Biblical StewardshipBiblical Stewardship(Raising Resources For Evangelism)(Raising Resources For Evangelism)

Facilitator:

Dr. Salai N (Pastor Silas)

Biblical Biblical StewardshipStewardship

ObjectivesEvangelism is the very purpose of God

from the very beginning to the very end.

It can be done, it must be done and it will be done through you and me by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The participants will be able to:

• Explain the principles of biblical stewardship and utilize the key resources which God has entrusted to them for effective evangelism.

Be motivated to share the biblical principles of giving to their people and help them to appropriate the blessings of tithing and second-mile giving.

• Recognize the responsibility and apply the principles of fund raising for evangelism.

• Comprehend the follies of foreign fund dependency, raise God’s resources through People for evangelism and develop personal goals as Faithful Steward to God.

ContentsContents

• Fundamental of Biblical Stewardship

• Money and Principles of Giving

• Fund Raising

• Raising resources for evangelizing

Fundamental of Biblical Fundamental of Biblical StewardshipStewardship

•Who is the owner?(the heaven and the

earth, everything, including you and me)

• “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1)

• “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Ps. 24 :1)

• “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. .........”

• (Neh. 9:6)

• “...... for everything in heaven and earth is yours......... Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. ...........”

• (1 Chro.29:11-14)

• “The silver is mine and the gold is mine.” Declares the Lord Almighty.” (Haggai 2:8)

• God is definitely the Owner of all things.

• “Life is created by GOD does not need any permission from anyone.”

Who is the steward?Who is the steward?

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over ........” (Gen. 1:26)

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Gen.2:15)

• “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1Cor. 10:31)

• “For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money.” (Titus 1:7)

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1Peter 4:10)

• The steward : a person who is the caretaker of someone’s property and resources, dispenses the same according to the instructions by the owner.

• Biblical stewardship begins and ends with God. God is the creator and owner of all things in this universe. (Ps. 24:1). We never own it. God lends it to us as per our capability. When we die, God give it to someone else.

• In Genesis, God gave man the dominion over creation and told them to rule on His behalf. (Gen. 1:26,2:15) We are to be the faithful stewards of God’s entrusted possessions.

•Biblical Stewardship can be concisely defined as:

•God is the owner, we are His caretakers or stewards.

•  

4 Principles of Biblical 4 Principles of Biblical Stewardship :Stewardship :

01. As Creator, God own everything (Gen.1:1)

02. As Owner, God has Rights. (Matt. 20:1-15)

“Life is created by GOD, GOD does not need any permission from anyone.” God is sovereign. God is the LORD of All.

03. As Steward, we have responsibilities in managing God’s entrusted resources (Matt. 25:29). God lends it to us as per our capability and maturity in managing His entrusted resources.

04. As Steward, Giving is a worshipful response to God’s ownership of all things. We give because we love God, for who God is (as our creator in Gen. 1:1).

• Biblical Stewardship in essence is therefore about using God entrusted abilities to manage God owned resources to accomplish God ordained results.

How should Christian How should Christian Stewards utilize their Stewards utilize their materials blessings?materials blessings?

• The money that we have and all the things that we “own” – they belong to God’s possessions.

• Everything in this life that we have is a sacred trust from our Heavenly Father (Hag. 2:8, Lev. 25:23, Ps. 50ff)

• Everything belongs to God. He allows us to use His entrusted resources and intends it for His purpose. “ We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry noting out.” (1 Tim. 6:7)

• How much of how little we have is not nearly as important as what we do with it.

• “It is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (1Cor. 4:2)

What are the Key Resources which God has entrusted to us?

1.Time1.Time

•Regardless of rich or poor, young or old, everyone of us are given 24 hours a day.

“Time is more than money, Time is life, when you waste it, you destroy part of your life.”

(Dr. John Edmund Haggai)

•How do we utilize our Time daily?

•How we honor God with our Time?

•How do we spend it for HIS purpose?

