Stewardship

Principles of Stewardship

There are two fundamental principles involved in Stewardship:

All that we are and all that we have belongs to God. He is the creator and owner of everything (Psalm 24:1 & Genesis 1:2).
What we have in the way of possessions, resources and abilities has been entrusted to us by God. We are called to act as Stewards of God's Kingdom (Genesis 1:26).

A Steward Defined

A Steward is someone who has been entrusted with another's property and charged with the responsibility of managing it in the owner's best interest. We have been entrusted by God to act as his managers. The question for us becomes how we can care for and use that which God owns in a way that is pleasing to God and gives God glory.

It grants us dignity to see our Stewardship in this way, for it means that we are partners with God in the Godly work in the world. What we do with what we have makes a difference.

What do Stewards Manage?

On a personal level we manage our time, talent, and resources. They are given by God and we must ask how we can best use them that God will be glorified and enjoyed.

Together and individually we are responsible for the resources of this planet earth. The seas, the forests, the land, the air, and our fellow creatures are all God's; for their use we are accountable.

We have the responsibility to care for those who do not have the resources to do so, as Scripture so regularly directs us (e.g. Leviticus 25:35, Isaiah 58:6, 7 and Matthew 25:35-36). We manage resources so that all God's creatures may be cared for and loved.

How Should I Give?

Matters of the Stewardship of life are important concerns to us. The preaching ministry and our educational classes regularly address this topic. We are open to being guided in our teaching by the needs that you express to us.

Giving to the work of the Body of Christ is the task of every baptised believer. We are Stewards of God's Kingdom and of Christ's Church. Throughout its pages, Scripture teaches us that everything we are and everything we have been given has come from God. In the Old Testament we are provided with many models of the shape of love. Among them the requirement that Old Testament believers should tithe (a tenth) of their wealth, whether it was clothes, produce, or money. In the New Testament God sent his Son, not to abolish, but to fulfil these requirements. As God's children, adopted by the faith in the sacrifice of his Son, it is our great privilege to participate in his kingdom work on earth. All who believe in God will want to give gladly and responsibly, after prayerful consideration, that amount that is decided upon in the heart.

Surely hearts grasped by such grace will not want to do less than God asked of Old Testament believers!

With this understanding in mind, we ask that members of this Church "strive to tithe their income", that is, to give back to God 10% of what they earn. This becomes the foundation for giving. When we then move beyond the tithe to additional levels of giving, we make an offering to the Lord, which further shows our love for God and our freedom from the bondage of money. This is why in worship each Sunday, we as the congregation, give "God's tithes and our offerings".