The pastor’s most visible function, and one of his most important, is preaching the word of God from the pulpit. It follows, then, that one of the pastor’s key roles with respect to congregational stewardship is preaching the biblical call to generosity boldly and frequently. Below is a collection of articles on the pastor’s preaching role in promoting church giving. Questions about preaching generosity?
Ministering in Affluent Churches
Tom Nelson. May 2007.
As one who has pastored many professional athletes, affluent businessmen and other people with great wealth, Tom Nelson has learned how to be sensitive to the needs of people in these positions. He shares three helpful principles that have helped him to minister to parishioners who are in these places of visibility, affluence and power: (1) Be a sensitive student of their world. (2) Be a safe person in their world. (3) Be a wise voice to their world, without hidden agendas. He encourages pastors to speak with prayerful wisdom, grace and truth to the many perils of wealth, including self-indulgence, prideful arrogance and personal isolation. Pastors can be a breath of fresh air to their affluent parishioners by encouraging them to serve God with their calling, to be generous and to “connect Sunday to Monday with a 24/7 lifestyle of God-honoring worship.”
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Creating a Culture of Generosity: Ten Preaching Dyanimics
Joseph Stowell. Speech delivered at Exponential ’06 Conference for Pastors, Generous Giving’s joint conference with Crown Financial Ministries, Southlake, Texas, September 19, 2006.
“Jesus knew that nothing clogs your spiritual arteries more than the problem of money.” In this instructive and candid speech, Joseph Stowell encourages fellow pastors to develop and promote a passion for giving—one that mirrors Jesus’ own passion for giving. As Jesus’ followers, we are called to live revolutionary lives with our time, talents and money. If we do not heed our Lord’s teachings on giving, then we are living deluded lives of self-sufficiency as we push Jesus to the margins. Stowell bluntly tells pastors: “Just throw all those sermons away if you’re not ready to deal with the money issue.” Giving for the kingdom must be at the center of gospel preaching. Stowell offers 10 helpful preaching dynamics for pastors to encourage their people to set Jesus at the vital center of their financial lives: (1) Never apologize; teach with confidence and enthusiasm. (2) Make sure that your teaching is about more than money. (3) Teach prophetically about the alternatives to a generous life. (4) Watch your language; avoid barrier words and clichés. (5) Affirm authentic wealth. (6) Stay on principle; what matters is heart-style, not lifestyle. (7) Celebrate the outcome more than the income. (8) Plan for progress. (9) Call attention to reality stories, yours and those of satisfied customers. (10) Cultivate a personal passion for the cause. This resource is available on compact disc and presentation format.
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The Treasure Principle
Randy Alcorn. Speech delivered at Exponential ’06 Conference for Pastors, Generous Giving’s joint conference with Crown Financial Ministries, Southlake, Texas, September 19, 2006.
U.S. Christians control 70 percent of the world’s wealth, yet the average American believer gives only 2.6 percent of his income. Ministry leader and former pastor Randy Alcorn speaks to his fellow ministers on this troubling trend by sharing the basic tenets of his book The Treasure Principle. “Don’t renounce treasure; relocate treasure. Don’t abandon the idea of storing up treasure for yourself; put the treasure where the treasure’s going to last.” When we give, we are transferring our wealth from the insecurity of this world to the security of eternity. There are six keys to this Treasure Principle: (1) “God owns everything.” (2) My heart will always be where I put God’s money. (3) Heaven and the new earth are my true home. (4) I should live for my real home in eternity, not for this momentary existence. (5) “Giving is the only antidote to materialism.” (6) “God prospers me not to raise my standard of living but to raise my standard of giving.” In sum: “He who spends his life backing away from his treasures has reason to despair; he who spends his life headed toward his treasures has reason to rejoice.” We must all ask ourselves, “Five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given?” This resource is available on compact disc and presentation format.
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Creating a Culture of Generosity: The Bigger Picture
Joseph Stowell. Speech delivered at Exponential ’06 Conference for Pastors, Generous Giving’s joint conference with Crown Financial Ministries, Southlake, Texas, September 19, 2006.
