to act to release that power. We also note that no instructions are given to the servants about what to do with the talents. There is, however, an assumption that they knew what to do based on their relationship with the master. With that in mind it would behoove us to consider that the blessing of stewardship is only activated as we act, give, and invest what God has given us.

As we continue the story, we find that the servant with the 5 talents multiplied their $3 million into $6 million. The one with two talents multiplied their $1.2 million into $2.4 million. But the one, who had been given one talent, hid his talent out of fear, so that no increase was realized. You see his view of the master held him back from investing what he was given. In the end, we find that the two servants who had invested their talents wisely were praised by the master. The master proclaimed “Well done, good, and faithful servant. You have been faithful over little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” But to the one who had not invested wisely, the master had a sad rebuke. Rather than being praised, we find that the master portrays him as being wicked and slothful. Rather than stewarding what had been given him, he kept it hidden and lost the opportunity for growth for himself and for his master. In the end, he lost what he had been given because of his lack of stewardship.

As we have noted, we must understand that God owns everything but He has entrusted us with what He owns for our enjoyment, to honor Him, and to expand the Kingdom. When we understand this principle, our attitude about how to handle the things, we have been given, will change. Let me repeat this principle, everything we have belongs to God. Look at how David describes this reality. He stated “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers” (Psalms 24:1-2). God owns it, but he has given it to us to steward for our enjoyment, to bring Him glory, and to expand His Kingdom.

Paul reiterates this in Colossians 1:15 when proclaims He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. God owns it all. What an amazing reality. God created it all. It was created for Him and by Him, but we have the joy of experiencing what He has created. We have the joy of using these things for this moment in time. And, how we use what we have been given speaks volumes about who we are and speaks to the character of our inner man.

When we understand that God owns it all and we are His stewards, our life changes and we see things differently. First, when we understand that God owns everything and we faithfully steward what He has given us, we will understand that we will not lack what we need. Notice I did not say what we want but what we need. The Psalmist observed I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing (Psalm 35:25-26).

Second, when we understand that God owns it all, we have a choice to make. We can choose to hold onto our possessions with clinched fists, or we can use what we have in a way that honors God, brings us enjoyment, blesses others, and invests in the Kingdom. The one servant made the choice to hold onto what he had been given with a clinched fist. When we realize that everything belongs to God, our fists will not be so tight around our possessions. When we hold onto what God has given us too tightly, we begin to manifest issues of greed and selfishness. This reminds me of what has been called a “monkey trap.” A monkey trap is a jar or it can be a coconut with an opening just a bit larger than the monkey’s hand. In the bottom of the jar a banana or other fruit is placed. When the monkey reaches in to grab the banana, they are unable to remove their hand because they refuse to let go of what is in their hand. All the hunter has to do is simply scoop up the monkey and haul it away. When we are led by greed, mistrust, and selfishness, we too can be carried away by the enemy’s tactics of clinched fists which is motivated by fear.

As I was preparing this I came across this story. There was a man who had worked all of his life. He had saved all of his money and was a real miser when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything, and just before he died, he said to his wife, “Now listen. When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me because I want to take my money into the afterlife with me.” And so, he got his wife to promise him with all of her heart that when he died, she would put all of the money in the casket with him. Well, one day he did indeed die. At the service he was stretched out in the casket and the wife was sitting next to her friend. When the ceremony was over and just before the funeral director closed the casket, the wife said, “Wait just a minute!” She had a small box about the size of a cigar box with her. She approached the casket and placed the box into the casket. The casket was then locked down, and rolled away. When she returned to her seat, her friend said, “Girl, I know you were not foolish enough to put all that money in there, were you?” She said, “Listen, I can’t lie. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him.” “You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with the man?” “I sure did,” said the wife. “‘I wrote him a check and if he doesn’t cash it, then I know he changed his mind.”

When we recognize that God owns it all, our giving will be modeled by joy and not pain. Too often we hear people say “Give until it hurts.” I beg to differ and say “Give until you have so much joy that you burst into laughter.” Being a good steward should not be painful, it should actually be the opposite. The point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:6-8). So are you laughing yet!

The bottom line is that when we realize that God owns it all, our attitudes will change. We will not give half-heartedly, nor will we live with apathy. We will recognize that our stewardship to God is not just our service, nor is it just our giving; it is the totality of who we are. It is our money. It is the gifts we have been given. It is our calling. It is our ministry. It is our relationships. And yes, it is our world. Everything belongs to God….

Audio at http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

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Stewardship – God Owns It All

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