Jul. 12, 2026

What if stewardship isn't really about money — it's about something much bigger?

Pastor Dave launched a new two-week series on stewardship, drawing from Genesis 2, Psalm 24, 1 Corinthians, Proverbs 3, and 2 Corinthians 9. He reframed the topic from the start: stewardship is not primarily about money. It encompasses every area of life — the gospel, relationships, time, talents, the body, and yes, financial resources. From that broader foundation, he walked through four foundational principles.

Principle 1: Determine Who the Owner Is - The first and most foundational principle is simple to state and difficult to live: God is the owner of everything. Pastor Dave took the congregation back to Genesis 2, where God planted the garden, made every tree grow, and then placed Adam in it. Adam had no part in creating any of it. God's instructions were clear: tend it and keep it — cultivate and protect what belongs to someone else. Psalm 24:1 widens the lens: "The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness" — including, Pastor Dave noted, all the people who dwell on it. And 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 makes it most personal of all for believers: the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and "you are not your own." The garden, the earth, the body — all are God's. He used the example of a parent handing car keys to a teenager: the owner has every right to determine how the resource is used and what is off-limits.

Principle 2: Honor the Lord - Proverbs 3:9 — "Honor the LORD with your possessions" — gives the second principle. Honor means to give weight to God, to point attention back to Him as the source. Pastor Dave unpacked what this looks like in practice: living by His principles, always acknowledging God when something good happens, and maintaining a heart of genuine thankfulness. He referenced athletes who quietly take a knee after a score rather than drawing attention to themselves. "Thankfulness honors God. Just being thankful is honoring to God." He closed the section with a caution drawn from the garden: at some point, Adam began to feel as though the garden was thriving because of him. "You start to hear society in that," he observed — the gradual drift from gratitude to self-sufficiency.

Principle 3: Be Faithful - The third principle comes from 1 Corinthians 4:2 — "It is required in stewards that one be found faithful." The key word is steward — a household manager, not an owner. Managers don't keep things forever. "Do you live with the awareness that everything you have will one day belong to somebody else?" Pastor Dave illustrated faithfulness with a story: people occasionally entrust him with significant sums of cash to pass along anonymously to someone else. A faithful steward gives every cent. Taking even a portion — even if the owner would never know — is a failure of the assignment. Whatever God has entrusted — the gospel, time, service, gifts, abilities — faithful management means handling it according to the Owner's instructions.

Principle 4: Be Cheerful, Not Grudging - The final principle is from 2 Corinthians 9:7 — "God loves a cheerful giver." But Pastor Dave stretched the principle well beyond financial giving to cover every area of stewardship. A cheerful steward sees opportunity where others see interruption. He shared a story from the day before: while walking in the July heat, he passed a neighbor who had fallen and couldn't get up. Rather than treating it as a disruption, he stopped and asked what would help most. "I looked at that as an opportunity that God put me in at that time. It wasn't a disruption." Some translations, he noted with a grin, go even further — calling for a "hilarious giver." Someone who doesn't have to think twice about releasing what isn't theirs anyway.

Pastor Dave closed with four personal reflection questions: Does the way I manage God's gifts reveal a thankful heart? Does it honor God's instructions? Does it reflect God's generous giving? Does it demonstrate a concern for God's interest and His work in this world? Part 2 continues next week.