find that image revealed to us, and it's through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit stamps that image of Christ in our lives. So let's turn together to 1 Corinthians 16. We're nearing the conclusion of our study in this New Testament epistle. Today we deal with a very practical issue regarding the offering.
This is another area that apparently Paul had been asked about, for we notice that he begins this chapter with a familiar phrase that he has used before in the epistle, when he came to one of the main questions that the Corinthian church had asked him about. And that phrase is, now about. So Paul has gone down his list, he comes to the last question, and it deals with the offering which they were to be taking. And he says, now about the collection for God's people.
Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On 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. Then when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
One of the most sensitive issues to many people is the matter of their giving, their stewardship. And that's understandable because finances are by their very nature private, and to talk about them can be discomforting at times and always revealing. Because how a person spends his money tells you a great deal about him. Somebody has said that money doesn't make a fool out of anybody, it just shows him up. Well, that's the nature of money.
It reveals what we are, the way that we use it, that is, reveals what we are. The New Testament speaks a lot about money. In fact, someone has calculated that two out of every three parables that Jesus told dealt in some respect with money, two-thirds of them. Whether the proper use of it or how it is often misused. The question that is suggested by our text implies that Paul had taught them on a prior occasion about this offering.
They had known about it and now they had some questions that came to their minds regarding it. And so he writes to reinforce what he has already said to them. Paul gave similar instructions to the Galatians and to the Macedonians, as is clear from other places in the Word of God, as we'll see in a few minutes. All of us need to consider what the Bible teaches regarding our giving. We are approached frequently, if we have a mailbox, to give for various causes.
We are approached to give by mass mailings. We are approached to give through the media and often from the pulpit as well. How are we to give? And what principles should guide us so that we give wisely and so that God is pleased with the way that we give? Well, if we look in our text today, we'll find some answers to these questions. Let's notice first of all the problem that is in view here. Why was an offering necessary?
Well it was necessary because there were saints in Jerusalem, believers in the city of Jerusalem, who were impoverished. Why they were impoverished, we are not certain. Probably it was because of persecution that came to them because of their faith. That persecution then caused them to lose their jobs or in some way to be impoverished so that they did not have enough money to live on.
And the apostle felt a great burden while he was ministering out among the Gentiles primarily that they should help the Jerusalem saints who were primarily Jewish in this time of their need. If you turn back a few pages to Romans chapter 15, we have another word about this. Romans was written after 1 and 2 Corinthians 2 for that matter. In Romans chapter 15, which by the way was probably written from Corinth, the apostle says this beginning in verse 25.
Here he's talking about his plans to visit them in the future. But in verse 25 he says, Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Macedonia was the area around Thessalonica. Achaia was the area around Corinth. So the apostle says that churches in both of those areas were participating in what he calls a contribution to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
Now the reason that Paul wrote ahead to the Corinthians was so that there would not be a frantic drive once he arrived there. I think that we can learn a couple of things from what is said in our text and also in Romans chapter 15. One application I would draw is this, that our primary social concern for the poor is not to the world in general. I recognize that that runs against the grain of some very well-meaning, socially-minded believers in our day.
But the primary concern among Christians for the poor is not to the world in general. We have a secondary responsibility to them. But almost every reference in the Bible in which it speaks about our ministry to the poor refers to our ministry to the poor among the people of God. That is to be our primary concern. Frankly, I am a little tired of the guilt trip that some people try to put on us as Christians because there are poor people in the world.
The Bible says there always will be poor people in the world. Poverty will never be conquered. We are to have a primary concern for the poor and the impoverished among the people of God and minister to them to meet their needs. Sometimes their needs cannot be measured in terms of dollars and cents.
Sometimes needs are greater in other ways, for example, in advice and counsel on how to spend money and to live on a budget, etc. But among God's people we are to have a primary concern to minister to those who are impoverished, whether it be because of the loss of a job, which is very prominent right now in our society, or whether it be because of persecution that a person is impoverished. Whatever we are to be concerned.
