Stewardship
An administration or management
We are entrusted as stewards in a number of roles by God.
We have been given a stewardship in many areas of life. Some of them include money, possessions, and our ministry. We are called to manage and fulfill our role as a steward in all these areas so that God can be most glorified through us.
Ministry
God has sovereignly called and commissioned us with knowledge and opportunity to serve Him in a variety of roles. Just as everyone has different gifts we all have been given different responsibilities. Our role is to be a good steward of where we are in the body of Christ.
In the Bible we see many examples of God’s people faithfully and unfaithfully handling the stewardship given them by God. In the Old Testament we see an incredible example in Noah, who was faithful in all that God had called him to. He spent years building a massive ark in the middle of the desert though it had never rained on the earth. Imagine the persecution and ridicule from those who knew Noah.
How have our persecutors/enemies deterred us from our task?
What do we need to do to get back on track?
What would it take for us to remain faithful to a task like Noah’s for years?
The worst example of poor stewardship has to be that of our father Adam--because of his disobedience, all humanity is destined for hell. He was given stewardship over the garden and was promised that it would provide for him and Eve all that they needed. He was disobedient to God and followed Eve’s lead and ate of the tree of life, bringing damnation on all of humanity.
In what ways do resemble Adam and Noah in our stewardship?
What can we learn from the example of these two men?
In the New Testament Paul was very much aware of the stewardship he had been given by the Lord. We see it throughout his writings here are just a couple examples:
· Colossians 2:25: “…of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the word of God.” We see in this verse that Paul was a steward of the church at Colossae. His responsibility was to make the Word of God fully known through preaching and teaching.
· Ephesians 3:2: “…assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you.” When we read this verse in the context of Ephesians 3 we see that what Paul is referring to is his responsibility to share the grace of God to the Gentiles. We can all be thankful that Paul was a faithful steward of what God had called him to.
What does it mean practically for us to be stewards of the ministry God has given to us?
What ministry stewardships has God given us that we need to be faithful too?
