Stewardship
Part One: Does Anybody
Really Know What Time It Is?
(Ecclesiastes 3:11, 14)
Beginnings:
(Gen
1:27-28)
God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting
God's nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them:
Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for
fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing
that moves on the face of Earth.
(Message)
1. We
have God’s image, we reflect His nature
2. We have God’s blessing: Prosperity, authority, responsibility
3.
We have God’s Strategy: Reproduce, fill the earth, take charge!
Definitions:
Steward: one employed in a large household or estate to manage
domestic concerns;
one who actively directs affairs
Stewardship: the conducting, supervising, or managing of
something; especially
the careful and responsible management of
something entrusted to one's care
Assumptions:
1. We’re part of a large
“household”
2. We’re “employees”, not owners
(what we have is not ours)
3. We have been placed in a
position of trust
4. Our assignment is “careful and
responsible management”
Change of Ownership:
(Genesis 3:5)
From
“like God” in Genesis to “no God” by the 19th century
Result
is the same: I’m not “responsible” for anyone or anything but
myself and my stuff. From the Renaissance of the 16th
century to the Enlightenment and Modernism of the 18th
and 19th centuries, to the post-modern thinking
of our day…
MATERIALISM (nothing exists but matter) and
HUMANISM (man is the measure of all things: “I am” is the only
reality)
HAVE COMBINED TO CHALLENGE GOD AS A REALITY.
…What you see, touch, feel is all there is
…Truth as a category does not exist
…Reality
ends at the grave (hopelessness -
“For all we know…”)
…skepticism is sophisticated.
In 1960
2/3 of America believed the Bible was true.
Today 2/3 deny that there is any such thing as truth,
70% say there are no moral absolutes – AND THAT’S IN AMERICA!
DOES ANYBODY REALLY KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
We are seeing in our time the results of 4 centuries of attempts
to live life without God.
McManus (Soul Cravings)
Search for MEANING, SIGNIFICANCE, DESTINY
Zacharias:
“I am thoroughly convinced that when the last chapter of
humanity is written we will find that the implications of
(living without God) if consistently carried through, will have
made life plainly unlivable within the limits of reason or even
common sense.”
Facts of Life:
Ecclesiastes 3:11 -
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set
eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God
has done from beginning to end.
14 -
I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can
be added to it and nothing taken from it.
(FATALISM OR HOPE?)
God does it so that men will revere him.
(PURPOSE)
Gal 6:7-10 -
Do not
be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The
one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature
will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the
Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not
become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap
a harvest if we do not give up.
A SERIES ON “STEWARDSHIP” of
TIME, TALENT, TREASURE
1. We’re part of a large
“household” (i.e., H of Faith)
2. We’re “employees”, not owners
(what we have is not ours)
3. We have been placed in a
position of trust
4. Our assignment is “careful and
responsible management”
Matthew
24:45-48
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has
put in charge of the servants in his household to give them
their food at the proper time?
It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so
when he returns.
I tell you the truth; he will put him in charge of all his
possessions.
NEXT
WEEK: “Does Anybody Really Care (about time)”?
