Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

JUNIOR CHURCH DISMISSED

Glad to not have any of the issues we had last week.

We are going to be in the book of 1 Peter today.

Chapter 4.

For those that may be new or haven’t been here in a bit, we are in a series called Authentic.

We are looking at the NT church in scripture to see how we should model our lives individually and corporately to be Authentic NT Christians in the 21st century.

Today we are going to be exploring Authentic Stewardship.

Now, if you’ve been around church long you may think that stewardship is only related to money.

That is an incorrect thought.

Yes, we should steward our finances in accordance to the Bible which means we should be sacrificially giving by grace to church that God has us serving in and being served by.

Yes, one day I may preach a message focused on what biblical financial stewardship looks like.

And on that day some of you may feel more uneasy than you do right now even thinking about it.

But today is not that day.

Yes, I will mention it during the message but that’s not our focus.

So everyone take a deep breath and relax.

This morning we will be looking at Authentic stewardship through the lens of it’s all encompassing meaning and our ultimate responsibility as stewards.

Our lives themselves are a gift from God. It’s been said that Life is God’s gift to you, what you do with it is God’s gift to you.

Again, I’m not going to te

Stewardship is a responsibility we all carry and we should be faithful in our stewarding of the provision God has given us.

When God gives us something valuable we are to steward it.

We are not to squander it, hide it, misuse, or abuse it.

We are to steward it, manage it, use it properly.

I heard that there was a time when the chippens hill area (point to the left) I think that’s what its called, used to be all farm land.

I’m sure there are many areas around here that are the same.

Maybe some of you have worked on a farm before or have farmers in your family.

I was surprised to find out that in the middle of the desert in Yuma AZ there was much farmland.

To the point that I was told and believe it is the winter agricultural capital of America.

Think of those farmers though.

The process begins when they obtain the seed right?

Without the seed nothing could happen.

They go to the store and buy the seed in the bag and then take it to their barn and leave it there.

Wouldn’t that be a waste?

What if they took it and spread it out but didn’t water it?

They allowed the seed to be damaged.

That would be a waste right?

What if they took the seed out and spread it but didn’t bury it and the wild animals came and took it?

We would say they wasted that seed right?

The Word of God, the love of God, and the Gospel of Jesus could all be represented by that seed.

We are the farmers.

Are you taking care of your seed or are you just leaving it in the barn?

As Christians in America where there is no persecution from government agencies for just talking about Jesus we find ourselves unwilling to do just that.

Notice verse 12 in 1 Peter.

The fiery trial.

These early Christians knew what persecution was.

They knew what it was like to have to speak of Christ in whispers so as to not be killed by Nero and his spies.

There was risk in being a Christian during those times.

You may feel theres a risk of witnessing of Christ in todays culture.

Afraid of what a person might say, what they might think.

Where there is no risk, there is no reward.

If we are not willing to risk our own self image how can we say we would risk our lives if challenged to deny Christ?

1st century Christians might have been tempted to not witness.

They might have been tempted to keep their seed in the barn for fear of death.

let it not be said of us that we would keep our seed in the barn because of fear of mockery or loss of respect.

It’s my prayer that God does a work in the heart of our young people that will give them the boldness and courage to speak out about Christ in their schools.

They will be a witness of Jesus and His love around their friends.

It’s my prayer that God would raise up a generation of young people through Liberty Baptist that will take a stand saying “I believe in Jesus, I believe the Bible, and I want you to know about Him.”

I believe God’s vision for this church and every ministry that operates under neath the umbrella of it’s name to engage the community with the gospel, equip Christians through Bible centered teaching, and empower believers to live out the gospel in their lives.

Someone stewarded the gospel for you…who is waiting for you to properly stewarding the gospel?

PRAY

Notice first the Ministry of the Christian

I.

The Ministry of the Christian

As Christians we have all been called to a ministry of reconciliation.

When we put our faith in Christ we given the responsibility to properly steward that which God has given us.

All that we have is from God.

All things are of God.

Your time, your talents, your personality, your money, your car, your house, your clothes, etc.

Because of Jesus we are reconciled to God and called to the ministry of reconcilation of others.

This is all possible by God’s grace.

A. By God’s grace

By God’s grace we are divinely enabled to steward that which is been given.

Notice in “as every man hath received the gift.

What is that gift?

The Bible says in the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Salvation could be said to be that gift and it wouldn’t be wrong.

ephesisans 2:8-9

Again we find salvation through faith is a gift of God but how do we receive this gift?

By Grace.

Ultimately the gift we have recieved is the grace of God.

The grace of God to be saved.

The grace of God to be born in America.

The grace of God to have money, clothes, time, talents, cars, homes, etc.

The gift we have been given is the grace of God and when we begin to view all of our things through the lens of God’s grace we begin to see a few things.

The money in the bank…that’s not mine…that’s God’s.

The truck I drive…that’s not mine…that’s God’s…The house i live in…that’s not mine…it’s the banks (ha ha)…No, that’s God’s.

And we realize that all we have comes from God we realize that it’s not ours to decide how to use.

We don’t have the right to determine how to spend or squander the grace of God.

He has already given us the instructions to steward it.

He said it must be done…through His power

B. Through God’s Power

Through our faith in Christ we have the indwelling Holy Spirit of God that comforts us and gifts us with supernatural abilities to accomplish the work of God.

Some of you are gifted in teaching, some in administering, some in serving.

Whether God has gifted you to serve by vacuuming and mopping or by overseeing those who do, we should all be using the gifts God has given us.

What God has given us to steward He has provided the ability for us to steward.

Our church is blessed with many children in various department.

We saw before school started the line of people that went across the front of this platform.

Many of this kids or families with kids.

I thank God for those families.

I thank God for each person and family unit that was represented in the pew whose children are out of the home.