PCCMI Morning Worship: 2024/02/11: Stewardship Series: If God Owns It All, What Am I Doing With It

Plainfield Christian Church, Comstock Park, MI

The Morning Worship Service at Plainfield Christian Church in Comstock Park, MI

Preacher: Bruce Wilson

Youth Minister: Josh Antonopulos

Children’s Minister: Wade Harrier

Worship Leader: Katie Winstanley

Learn more at https://www.pccmi.org/

Songs: CCLI #2228009

Sermon:

Stewardship Series

If God Owns It All, What Am I Doing With It?

Scripture:

Matthew 25:14-40

Notes:

Biblical Principles of Money Management

1. _______________________________________ vs. 14-19

Implications:

1. ____________________________________________

The owner has ________________________________

“Steward” - __________________________________

Stewardship is the use of __________________ for the

Accomplishment of __________________________.

2. ____________________________________________

Ron Blue says:

“You can’t fake stewardship. Your checkbook reveals all that you really believe about stewardship. A life story could be written from a checkbook. It reflects your goals, priorities, convictions, relationships, and even the use of your time. A person who has been a Christian for even a short while can fake prayer, Bible study, evangelism, going to church, and so on, but he can’t fake what his checkbook reveals.”

2. _______________________________________ vs. 20-23

Money and possessions are very effective ______________________

that God uses in our lives.

Two Responses During a Major Financial Change

______________________ -- “God, what do you want me to learn?”

______________________ -- “God, why are you doing this to me?”

Money and possessions are very effective _____________________ that God uses in our lives.

“So, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (Luke 16:11, 12)

Money and possessions are very effective ______________________

Too many live for the world that is __________________ instead of

the world that is _____________________________.

3. ___________________________________________ vs. 21-23

The amount you have is unimportant to God, but how you handle what you have been entrusted with is very important.

4. ___________________________________________ vs. 24-30

The wicked slave knew what to do, but he did nothing.

Many of us know what to do, but we disobey or delay.

Today we have a chance to change this.

Changed Lives

I want to tell you something from observation.

I have never met anyone who tithed who did not tend to be happy about the fact he did. He was not just happy about tithing…but about a lot of other things.

I’ve never met anybody who tithed very long, who gave it up.

I have never met anyone who tithed who did not say at some time it has been extremely difficult…

Generous people seem to be the happy ones.

Miserly people seem to be the unhappy ones.

The critical spirit is with those who are not giving people.

Just look around you and you can tell.

--Ben Haden

S T B E N E F I T S W B A L A N C E R D R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y H I P A R T N E R S Stewardship The Missing Piece to Successful Living 1. BENEFITS 2. BALANCE “God’s work done God’s way will not lack God’s supply.” Hudson Taylor “The problem with money is that it makes you do things you don’t want to do.” Wall Street, the movie 3. PARTNERS 4. RESPONSIBILITY “God can do a lot with a little if He has all there is to it!” D. L. Moody “The most important thought I ever had was that of my individual responsibility to God.” Daniel Webster Receiving Benefits as God’s Steward JANUARY 21 “The Benefits of Lifestyle Stewardship” (Biblical Overview) Finding Balance as God’s Steward JANUARY 28 “Poverty or Prosperity—Which is Biblically Correct?” Becoming Partners as God’s Steward February 4 “One Plus One = ?” Accepting Responsibility as God’s Steward February 11 “If God Owns It All, What Am I Doing With It?”

Today we have learned that God owns EVERYTHING. Our unwillingness to tithe certainly is a contradiction to this truth. The Lord spoke through Moses and said, “The tithe…is the Lord’s!” (Leviticus 27:30) Exclamation point – not a question mark.

That statement means that 10% of our income should be given each week, or each month, to the work of the Lord through His church. The other 90% should also be managed wisely.

Five Biblical Reasons Every Christian Should Be a Tither

1. OBEDIENCE

3. Genesis 14:20 tells us that Abraham tithed before the Law was given by Moses at Sinai.

4. Malachi 3:10 summarizes what the Law required. Everyone was required to tithe everything they had.

5. Matthew 23:23 shows us that our Lord Jesus recommended everyone to tithe.

6. I Corinthians 16:2 indicates that tithing is still a part of God’s expectations from his children.

2. HONESTY

In Malachi 3:8-10 the Bible teaches that if we do not tithe,

we are robbing God! Isn’t it unthinkable that a Christian

would steal from anyone – much less, his God? We must

continually remind ourselves that we do not give the tithe –

we simply return it! It already belongs to God.

3. LOVE

In John 14:15 Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

Nothing will loosen the purse strings like good, old fashioned Christian love! We give the best gifts to those we love!

4. GRATITUDE

In Psalm 116:12-14 the Lord reminds us that since we have received so much, we should respond by giving much! We have received God’s Son, His salvation, His presence, His blessings, and we will receive His Heaven…How can we think of giving Him less than a tithe?

5. FAITH

God has promised a blessing to those who are faithful in the Stewardship of Giving! See Malachi 3:10-11; Proverbs 3:9-10; Matthew 6:33; Luke 6:38. Faith in God’s promises is reflected by obedience to His Word!

REQUIREMENT

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse…”

RESPONSE

“…and test me now in this…”

REWARD

“…open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” (Malachi 3:10)

My Response –

My commitment to tithe is based upon the following truths:

1. God owns everything (my tithe is returned, not given).

2. God expects me to tithe (Malachi 3:10).

3. God promises to meet the needs of a faithful steward (tithing is an issue of trust).

Therefore, I commit the first 10% of my income to the Lord through Plainfield Christian Church.

( ) I will begin tithing ( ) I already tithe

( ) I would like to set up a Breeze account to give online.

Name: ________________________________________________

Email Address: __________________________________