Stewardship Month

Just when I thought I was going to have to read up a lot on tithing. Church at TBC started a series on Stewardship today. I think it’s leading up to Thanksgiving which is less than a month away.

So, for Sunday School, we're doing a book called "The Treasure Principle" which I had completely forgotten to read. Poor Randy! He was teaching our class of young married couples for the first time, and NONE of us read the book! He was a little nervous at first when he was trying too hard. You can tell the difference when he left it all to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The rest of the lesson went well, and for the first time since I attended Sunday School here, I was taking down notes!

Randy is a young man who has a great testimony – he reminds me of Iron Man – he was saved in the prison some 4 years ago. He had a bible which he read and God saved him! God has really changed him. I don’t know why exactly he went to jail. But he is now in IBC and he actually was the winner of the preaching competition last year. I can understand why he takes everything about God so seriously – he knows his wretched condition and how by God’s grace upon his life, he is saved and not in the streets. What a testimony of a changed life.

Limits to Stewardship.

This is the title to the morning message. Limits = BOTTOM limits, the least we ought to give. And the text was from exactly the passage I was reading - Malachi 3:6-16 :)

Some pointers I picked up:

• We're stewards of all that God has given to us. Some might argue that you've worked hard for all that you have and it isn't from God.

Deuteronomy 8:18 "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth..."

• Being stewards means we own nothing but are in charge of everything in put in our care - our time, health, life, money, etc. We're accountable to the Lord for all these things.
• Tithing is in obedience to what God has commanded. That the local church can carry out the Great Commission
• We often think we do not have enough and feel really miserable. But we are miserable because our soul is like the Grand Canyon - nothing you throw in can fill it up. It can only be filled by the River of Colorado - the Holy Spirit.