Please read Luke 16: 1-13 and use these notes to prepare for Sunday morning worship.
Sermon Focus: Stewardship – Earn all you can
Key Verse: Such is the end of all who are greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its possessors. (Proverbs 1: 19)
- What’s your motivation to earn money? What does this parable teach about the motivating factor for earning?
- How can you create a healthy balance in your earning and living and Christian wisdom?
- Proverbs teaches that possession can become a source of power over us. Do your possessions own you or are they a tool for you to live faithfully?
Thoughts for Today:
So often in our spiritual lives we equate wealth with evil. Those who have wealth are left feeling guilty and as if they are somehow disenfranchised by their faith, whereas poverty is glorified and giving away all possessions become an expectation of Christians. However, as James Harnish suggests, John Wesley contradicts the assumption that money is inherently evil. Harnish continues to say that Wesley called money “an excellent Gift of God.” This is because Wesley saw wealth and money as a tool for helping Christians to live according to Christian wisdom—that is to live “doing all manner of good.” Money is not what is evil, it’s how we behave with our money. Do we let it corrupt us, separate us from, and even harm others? Or do we live by doing all manner of good?