In their view of money, Joseph Stowell urges fellow pastors to see beyond the need for raising funds. Instead, pastors must embrace the “bigger picture”: creating cultures of generosity in their congregations. We must keep in mind that as we build the church by encouraging generosity, we are building God’s church and God’s people, not our own. We know that we are to reflect God’s image in the community; we often forget, however, that God is a generous God and reflecting his image involves being generous. “I want us to think about generosity as a heart style: the attitude that makes your church look and feel a lot more like Jesus.” In addition, “generosity in action is the solution to most of the problems in your church.” The concepts of grace and generosity are closely linked because “... grace is generosity in action.” Stowell concludes by exhorting pastors to cultivate this generous spirit in their churches by “... praying, preaching, teaching, urging people to be generous because that’s how you glorify God and our God is a generous God. This is how we become more like Christ.” This resource is available on compact disc and presentation format.
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Motivating Generous Giving
Scott Cormode. Leading Ideas [newsletter of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary], September 13, 2006.
Scott Cormode, the Hugh De Pree associate professor of leadership development at Fuller Theological Seminary, encourages pastors to abandon traditional ways of motivating giving and to embrace alternatives that will create generous hearts. In the past preachers have appealed to three primary rationales for giving: (1) the good the money will do, (2) the command from God to give and (3) the urgency of need. While these motivations are not inherently wrong, there are better reasons to give: (1) “Generosity is a good thing.” It roots out selfishness and fills that void with good. (2) “We each bear a responsibly for one another.” The Christian community is called to keep itself accountable, and we must encourage one another to give. (3) “Sacrifice is an important category for people to have when they talk about money.” Sacrificing even on small levels is a good thing and takes us to “the next faithful step”. Cormode ends with a call for a new style of preaching that will turn away from the stereotypical “get the preachers more money” sermon to a new message that will equip people “to make spiritual sense of money and of the issues that it creates in their lives”.
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Creating a Stewardship Culture: Three Critical Components
Andy Stanley. Speech delivered at the Exponential ’04 Conference for Pastors, Generous Giving’s joint conference with Crown Financial Ministries, Alpharetta, Ga., September 21, 2004.
As the pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga., explains, there are three critical components to building a stewardship culture: preaching it, teaching it and celebrating it. Preaching stewardship provides the congregation with the motivation for giving. A pastor must emphasize what he wants for his people financially (freedom and joy) before he launches into what he wants from them financially. But the people also must be trained in stewardship. If church members are motivated to give but have not been taught how to manage their financial lives so that they can give, their enthusiasm for giving cannot bear fruit. Someone must come alongside them to help them get their finances in order and practically work out their desire to give. Finally, it is essential that we celebrate giving, for what we celebrate reinforces what we value. In celebrating giving, pastors both reward the good steward and teach others that financial stewardship is laudable. Building a stewardship culture must begin with the leadership of the church intentionally demonstrating the value of stewardship to their people as they as they preach, teach and celebrate biblical stewardship. Note: No downloadable text or audio is available at this time.
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Getting Rich vs. Giving Richly
Johnny Hunt. Speech delivered at the Exponential ’04 Conference for Pastors, Generous Giving’s joint conference with Crown Financial Ministries, Alpharetta, Ga., September 21, 2004.
Our time here on earth is short. Nothing we own will have our names on it in, say, 50 years. But how we use money inevitably will affect eternity. And if there is anything that God uses during our lifetime to test our hearts, it is money. If we use our wealth only to enrich ourselves, it will poison us and undermine the generosity of Christ. Though it is countercultural, we must move from an attitude of getting rich to an attitude of giving richly in response to the grace of Christ. After all, what we give, we keep for eternity. Now is the time to build up treasure in heaven. This resource is available on compact disc.
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Creating a Culture of Generosity in the Local Church
Randy Pope. Speech delivered at the Exponential ’04 Conference for Pastors, Generous Giving’s joint conference with Crown Financial Ministries, Alpharetta, Ga., September 21, 2004.
In this combination of lesson and testimony, Randy Pope, pastor of Perimeter Church in Duluth, Ga., tells us that an essential part of his learning to be generous has been his learning to be increasingly Christ-centered in all of life. When we truly realize that we lost it all, that Christ alone did it all for us, and that we gain it all because of Christ, we will have the motivation to give it all back to Him. Knowing that we have received what we have from Christ, we will respond to whatever God gives us with an open hand—ready and willing to give what He asks of us. Pope concludes that the best way pastors can create a culture of generosity in their churches is by emphasizing the Christ-centeredness of the steward’s life. This resource is available on compact disc.