Sometimes it's ill health that causes people to be impoverished for at least a period of time. And we as God's people have a responsibility to minister to one another. And a secondary application I would draw is this. We should watch out for people who are habitually pleading for money in an emergency. Now I have moved three times in the last two years and consequently I've gotten off some mailing lists. There are some advantages to moving frequently and that's one of them.
For a period of time there I was getting a letter from a certain Christian organization that was always in an emergency. It would come in the form of something like a mail gram or a telegram and it would say that unless we hear from you by such and such a date, we're going off the air in your area. There was always this pleading pushing because of an emergency, a frantic drive to raise money. Now occasionally, I suppose any organization may come up against an emergency.
But when that happens habitually it means that there are problems somewhere. It may not be a spiritual problem, maybe a lack of common sense and decent administration within that organization. It may not be a spiritual problem, but there's a problem somewhere if an organization habitually is frantically trying to raise money for its ministry.
So watch out for that kind of an appeal and investigate it very carefully before you invest the money that God wants to give through you to people and to organizations. Be wise in that way. Somewhere down the road those organizations and people that habitually raise money in a crisis surrounding you are going to run out of people who will give because people are going to wise up to that kind of fundraising.
The problem before us here is that Paul was in a very carefully planned way trying to raise an offering for the needy saints in Jerusalem. That's the problem. Now as he addresses that problem he gives us some principles to follow in our giving. It is important for us folks to learn what God's principles of stewardship are. Because stewardship is a part of life. We are all involved in that. From the moment that we begin to receive an allowance from our parents we have some kind of an income.
And we need to learn even at that young tender age how to return a portion of that as a faithful steward to our God. I'd like for you to notice with me some of the principles regarding giving as we find them in our text today. The first principle is one that is woven throughout the language here and is sort of an assumption. And it is this, that giving is recognition of God's ownership.
So often we have the idea that what I earn is mine and out of what is mine I'm going to give a little bit to God. When we approach stewardship from that standpoint it shows that we have not discovered the first principle regarding our giving. And that is that everything we have belongs to God anyway. He is the one who prospers us. All we have is committed to us as a stewardship. The Bible calls us stewards. What is a steward? It is one who is responsible for somebody else's property.
The income that I get, the ways that God prospers me, all of that amounts to a stewardship which God commits to me. Now there are three basic ways in which God is pleased to prosper us. One is by working to earn money. That seems to be the least favorable way for us to prosper, but it's certainly the most important one and the one that most of us will know in life. God expects for us to follow a work ethic.
Get rich quick schemes are not of God and we ought to stay completely away from that kind of thing. One way in which God prospers us is that we earn money, as Smith Barney says we should. We work to earn. And then there's a second way that God prospers us is through investments. We invest money to earn. Now we need to be wise in doing that. These days of varying interest rates and varying ways of investing, we need to be wise in the way we invest our money to get the best return off of it.
God prospers us through our investments. And then the third way in which God prospers us is through gifts. We receive gifts or inheritances from people. And that is a way in which God does prosper us. And we're responsible, whether it comes to us as salary or as a dividend, often investment, or by a gift. We are responsible for what God gives to us. That's His way of prospering us. And then the way that we give back to God shows that we understand who the owner really is.
If we are miserly and frugal in our returning to God, if we are sparing, then it shows that we have not understood that all of it belongs to God anyway. You see, God gives us prosperity for several reasons, among them so that our needs can be met. God is concerned that we have clothing and food and a roof over our heads. And God will supply our basic needs as we are faithful in giving to Him. God prospers us so that we can have our needs met. Secondly, He prospers us to prove our character.
Riches are a worse trial than poverty. Did you know that? You probably, some of you would like to try the other side of it and just see if that is true. You've had enough testing of poverty, maybe. But you see, riches prove our character more than poverty does. How do we handle money? And then God prospers us, thirdly, to provide direction for our lives. There are times when God gives us guidance through giving us an abundance or perhaps withholding from us prosperity.
So that's another reason that God prospers us, to provide direction. He prospers us, fourthly, to provide for His ministry among His people and His work on the earth. And finally, He prospers us so that we can share with those who have need. Now the unfortunate thing is that too often we are so overly committed to what God prospers us that we are unable to have anything left to give to those who have need.
