Stewardship: Faithful Management of God's Gifts

``Increase doesn't come because you are asking loudly. Increase doesn't come because you are fasting and you are praying. I'm trying to help the church. I hear you sister Inez. Increase does not you're praying in the spirit. Increase comes because you have been proven faithful to what god has already put in your hands. Beloved, hear me. Stewardship is an invitation to multiply because when you steward faithfully, heaven can trust you with more. [01:38:02] (46 seconds)  #FaithfulStewardship

yet none of that is true because I'm here to announce your skill, time, your talent, your money. It all belongs to the Lord. You owe nothing. I I I don't care whose name is on the deed. It's just temporary. I don't care whose name is on the title. It's just temporary. If you don't believe me, God forbid, die tomorrow. And see if that house, that car that you pride yourself, that you own, see if it'll go with you to heaven. [01:24:54] (49 seconds)  #EverythingBelongsToGod

Because God is not gonna continue to cast that which is holy unto the dogs. If you continue to mistreat your body, then you can't ask god. If you continue to feed your mind with world stuff, you can't God is saying to us, what what how are you managing what I've already given to you. That means how you steward the little that God gives your it's a test. Somebody say it's a test. It's a test for what's coming next. Because if you can't steward the $1, why would God give you 10? If you won't budget the $100 with wisdom, how will you handle a thousand? [01:35:51] (71 seconds)  #StewardshipIsATest

Discipline is the necessary effort that makes your relationship with Jesus Christ powerful and meaningful, but discipline is not fun. Discipline is tedious. Discipline is boring. It requires a repeated effort, which is the cause of sweat, aches, and sometimes even tears. Discipline is not pleasant, but yet it is necessary to move beyond average into the territory of extraordinary. [01:19:25] (52 seconds)  #DisciplineForExcellence

and and I and let me pause here. I believe reverend Hollis said it this morning that even the air you breathe in don't belong to you. So so what does it mean to be a faithful steward? The very first thing and the most important thing that a faithful steward must understand is that everything somebody say everything. Everything, your money, your time, your abilities, your clothes, your hair, your shoes. Look at your neighbor, say everything. Your house, your car your refrigerator, your washer and dryer, your stovetop, all of it belongs to God. [01:25:49] (59 seconds)  #AllIsGods

My brothers and sisters, whether it is a little or whether it is a lot, stewardship is not just about giving and saving. I'm preaching better than some of y'all responding right now. Stewardship Stewardship is not about giving and saving, but it's about how you use every resource that God has given unto you. Lord. I'm in the Bible, reverend Williams. It's in the text. [01:29:24] (32 seconds)  #UseResourcesWisely

My grandmother constantly every day ever since I was in college told me, Darrell, write your stuff down. Look at where your stuff is going. I didn't do it until I became mature enough to understand that that's just good stewardship. That's just good stewardship. And I I got a book every month. I go in, and I begin writing my stuff that I don't care if it's automatic. I don't care if it's draft. I'm in that book. I'm writing that stuff down. And what I've discovered is that when I write stuff down and see where it's going, God then brings about increase because I'm showing him that I'm a good steward. [01:37:02] (54 seconds)  #RecordToIncrease

And and I remember when I got my car and I made a vow to God. I said, God, every time you bless me with a new car, I won't drive it nowhere until I first drive it to church. I I won't show my family and friends all of what I what what I got until I first show you, and and I treat I treat the stuff that I get just like that. I I don't wear a suit nowhere until I first wear it to church. I I I don't wear shoes anywhere until I first wear it to church because the first place that the shoes, the clothes, anything folks get me is gonna show up is in the church. [01:31:07] (45 seconds)  #FirstToChurch

The second thing that we must understand about stewardship are y'all with me? The second thing that we must understand about stewardship is that it is based on hear this. Can God trust you? Oh, come on, angels. Help me. Because in this little part here, they might get a little antsy. They might get a little disturbed. Stewardship is not about how much you trust God, but can God trust you? [01:32:14] (37 seconds)  #CanGodTrustYou

Discipline is necessary because faithful stewardship goes against our sinful human nature, because you don't like to be owned by anyone, including God. We have a desire to own, possess, and control our own lives, make our own decisions, and bear somebody to tell us what to do. But when you really get to the root of the issue of your desire to own, possess, and control your own lives, the root issue is truly idolatry. [01:23:39] (45 seconds)  #IdolatryOfOwnership

God has entrusted us. God has entrusted you and I with these resources not as owners, but as caretakers, stewards. We own nothing. [01:26:58] (17 seconds)  #WeAreCaretakers

Because stewardship is not about, is not about only giving and saving, but it's about how you use it. How you use that resource that God has given to you to honor God and to serve others. [01:31:52] (22 seconds)  #UseToHonorAndServe

My brothers and sisters, here's the reason why the lord has led us to talk about these disciplines. And this morning, we are talking about stewardship is because we have to understand that stewardship is only given to us. God only adds to us when we have a proven management record. [01:35:27] (24 seconds)  #ProvenManagementMatters

When God used people in the Bible to change communities and nations, those individuals were disciplined in their relationship with God. Whether those persons worship, whether they prayed three times a day, whether they turned the plate over, spent quality time in the presence of God, God honored their disciplined lifestyle and stepped into their situation and shifted everything around. [01:21:27] (38 seconds)  #DisciplinedFaithChangesNations

Those of you who may be familiar with team sports know that coaches need to set the culture of discipline When the team is not coached in the disciplines of detail and effort, the team's performance will suffer. The blessings of the talent may go a long way, but there will always come a point where discipline and the lack of diligence will lead to errors, breakdown, and eventually defeat. [01:20:17] (42 seconds)  #CoachTheCulture

And so it is in the body of Christ. The pastors, the spiritual leaders must develop within the people a culture of discipline so that the impact of our relationship with Jesus Christ will transform our families, our friends, our community, our nation, and our world. [01:20:58] (28 seconds)  #LeadersBuildDiscipline

The church of God can only rise as far as the culture of discipline that the members are willing to participate in. But if you will go through your faith journey and call on every excuse not to practice the disciplines of our faith, then in turn, we cannot expect God to show himself mighty and strong when we call out to him because no amount of preaching and teaching can overcome the lack of discipline. [01:22:15] (39 seconds)  #ChurchRisesWithDiscipline

God gives you a mind, God is gonna ask, how did you use the mind that I gave you? Lord, y'all ain't helping me. Let me talk to the folks over here. When god gives you a house, and some of y'all know how we like to go on social media and say, look what the lord has done. I'm blessed and highly favored, but the question is not how much he gave you. The question is is how you're gonna you how you're gonna use what he's given to you. [01:29:56] (40 seconds)  #UseTheMindGodGaveYou

Your mind, your body doesn't even belong to you. God is the source of every single thing that you have. And in order for you to be a good steward, you have to understand, acknowledge, and accept that even the clothes that you have in your closet don't belong to you. Stewardship stewardship, mother Grace, is not just managing money, but stewardship is how we manage it all. [01:27:15] (44 seconds)  #StewardEverything

We don't have time to look at it now, but those of you who who like to be good note takers of your pastors, sermons and messages, write this down. Matthew chapter 25 verses 14 through 30 shows us that god expects us to use what he has given wisely and productively. Because Matthew chapter 25 talks about an owner who entrusted his valuables with his servant and came back up and asked his servants to give an account for what they did with what they what they were given. [01:28:43] (41 seconds)  #Matthew25Accountability