Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Test of Stewardship (Part 1)



SERMON                  GM14-032

SERIES:              Christian Living in a World of Chaos & Contradiction

SETTING:          North Kelso Baptist Church

SERVICE:          Sunday AM

SUBTITLE:        The Test of Stewardship        (Part 1)

SCRIPTURE:     1 John 4:7-12

SUBJ:                  The Stewardship of Love

SUMMARY:       The truth I propose then for your consideration is this: That genuine believers as recipients of fellowship and Sonship are charged with a stewardship that when faithfully discharged demonstrates a true relationship with God.

SCHEME:           that Christians discharge their stewardship
_____________________________________________________________

Our theme is:  Genuine Christians love one another

This is a good reminder for us all that the great and blessed privileges that we enjoy as recipients of fellowship and Sonship with God results in a stewardship.

 Proposition:  The truth I propose then for your consideration is this: That genuine believers as recipients of fellowship and Sonship are charged with a stewardship that when faithfully discharged demonstrates a true relationship with God.

Interrogatory Sentence:  How do genuine Christians faithfully discharge their stewardship duties?

Transitional Sentence: This passage supplies us with three (3) principles to be good stewards.


CHRISTIAN LIVING IN A WORLD OF CHAOS

The Christian Life is Viewed as Stewardship

The Test of Stewardship
1 John 4:7-12 * (Part 1)

INTRODUCTION

A.   Stewardship over the long haul

 Fred Craddock, once preached in a sermon, "To give my life for Christ appears glorious," he said. "To pour myself out for others…to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I'll do it. I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. "

We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking $l, 000 bill and laying it on the table-- 'Here's my life, Lord. I'm giving it all.' But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $l, 000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there.

Listen to the neighbor kid's troubles instead of saying, 'Get lost.' Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing    home.

 Usually giving our life to Christ isn't glorious. It's done in all those little acts of      love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul."
                       
B.    The Necessity for Stewardship

It is the same for us today. Because our Christian life is comprised of fellowship and Sonship we are expected by God to be good stewards with the blessings that those positions give to us. It is harder to consistently be a good steward of the love that Christ has bestowed upon and then on top of that expects us to love all of our fellow brothers       and sisters in Christ over the long haul.       

Our theme this morning is:  The Test of Stewardship

This is a good reminder for us all that the great and blessed privileges that we enjoy as recipients of fellowship and Sonship with God results in a stewardship.

 Proposition:  The truth I propose then for your consideration is this: That genuine believers as recipients of fellowship and Sonship are charged with a stewardship that when faithfully discharged demonstrates a true relationship with God.

Interrogatory Sentence:  How do genuine Christians faithfully discharge their stewardship duties?

Transitional Sentence: Our passage supplies us with three (3) principles to be good stewards.

3A     THE CHRISTIAN LIFE VIEWED AS STEWARDSHP (4:7-5:5)
         
 [The first principle supplied by John is that…]

          1B     Genuine believers love the people of God (4:7-5:5)

                        1C     The Foundation of Love (4:7-12)

                                    agaphtoi, ajapwmen agghlous

                             “Beloved, let us love one another…” 

                                1D     The Foundation's Source (7a)

                                              oti h agaph ek tou qeou estiv

                                            “…for love is from God…”         

                                2D     The Foundation's Security (7b) 
                                                                                                                                                                                       kai  pas o agapwn ek tou qeous gegennhtai ginkwskei                                            ton qeon

                                          “and every one who loves is born of God and  knows God.”
                                     
                                3D     The Foundation's Stipulation (8)

                                           o mh agapwn ouk egnw ton qeon

                                            “The one who does not love does not know God.”          

                                  4D     The Foundation's Sample  (9-10)

                                              en toutw efanerwqh h agaph tou qeou en hmuin

                                            “By this the love of God was manifested in us…”              

                                             1E     Sample seen in the incarnation (9)

                                                      “In this the love of God was made manifest                                                                    among us, that God sent his only Son into the                                                                world, so that we might live through him.”                

                                            2E Sample seen in the Atonement

                                                  “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but                                                             that he loved us and sent his son to be the                                                  propitiation for our sins.

                                    5D     The Foundation's Summary (11-12)

                                                agaphtoi, ei outws o qeos hgaphsen hmas

                                              “Beloved, if God so loved us…”

Our theme is:  Genuine Christians love one another

This is a good reminder for us all that the great and blessed privileges that we enjoy as recipients of fellowship and Sonship with God results in a stewardship.

 Proposition:  Genuine believers as recipients of fellowship and Sonship are charged with a stewardship that when faithfully discharged demonstrates a true love for fellow believers.

 [What do you say we wrap this up? So, in…]
                                                                                                           
CONCLUSION

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13, ESV)

Exhortation:  I exhort you to love one another in the same manner that Christ loved us, sacrificially, expecting nothing in return, drawing on the love that flows inside each of by God’s Holy Spirit fulfilling the command to love one another, thereby proving that you are a genuine believer in Christ.

Jesus said in John 15:17 (ESV) 

“These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”


Let’s pray! J

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for a wonderful post, there are a few people I could do with loving me, perhaps I ought to show them this.
Yvonne.