If we are so far in debt that we do not have money left over to help others, then somewhere along the way we have missed God's best. And we need to correct that. Because one of the reasons that God prospers us is so that we will have some set aside to help those who have need. God never gives us money to make us worry. It is not God's will that we be anxious. God doesn't give us money to corrupt us. If money is serving right now to undermine our spiritual lives, it is not of God.
God didn't give us prosperity to accomplish that. God doesn't give us money to build our ego. God doesn't want to make us proud. He doesn't give money to us to satisfy our every desire or greed, nor does He give us money to hoard. We are to save, but there is a difference between saving and hoarding up money.
If you would like to have some information on proper principles of the use of money, I would encourage you to look up the books of Larry Burkett, a very fine series of Bible studies in one book that he has, and another one is a text, I suppose, that goes along with the Bible study that you can get. I can't remember the name of the book right now. It is called Something Finances and Changing Times, but you can find those in the Christian bookstore.
I would encourage you to get that material by Larry Burkett. So giving is a recognition of God's ownership. When I return to the Lord a portion of that which He gives to me, I am saying, I recognize, Father, that You own it all, and as a symbol of my recognition of that fact, I am returning this gift to You out of gratefulness. Principle number two is clear in our text. He says, on the first day of every week, you should do thus and so. That tells us that giving is to be systematic.
It is to be regular and thoughtful. It is to be planned. It is not to be haphazard. It is not to be occasional, but it is to be given regularly on the first day of every week. Now, it was very logical for Paul to say this, because in those days, normally a person got paid at the end of every day for his labor of that day. And so on the first day of the week, he would figure how much he was going to give God out of that last week's salary.
In our day, the people get paid every two weeks, sometimes every month. There are others who are on a commission. And I believe the principle is that every time that we are prospered by God, when our salary comes in or that check comes in for our commission, whatever it is, that at that point then we are to figure what we are going to give God and do it systematically and regularly.
Never saying, well, I'll put it off this month and I'll give twice as much next month, because the problem is that that never happens. Once we get behind, it's very difficult to get caught up. And so just giving regularly is the best way to do it. Now, why on the first day of every week? Well, he's indicating here that that was the day when the saints met. The saints no longer met on the Sabbath, because that was a part of the old covenant.
They met on the first day of the week, because that was the day when our Lord rose from the dead. And probably they met in the evening. The Roman government did not have Sunday Blue Laws. Everything that went right on is scheduled on Sunday, the first day of the week. That meant nothing to the government of the Roman Empire. So consequently, the Christians worked on Sunday.
But they would gather probably on Sunday evening for a time of communion and fellowship and teaching and prayer and sharing together. And it was at that time that they were to bring what they had collected that week as an offering for the Lord. Principle number three is also clear in our text, where he says, on this first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money. The third principle is that giving is to be universal and individual.
In other words, each and all have a part in giving. It's the responsibility of every Christian, for we are all stewards in some respect. It's not talking here to just the wealthy. It's not talking to just the leaders or the teachers, nor is it talking only to the adults or just to the married or to the career people.
He's talking here to all of us, whether we be children who receive an allowance or students who work their way through college or young marrieds who are struggling to get it all together, to lay a foundation, a financial foundation for the marriage. All of us have a responsibility in stewardship. Let every one of you do this, says the New Testament. We are all prospered by God. Let me ask you a question. What are you doing in terms of your own stewardship? You say, well, I don't get very much.
Do you get anything? If you get something, God has prospered you that something. And recognizing that he is the owner of that, you should return a portion of that to him. Let every one of you do this, he says, irregardless of age or sex or marital status, every one of you. Principle number four, giving is to be a continual practice. He says this in the tense of the verb, each one of you should set aside a sum of money. Literally he says, let him continually put storing up.
That doesn't make a lot of sense in the English, but the point of it in the original language as Paul wrote it was, that it was a continual process, the storing up to give. Paul was going to come and take this special offering they were setting aside for the poor saints in Jerusalem. And the implication is that even after that offering was to be received and distributed, that they would keep on doing this. It was to be a habit of their life, a continual practice. Is it that way with you?
