Forming Stewards

1. Forming Stewards Teach Them What It Means To Be A Steward

2. Forming Stewards in the Congregation Means that stewardship education will need to be: • Wholistic (stewardship is about all of life) • Systematic (stewards are to grow) • Intentional (there is a plan to educate stewards) • For all ages (our stewardship journey begins at birth) • Led by the pastor (he is the chief steward in the congregation)

3. Genesis 1 - 2 The first thing that God gave his human creation to do was… Stewardship! Gen. 1:28 - Have dominion Gen. 2:15 - To work and keep God’s creation

4. Michael Horton Gallup and Barna hand us survey after survey demonstrating that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general.

5. Teach Them What the Bible Says God is the Owner By Creation and By Redemption Genesis 1:1 and 27-28 Psalm 24:1-3 Deuteronomy 8:11-18 Titus 2:13-14

6. Teach Them What the Bible Says We are Stewards by God’s Grace The steward is not the owner Psalm 24:1 The steward has authority and responsibility The steward cares for the Owners possessions for the Owner’s purposes

7. Teach Them What the Bible Says Stewards are Accountable to God for their Stewardship Matthew 25:14-30 Romans 14:12 Hebrews 4:13 Hebrews 13:17

8. Teach Them What the Bible Says We become stewards at birth. (Everyone is a steward whether they know it or not!) We become Christian stewards at baptism. (That makes all the difference! We know who the Owner is and it is not us!)

9. Teach Them The Steward’s Question What shall I do, Lord?

10. Luke 3: 7-14 The crowds asked him… What shall we do? The tax collectors asked him… What shall we do? The soldiers asked him… What shall we do?

11. Acts 22: 6-10 Paul tells about his experience on the road to Damascus. His first question… Who are you? His second question… What shall I do?

12. Luke 12: 13-21 The land of a rich man produced plentifully. The man asked himself… What shall I do?

13. Teaching God’s Children His Teaching

14. Three Things Are Needed “We need to put our trust in someone or something outside ourselves…that someone or something else must give our lives foundation and framework suggests that we are not in ultimate control of our own lives…we cannot exist without a sense of identity, a sense of security, and a sense of meaning…without it we die.” Robert Kolb, Teaching God’s Children His Teaching

15. Teach Them Their Identity “If we do not know who we are, we will be compelled to search madly (quite literally) for some kind of identity and put it on whether it fits well or not.” -Robert Kolb

16. Identity One of the devil’s primary strategies: I am what I have I am what I do I am what others say about me I am what I say about myself

17. Creature “Luther said that there is no greater title that we can have than creature. ‘Learn to think of yourself as a creature and you will be a greater professor than all the professors of the university!’ Luther wants to impress upon the hearer that God’s creating activity determines who I am. I am a creature of God!” Charles Arand, Rooted in the Faith

18. Child of God “A Christian is a child of the Holy Spirit, an heir of eternal life, a companion to the holy angels, a ruler of the world and a partaker of God’s divine nature. He is a wonder of the world, a terror of Satan, an ornament of the church, a desirable object of heaven with a heart full of supplications and with hands full of good works.” Martin Luther

19. Steward A child of God who realizes his/her role in life as a partner, a trustee, a manager, a caretaker or temporary custodian of gifts that belong to God. The Christian steward receives God’s precious gifts gratefully, manages God’s precious gifts carefully and responsibly, sharesGod’s precious gifts with others generously, and returns God’s precious gifts joyfully with increase.

20. Living into My Identity as Steward “The Small Catechism provides us with important insight about how to live both now and in the new creation. We declare that Jesus rose from the dead that ‘I might be His own.’ He has given me a new identity. I am now a creature who has been adopted as a child of God. I am identified with Him. He defines who I am. At the same time, I live out this new identity by what I do. He is my Lord. I belong to Him.” Charles Arand, Rooted in the Faith

21. Teach Them About Meaning “If we do not believe that our lives have some meaning, we will be compelled to scurry about madly for something worthwhile to keep ourselves busy and noticeable.” -Robert Kolb

22. Meaning Meaning is the ‘final cause’, ‘main reason’ or highest good’ we live for, of which there is only one. Meaning is the why behind everything we do. It is the telos. “I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may!” Martin Luther

23. Purpose Purpose is the way in which we reach the meaning of life. Purpose can and should be different for each person. The purpose of mankind is to take care of creation. Man is created in the image of God. He is to rule over creation: to fill it, to rule it, to care for it. He is a steward! Vocation—doing what God has called us to do.

