series: summer cruise series

The idea of stewardship is that everything that we have access to in life are all finite resources. Those things we have access to are not ours; they are on loan from God. Our time, talent, finance, and even our very lives belong to God. The one area that is the most easily identifiable, and is one of the most uncomfortable to discuss, is money. More than half of the parables Jesus used were about money. Our text tonight is one of those. The treasure in the field is likened to the Kingdom of God. The wayfaring man was not sacrificial when he sold all he had to buy the field; the value of the treasure in the field was worth more than anything. No one takes their money with them when they die. The Bible says not to lay up our treasures on earth but to lay up treasure in heaven. We cannot take it with us, but we prepare for eternity. The scripture defines three kinds of giving: Tithes, Offering, and Alms. If we are going to participate in God’s plan, we must do some planning ourselves and treat tithing as a debt we owe. God has blessed us and caused the crop to grow, so we would bring the first part of the harvest to God as an acknowledgment that the blessing came from God.

The idea of stewardship is that everything that we have access to in life are all finite resources. Those things we have access to are not ours; they are on loan from God. Our time, talent, finance, and even our very lives belong to God. The one area that is the most easily identifiable, and is one of the most uncomfortable to discuss, is money. More than half of the parables Jesus used were about money. Our text tonight is one of those. The treasure in the field is likened to the Kingdom of God. The wayfaring man was not sacrificial when he sold all he had to buy the field; the value of the treasure in the field was worth more than anything. No one takes their money with them when they die. The Bible says not to lay up our treasures on earth but to lay up treasure in heaven. We cannot take it with us, but we prepare for eternity. The scripture defines three kinds of giving: Tithes, Offering, and Alms. If we are going to participate in God’s plan, we must do some planning ourselves and treat tithing as a debt we owe. God has blessed us and caused the crop to grow, so we would bring the first part of the harvest to God as an acknowledgment that the blessing came from God.

Church history records what we now know as the reformation, which led to the concept of the priesthood of the believer. For many years, denominal religion taught that a priest had to be an intermediary between the individual and God. With the reformation came a return to a reliance on biblical authority for the basis of theology and doctrine. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the great high priest. When Jesus died, the veil in the tabernacle was torn from top to bottom, symbolizing the removal of the barrier between the individual and the presence of the Lord. There is an additional implication of this access, and that is that there is a degree of sanctification available to us that was not available before Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are sanctified, and that setting apart becomes part of us in all aspects of our life, not just when we are in church. In the old testament, the furniture and utensils of the tabernacle were the sanctified things used in service to God, but the new testament makes us set apart and used for a specific benefit to God. Our text lists men to whom He gave skills and abilities to use in the service to the tabernacle. Similarly, God entrusts skills and abilities to us to use in the service to the kingdom of God. Using these talents is a form of stewardship to further the kingdom of God. This applies to all aspects of our lives. Our life is our ministry, and the Bible is clear that the work we do, even that done outside the church, is part of our ministry and a reflection of God. Our talents and abilities are from God, and the idea of being good stewards of what God has given us extends to everything we do.

Church history records what we now know as the reformation, which led to the concept of the priesthood of the believer. For many years, denominal religion taught that a priest had to be an intermediary between the individual and God. With the reformation came a return to a reliance on biblical authority for the basis of theology and doctrine. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the great high priest. When Jesus died, the veil in the tabernacle was torn from top to bottom, symbolizing the removal of the barrier between the individual and the presence of the Lord. There is an additional implication of this access, and that is that there is a degree of sanctification available to us that was not available before Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are sanctified, and that setting apart becomes part of us in all aspects of our life, not just when we are in church. In the old testament, the furniture and utensils of the tabernacle were the sanctified things used in service to God, but the new testament makes us set apart and used for a specific benefit to God. Our text lists men to whom He gave skills and abilities to use in the service to the tabernacle. Similarly, God entrusts skills and abilities to us to use in the service to the kingdom of God. Using these talents is a form of stewardship to further the kingdom of God. This applies to all aspects of our lives. Our life is our ministry, and the Bible is clear that the work we do, even that done outside the church, is part of our ministry and a reflection of God. Our talents and abilities are from God, and the idea of being good stewards of what God has given us extends to everything we do.