You know, there are some people who get under conviction about giving every now and then, and so they'll write out a check for a certain amount of money to sab their conscience, and they say, now, I'm going to get back to it. And for two or three weeks everything's just fine because they're determined they're going to do it, and then pretty soon they begin to slack off. The bills come in for electricity during that cold month of January, and the gas bill's high and all the rest.
Food's getting more costly. They say, well, I just can't give it this month. That isn't God's plan at all. The very first thing we should do with the increase that God gives us is to determine the amount we're going to give to God, and then care for the rest of our bills after that. What we owe God is by far more important than what we may owe the gas company or any other debtor that we have. There should not be a conflict.
If we are managing our finances the way that God intends for us to manage them, then we're going to have enough money to care for all of our obligations. But our first obligation is to God, and it's a continual obligation that we have to Him. Principle number five in our text. Giving is to be proportionate. He says, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, leaving it up. In other words, the more we prosper, the more we are expected to give.
Charles Swindoll said, the measure of God's blessing to us is the measure of our giving to Him. In other words, the more that God is pleased to pour out to us, the more that we ought to be pleased to pour out to Him. Our giving is to be proportionate. It is to be in keeping with our income. Now personally, I believe that this exceeds the thumb rule of tithing. There are some people who are very strong on tithing, and frankly I am not. I used to be.
In fact, I used to preach storehouse tithing, which is a good Southern Baptist way to support a church ministry. And you better do that in the South, I suppose, if you're in that kind of an orientation. But now, backing away from that situation and after studying through it a few years on this matter of stewardship, I do not believe that storehouse tithing is God's method. I believe that our responsibility in this age is greater than that which the Jews had in the Old Testament.
In fact, the concept that the Jews gave 10 percent to the Lord is not really correct. Because you see, there were several tithes which the Jews were to give in ancient Israel. And this was not only for the support of the temple, but it was for the support of the government of Israel as well. Actually, their annual giving to the temple and to the government amounted to about 23 to 25 percent of their total income. So the idea that they gave just 10 percent is not really correct anyway.
I believe that any person who would do less under grace, and what the Jews were required to do under law, is a disgrace to grace. God has been so bountiful to us in this age in establishing with us a covenant based upon the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he cares for us in such marvelous ways that our giving to him should be well above that which was expected from the Jews of old. But there is a principle here, and that is that giving is to be proportionate.
I don't think that the best thing to do is to sit down and to say, well, I got $1,200 this last month, 10 percent of that, and calculate it that way. In fact, some writers say to get out of the habit of 10 percent, figure 9 percent, or 11 percent, to stop figuring 10 percent. Let me share with you what I'm talking about when I say that proportionate giving is not exactly the same thing as tithing. Let's suppose here's a man who earns $10,000. A tithe of his income amounts to $1,000.
That means he has $9,000 left over. Here's a man who earns $100,000. A tithe of his income is $10,000. That means he can live on $90,000. Here's a man who lives on $9,000, and here's a man who lives on $90,000. It seems to me that illustrates the principle of the tithe. Proportionate giving is something different. The man who earns $10,000 determines what portion he will give to God out of his $10,000. He may say that I have to live in order to supply for the needs of my family.
I have to have $9,500. Here's the rent and here's all the rest. This is the basic, and God knows that. So he gives proportionately according as he can according to his income. But here's a man who earns $100,000. He doesn't need $90,000 to live on. He should be responsible to live on a budget just as much as the man who earns $10,000. He will have more expenses undoubtedly because of his job and other things associated with his life.
But because he earns that amount of money, it does not liberate him to live a free lifestyle. He is to have a restrained, sensible lifestyle, a godly lifestyle that enables him probably to give much more than just $10,000 to the work of the Lord. He may be able to give 50% of his income to the Lord's work and live well on the other $50,000. Do you understand what I'm saying? The more that God gives to us, the more we are responsible to return to him. And it means much more than just a tithe.
