Spiritual Displines: Stewardship

Introduction:

Joesph Narrative, Defination of setwardship, Resources.

When i was in ethiopia i remeber reading the whole story of joesph, What inspired me wasnt the fact that he was governing a nation by the age of 30 but what was the proccess for joesph. you might say te proccess was suffering, pain, betrayl but benealth all that i saw a repeated pattern which was that where he was he was a good steward. It doesnt matter if it was like some flocks or the whole nation of egight he learned to become a good steward. Even with Gods calling, and gifts it was his stewardship that perpared him for the nation.

Defination:

The process of being responsible with someone else's property while it is entrusted.

Gods property

The question remains whats Gods property, you belong to God, your life, your gifts, everything you think you own belongs to God but he has entrusted us with it so that we steward it for him and it bring about abudent life.

“Stewardship isn’t a subcategory of the Christian life. Stewardship is the Christian life. After all, what is stewardship except that God has entrusted to us life, time, talents, money, possessions, family, and his grace? In each case, he evaluates how we regard what he has entrusted to us and what we do with it.”

Randy Alcorn

Transition

Today i want to focus on three reosucrse if we honestly cultivate them we will be a different people, a different church by this time next year. We will explore what scriptures says about our bodys, money and Time.

Body

Secluar verse secared

In christainity, we sometimes fall into the trap of believing thats theres things in our lifes that are sacred and theres things in our lifes that are secular. Now the world secular mean of this world. In scripture though the bible from the old to the new testament it desrcibles how God wants to redeem a people for himself who will be like him holy set apart and they were caled to be different in everyway from the nations around them. How they rested, treated there workers and foreighners, how they lend money, how they recived guest all was to be under the lordship of yaweh and when they honoured in that way they floursished as a people but its the same thing when we recieve christ he doesnnt just want your sundays he wants your life. If we give him our ours he will give us abundent life. but its your whole life not parts of your life but everything has to be under his lordship. God cares of every detail of our lifes.

Physiacl Stewardship

he New International Version (1 Timothy 4:8)

8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things,q holding promise for both the present lifer and the life to come.

God created both then unseen and seens parts of us and they both belong to him, and whats clearly from this verse is both are valulable. God in genesis, didnt just create our spirit and souls but he form mans form all parts of our beings belongs to him. If all aparts of us belong to him then all parts of us needs to be taken care of.

I persoanlly changed my deit because i saw how when people in my family Got older all of a sudden they start having heart problems, blood perrsure and im thinking to myslef im litrally on the same path. Unless i change my diet,

Michiel brown

Food is fuel for your body

If your fueling your car you want the best fuel for your car so that your car last long and remains in good shape. If we fuel our bodys with junk why are we shocked when our life longeity drops also why shorten our minisitry, our impact in this world for a cheesseburger

Michiel brown

Tatste changing

Your tongue pallets change and thats good news for us because many of us dont like what is healthy but if you give it enough time you patents will literally change.

Food is a reward

Food is our reward or a place of comfort but we can easiliy abuse this in proverbs it talks about how to much honey makes you vomit so we need to find other rewards another wasy to find comfront

God created a world where everything is interconnected.

Emotional Stewardship

The New International Version Proverbs 12:25

Anxiety weighs down the heart,n

but a kind word cheers it up

The New International Version Psalm 31:9–10

Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;m

my eyes grow weak with sorrow,n

my soul and bodyo with grief.

10 My life is consumed by anguishp

and my years by groaning;q

my strength failsr because of my affliction,b s

and my bones grow weak.t

That sometimes our sickness arent sysoming from the enviroment or a spiritual entity but undelted wounds, bitterness, anger, disappointemnent, purposeless and this emtions are so powerful that impact our physial health. I strongly recommend couselling reason being God wants yu to steward your emotions.

Transition

God aslo want us to steward our money, i remeber there was a time where i needed a car i prayeed for a Car and he provided. I didnt steward that resource i couldnt pay the insurance and mechinain and they blessing that God give me became a burden.

I was reading the gospel and i came to this paasge where jesus pray for bread and fish and God provideds and what stood out to me was how jesus tells his disciple to pick up the leftovers it taught me miracles without steward isnt Gods will.

Money

The New International Version Proverbs 27:23–24

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,s

give careful attention to your herds;

24 for riches do not endure forever,t

Many of us dont want to give attention to our budget or spending because we dont want to be shoced with how much we eat out or shopping we have done. God want us to give attenation to your resources because without attention there isnt any possiblity for stewardship.

I was telling telling our leadership this a few weeks ago that our attention is limited you cant have your attenationon everthing so you need to priorize your attention or delegate it to someone to pay atennation for you. The first step to stewarding money is honeslty looking at your spending then making a budget.

The New International Version 2 Thessalonians 3:12–13

Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christj to settle down and earn the food they eat.k 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.l

The bible is clear working is Good and we need to work, working is holy.

The New International Version 1 Timothy 6:17–18

17 Command those who are richb in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth,c which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God,d who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.e 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds,f and to be generous and willing to share.

We need to be put our hope in the true source and give generously

The way we stewad money is being able to bless others with it.

“The happiest people on earth are the people who have discovered the joy of giving.

Transition

The last resource we need to steward is time? What is time?

Time

A creation of God which marks the duration of life and which is measured by changes in the created order. The flow of time is directed by God who appoints particular “times” within his unfolding purposes.

Give time purpose

The New International Version Psalm 90:12

Teach us to number our days,o

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.p

When we become aware time is a resource we can wasyte or steward then we give more attention to our action. One thing that has helped my practical use my time more effectivly has been have a deadline. In school when you have a deadline you know that you cant wastle unliited amounts of time but what is my deadline my deadline is the sabbath. I commited to finish everything by a certain time. I dont dont belive jesus jjsut died i think he finished his work. That we need to understamd that time doesnt want for us, our bodys dont wait for us but we need to be proacive in giving time propuse.

Time is waiting for you to discern it purpose

The New International Version Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

There is a timeg for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,h

3 a time to killi and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silentj and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Conclusion

We designed a spiritual displines workbook because the chances of implenting any new goal or idea is much easier when we think critical on how to do it, theres sets of questions for everything spiritual displine and they will increase you chamces of not just being hears of the word but also doers.