Acceptable Stewardship

Messages for August 2018: Our Month of Stewardship

Message for Sunday 12^th August, 2018

Theme: Exploring the Adventures of Stewardship

Topic: Acceptable Stewardship

Introduction: From our text scripture of the month, it is clear that God wants us to render acceptable stewardship to Him and for that reason, we have been called to have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably.

How to render acceptable stewardship: How to render acceptable stewardship is indicated in Hebrews 12:28. The text reads as follows:

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

From this scripture, we gather that we render acceptable stewardship by:

1.     Serving God with the understanding that we have received a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Whereas every earthly kingdom will pass away, the kingdom of God is an eternal one and will overthrow every other kingdom. Thus what benefits we receive serving God are of eternal values. See Dan.2:44, Jn.3:16

2.     We serve God with grace: To have grace, we have to pray to God for it. In Heb.4:16, we are told to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Grace is divine ability and favour. Favour creates the opportunity while divine ability helps us to deliver on our opportunities. God does not want us to serve him in our own strength; that is fleshly service and unacceptable to God. We are to serve Him in spirit and in truth. See Jn.4:24 and Jn.15:5

3.     We have to serve God with reverence: Reverencing God is an indication that we hold Him in the highest esteem. This causes us to take heed to his word and do his word always ensuring that our motives, decisions and actions are governed by the word of the Lord. This is why Apostle Paul teaches us to serve God maintaining a good conscience before Him. See Prv.4:20-23; 1Tim.4:13-15; 1Tim.1:5, 19; Heb.13:18 and Col.3:16

4.     We have to serve God with Godly fear: At the root of every obedience in the kingdom of God is the fear of God. It is the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom which empowers us to depart from evil. The departure from sin is defined in Job 28:28 as understanding. See also, Prov.9:10

When is stewardship acceptable?

1.     When service of God is done with the right motive: The right motive for acceptable stewardship in God’s perspective is stewardship motivated by the love of God and people. 1Cor.13:1-3 and 1Jn.4:20

2.     When service of God is done by the right method: The right method is when it is done at the instance and with the leading of the Holy Spirit. Without the Lord we can do nothing which is why He tells us to abide in him. Stewardship is reflected in the fruitfulness of the steward. Therefore, if the service is an acceptable one, it would result in fruitfulness. See Jn.15:5; Rm.8:14-16 and Jn.12:26

3.     When service of God is done with the right material: The two principal instruments for rendering acceptable stewardship are the word of God and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads us using the word of God because the Spirit and the Word agree. As a matter of fact, whatever the Holy Spirit says always agrees with the word of God in principle. In Acts 13:1-3, the Holy Spirit said to separate Paul and Barnabas for the work He had for them. As they went, He confirmed the word they preached with signs following. The next chapter, the teachers and prophets were named Apostles because of their faithful stewardship. They preached the word at the leading of the Holy Spirit and gave God the glory. See Acts 14:14-15.

4.     For a service to be acceptable, it has to be rendered with joy and gladness of heart. We are told in 2Cor.9:7 that God loves a cheerful giver. In fact, in the Old Testament, failure to worship God with joy and gladness of heart attracted a curse of serving the enemy in hunger, thirst and want of all things. Deu.28:47-48.

More could be said here but for time and space we would stop here. Next week we shall be looking at Stewardship in the family. Meanwhile someone may be reading this blog today that is yet to make Jesus Christ the Lord of his/her life. It is only in Christ Jesus that there is salvation and the first step to that is the new birth experience. If you want to have this experience today, please say the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be born again:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name! Amen.

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please worship with us at Kingdom Joint Heirs Family Churches 25/27 David Adesanya Str. 0ff Akarapa Rd. Igborosun Badagry L. G. A. Lagos or visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.