THE CHRISTIAN STEWARD

            Stewardship involves managing someone else’s property.  The Christian is a steward of both his life and possessions, since both belong to God.  A Christian steward realizes he is bought with a price of Christ’s blood shed on the cross.  As those who are accountable to God, Christians should become responsible stewards of their spiritual gifts, time and money.

THE RESPONSIBLE STEWARD

1.      What quality does Christ highly value and look for in His stewards?
1 Cor. 4:2 _________________________________________________________________________

2.      What are some of the areas in which God expects us to be faithful stewards?
1 Cor. 6:19-20 _____________________________________________________________________
Eph. 5:15-16 _______________________________________________________________________
Matt. 12:36 ________________________________________________________________________
1 Thess. 2:4 _______________________________________________________________________
1 Pet. 4:10 _________________________________________________________________________
Prov. 3:9-10 _______________________________________________________________________
Matt. 25:14-30 _____________________________________________________________________

3.      To whom shall stewards give an account?
Rom. 14:12 ________________________________________________________________________

4.      Read the following passages and then answer the questions below.
Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-12; Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Pet 4:10-11

A.     Who gives the gifts to men? ________________________________________________________
What do you observe about who receives the gifts? _____________________________________

B.     Why are the gifts given? ___________________________________________________________
What is their purpose in the church?__________________________________________________

C.     What gifts or abilities do you possess that could be used to help build the Body of Christ?
_______________________________________________________________________________
How could you use them? _________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
If each Christian properly understood his spiritual gift, it would not only motivate them to greater commitment and service, but would also bring a whole new excitement to the Body of Christ.

STEWARDSHIP OF TIME

            The Bible contains many passages which remind us of the wise use of time.  God holds us responsible to be good stewards of the time He gives us.

1.      What does Eph. 5:15-16 encourage us to do? _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

2.      How does Col. 4:5 relate to the preceding verses? _________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

3.      How do you think you could put these verses into practice in your life? ________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

How to Make Wise Use of Your Time

1.      Prayerful planning – List things to be done in order of priority. 
(Note: good things in life can crowd out the best things.)

2.      Obedient selection – Do the most important tasks first and in faith commit unfinished ones to the Lord
(Note: Many things that initially appear urgent are not.)

3.      Concentration and diligence. – Do the task you select wholeheartedly.  Do one thing until it is finished.
Remember: The will of God for your life takes into consideration the amount of time you have.  God will not call you to a task for which you lack time to fulfill or that part of it He wants you to accomplish.

STEWARSHIP OF YOUR MONEY

            God associates a person’s ability to handle spiritual matters with their ability to handle financial matters.  “If you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (money), who will commit to your trust the true riches?"” (Lk. 16:11)

1.      What do the following verses teach about the ultimate source of your money?
Deut. 8:18 _________________________________________________________________________
Prov. 8:20-21 ______________________________________________________________________

2.      What are some of the dangers of having a wrong attitude toward money?  1 Tim. 6:9-10  List as many negative results as you can.
1) _________________________________________  4) ___________________________________
2) _________________________________________  5) ___________________________________
3) _________________________________________  6) ___________________________________

3.      What do the following verses teach about the use of money?
1 Tim. 5:8 _________________________________________________________________________
Lk. 16:10-11 _______________________________________________________________________
1 Jn. 3:16-17 _______________________________________________________________________
Eph. 4:28 _________________________________________________________________________
People begin to feel uneasy when the subject of giving is brought up.  It seems to be one of the most difficult topics of the Bible to talk about.  Yet we find in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke that one out of every six verses deals with the subject of money and 12 of the 38 parables of Jesus discuss the right and wrong use of money.

4.      Read 2 Cor. 9.  What principles of giving do you find in the following verses?
Verse 6 ___________________________________________________________________________
Verse 7 ___________________________________________________________________________
Verse 8 ___________________________________________________________________________
Verse 12 __________________________________________________________________________
Verse 13 __________________________________________________________________________
Verse 15 __________________________________________________________________________

5.      Read Mark 12:41-44.

A.     What did Jesus praise, and why? ____________________________________________________

B.     How did most people contribute to the temple treasury? __________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

C.     How did the widow’s contribution compare in percentage to the others? _____________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

6.      What promises are given to those who give to the Lord’s work?
Phil. 4:15-19 _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

7.      What changes do you think He would want you to make in the area of stewardship of your money?
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

A London paper offered a prize for the best definition of money.  This was the winning answer: “Money is an instrument that can buy everything but happiness and pay your fare to every place but Heaven.”