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Preaching Stewardship
Joseph M. Stowell. Speech delivered at Generous Giving’s joint regional conference for pastors with Servant Christian Community Foundation, Kansas City, Mo., April 5, 2005.
Pastor Joseph Stowell, former president of Moody Bible Institute, presents 10 steps toward “preaching your flock to a culture of generosity and financial faithfulness.” While Stowell used to feel reluctant to preach about money, he has now come to see what a central role it plays in the human heart. Therefore, he urges fellow pastors to preach with confidence, putting money within its larger context of Christian discipleship and not shying away from the warnings Scripture gives regarding money. At the same time, Stowell exhorts pastors to preach with honesty and vulnerability, to be careful with their terminology, to affirm authentic wealth, and to stick with the biblical principles, rather than dictate how they should be applied. Finally, Stowell says that the message of gospel generosity must penetrate a pastor’s heart and not simply his head, if it is also to penetrate the hearts of the congregation. This resource is available on compact disc.
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How to Begin the Stewardship Ministry in Your Church
Patrick Johnson. Speech delivered at Generous Giving’s joint regional conference for pastors with Servant Christian Community Foundation, Kansas City, Mo., April 5, 2005.
“We believe that for a revolution of generosity to happen in this country, it’s got to be through the local church,” says Generous Giving executive and former professional advisor Patrick Johnson. Johnson believes the church is the portal through which the benefits of the gospel are opened to the world; if that portal narrows or is eclipsed by greed and competing mindsets, the world is sure to follow suit. In recognition of the pivotal role that local churches plays in development of cultural generosity, Johnson observes four characteristics of generous churches: (1) Leaders who model generosity. Noting the responsive nature of gospel change (“We love because he first loved us.”), Johnson explains that if leaders and especially pastors fail to model generosity, the laity will inevitably fail as well. If the leaders fall into selfishness, we shouldn't be surprised when others do the same. (2) Pastors who preach generosity. If people are not exhorted and equipped by God’s word, the church will not have the knowledge or encouragment necessary to sustain genuine self-sacrifice. In order for generosity to explode, it must be connected with all of life; it must preached into our habbitual practices. Thus modeling and preaching are complementary components of the generous church, where word and deed energize each other. (3) Resources that teach generosity. By teaching, Johnson means the importance of connecting the theologically rich principles that come from God's word with practical instruction on managing money. (4) Opportunities to celebrate generosity. Celebration is a powerful means of worship. By celebrating, we recognize how God has made the selfish selfless, and wonder at the transformative power of the gospel. Note: No downloadable text or audio is available at this time.
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When You’re Looking for God’s Financial Provision
Rick Warren. Rick Warren’s Ministry ToolBox, no. 213 (June 9, 2005).
Philippians 4:19 does not promise believers that “God will meet all your greeds” but that He will “meet all your needs.” Do you believe that promise? Or do you continue to worry about your finances? In this lesson, Warren teaches fellow pastors that if they are faithful in following the financial practices to which God has called them, they can be assured that God will provide for their needs. It is important to realize that the promise does have “a premise”—some conditions that must be met. God is not promising to provide for unfaithful and untrusting stewards. However, as Warren speaks of the things that God requires of us, his purpose is to encourage pastors toward both greater obedience and greater faith in God’s promise.
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Thoughts on Stewardship: Words to Ponder from the President of a Presbyterian Seminary
Douglas W. Oldenburg. Stewardship Development Ministries.
Research shows that in 1933, the depth of the Great Depression, U.S. Protestants were giving 3.3 percent of their income to the church. Sixty years later when Americans were over 200 percent richer (after taxes and inflation), Protestants were giving only 2.5 percent of their income. According to Oldenburg, it is tempting to blame this decline in giving on feelings of alienation from denominational leadership, but he sees the decline as a failure to communicate the gospel of God’s love in Jesus Christ, to impress upon people that we are stewards of what God has given us, to inspire people with the exciting mission of the church, and to help people experience the joy of giving. “How do we reverse these trends?” he asks.
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Pastors Change Their Pitch for Stewardship Money
Clark Morphew. Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News, December 5, 1998.
Not so long ago, pastors would get awfully crabby on stewardship Sunday. They would stomp into the pulpit and harangue the congregation for 20 minutes, scolding everyone for not giving enough money. By the time worship was over, members were crabby, too. What rubbed everyone the wrong way? A little thing called money. It was a subject many pastors and parishioners hated to talk about. But times are changing. In some churches, a radical shift is occurring from the days when giving money was considered a duty. Some of today's pastors—the knowing ones, anyway—enjoy talking about money, especially about giving to the church.