2. TALENT2. TALENT

•All the Skills, Strength and Talents we gained through our life experiences

As leader, How do we utilize the talented people around us?

3.TEMPLE3.TEMPLE

• Our physical body, our local church and the body of Christ.

• How do we take care of our body and to keep it holy and healthy?

• How do we build up our own local church? How do we unite as one body of Christ?

4.TERRITORY4.TERRITORY

•Places where you live and work e.g. Family, Community and Workplace.

• If God gives us a family, a community and a workplace, what role do we play in this entrusted territory to serve His purpose?

5.TRUTH5.TRUTH

• The Bible or Word of God

• John 14:6 “I am the way adn the truth and the life.”

.

• It is Not How Much we know, but it is How Much we do and care for God’s Word

6.TREASURE6.TREASURE

• Our property, bank accounts and our wallets

• Where is your heart?

• Jesus said – “where your treasure is , there your heart will be also”

7.TESTIMONY7.TESTIMONY

• The miracles of your salvation and life experiences

• Do we share our life testimonies to reach out to the lost?

7 T7 T• 1. TIME• 2. TALENT• 3. TEMPLE• 4. TERRITORY• 5. TRUTH• 6. TREASURE• 7. TESTIMONY

“Christian Stewardship is the practice of systematic and proportionate giving of time, abilities , and materials possessions – and all God’s gifts to us – based on the conviction that these are a trust from God, to be used in His service, for the benefit of all mankind, in grateful acknowledgement of Christ’s redeeming love.”

What is our Ultimate Goal?What is our Ultimate Goal?

When we meet our Maker face to face one day, this is what our utmost heart desire to hear Him say, “Well done, my good and faithful Steward.” (Matt 25:21, 1Cor. 4:2)

Questions:

• What would God expect me to take actions in these key resources, especially for Evangelizing?

• Are we ready to meet our Maker today?

My Stewardship Action Plan for

Evangelism

Money and Principles of GivingMoney and Principles of Giving  

What is Money?

• Medium of exchange

• A unit of account or measurement

• A store of wealth / value

• Neutral and amoral

• Jesus spoke 5 times as much about materials things as He did any other subject,

• 91 times in Matt, 57 times in Mark, 94 times in Luke and 88 times in John.

•16 out of 38 parables

•500+ verses on Prayer & Faith, while 2000+ verses deal with Money & Possession

•Why Money and Possessions are the most widely spoken about subject in the Bible?

• It is all about Man’s struggle with money and the condition of our hearts.

• He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver (Eccl. 5:10)

• You cannot serve God and Mammon. (Matt. 6:24)

• For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed form the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through many sorrows. ( Tim. 6:10)

• All our lives revolve around Money.

• Money can become an idol that will compete with God for Lordship of our lives. Money is not the sin, our love of it is.

• How we use Money impacts our relationship with God Scripture warns us that if we love money, we will never have enough and if we love wealth we will never be satisfied.

• It is important to note that God is not interested in your money, but He is interested in how you use your money, because it is a clear indicator of where your heart is . (Mark 12)

E. Stanley Jones said, “You cannot serve GOD and mammon, but you can serve GOD with mammon”

•MONEY is a wonderful servant but horrible master.

• God’s purposes for Money :

• Provide for our needs (2 Th. 3:10 -15, 1 Tim. 6:8-10)

• Test our stewardship and obedience (Eccl. 5:13-14, Rom. 9:6, Mal. 3:8-12)

•Provide for evangelizing the poor and needy through our Giving (Pro. 11:24-28, Rom.12:13a)

• God delight in the prosperity of His servants :

• Let the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.

(Ps. 35:27)

•Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 2)

Tithing (How do we give?)“I never would have been able to

tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $ 1.50 per week.” John D. Rockefeller, Sr.(Net Worth $ 663f Billions)

• Give The LORD, The first part of each day, The first day of each week and The first tenth of your income. (Dr. John Edmund Haggai)

• People go through 3 conversions in the Christian faith : their head, their heart, and their pocketbook – unfortunately, not all at the same time!

