God Owns It-We Steward It
Pastor Erickson teaches from Luke 12, Malachi 3 and other passages that everything belongs to God and that believers are only stewards of their time, talent, treasure and testimony. He explains tithing from Abraham to Jesus as our High Priest, and challenges the church to bring the tithe for a month, keep their hands open, and give offerings and alms to people in need.
The message in 6 points
The faithful and wise steward
He reads Luke 12:42-46 about the faithful and wise steward and Matthew 6:21, where your treasure is, there your heart will be. His title is God Owns It, We Steward It.
31:35Caretakers of what is God's
Christians are caretakers of the time, talent, treasure and testimony God has placed in their lives. Like Joseph in Potiphar's house, a good steward manages what is not his own, because the earth is the Lord's and even our bodies were bought with a price.
35:20The rich fool and open hands
In Jesus' parable the rich man kept saying I and my and was not rich toward God. Telling of a lesson where students held M&M's in open and then closed hands, he teaches that as long as we keep our hands open, God lets His blessing flow through us to others.
42:11Faithfulness and the tithe
Faithfulness is the first requirement of stewards. The tithe means a tenth and was practiced before the law, from the one tree God kept in Eden to Abram paying tithes to Melchizedek and Jacob at Bethel, and Jesus said paying tithes ought to be done.
52:01Bringing the tithe to our High Priest
Jesus is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, so the tithe goes to Him, not to a man or a ministry. From Malachi 3 he says you cannot rob God of what is not already His, and the tithe is a test of trust, not a tax.
1:03:53Blessings, offerings and alms
The blessings of tithing are not always money; they include peace, health, family and contentment. He challenges anyone not tithing to try it for one month, and calls the church to give offerings to missions and alms to people in need.
1:12:54
In his words
“What happens with giving and stewarding what is God's? As long as we keep our hands open, God will allow us to keep what's in the hands.”
“The biggest lie our flesh says is we can't afford to bring God what's his.”
“Blessings are not always going to be financial. Listen, I'll take a good marriage over riches any day.”
Taken word for word from the video, with punctuation added.
Scripture
He reads
Luke 12:42-46
42And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 44Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. 45But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; 46The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
King James Version.
Matthew 6:21
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
King James Version.
1 Corinthians 10:26
26For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.
King James Version.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
King James Version.
Luke 12:16-21
16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
King James Version.
1 Timothy 6:17-19
17Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
King James Version.
Proverbs 28:20
20A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
King James Version.
Genesis 14:20
20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
King James Version.
Genesis 28:22
22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
King James Version.
Leviticus 27:30
30And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.
King James Version.
Deuteronomy 14:22
22Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
King James Version.
Matthew 23:23
23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
King James Version.
Hebrews 7:15-17
15And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. 17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
King James Version.
Galatians 3:7
7Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
King James Version.
Galatians 3:29
29And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
King James Version.
John 8:39
39They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
King James Version.
Hebrews 7:8
8And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
King James Version.
Malachi 3:8-10
8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
King James Version.
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