Financial Stewardship

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Financial Stewardship

• Called to Purpose

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Personal Finance Workshops

• Budgeting and Debt Reduction
• Saving and Investing
• Personal Financial Management
• Stewardship
• Charitable Giving

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Our time today

• Stewardship defined
• Common cultural views on money
• Christian principles around stewardship
• How much is enough?

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Definition

• the careful and responsible management of
  something entrusted to one's care
  (Merriam-Webster)
• a theological belief that humans are responsible
  for the world, and should take care of it
  (Wikipedia)
• the gift of your time, resources, money and
  talent (faith-based definition)

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Secular view of money

• Paying yourself first
• Invest the first 10 and live on the other 90

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Three Dimensions of Financial Management
Secular

• Receiving
• Managing
• Giving

Christs mandate
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Our attitudes and values towards money and
possessions

• Our family plays a large and formative role in
  establishing our views, habits and attitudes
  towards money

Core Values Exercise
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Attitudes about money
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Our attitudes and values towards money and
possessions

• Family influence
• Life experience
• Values
• Biblical teaching

Our children, our family learn about financial
stewardship through us
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• As Christians how do make sense of all this?
• Gods Word!

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Did you know?

• God provides us with the knowledge and tools in
  the Bible for sound money management.
• New testament
• 215 verses pertaining to faith
• 218 verses pertaining to salvation
• 2084 versus dealing with stewardship of and
  accountability for money and finance

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Principle 1 God owns everything

• The earth is the Lords, and everything in it.
  The world and all its people belong to Him.
• Psalms 241

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Principle 2 God wants us to use his resources
wisely!

• Whoever can be trusted with very little can also
  be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest
  with very little will also be dishonest with
  much. So if you have not been trustworthy in
  handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with
  true riches? And if you have not been
  trustworthy with someone elses property, who
  will give you property of your own?
• Luke 1610-12

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Principle 3 No one can serve two masters

• No one can serve two masters for either he will
  hate the one and love the other, or else he will
  be loyal to the one and despise the other. You
  cannot serve God and Mammon.
• Matthew 6
• For the love of money is a root of all kinds of
  evil, for some have strayed from the faith in
  their greediness, and pierced themselves through
  with many sorrows.
• 1 Timothy 6

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Principle 4 God is your source and is in
control of all events

• Many believe we work for money and our
  employer/investments/economy is our source
• God flows money to us through different channels
• God is our master, money is meant to serve us and
  used to expand Gods Kingdom
• God is not our servant to get you money

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Principle 5 Heaven, not earth, is my home

• Our lives have 2 phases the dot and then the
  line that extends for an eternity.

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Principle 6 Give to God first

• Honour the Lord from your wealth and from the
  first of all your produce.
• Proverbs 39

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The beauty of giving

• Giving draws our hearts toward Christ
• Develops character
• Giving allows us to invest for eternity
• Giving produces a material increase to the giver.

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Who gives what?

• Those who worship regularly
• 19 of those who worship weekly gave 74 of the
  total value of all donations to religious
  organizations and 22 of the value of donations
  to other organizations
• Donors with annual household income less than
  20,000 gave a greater of their household
  income than others
• Average Christian gives 2.5 of income to Gods
  work and pays 10 to debt interest

Crown Financial Ministries
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How much should I give?

• Different perspectives on giving
• Tithing
• Prayerfully consider and
• give first
• Give joyfully

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Can I do more?

• There are many different ways you can give
  more..
• Time
• Talent
• Treasures

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Personal Financial Freedom

• Transfer ownership to God
• Identify your priorities as Gods steward
• Write out a financial plan
• Monitor it
• Become debt free
• Determine how much is enough?
• Think before buying
• Limit credit card purchases
• Practice saving (pay yourself second)

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Planning the gift of Treasures

• Today You can donate cash (tithing/weekly
  giving to charities, church, missions),
  investments, real estate or other property during
  your lifetime.
• Tomorrow These gifts are planned today but
  dont take effect until death i.e. bequests
  through your will

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Footnote on guilt?

• Fact is...
• With all this talk about stewardship, will we
  make people feel guilty?
• Fact is
• Guilt feelings may be Gods way of telling us we
  could be doing more

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But we are forgiven!

• Giving looks different for every individual
• Dont compare
• Prayerfully consider what God is calling you to
  do

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From guilt to gratitude

• Guilty and forgiven
• What is each one of us going to do this year to
  given abundantly?

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Want to go deeper?

• To review or start your plan
• consider FaithLife Financial
• Go Green - www.faithlifefinancial.ca
• download financial tools
• view seminars
• calculators
• great financial articles