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How Those Are to Be Admonished Who Desire Not the Things of Others, But Keep Their Own; And Those Who Give of Their Own, Yet Seize on Those of Others
Gregory the Great. From “How the Ruler, While Living Well, Ought to Teach and Admonish Those That Are Put under Him,” chap. in “The Book of Pastoral Rule of Saint Gregory the Great Roman Pontiff to John, Bishop of the City of Ravenna.” From “Leo the Great, Gregory the Great,” vol. 12 of “A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 2d Series: Translated into English with Prolegomena and Explanatory Notes.” Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds. American reprint. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1894.
Medieval church father and early pope Gregory the Great (540-604) instructs pastors in how to admonish their flocks in the grace of giving. It is not only those who take from others what is not rightfully theirs who steal, Gregory teaches. Those who do not give to those less fortunate are also guilty of the same sin.
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How the Poor and the Rich Should Be Admonished
Gregory the Great. From “How the Ruler, While Living Well, Ought to Teach and Admonish Those That Are Put under Him,” chap. in “The Book of Pastoral Rule of Saint Gregory the Great Roman Pontiff to John, Bishop of the City of Ravenna.” From “Leo the Great, Gregory the Great,” vol. 12 of “A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 2d Series: Translated into English with Prolegomena and Explanatory Notes.” Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds. American reprint. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1894.
Gregory the Great (540-604) is held as one of the most revered Fathers of the Church. Often given the title Father of the Fathers, Gregory served as pope from 590 until his death and was influential in the conversion of the English. In this selection he instructs pastors to offer the poor consolation while challenging the rich to humility so that “both those may learn that they possess riches which they see not, and these become aware that they can by no means keep the riches that they see.”
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How to Be Admonished Are Those Who Give Away What Is Their Own, and Those Who Seize What Belongs to Others
Gregory the Great. From “How the Ruler, While Living Well, Ought to Teach and Admonish Those That Are Put under Him,” chap. in “The Book of Pastoral Rule of Saint Gregory the Great Roman Pontiff to John, Bishop of the City of Ravenna.” From “Leo the Great, Gregory the Great,” vol. 12 of “A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 2d Series: Translated into English with Prolegomena and Explanatory Notes.” Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds. American reprint. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1894.
Among the various topics addressed in this manual for pastors penned by Medieval church father Gregory the Great (540-604) is that of giving. Here he instructs fellow pastors to encourage those who give, reminding them to continue in a spirit of humility. To those who do not give, Gregory offers words of rebuke.
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How to Create a Culture of Stewardship
Andy Stanley. Speech delivered at Generous Giving’s joint regional conference for pastors with Servant Christian Community Foundation, Kansas City, Mo., April 5, 2005.
Christian financial advisor Ron Blue once asked, “When it comes to your personal finances as a pastor, do you handle them as if you knew they were going to be printed somewhere for everybody to see?” Andy Stanley, senior pastor of North Point Community Church, poses the same question to fellow pastors who desire to see their church members become generous givers. Stanley reminds his peers that good stewardship starts with the leaders of the church—the pastors themselves. Stanley offers three valuable guidelines for cultivating a culture of stewardship in the church: Very simply, the pastor must “preach it, teach it, and celebrate it.” Stanley gives his peers several practical and simple steps to follow that will encourage their congregations to “give first, save second and ... live on or spend what’s left.” Note: No downloadable text or audio is available at this time.
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Keller on Preaching in a Post-Modern City
Tim Keller. The Movement, newsletter of the Redeemer Church Planting Center (June 2004).
In his article on preaching the gospel to a postmodern city, Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, includes the statement that Christians today do not give generously due to the sin of unbelief. Keller goes on to argue that amidst a postmodern culture the gospel should be seen as informing all areas of the Christian life. However, the Christian’s struggle with unbelief keeps the reality of the gospel from him. Keller draws from theologians Martin Luther and Jonathan Edwards to say that many sins, such as dishonesty or greed derive from a need to be our own savior. True virtue is achieved when something is done not for selfish ambition but for the one true faithful God. The Christian living in a postmodern culture must not only believe in the life-encompassing truth of the gospel but also be able to distinguish it from and critique other belief systems such as moralism.
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