Pastor’s Perspective October 29, 2014


by Ralph Kelley on October 29, 2014

This coming Sunday will be our stewardship Sunday for our 2015 budget. To discover what the Bible says about stewardship, the best place to start is with the very first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” As the Creator, God has absolute rights of ownership over all things. Nothing else in the Bible, including the principle of stewardship, will make any sense or have any true relevance if we miss the fact that God is our Creator and has full rights of ownership. It is through our ability to grasp this and entrench it in our hearts and heads that the concept of biblical stewardship is understood. The biblical doctrine of stewardship identifies God as owner and man as manager or steward.

 

The word “stewardship” comes from the Greek word, “oikenomous,” which means somebody who manages a household. The person doesn't own the household but manages it. Stewards in the ancient world were trusted with everything from seeing that the floors were clean, to overseeing the property and finances, and to the public face of that household. Joseph is a good biblical example of a steward. Stewardship defines our practical obedience in the administration of everything under our control, everything entrusted to us. True biblical stewardship acknowledges in practice that we do not have the right of control over ourselves or of our property, instead God has that control. It means as stewards of God we are managers of that which belongs to God, and we are under His constant authority as we administer His affairs. Faithful stewardship means that we fully acknowledge we are not our own but belong to Christ, the Lord, who gave Himself for us.

 

As we head into our 2015 stewardship season, I trust your heart will be fixed on Christ. For by viewing all things through the lens of Jesus, we can see more clearly that our sacrificial giving is but a reflection of the great love Jesus has for His people. The truth is, the more we give sacrificially, the more we imitate our Savior.

 

Semper Reformanda (always reforming),

Ralph Kelley

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