In this series of teaching on stewardship, John Cole revised and taught from a published course made available without copyright by local church pastors shared for churches like ours. Read the handout notes here...

INTRODUCTION

James 2:18

Colossians 3:17

Matthew 25:14-30

THE MASTER: GOD

God Owns Everything

Psalm 24:1–2

Job 41:11

1 Timothy 4:4–5

1 Timothy 6:17

Biblical self-denial recognizes God’s goodness in wealth and doesn’t reject it, but seeks to submit it under Christ’s Lordship.

The secret to managing the things God has given us is not to run away from them but to understand why He gave them.

God Gives People Their Wealth

Gen. 1:28-30

1 Cor. 4:7

1 Chronicles 29:16

1 Samuel 2:7

THE SERVANTS: HUMANITY

We Don’t Own What We Own!

Eccl. 5:15; 1 Tim. 6:7

We’re Only Stewards of What We’ve Been Given

Exod. 20:2

1. They’re not to be used for our sole purpose, but God’s.

2. We’ll be held accountable for how we use our master’s wealth (Romans 14:12).

3. We must justify how we use all of our wealth, not just what we give to church, but what we also spend on ourselves.

4. Getting wealthy isn’t an end in itself.

POOR STEWARDSHIP: EVIDENCE OF NO FAITH

The faithful servants trusted their master’s word and his goodness .

Matt. 6:24

Faithful Stewardship: Glorifying God

In the parable, why were the first two servants commended as good and faithful?

Gal. 6:7

CONCLUSION

1. It frees us from our circumstances (Phil. 4:11)

2. It frees us from guilt

3. It frees us to be generous