Ideas for Preaching on Stewardship
Good stewards are mature worshippers.
Preaching to develop good stewards cannot be done if it does not take into consideration the development of mature worshippers. Giving is an integral part of worship. The validity of a worship experience where giving is not demonstrated is suspect at best. While there are other ways one can express the surrendered life, the tangible expressions of worship include the faithful giving of an offering.
Worshippers are blessed when they demonstrate their willingness to trust God by giving faithfully and joyfully. When individuals fail in the area of giving, the worship experience becomes stymied and results in inadequate spiritual resources for living. There are several examples of both of these extremes in Scripture.
When preparing to teach the biblical pattern of giving, the wise preacher will carefully expose his congregation to several weeks of exposition on the subject instead of overwhelming people with the dreaded "annual stewardship sermon."
Ideas for a Series of Stewardship Messages:
Series Title: Extravagant Worship: I Will Not Offer Him Anything that Costs Me Nothing
Sermon Title: "Giving God My Best"
Sermon Text: Genesis 4:1-5, Hebrews 11:4
Main Idea: God honors extravagant worship.
Sermon Title: "Trusting God with Everything"
Sermon Text: Genesis 22:1-18, Hebrews 11:17-19
Main Idea: Abraham's willingness to offer his son demonstrated his willingness to trust God when it didn't make sense to do so. God didn't need Abraham's son; He wanted Abraham's heart. God doesn't need our money; He wants our heart.
Sermon Title: "When a Broken Heart Is All You've Got"
Sermon Text: Matthew 26:6-13
Main Idea: When we worship the risen Lord who forgave our sins, we should be both broken and extravagant.
Sermon Title: "Out of My Hands and at the Apostles' Feet"
Sermon Text: Acts 4:36-37
Main Idea: When God prompts us to give, it should be done with no strings attached. Barnabas left the offering at the apostles' feet for the ministry of the church. His gift became an encouragement to many and a model for extravagant trust.
Sermon Title: "A Life on the Altar"
Sermon Text: Romans 12:1-2
Main Idea: Extravagant giving is the natural result of the sacrificed life. When giving faithfully is a struggle, it may be a sign of a spiritual war yet to be won within.
This final sermon in the series could be used in a commitment service.
A second sermon series takes a negative approach but powerfully underscores the reality found in many lives today. These messages confront shallow stewardship commitments by exposing weak worship experiences.
Series Title: Hindered Worship: Lessons from the Failures of Those Who Wouldn't Worship
Sermon Title: "When You Fail to Bring the Best"
Sermon Text: Genesis 4:1-16
Main Idea: The failure to be extravagant in worship results in restlessness.
Sermon Title: "When You Fail to Be Obedient"
Sermon Text: I Samuel 15:1-35
Main Idea: The failure to be obedient results in ruin.
Sermon Title: "When You Fail to Find an Easy Way to Honor God"
Sermon Text: Matthew 19:16-30
Main Idea: The failure to follow results in total loss.
Sermon Title: "When You Try to Be Somebody You're Not"
Sermon Text: Acts 5:1-11
Main Idea: The failure to be authentic results in death. (Ananias and Sapphira tried to get the praise that Barnabas received, yet did so without integrity.)
Series preaching has the benefit of emphasizing a familiar theme for several weeks. Repeated exposure to a theme or a significant idea helps congregations by letting them reflect on a singular truth. As with viewing a diamond of many facets, they can look at the same idea for several weeks and come away enriched, not overwhelmed.
Frank R. Lewis, former Consultant for Preaching and Worship in the Pastor Staff Leadership Department at LifeWay, is Senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn.
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