Some people, I think tithe basically to soothe their conscience and they feel, well, I've bought God off for another month because I've given my 10%. Well, it just doesn't work that way. There's a sixth principle that I see here regarding our stewardship, and it is that the giving of our lives should be generous. He says in the last part of verse 2, do all of this so that when I come, no collections will have to be made.
Paul wanted them to give generously so that when he would come, there wouldn't be a need for a last-minute offering to make up the amount that was needed for the Jewish believers. What is suggested here is that our attitude should not be, how much do I have to give God to get by? Rather, our attitude should be, how much can I give God to honor him? There are some people who think that if they don't give a certain amount of money, that God is going to get out the spanking stick.
Well, in fact, if we're not faithful stewards, God may discipline us, but it's not the amount that counts, it's the attitude that counts. It's the attitude at the heart. A person may give 10 or 20 or even 30% of his income, but if he gives it regretfully, begrudgingly, God is not pleased with that. It is not the amount that counts, it's the attitude. Yet, we are to be generous.
We have Paul's words in his first epistle of the Corinthians here, but turn over a few pages to the second letter to the Corinthians. Notice what he says in chapter 8 verse 1. Apparently, the Corinthians were slow in obeying the principles he laid out for them that we've just been studying.
So a little bit later, he writes this next letter to them and he says, and now, brothers, chapter 8 verse 1, we want you to know about the grace of God, the grace rather that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. He says, you think you've got problems? Let me tell you about the Macedonians. He says they were under severe trial.
They were in extreme poverty and yet their overflowing joy caused them to be rich and generous. Verse 3, for I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability, entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. Can you imagine that? Paul said, now look folks, you've got problems here in Macedonia. You better not give this much. They said, oh Paul, please, please take this money.
That's a different way to receive an offering, isn't it? And he says, and they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. What was it that caused the Macedonians to be so sacrificial and generous in their giving? Well, they first had given themselves to the Lord. They said, Lord, everything that we have is yours. You are the owner. We are the stewards of it. We give you ourselves.
And that surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives caused them to give generously in this offering. So he says, we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything—in faith, speech, knowledge, complete earnestness, and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. Giving is a grace.
He says, I'm not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. Paul is doing a little arm twisting here in the sense that he says, now, I'm going to compare your love and your earnestness with that of the Macedonians. Was that an illegitimate thing to do? I don't think so. He's simply saying, you know the Macedonians and all the trouble they've had, I want to tell you about them.
They gave themselves to the Lord, and then they gave an offering that far exceeded anything that we imagined that they would do. He says, I want you to follow their example. And that's the example we ought to follow, too. In chapter 9, he talks a little bit more about this idea of sacrificial and generous giving. He says in verse 6, remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Very simple principle.
Every farmer understands this, and so should every steward of God's money. Those that sow sparingly will have little return, but those that sow bountifully will reap much. We sow in this life, we reap when we stand before the Lord. How much are you sowing for the harvest, then? He goes on to say, each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give. He doesn't say every man should give a tithe. He could have said that if he wanted to, but he didn't.
He said every man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. The most joyous, happy part of our whole service together should be the offering. That's the time we're able to share with others. It should be a hilarious time. Just because the joy bubbles up in our hearts, here we can give something to God out of all the prosperity he's given to us. What a great privilege it is to give. What a joy.
And how right to be generous. And then there's a seventh and final principle that we'll see. Keep your finger here in 2 Corinthians 8, but go back for a moment to 1 Corinthians 16, and look at verse 3. He says, then when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve, and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
At this point, Paul wasn't sure if that was the right thing for him to go on, but he was overseeing the collection of the gift. Later, of course, he did go with those who took the offering to the Jerusalem saints. What is Paul saying here? I think he's giving us this principle that our giving needs to be sensitive. It needs to be sensitive in the sense to whom we give. Paul was overly concerned, but not too concerned, that the offering should be handled in the right way.
Now, I want you to go back to 2 Corinthians for a moment, and look in verse 18. He talks about Titus in verses 16 and 17. In verse 18 of 2 Corinthians 8, he says, And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.
We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift, for we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men. Do you see what he's saying there? He's saying that we need to be sensitive in the way that God's money is used. The Lord knows that we are using it the right way. He's saying people need to know that we are using it the right way, too.
