Sermon Tone Analysis

In October 2009, the FAA revoked the licenses of two Northwest Airlines pilots after their airplane flew for 91 minutes out of contact with the ground and overshot their destination city by 150 miles.

The revocation took place because of recklessness caused by “inattention.”

Airline pilots must direct their aircraft safely from Point A to Point B. However, these pilots had their personal laptops on in the cockpit and were researching job conditions and scheduling rules brought about by Northwest’s recent purchase by Delta Airlines.

They wanted to know how their job situations were changing.

While that is understandable, that was not their assigned task.

They took their eye off their primary responsibility and gave their attention to something of lesser importance.

Keeping the most important thing a priority is important for everyone, not just airline pilots. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

I know many here today have flown in airplanes before…some of you fly airplanes for a living.

Pilots accept a great responsibility when they sit in that cockpit.

Think about this with me from the passengers point of view — your pilots are not paying attention to what is going on around them and when they finally land the plane you are 150 miles from your destination.

Thankfully you landed on the runway and not in the ocean.

Your pilots deemed their job status more important than your safety and your plans.

If you are flying on that plane you assume that pilot will take their responsibility seriously and you will arrive safely and in the place you desired to land.

They lost sight of their greatest responsibility and made something else a higher priority.

Thankfully no one was harmed in that situation, but their lack of focus and effort to fulfill their responsibilities cost them everything.

They were entrusted with many lives and considered something else a higher priority.

With that in mind let’s continue our series on Stewardship.

Foundation of Stewardship

Last week Pastor Matthew kicked off our new series and dedicating the month of January to Stewardship…the messages this month will focus on challenging us in the arena of biblical stewardship…stewardship is not just about how you handle finances…biblical stewardship applies to a multiplicity of avenues.

I Cor.

4:2 is the foundation for stewardship

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the key word is faithfulness, trustworthy…we all have been charged to be a trustworthy steward.

In Bible times, because of limited means of travel, householders, men who owned large farms and/or livestock, would often be gone from their land for long periods of time.

In their absence they would appoint one of their servants to manage the business (land or farm).

This person was expected to perform just as the householder would if he were there.

The Greek word for steward is literally “a housing one.”

One who is entrusted with his master’s household and was to consistently manage it in the master’s absence.

A steward is one who has been given a trust…or maybe better, someone who has been trusted with something.

Right now our children are meeting in kid’s zone worship…the leaders there are stewards…the wonderful childcare workers changing your child’s diapers and wiping their noses are stewards…you’ve entrusted them to care for your children so you could worship in here and listen to the Word of God being taught.

Some of you own businesses and you have managers…you are a manager…if you were using NT terminology you would be a steward.

All of Us Are Stewards!

A concise definition would be:

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“God-given responsibility with accountability!”

As we will see here this morning you have no choice in the matter…the question is, are you a good one or a poor one?

The challenge today is for you to become a better one!

Stewardship is a concept that includes all areas of life, not just money … one’s health, one’s mind, one’s gifts, one’s abilities, one’s family, one’s time, and one’s possessions.

We have to ask ourselves have we become like those pilots by focusing on the wrong things?

Have we lost sight of our responsibilities and now we are distracted by other priorities?

With that in mind please turn in your bibles to Matthew 25:14-21 and keep your finger there and also look at Psalm 24:1-2

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Main Point: Faithful Stewards Are Active Stewards

Good stewardship takes work…it is not a passive endeavor.

To help us understand this more I want to challenge you with 4 principles of Biblical Stewardship.

Seek to answer the question “What do I need to know about stewardship to make me a better steward?”

My prayer is that we will remember these principles and it will motivate us towards greater levels of faithfulness.

The 1st principle of Biblical stewardship is:

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1. God owns everything – I own nothing!

– Psalm 24:1-2; Matt 25:14

Let’s look at Psalm 24:1-2 first.

Ps 24 1-2 “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.”

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God Really Does Own Everything!

The Earth belongs to the Lord (v. 1a).

None of us have ever made claim to owning the earth…it is God’s planet we cannot make any claims of ownership…that ought to impact how we treat this planet…It is God’s and God’s alone…he entrusted it to us to take care of it...

But the second half of v. 1 is another story.

2. The contents of the earth belong to the Lord (v. 1b).

We often take our view of stuff much like the seagulls in Finding Nemo… “mine…mine…mine” It is so easy to view things as “mine” ,“I own them”, “I don’t want anybody messing with my stuff.”

“I worked hard to get what I have”.

Yet, here is what remembering that God owns everything does … it frees you from all the energy it takes to protect your stuff.

Well God’s ownership not only extends to the earth and to the contents of the earth but also to...

3. The people on the earth belong to the Lord (v.

1c)

Men this specifically ought to have a huge impact on us as husbands and dads...That means that your spouse belongs to God, your children belong to God…they are not yours to control…they belong to God and have been entrusted to you by Him to faithfully and biblically steward...Even you … you are not your own.

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You belong to God.

God has the right to change or to direct your path at his calling.

If we are not careful, we spend our time in worry and fear that what we cannot control will not happen.

God owns everything...He owns you.

He owns your intellect.

He owns the land.

He owns the business you work for.

He owns this church.

He owns it all.

James 1:17 supports this as well...

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Acknowledging that God owns everything (including me) and I own nothing requires me acting like God owns it all and I just steward whatever he gives me.

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God Owns Everything because he is the Creator (v. 2)

That means He is sovereign and can do what He pleases with His creation, including you and me.

That also means we are sustained by Him making us completely dependent upon Him.

He alone has all the authority over everything and how it is to be used.

Turn to Matthew 25:14 — Read

Jesus is speaking in a parable here...The man, representing God, entrusted HIS possessions to them.

Which leads us to our second principle...

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2. God Entrusts You With Everything You Have — Matthew 25:14-15

Jesus uses the illustration of the master going away and giving three servants a portion of his wealth to manage…they each were given a considerable amount of money

Entrusted = to give over to someone to keep

Talent = weight = talent of silver, or gold, this was a lot of money = by implication it also applies to gifts and responsibilities too! (Remember this is a parable, not a mathematical equation so we are not going to waste time trying to define the exact amount given to each person.)

What has God entrusted to us?

Here's a little homework assignment…over the course of this month, make a list of at least 25 things God has entrusted to you…maybe you're a 2 talent person, maybe you're a 5…that's not really the point…because the text is clear…

Matthew 25:15 - "each according to his own ability"… the master saw something in each one that determined what he would give to them.

Here are a few categories…want you to notice on this list that I have intentionally left money off (Lord willing we are going to talk about that on another Sunday this month) this list to simply show you that stewardship is more than just managing your finances…God has entrusted you with those as well and you need to manage them for his glory!

God has entrusted you with:

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His image -- therefore you have opportunities to reflect Him every day