Reading: Stewardship, Part 1 by Ben Ingebretson

Raising Funds and Growing Stewards for a New Church
Most ministry leaders….
Are uncomfortable talking about money
Don’t want to preach about money
Are uncomfortable about being paid for ministry
Feel giving is a necessary evil.
Consider giving a “means to an end”.
Feel asking for money is like begging.
Wish that money were no object to ministry.
 RAISING Funds and Growing STEWARDS   
“WHY?”

comes before

“HOW?”
FOUNDATION: 
Three Biblical Realities
1.    God owns it all (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1)

      Creation…Position…Sovereignty

    … therefore there is no shortage of funds.


If this is true, why does it often feel like there is a shortage of money for ministry?

 
2.    People manage (Genesis 1:26-28; Luke 12:42; Matthew 25:14-29)
… every decision is a stewardship choice


If this is true, why do we not think about stewardship Monday through Saturday?


The Character of OIKONOMOS    
FAITHFUL  (I Cor. 4:2;  Luke 12:42-48; I Peter 4:10)
“It is required that stewards be found faithful”  
WISE (Luke 12:42-43; 19:11-28; Matt. 25:19-30)
“ Who then is the faithful and wise steward that the master has put in charge….?”
ACCOUNTABLE (Luke 16:2; 12:39-40; Matt24:36; 25:19)
“And he called him saying, Give an account of your stewardship”

 
3.  Stewardship is learned (I Timothy 6:11-19)
          … leaders (planters!) must grow stewards

If this is true, why are we afraid to ask?

 
My dear Wormwood….
    A sense of ownership in general is always to be encouraged. The humans are always putting up claims to ownership which sound equally funny in heaven and hell. We produce this sense of ownership not only by pride but by confusion. We teach them not to notice the different senses of the possessive pronoun…my dog, my boots, my wife, my God! All the time the joke is on the word “mine”. In the end they will most certainly find out to whom things belong …certainly not to them!   
                                                            Screwtape  
GETTING PERSPECTIVE:
Given both the number of references and the theological significance of stewardship in both testaments we must conclude…

Stewardship is not just what you must do in order to do real ministry.   
Stewardship development
IS ministry.
THE PROBLEM OF EXTERNAL DEPENDENCY
Basic Questions and Assumptions:

Can a local ministry be funded locally?
Has God adequately distributed resources for local ministry?
Are local ministries best funded locally?
Key Assumptions
Local ministries CAN be funded locally.   This may require the ministry to be “scaled” to the setting.
The resources for local ministry are found locally.  There is no shortage of funds, only a shortage of stewards.   

THE PROBLEM OF EXTERNAL DEPENDENCY
3.  Prolonged external funding cripples local ministry….and creates extended dependency.  

Energy
Motivation
Leadership
Responsibility
Dignity
THE PROBLEM OF EXTERNAL DEPENDENCY
What does scripture teach?

Paul did not promote extended external support for churches.  I Timothy 5:16; 6:17;  Gal. 6:6

The support of the Jerusalem church in
 II Corinthians 8 was for a short term need.  




 
Raising Funds and Growing Stewards for a New Church