Category Archives: stewardship

ENOUGH

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This fall at PCBC we walked through a series of messages asking the question, “How much is enough?” “When is enough, enough?” “How much is enough to give?” “How much is enough to keep?”

Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Liberating Truths That Lead to a Life of Generosity

1. God owns everything.
“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” Psalm 24:1-2
“‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:8 God owns any and all kinds of currency and wealth.
“You have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:20 God owns all of us.

2. We are stewards. We are managers of all that is His.

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.” I Corinthians 4: 1-2

3. What we sow determines what we reap. (vs. 6) Whatever you put in the ground is what’s coming up later. This natural law is spiritual law as well.

4. God wants us to be generous and cheerful givers. (vs. 7) The amount of the blessing of your harvest is determined by how much you sow. The question is not, “How much should I sow?” The question is, “How much do I want to be blessed?”

5. We are blessed to be a blessing. (vs. 8-11) We’re “enriched in every way SO THAT you can be generous on every occasion.” The moment we hang on to the blessings of God, His blessing stops.

6. God prospers us, not to raise our standard of living, but to raise our standard of giving. (vs. 10-11) The way we excel in giving is when we determine to cap our lifestyle.

7. How we spend our money reveals our hearts and exposes our priorities. (vs. 11)

8. God multiplies our giving into transformed lives. (vs.12-14) Only God can do that.

9. Our giving is an act of worship. (vs. 15) Oswald Chambers defined worship as “Giving back to God the very best He has given me.”

The Generosity Challenge: “Test me in this” Malachi 3:10
• Start giving
• Become a percentage giver
• Give the tithe
• Give beyond the tithe

God issues the challenge to us all. He dares us to believe in Him, to trust that He will be faithful. At the start of this Christmas season, determine to be a giver. This will be the greatest Christmas you’ve ever known if you will simply practice the simple truth of Jesus: It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Missional Church-Simple.

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2011 Resolution for pastors and church leaders: Turn your church inside out for the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of the mission of Jesus… for the sake of your congregation.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arxfLK_sd68]

An Upside Down Under Christmas

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If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? For me, it was always Australia. Several years ago Stacy and I experienced a dream come true as we found ourselves in Sydney, Cairns, and the Great Barrier Reef. If you were to go “Down Under” this time of the year- to Australia (or New Zealand)- you would truly experience, what we might call, an “upside down Christmas”. You see, in Australia it’s summertime. December through February is the warmest time of the year and Christmas is right in the middle of summer. Santa is coming to town on a surfboard and Rudolph’s red nose is going to need some sunscreen. The only white Christmas they’ll see is the white sand of the beach and watch for koalas instead of elves. It’s cooler in the south and it’s warmer in the north and the currents flow in opposite directions. Don’t throw another log on the fire unless you’re putting it on the “barbie”. What a strange Christmas that would be for those of us who live on the “right” side of the world.

This year Stacy and I want our family to have an upside down Christmas. In fact, I want to challenge you to have an upside down Christmas as well. We’re going to make this Christmas different in many ways. As you know, Christmas is celebrated differently around the world. No doubt, Christians in America are conflicted about all that this season has become. It is no surprise to any of us that here in America it has become a season of over-consumerism and materialism. So much so that those of us who truly want to celebrate the Savior’s birth need to be very intentional in doing so.

This year I’m devoting myself to an upside down Christmas. I want Christmas to look altogether different from what our world has made it out to be. Instead of the rat race of shopping, I’m going to slow down and spend more time in conversation with those I love. Instead of seeing what I might get, I’m going to focus on the joy of giving myself away to others. Instead of racing through the holidays, I’m going to pause and pray and thank God for His Son, my Savior. Instead of looking through the latest catalog of gifts available, I’m going to look through His Word and discover the gift of His love for me. Instead of peering under the tree to see what’s there for me, I’m going to kneel at the manger and gaze into the infant face of my Redeemer. There will be gifts but I’m having an upside down Christmas.

It’s always been that way you know- upside down. The big God became small. Spirit took on flesh. Holiness came to a sinful world. The perfect was clothed in imperfection. The sinless took on sin. The eternal stepped into time. The One who is life died for me. What an upside down Christmas. “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” 1 Corinthians 1:27. What an upside Savior. That’s the God we worship. That’s the God of Christmas. Let’s make this one different. Let’s have an upside down Christmas.

Merry Christmas from the Warren family to you and yours.

The Myth of More

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We often think, “the more I have the better off I’ll be.  The more I have the happier I’ll be.”  Someone said, “I know money can’t buy happiness but I would sure love to figure that out through my own personal experience.”  Well, you don’t need to.  In fact, the entire book of Ecclesiastes is a primer on wisdom learned from mistakes made by a man who had it all.  Solomon wrote the book (and God put it in the Bible) so that we could all learn from his experience.  He was the wealthiest man in the world.  In Ecclesiastes 5:10-17 he reveals the myth of having more. In his little book, The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn breaks it down like this:

The more you have…

The more you want (vs. 10), the less you’re satisfied (vs. 10), the more people will come after it (vs. 11), the more you realize it does you no good (vs. 11), the more you have to worry about (vs. 12), the more you can hurt yourself by holding on to it (vs. 13), the more you have to lose (vs. 14), and the more you leave behind (vs. 15).

J. D. Rockefeller was, at one time the wealthiest man on earth.  When he died a reporter asked the executor of the Rockefeller’s estate, “How much did he leave behind?”  The executor answered, “All of it.”

Giving is the only antidote to materialism.

When you embrace the fact that God owns all that you have, then you’re free to give out of adoration and celebration- not out of obligation or calculation.  People who’ve been set free from their stuff give joyfully- it’s the hilarious giver that Paul talks about. Instead, people have all kinds of strange ideas about giving, about giving 10%, about the offering…

God prospers me, not to raise my standard of living but my standard of giving.

The truth is, most of us are working- not to fund our needs but to fund a lifestyle that we’ve chosen lifestyle.  At the core of the missional life is one who is a GIVER- and YES, it starts with our money because money is number one deterrent to living a life of generosity.

Five Things You Can Do With Your Money (the world’s way):

1. Spend it  2. Repay debt  3. Pay taxes  4. Save it  5. Give it

The Financial Flip-flop (God’s way):

1. Give it  2. Save it  3. Pay taxes  4. Repay debt  5. Spend it

Here’s what I’ve learned: Underneath this entire conversation about holding loosely to your stuff is this: a proper understanding of GRACE.  If you have come to realize that you are a sinner saved by grace then you will practice radical generosity- not just in certain areas of your life, but in every aspect of your life.   When you realize the cost of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and how He has bought you to be His own- how He has given His life for you to set you free from sin, guilt, and hell- then you begin to live in that freedom.  You’re not bound to the things of this world.  Then, and only then, will you lighten up.