We looked at two texts this week as we began a three week series on stewardship. Our New Testament text was Matthew 6:19-24. Here, Jesus speaks about money. He says two things about it primarily:
1. Your heart will be with your treasure- not the other way around.
2. You can’t love God and money at the same time. It’s impossible.
What it boils down to is idolatry. And what idolatry boils down to is worship. And that was the point of this first sermon on stewardship.
The first mistake many make when it comes to stewardship is that they make stewardship about money. In our culture that may be what it is about. But in scripture it never is. The first irony of stewardship is that it is not about money, it’s about worship. That’s why Jesus pointed beyond the treasure to the heart. God doesn’t need our money- but he desperately wants our heart.
And that is why Malachi 3:6-12 is so poignant. God tells his people through this prophet that they are robbing him. “How?” they ask. “In tithes and offerings!” God wants them brought to the temple. Why? Not because he needs the money but because he desires the worship. When their treasure comes to the temple their hearts come with it. They were robbing God of worship.
If we are not living out biblical stewardship through a life that revolves around bringing our first fruits to God (“the top dime”) then we will be deficient in our worship. And when our worship is deficient our lives will be empty. In Malachi, God challenges his people. “Test me in this” he says. “Try me! See if the floodgates of heaven aren’t opened up when you get stewardship right!”
(God’s floodgates are real. But this is not a prosperity gospel message- some kind of trumped up biblical-ese investment program in order to "get blessed" with money- because it’s not about the money; it’s about worship. If it’s not about the money in our stewardship then it won’t be about the money when the floodgates open. Money given to God for the sake of the financial return is not worship- it's worldliness.)
The challenge in this sermon was to those who may be robbing God of worship through deficient stewardship. Test God. See if he isn’t faithful to those who hearts are invested in him through the worship produced by a life of stewardship.
Pastor Scott
P.S. The children’s sermon involved a dollar broken down into a stack of dimes. “They are all God’s dimes. But he let me have them,” I suggested. It glorifies him when we give him one back. “Which dime does God want back?” I asked. “The biggest one!” a kid shouted. “The shiniest one.” another suggested. “The top one.” I told them. Stewardship is that simple. God is glorified by the top dime- pre taxes. Simple.
1. Your heart will be with your treasure- not the other way around.
2. You can’t love God and money at the same time. It’s impossible.
What it boils down to is idolatry. And what idolatry boils down to is worship. And that was the point of this first sermon on stewardship.
The first mistake many make when it comes to stewardship is that they make stewardship about money. In our culture that may be what it is about. But in scripture it never is. The first irony of stewardship is that it is not about money, it’s about worship. That’s why Jesus pointed beyond the treasure to the heart. God doesn’t need our money- but he desperately wants our heart.
And that is why Malachi 3:6-12 is so poignant. God tells his people through this prophet that they are robbing him. “How?” they ask. “In tithes and offerings!” God wants them brought to the temple. Why? Not because he needs the money but because he desires the worship. When their treasure comes to the temple their hearts come with it. They were robbing God of worship.
If we are not living out biblical stewardship through a life that revolves around bringing our first fruits to God (“the top dime”) then we will be deficient in our worship. And when our worship is deficient our lives will be empty. In Malachi, God challenges his people. “Test me in this” he says. “Try me! See if the floodgates of heaven aren’t opened up when you get stewardship right!”
(God’s floodgates are real. But this is not a prosperity gospel message- some kind of trumped up biblical-ese investment program in order to "get blessed" with money- because it’s not about the money; it’s about worship. If it’s not about the money in our stewardship then it won’t be about the money when the floodgates open. Money given to God for the sake of the financial return is not worship- it's worldliness.)
The challenge in this sermon was to those who may be robbing God of worship through deficient stewardship. Test God. See if he isn’t faithful to those who hearts are invested in him through the worship produced by a life of stewardship.
Pastor Scott
P.S. The children’s sermon involved a dollar broken down into a stack of dimes. “They are all God’s dimes. But he let me have them,” I suggested. It glorifies him when we give him one back. “Which dime does God want back?” I asked. “The biggest one!” a kid shouted. “The shiniest one.” another suggested. “The top one.” I told them. Stewardship is that simple. God is glorified by the top dime- pre taxes. Simple.
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