Scripture: 1 Chronicles 29:1-18

SERMON SUMMARY

1 Chronicles 29 can be summed up in three short phrases—three short phrases that define who we are as God’s people and who I am as a recipient of God’s grace. Everything belongs to God; everything comes from God, and everything is distributed by God. To understand and embrace those three truths about God is also to understand and embrace our need to move from thinking of ourselves as owners of our stuff to stewards of God’s stuff. That’s what we will talk about this morning as we continue in our five-week study, asking, “God, what would you have me give in order for me to partner with You in Your work of multiplying our community to reach more of our community.  

SERMON SCREENSHOTS & KEY POINTS

One thing we all have in common is that we all have lots of stuff, especially when compared to the rest of the world. Over a lifetime, we accumulate stuff, and then we pass it down to the next generation. In other words, we know that we can’t take it with us—we know we will give it to our kids and grandkids–but to give our stuff away now is just plain hard. 1 Chronicles 29 is a story in the OT about a king and his followers who were somehow able to see their money and their stuff in light of the greatness and goodness of God. You could say they saw themselves as stewards rather than owners, and they did something so incredible with their stuff that we are still talking about it 3000 years later. David wants to honor God by building Him a magnificent temple, but God says, “No.” David was a man of war and bloodshed, so God said, “Not you, but your son Solomon can build me a temple later on.” So, David reasons, “If I can’t build God a temple, then I’ll have a capital campaign to raise all the money and materials so when Solomon decides to build the temple, he’ll have everything he needs to do it.” So, David raises lots of money to build a temple that he knows he’ll never see in his lifetime. 

Read 1 Chron 29:1-3 — The key phrase here is v2—“with all my ability.” David has kingly resources and personal resources to give. And David says, “I’m going to give to the maximum of my ability.” He goes “giving” crazy. He says, “I’m going to do all I can in order to give all I can.” And then, in v5, he invites the people to join him in radical generosity—“Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the Lord?” And then (vv6-9), we see how the people gave with the same heart as David—willingly, freely, joyfully. And there was a great celebration. Clearly, God was far more concerned about building a people who would worship Him with joyful, generous hearts than simply building a place to worship. And what happened was this: They came to understand the difference between ownership and stewardship. Read vv10-13—there are three great truths here that David and the people understand that God’s people today need to understand. Everything belongs to God (v10-11); everything comes from God (v12), and everything is distributed by God (vv12-13). 

So, what exactly is a steward? 

A steward is someone who manages somebody else’s stuff with the goals of the owner in mind.

1. Stewardship is not simply about money; it’s about your great God who has “graced” you with all you have. 
2. Stewardship IS the Christian life.
3. Stewardship is central to your identity; it’s not an activity.
4. Stewardship is a matter of the heart (Read vv14-18 and underline how many times “heart” is mentioned). So, David’s question is Israel becomes God’s question to us: Will you generously and sacrificially invest some of the “stuff” God has given you to accomplish the work He has set before us here?

*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.

SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS                

1. Read 1 Chronicles 29:1-4 — Ask: “What impresses you most about David’s desire to give all He can to the work God is leading him to set in motion?” David is known as a “man after God’s own heart.” How do you see this character quality at work here in this passage?
2. Read 1 Chronicles 29:5-9 — What caused the children of Israel to get as excited about radical generosity as King David?
3. Read 1 Chronicles 29:10-12 — In these verses, point out where the three truths—everything belongs to God, everything comes from God, and everything is distributed by God—are found.
4. Read 1 Chronicles 29:13-18 — Note every reference to the word “heart.” Most of us know how important a right, heart attitude is when it comes to our relationship with God. Why is it that many Christians don’t see “their” money and stuff as a significant heart issue?—Why is a heart for worship, a heart for the lost, a heart for some aspect of ministry different from a heart to be generous with what God has given us?—What kinds of things get in the way of radical generosity for you?
5. Prior to this message, how often have you thought that being a “steward” is an essential part of your identity in Christ? Again, why is it so easy for us to not think that way?
6. What is your biggest takeaway or “aha” from this passage?
7. Anything else?

PRAYER—Close your time by taking our 40-Day Prayer Guide (prepared by Laurelle Moody, the head of our prayer ministry) and look back over the last week of prayers. (Remember, the prayer guide is in our app.) Go around and have three or four people read 3 or 4 of last week’s prayers. Notice the prayers do not end “in Jesus’ name, amen.” That is intentional. After each prayer is read, continue to pray along the trajectory of each prayer by adding your own prayers to close “in Jesus’ name.”