24. Stewards by God’s Design “For God did not simply give us our core identity, he also shaped a good life for us. Like all parents, God has expectations for his children. He assigns us roles to play as he provides for his creation and manages its resources… These roles…come and go among the changes of life. Important as these roles are, their departure results in only surface changes in our persons. Our core identity as a child of God remains.” Kolb and Arand, The Genius of Luther’s Theology, page 149.

25. Teach Them About Security “If we do not believe that we have some chance of preserving our identity and providing for our needs, we will be compelled to seek madly for a haven or to build a fortress for ourselves.” -Robert Kolb

26. Security Question 135 in Luther’s Small Catechism: “How does God provide for me and protect me each day?” God uses His entire creation in caring for me, including angels, parents, government, land, weather, and animals.

27. Living Confidently as God’s Steward “That means that we can live relaxed. Being God’s child means living in confidence that we are secure, and therefore we enjoy the peace which he wanted to give us in the first place. We have that peace, that sense of security and harmony and balance, because we recognize that God is in his right place, as our Father, and we are in our right place as his children…For he made us to enjoy life, to take delight in him and in our humanity.” Robert Kolb

28. Teach Them About Vocation Doing what God has called us to do. Vocation is not the same as stewardship. Vocation is where stewardship happens.

29. Teach Them About Generosity Generosity is showing a readiness to give more of something than is strictly necessary or expected. Generosity is not a synonym of stewardship. Generosity is a characteristic of the steward.

30. Teach Them Their Responsibilities They steward four relationships: • Their relationship with God. • Their relationship with themselves. • Their relationship with others. • Their relationship with creation.

31. Teach Them Their Responsibilities They practice stewardship in four estates: • Home • Work • Church • Community

32. Teach Them About Money Stewardship isn’t only about money, but it is about money.

33. Jesus and Money 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.”

34. Luther and Money The Large Catechism the 1st Commandment: “Mammon (money and possessions)…is the most common idol on earth…This care and desire for money sticks and clings to our nature right up to the grave.”

35. Operative Principles of Christian Stewards(When it Comes to Finances) 1. Money belongs to God. It is entrusted to us for a season. 2. Money is a gift of God, and therefore not intrinsically evil. 3. Like all other gifts, money and property are here to be used in freedom for the service of “the God who gives them for the salvation of men.”

36. Operative Principles of Christian Stewards(When it Comes to Finances) 4. The ground of the paradox of Christian stewardship was that the God who became incarnate in Jesus Christ and who required that He alone be worshiped and served, demanded this service “more for the sake of the brethren.”

37. Operative Principles of Christian Stewards(When it Comes to Finances) 5. The Christian steward possesses—and gives—money and property in such a manner to be “superior to the possession of them.”

38. Operative Principles of Christian Stewards(When it Comes to Finances) 6. The Christian steward is one who was able to manage money and property in such a way as “to be able with a cheerful mind to bear their loss equally with their abundance.” Adapted by Jaroslav Pelikan from Clement of Alexandria’s “Who is the rich man who shall be saved.”

39. Financial Obligations of Stewards • One area of financial obligation is the family. 1 Timothy 1:8 • Another area of financial obligation is one’s pastor. Galatians 6:6 • Still another area of financial support is the government (taxes). Luke 20:25 • Charitable giving is also an area of financial responsibility. Luke 12:33-34

40. Jesus Teaches Us Wesley Willmer says that Jesus teaches us three things about money and possessions: 1. Our possessions are to be used as a tool to further God’s kingdom here on earth.2. They are given to us as a test to see how much responsibility we will be given.3. They serve as a trademark to those around us that we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

41. Intentional Planning • Train Leaders • Assess the Current Culture • Evaluate Personal Habits • Set Expectations for Leaders • Teach What It Means To Be A Steward • Preach Stewardship when it appears in the Lectionary.

42. Five Critical Areas • Whole Life Stewardship Education • Annual Challenges • Money Management • Leaving a Legacy • Over and Above Giving