Preaching on holiday weekends are probably the hardest times to preach for me, and I feel this way for a couple of reasons. First of all, many members decide that since they are off from work on Monday, they can be off from church as well. Secondly, the ones that showed up at church, are too busy looking at their watches, with those looks on their faces like they want me to hurry up so that they could get to their BBQs. It is because of these reasons that I was really apprehensive about starting a new series on the Sunday before Labor Day. While our crowd was off some with people staying away, I was ready to preach and those that were there seemed to be very receptive to the exposition of the Word.
This is the first time in my Pastoral Ministry that I have begun a series on giving and stewardship. I have taught stewardship during our bible study, but I have never initiated an entire series dedicated to stewardship and tithing, so as you can expect, I was extremely nervous about the preachment hour. But as always, God showed up and got me through the exposition.
This parable of Jesus Christ to his disciples,housed in Matthew 20:1-16, is normally looked at from the point of view of the service of the laborers, but I thank God for showing me the point of view that it is not only about our service or our actions, but Jesus wanted us to see that in order to be good stewards over what the Lord has placed in our care, we must have the right attitude towards stewardship. And I believe that in the life of our church, where we are embarking on an aggressive relocation project, we would be better stewards of our time, talents and treasures if we changed our attitudes towards it. Here is the sermon outline, it's a little lengthy, but I needed to incorporate the entire parable to give the text its proper justice:
Thesis: a healthy mind-set towards our roles as stewards will produce a healthy and productive church
I. God Owns Everything
-verse 1...for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard
a. He created everything
b. He coordinated everything
II. God Controls Everything
-verses 1-7 shows us that since God owns everything, he is in total control of the fruit, field and the harvest
-he has the right to make all of the decisions because the field belongs to him and he makes agreements with his laborers
a. Who Hires Laborers - master of the house
b. Where are they Hired From - marketplace
c. What are their Wages - denarius (Roman Penny) and whatever is right
d. How Long are they Hired For - One day's work
III. God Judges Everyone
-verses 8-15 shows us that God judges the laborers not by their fruit, but by their faithfulness
-Owner judges the account of the laborers
a. Account Taken - evening time was reckoning time
-this was the time when the owner tallied up the record in order to pay the laborers their days wage
-there will come a time when our Father in Heaven will tally up our account in the record book in glory to judge our faithfulness to the work we have been called to
b. Action of the Laborers
1. offense taken - verses 11-12...they complained that everybody was paid the same wage but they did not all work the same amount
2. offense removed - verses 13-14
a. no one distressed them - friend, I have done you no wrong
b. no one deceived them - did you not agree with me for a denarius
c. no one denied them - take what belongs to you and go
IV. God Gives Greatly to Everyone
-verse 15...am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me or do you begrudge my generosity
-God has a plan to reward those who have been faithful to him with his great generosity
5 comments:
This is wholesome material! I applaud your courage in taking on such an awesome assignment. I eagerly anticipate what the Lord will say and do through this series and pray that you stay the course. Excellent outline.
God bless you brother pastor on your courage in undertaking this awesome task. Many times these topics are sidestepped or "just not talked about at all." The Lord placed a lot of value in giving and in faithful stewardship and we should do the same. This series is really going to be a blessing to the flock. And, based on this first outline, it is going to be nothing short of "awesome." Thanks for sharing and "preach on."
As one in the pew, we are challenged weekly during our stewarship period. I find out more and more how vital stewardship is since nothing belongs to us. Not even our children. In your outline Pastor Lance you said we will not be judged by our fruits but by our faithfulness. This is good to know that our excuses that "I can't afford it" and being inconsistant in our stewarship will be judged as unfaithfulness in the end. Our aim towards heaven should include wanting to hear the words in Matthew 25:21. "well done thy good and FAITHFUL servant"...
Thank you Pastor Lance for this awareness and your diligence in teaching and preaching in "ALL" things. This is an added blessing to me to learn even more through these blogs. Thank you.
Mother
Stand on the Word my brohter. My church has never had any teaching nor preaching on stewardship before I got there in 7 years ago. I've done two series since then and trust me I got that look; "He wants my money." I kept preaching anyway and our church is now starting to get it. Stay on the wall.
Great post and God bless you for preaching this gospel truth. The fact is that we are all to be good stewards financially but also with our time and talents. Bless you brother!
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