God has given us timeless traditions and elements to practice that bring us into a closer relationship with Him. In this fourth week of our series, we’ll look at stewardship and generosity by studying:
- The difference between member vs mission
- The parable of the mina in Luke 19
- The Mina Project for our community
- At Hope, we want to be on mission instead of just being members.
A question for a member is, “What are they doing for me?”
A question for someone on mission is, “What am I doing or giving to others?”
Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”
God has given us three ways to invest in His Kingdom:
- Time – spending our time wisely
- Talents – the ways in which God has gifted each individual
- Money – handling what God has entrusted to you because it ultimately belongs to Him (Job 41:11, Exodus 19:5, Psalm 24:1)
- In Luke 19:11-15, Jesus shares the story of the parable of the mina.
There were five elements to the story:
- There’s a man of noble birth.
- There’s a group of servants.
- There’s a certain money given to the servants.
- There are specific instructions given.
- There’s accountability for the servants. (The servant who hid the mina away was declared wicked when what he did was measured against what he could have done.)
There are a couple lessons in this parable as it relates to us as stewards of what we’ve been given.
- When we invest in God’s Kingdom, it’s an investment of His resources not ours.
- We will ultimately give an account to God for how we manage His resources.
- The Mina Project is an initiative where Hope invests resources in our community through our people.
Every person over 18 gets an envelope with money inside to invest it, grow it and cultivate it. Grow it and return it on the weekend of April 18 & 19.
In John 17, Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer in which He prayed for three things:
- Jesus prays for Himself.
- Jesus prays for His disciples.
- Jesus prays for us.
- To Reach the Triangle and Change the World, all gospel-centered churches must be unified around the gospel.
- Our goal is to make sure that every man, woman and child have multiple opportunities to see, hear and respond to the gospel.