Worship & Preaching  >  Preaching Stewardship

Preaching Stewardship

What is Christian stewardship? 

• It's inclusive not exclusive - i.e. it's not just about money. 
• The whole Christian life - it's about discipleship, learning to follow Christ. 
• It's about using and managing our God-given resources appropriately and responsibly.

The Steward as Manager In the Bible the word 'steward' is to do with how humankind stewards or manages its resources. The first time it's mentioned it concerns ecology rather than money - Genesis 1 and 2, stewards of creation, even naming the animals. In the New Testament Christians are 'stewards of the mysteries of God' - we are to manage our resources for the sake of the effective proclamation of the Gospel. We are also described in 1 Peter 4:10 as stewards of 'God's different gifts of grace'.

The challenge as we preach stewardship is to preach a much wider concept than simply raising giving to meet the needs of the parish over the next year. 

The Church is called by God to reflect his life and character in the world

• Above all else the character of God is generosity; our God is a generous God whose very nature is to give. God can do no other because God is love and the essence of loving is giving. 
• We recognise that all that we have, and all that we are have come from God, and what we have is given to us on loan for us to steward - such is the generous nature of God.
• We reflect God by being an attractive community - attractive in our lifestyle, in our relationships and in our worship. This will mean working to ensure, as far as we are able, that our lifestyle as a Christian community is marked by loving generosity. 
• Loving generosity includes 'going the extra mile' - without complaint!
• It means being a 'Eucharistic People'; a community marked by an attitude of thankfulness. 
• Loving generosity will also be seen in the way we offer a proper proportion of our resources to God. 
• 'Resources' means our time and energy and money. And often the last of these tells people the most about whether a Christian community is reflecting God in his world.

Preaching stewardship should be a joy and a pleasure - there are no shortage of opportunities from the lectionary. It should not be simply the fundraising sermon for the year! 

Sermon Resources : 

Stewardship for Sundays (pdf file 255kb) - Stewardship ideas for sermons and the offertory based on the Common Worship lectionary, contributed by Brian Morris, Stewardship Officer for the Diocese of Gloucester, to whom we offer grateful thanks. 

Stewardship for Harvest (pdf file 212kb) is an excellent resource from the Diocese of Winchester.  It forms a five sermon series on Luke chapters 14 to 17; including "The Cost of being a Disciple", "The Lost Sheep & The Lost Coin" and "The Rich Man and Lazarus" 

Giving in Grace includes three sermon tracks on Stewardship based on Exodus, Matthew and 2 Corinthians.  The Exodus one is an all-age teaching resource.