Opening Prayer

A Stewardship Story

LESSON 14 THE CHRISTIAN AND STEWARDSHIP

TRUTH # 1

Psalm 24:1 1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

- Godcreated Truth #1 us together with all things

1 Corinthians 6: Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

- Godcreated Truth #1 us together with all things - God Redeemed us by Jesus’ death on the cross TRUTH #1 We belong to God completely, body & soul; He made us and He redeemed us.

TRUTH # 2

1 Peter 4:10 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

- God is theowner; Truth #2 we are thestewards (managers)

Matthew 25: "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

Matthew 25: "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' 21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 22 "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' 23 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

Matthew 25: "Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 26 "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

Matthew 25: " 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

- God is theowner; Truth #2 we are thestewards (managers) - What God has given us, much or little, should be used as God wills; - We remain responsible to Him. TRUTH #2 We are stewards of God’s things that He gives to us.

- God is theowner; Truth #2 we are thestewards (managers) - What God has given us, much or little, should be used as God wills; - We remain responsible to Him. TRUTH #2 We are stewards of God’s things that He gives to us. Some things that God has made us stewards of: T timetalents treasure temple

TRUTH # 3

1 Corinthians 4:2 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

- God expects us to befaithful Truth #3 stewards

Romans 13: And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

- God expects us to befaithful Truth #3 stewards - We should serve with what we have while we have the chance.

Matthew 25: "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

- God expects us to befaithful Truth #3 stewards - We should serve with what we have while we have the chance. - We areaccountable to God for how we use our gifts. TRUTH #3 Christian stewards will be faithful stewards.

TRUTH # 4

2 Corinthians 5: For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Truth #4 TRUTH #4 The one word that explains WHY we want to be faithful stewards is LOVE Jesus’ love for us which leads us to love Jesus and all people.

TRUTH # 5

John 15: If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Truth #5 TRUTH #5 We will find joy and contentment when we serve God as his faithful stewards.

TRUTH # 6

Matthew 25: "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' 21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

- The more faithfully we serve, the more God will extend to us. Truth #6

Matthew 25: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

- The more faithfully we serve, the more God will extend to us. Truth #6 On the Last Day Jesus will mention the works of faithful stewards as evidence of their faith.

Matthew 25:21,23 21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' 23 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

- The more faithfully we serve, the more God will extend to us. Truth #6 On the Last Day Jesus will mention the works of faithful stewards as evidence of their faith. He will say Well done, good and faithful servant. TRUTH #6 God will commend faithful stewards.

His Word in My Life Agree or Disagree: It’s wrong to put money aside for yourself in a savings account.

His Word in My Life Evaluate: Johny said: “We tip the waitress at the restaurant 15 percent to thank her. It seems to me that any decent Christian would give at least that much of his or her income in offerings to thank God.”

His Word in My Life George said, “I don’t have to help out the needy because I already help them by paying for welfare with my taxes.” How do you answer George?

His Word in My Life Agree or disagree: Giving a needy person a handout is actually harmful because it teaches that person to be lazy.

SUBJECT: John Doe YEARLY INCOME: $32,000 EXPENSEYEARLY COST% OF INCOME TAXES$4,80015% RENT & UTILITIES$7, % COLLEGE LOAN PAYMENTS$7, % FOOD & CLOTHING$2,0006.3% CAR PAYMENTS$4, % CAR INSURANCE & GAS$1,8505.8% OTHER INSURANCE$4101.3% CABLE BILL$4801.5% RECREATION / VACATION$1,2003.8% CHURCH OFFERINGS$4801.5% TOTAL EXPENSES$30, % AMOUNT LEFT FOR SAVINGS $ %

1 Corinthians 16:1-2 1Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

$1K$2, 500 $5K$10 K $15K$20K$25K$30K$40K$50K$60K$80K$100 K 1% year$10$25$50$100$150$200$250$300$400$500$600$800$1,000 week$0.19$0.4 8 $0.96$1.92$2.88$3.85$4.81$5.77$7.69$9.62$11.54$15.38$ % Year$30$75$150$300$450$600$750$900$1,200$1,500$1,800$2,400$3,000 Week$0.58$1.4 4 $2.88$5.77$8.65$11.54$14.42$17.31$23.08$28.85$34.62$46.15$ % Year$50$125$250$500$750$1,000$1,250$1,500$2,000$2,500$3,000$4,000$5,000 Week$0.96$2.4 0 $4.81$9.62$14.42$19.23$24.04$28.85$38.46$48.08$57.69$76.92$ % Year$70$175$350$700$1,050$1,400$1,750$2,100$2,800$3,500$4,200$5,600$7,000 Week$1.35$3.3 7 $6.73$ $20.19$26.92$33.65$40.38$53.85$67.31$80.77$ $ % Year$90$225$450$900$1,350$1,800$2,250$2,700$3,600$4,500$5,400$7,200$9,000 Week$1.73$4.3 3 $8.65$ $25.96$34.62$43.27$51.92$69.23$86.54$ $ $ % Year$110$275$550$1,10 0 $1,650$2,200$2,750$3,300$4,400$5,500$6,600$8,800$11,00 0 Week$2.12$5.2 9 $10.58$ $31.73$42.31$52.88$63.46$84.62$ $ $ $ % Year$130$325$650$1,30 0 $1,950$2,600$3,250$3,900$5,200$6,500$7,800$10,40 0 $13,00 0 Week$2.50$6.2 5 $12.50$ $37.50$50.00$62.50$75.00$ $ $ $ $ % Year$150$375$750$1,50 0 $2,250$3,000$3,750$4,500$6,000$7,500$9,000$12,00 0 $15,00 0 Week$2.88$7.2 1 $14.42$ $43.27$57.69$72.12$86.54$ $ $ $ $ Salary

His Word in My Life Take this time to talk to your youth about your Congregational offerings and Grow in Christ Commitments.

Closing Prayer

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT WEEK 1.Study carefully the notes you have taken in class; be sure you understand them. 2.Complete the “Working with God’s Word” section. 3.Memorize these Bible passages: VIP 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again.” 1 Corinthians 4:2 – “It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” 1 Peter 4:10 – “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 4. Complete Worksheet #14 and have your parents correct it.

Key Truths Lesson Fourteen We belong to God since he ________________ us and ________________ us by Jesus' death on the cross. God owns all things. We're managers (________________ ) of God's things. God has given us T_______________, T_______________, T_______________ & a T________________ to manage. One word that explains WHY we want to manage these things well is ________________. God will bless us with ________________ and ________________ when we're faithful stewards.

Key Truths Lesson Fourteen We belong to God since he CREATED us and REDEEMED us by Jesus' death on the cross. God owns all things. We're managers (STEWARDS) of God's things. God has given us TIME, TALENTS, TREASURE & a TEMPLE to manage. One word that explains WHY we want to manage these things well is LOVE. God will bless us with JOY and CONTENTMENT when we're faithful stewards.