(Martin Luther King)

• If you don’t have much, but give _ you will have more. But if you don’t give, whatever you have will never b enough. (D.L. Moody)

8.Principles of Giving :8.Principles of Giving :

1. Give to God first (1 Chro. 29;14-16)

2. Give FIRST 10% as The plus other Offerings (Lev. 27:30, Exo.23:19,2 Cor. 9:6-7)

3.Give to your local church

4. Give Wisely : The investment of God’s resources must be done with wisdom. Give first to one’s home church, and then to ministries you have a burden for.

5. Give regularly

6.Give Faithfully (1 Cor. 2:4, Heb 11:6)

7.Give Cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:7)

“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, no reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a Cheerful giver.”

8.Give Without Seeking Recognition (Matt. 6:2-3)

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” “So that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

• It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving. (Mother Teresa)

• Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.

(John D. Rockefeller, Jr.)

• Give me five minutes with a person’s checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is. (Billy Graham)

• Giving is more than a responsibility – it is a privilege; more than an act of obedience – it is evidence of our faith (William Arthur Ward)

“He is no fool to give what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot)

You reap what you sowed. (Luke 6:38)

“Give...” That’s the investment (sowing).“... and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.”That’s the return of investment (reaping).

“For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” That’s the guarantee.

Principles of Spending

• Set Right Priority : Income -> Giving -> Saving -> Spending

(Spending is the last priority)

• Seek Permission from the Owner first Principle of Stewardship, ask GOD)

• Live simply : Be content, Live within your means. (Phil. 4:11-13, 1Thes. 4:11-12)

• Avoid impulsive buying Use of shopping list and control emotion)

• Develop SMART financial goals (Prov. 27:23)

• Never spends your money before you have it

(Thomas Jefferson)

Principles of DEBT Management

• Debt is discourage– Debt is considered slavery

–Debt was a curse of disobedience; Freedom from Debt was reward of obedience

–Debt presumes on the future

• Repay what is borrowed

• How to be DEBT Free?

• Pray (Phil. 4:6)

• No new debt

• Reduce Spending

Debt Repayment Plan–Earning, Giving, Spending (Controlled), list of Debts

–Repayment plan for each Debt

•We come to this world with nothing, and certainly we leave this world with nothing!

Fund Raising• Christian Donor’s Perspectives (5 common questions in donor’s mind) :

• What is the cause / need?

• Why must I give?

• How much do I need to give?

• Who is the beneficiary?

• When do I need to give?

What Christian Donor’s common expectations on fund raisers?

• Fulfill GOD’s purposes

• Prayerfully and Committed to Christ

• Strong conviction of GOD’s direction

• Good Track records with integrity

• Financial accountability and transparency

Biblical Model of Fund Biblical Model of Fund RaiserRaiser

Case Study 1Case Study 1

Key Characteristics of Good Fund Raiser

• Prayerful

• Passionate to the Cause

• Ability to ask effectively

• Persuasive

• Persistence

• Truthful / Integrity

• Social network / Good presentation skills

• Contacts with influential / resourceful people

• Creative and Innovative

• Able to deal with rejection

Communicating the Cause• Funds are usually only forthcoming

when a compelling case for supporting outlining the requirements and stating why your ministry deserves support is built. It involves a systematic presentation of opportunities for partnership for the expansion of the Kingdom and the work of God.

Most importantly :• Do the things that you are good at

• Find others to help you

• Keep on learning new things/ideas

• Get trained to acquire the necessary skill set

• Set up a network of support group of passionate leaders and donors

Biblical Model of Fund Raiser

Case Study 2

Evangelism is the very purpose of God from the very beginning to the very end. It can be done, it must be done and it will be done through you and me by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you so much!

God bless you,

your family and ministry!