The way that we expend God's money as a church, as a body of believers, is very, very important. So be sensitive to whom you give your money. Do not give to a local church that does not spend God's money wisely. Do not give to a local church that is off-base doctrinally, that does not teach the truth of God's word. Be sensitive to whom you give. Do not give to an organization that cannot account for its finances. Find out how much is going to overhead when you give to an organization.
I know of organizations that right now today that are raising money to feed hungry people in other lands, and anywhere from 60 to 75 percent of every dollar given goes to their overhead in their office. Only 25 to maybe 40 cents out of every dollar ever gets over there to buy food for hungry people. I wouldn't give them a dime. Be sensitive to whom you give. Make sure that the money is being disseminated and expended in a way that honors God.
But I think he's also saying that we should be sensitive to needs here, not just to whom we give, but we should be sensitive to needs. The early church, you see, had a real problem here. The Jewish saints in Jerusalem were in a severe trial, and the apostle is out here raising money among the Gentile churches to meet a genuine need, and it's going to be expended in the right way. And so he's saying here in essence, our giving is to be with a sensitive heart.
We should have responsive hearts, glad and ready to meet a need, giving carefully. Folks, giving is investing with God. That's what it is. You're not giving to a stock brokerage firm to buy stock on the stock exchange. You are giving to God for his work. You are investing in the lives of people. And I can't imagine anything more fulfilling and exciting than that.
The reason is that when we stand before the Lord in heaven, he is not going to care how much we earn in our dividends in the stock market the last year. One of the concerns will be the lives that we have impacted for his glory through our giving. Giving is investing with God, and it yields eternal dividends and interest. Through our giving, God reveals how we can handle spiritual things.
One of the principles of God's word is that if a person is faithful in little, he'll be faithful also in that which is more important. And he includes money as one of the little things. Can you handle the big things? Some of you are preparing to be missionaries and pastors, workers of the Lord, in full-time service as we call it. Others of you are preparing for other places of service for Jesus Christ out there in the secular world. Can you handle spiritual responsibility in the years to come?
You will prove that you can by the way that you use your money, for he that is faithful in the little things will also be faithful in the big things. Dr. George Truitt was the far-famed pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas for nearly half a century. He went to be with the Lord back in the 40s. The story is told about one occasion when Dr. Truitt was entertained by a wealthy oil man in Texas.
After dinner, they went up to the roof of the house where there was a bit of a breeze and those hot Texas oil fields in order to relax a little bit. Up there on the roof of the house, the wealthy Texan pointed to a huge field of oil derricks and he said, Dr. Truitt, that's all mine. I came to this country 25 years ago penniless and now I own the oil derricks as far as you can see in that direction. Then he turned to the opposite direction and he said, you see those fields of grain over there?
He said, I own everything that you can see as far as you can see in that direction. Then he pointed to the next direction and he said, you see those herds of cattle? It's all mine. Everything you can see in that direction is all mine. And finally he turned in another direction where there was a wooded area and he said, that's all mine. As far as you can see in that direction, all of that timber is mine. I came to this country 25 years ago penniless. I've worked hard and I've saved.
I've invested well and now I own everything that you can see in that direction, in that direction, in that direction, and in that direction. And then he paused expecting that Dr. Truitt would commend him. But to his astonishment nothing came. And then Dr. Truitt said to him, my friend, how much do you own in that direction? That's the question I've got for you today. Let's pray.
I pray, Father, that every one of us who are children of God here today would recognize his responsibility of stewardship. Help me to realize that. You are the owner of all that we have, of our very lives for that matter. Wherein we have lived selfishly as poor stewards, forgive us. And help us to follow the principles of stewardship as laid out in your words so that we can also know the attendant blessings that come with obedience.
Deliver us from petty excuses as to why we may have failed at this point. Help us to be honest with ourselves and with you. And determine within our hearts the steps we need to take to be good stewards. And Father, I pray for some friend who may be here who's lost and not saved, who maybe has good investments in every direction he can point to accept up. Help him to see that today that is his greatest urgency and priority, to be right with you. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.