Last week we learned the hard truth that while money can help make life easier in some ways, it cannot bring true happiness and fulfillment. This week we see that as much as money lets us down in life, its ultimate failure to deliver on its promises happens in death.
Serve God with money. That is a hard truth. Our text from Luke 16 is one of the more confusing parables to folks. Yet, it’s message is simple. It’s not your money.
Jesus wants focused followers. However, one of the things that can most easily get in the way of our focus is our earthly possessions. It is no surprise, therefore, that Jesus’ words so frequently focus his followers on wealth. Jesus’ followers don’t reject earthly wealth or despise it. They can be grateful for every good gift that comes from the hand of God.
Your friends are the family that you get to choose. Friends are a reflection of who we are. They are the company we choose to keep. This Sunday we continue our annual stewardship focus – One in Christ – with a look at our friends.
The family is the basic building block of society. A family begins when God joins a man and a woman together in marriage. But what roll do children play in the life a family. We’ll spend some time with the kids and talk about how a child can help!
This Sunday we’ll see that nothing in the vineyard of our Lord truly belongs to us. Our God is letting us use the gifts he’s given us for his glory. At any time he can ask for those gifts back. One of those gifts is money. There are a few places that our money must go – the government and our God are two of those places that Jesus will address this Sunday. We close out our series In the Vineyard this Sunday as we talk about financial stewardship.
