1 Stewardship: The Big Picture Session 1 Don Christensen Ronald Blue & Co., LLC

2 20 million light years away 1 light year = 5.88 trillion miles

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4 Grace flowing down

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6 Our Life On Earth Our Life In HEAVEN What do you believe? How you live your life will show it

7 The “Oikonomia Principle” All that we are and all that we have belongs to God. He has temporarily entrusted it to us to manage according to his wishes

8 STEWARDSHIP: … managing everything we have been “given” (resources, relationships, spiritual giftedness, time) with the ONE goal of glorifying God for eternity in the process.

9 The gifts we are stewards of Our Time Our Spouse Our Children Our Wealth Our Spiritual Gifts Our Ministry of Reconciliation Our Leadership and Leaders

10 This is the wisest financial decision you will ever make – to do finances in a way that honors Christ. Make the decision to give your all to him.

11 In Christ’s Kingdom we understand the purpose for earthly wealth is to invest it in Eternity and the Kingdom to come

12 God’s five purposes for our lives We are called to Worship Fellowship Grow like Christ Serve Others Be on Mission for God in the World

13 The world vs. God What is money?

14 The World says Wealth is Power / security Prestige / a sign of success He who dies with the most toys wins (you are still dead)

15 What do think about this American Statistic 56% of all divorces are the result of financial pressure. Would that be true here?

16 GOD A TOOL A TOOL A TEST A TEST A TESTIMONY A TESTIMONY A TOOL A TOOL A TEST A TEST A TESTIMONY A TESTIMONY

17 What does the Bible say about Money? There are 2,350 verses in the Bible about Money. One out of every six verses in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is about material possessions. Nearly half of Jesus’ parables are about money Jesus spoke more about money and how to use it than he did about heaven and hell combined.

18 Two primary misconceptions about money Look at your handout

19 Paul’s warning and solutions to handling wealth To the Poor – I Tim. 6:9-10 To the Rich– I Tim. 6:17-18 The Solution – I Tim. 6:6-8

20 Give me a new definition of what it means to be wealthy A truly wealthy person is a person who is content with what he or she has.