Sermon: 'Stewardship of Money as Stewardship of Hope'
"Look at what God has given us - life, family, friends, a roof over our heads, food for our bellies. Look what God has given us - the good news of Jesus Christ promising us life in abundance, calling us out in hope." A nice sermon, challenging people of abundance, from Sharon Watkins, General Minister and Presidentn of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Click here for "Stewardship of Money as Stewardship of Hope," from the Disciples Home Missions.

The Things That Are God's. OK, pastors, do you dread that annual stewardship sermon and need a few ideas? Here is one given by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. when he was at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Ala. "I make no apologies for asking for financial support for the church. The Church has a just claim on your active, practical, and financial support if for no other reason than that your home is better, your community is better, your nation is better as a result of the existence of the Church." Click here for "The Things That Are God's," from  The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

Great weblink: Stewardship Sermon Starters.  Here's a site to bookmark in your "stewardship" folder in Favorites. (You DO have a Favorites folder for Stewardship, right?) This one gives a stewardship take on the weekly lectionary offering. It helps pastors weave stewardship into their messages, so stewardship becomes more than just one sermon in October. Click here for Stewardship Sermon Starters, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Martin Luther King: Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool In this 1967 sermon, King talked about the economic struggle that sustained injustice. "The preacher must be concerned about the whole man. Not merely his soul, but his body. It’s all right to talk about heaven. I talk about it because I believe firmly in immortality. But you’ve got to talk about the earth. It’s all right to talk about long white robes over yonder, but I want a suit and some shoes to wear down here."  Click here for a "Why Jesus Called a Man a Fool," from The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Group at Stanford University.

'It Blows My Mind:' Six Points on Stewardship. In this sermon, master preacher Edward F. Markquart talks about tithing. "It always amazes me that those who tithe rarely complain about money and they always seem to have enough money to do what they need to do. Those who complain the most, seem to give the least. I truly believe that God cares for us in all our needs." Click here for "It Blows My Mind" From Sermons from Seattle.

Ideas for preaching on stewardship Most pastors face it every year: What to do about a stewardship sermon? It has to be Biblical, thoughtful and motivating. Here are some suggestions -- texts and thoughts for two series of sermons on stewardship. Of course, any one of the sermons would stand on its own. Click here for "Ideas." From Lifeway Ministries. (9/26/05)

Sermon: Living by faith. "The greatest challenge to sacrificial giving is that it is totally alien to our western culture in which we live, where there is such an emphasis on materialism and the outward signs of success." So says this challenging and inspiring sermon given by a British pastor whose observations apply to Americans as well. Click here for "Living by faith," from The Church of England's Stewardship Resources. (9/05/05)

Let the Word of God dwell in youThis skit is billed as an intergenerational event. "Share the Gospel always. Use words when necessary. Favorite Bible characters step out of their stories and challenge listeners to examine the motivation and principles behind every-day actions. This time of drama and discussion will draw out the stories of stewards in your congregation." Click here for "Let the Word of God dwell in you." Part this year's stewardship resources from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

Larry Rasmussen: The everlasting covenant. In this sermon, the noted author of Earth Community, Earth Ethics and other books on ecology says that by allowing environmental degradation, humans are breaking a covenant with the creator that Isaiah describes.  Rasmussen says, "The everlasting covenant Isaiah speaks of is the first one, and breaking it banishes the gladness of the earth." The author is Reinhold Neibuhr Professor of Social Ethics Emeritus at Union Theological Seminary and a lay theologian for the ELCA. Click here for Rasmussen's homily. (4/25/05)

Environmental reflections on lectionary texts . OK, pastors. Want to put more "green" into your sermons? Here's the website to bookmark! Environmental reflections on the texts of all three lectionary years. Click here for the site. Clearly those folks at the Environmental Stewardship Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota have been busy. (Note how they also changed the colors in the Episcopal shield.) (04/11/05)

It blows my mind: Six Points on StewardshipIn this Stewardship Sunday sermon based on 1 Cor. 8:1-15, Pastor Ed Marquart talks about how much God gives us, and how little we tend to give back. "Christ was never cheap.  Being a Christian is never cheap.  The cross is never cheap.  All the stories in the Bible about conversion and discipleship call for total commitment.  Christ asks to rule every part of your life and mine:  our hearts, our hands, our minds, our mouths, our feet, our everything, including our pocketbooks." From Sermons from Seattle. (11/08/04)

Zacchaeus. Here's a great stewardship sermon on Luke 19:1-10, which comes up on the lectionary cycle Oct. 31." Zacchaeus was changed. Zacchaeus was changed, from being greedy to generous, from selfish to selfless, from a thieving heart to thankful heart. How did this happen?" From Edward Marquart, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church (ELCA), Des Moines, Wash., whose website, Sermons from Seattle, offers lots of free resources. (09/27/04)

Stewardship Sermons. Five wonderful sermons on  a variety of stewardship issues are available for free from the  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. The sermons are just part of a package of stewardship resources the Canadian church is making available for free on the web. All are in PDF (Portable Document Format) that requires Adobe Acrobat reader. Click here to get a free Acrobat Reader. (06/28/04)

Saints are saints - not from the absence of dirt, but by being basked in the righteousness of Christ. "Isn’t that the way God’s kingdom of grace always works?  It is always a masquerade.  We are saints, not because we do everything right, but because in our baptism we put on – not a mask, but the garments of our Lord.  His life, death and resurrection now define who we are." By Pastor Phil Heinze, assistant to the bishop, Eastern Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. (11/17/03)

Use It or Lose It. Many of us overlook one of the most important gifts we are entrusted to steward over: The Gospel, says Pastor Richard Holmer of St. James Lutheran Church (ELCA), Lake Forest, Il. "A faith that ventures nothing atrophies and dies.  Our task is something larger than preserving the tradition we inherited.

Why Tithe?   "For many people, tithing falls into the same category as bungee-jumping and sky-diving," writes The Rev. William F. Martens, pastor at Richland Lutheran Church, ELCA, Richland, WA.

Responding to God's Gifts. From an experience many a  parent has had -- pleading for his daughter to clean up her bedroom --  comes a lesson in stewardship from the Rev. Ron Burcham, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, LCMS, Urbandale, IA.

Here I Am, Lord. Tom and Stewart, suburbanites commuting to work in Chicago, start talking about what Stewardship really means to church, discipleship, and God. From Pastor Roger Timm, pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church, ELCA, Riverside, Ill.

See it! Believe it! Do It!, a tax time/Easter message from David Saude of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. "We have celebrated the death of our Lord and the resurrection of our Lord and in all of this recent experience we have been invited to look at things differently."

Give with Pure Joy! The number one danger is that what you are giving to is to a church or an organization, not giving it to God. There is a difference. By the Rev. Ronald Burcham, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, LCMS, Urbandale, IA.

Letter from the Devil. Ken Wyneken, pastor of King of Kings Lutheran Church, LCMS, Renton, Wash., takes a thoughtful but thoroughly tongue-in-cheek look at how Satan might strategize to keep God's people from embracing stewardship. "If they tithe, they bring You-know-who into the picture, and we know what that means. It's a hard habit to break because it stretches the heart to be generous."

The Kingdom's Cost/Benefit Ratio. Daniel Mangler, pastor at Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church, Estes Park, CO, says God's Kingdom is quite a bargain, indeed. "Belonging to the Kingdom of God means living as the creator of all life has designed you to live."

Consecrate: Set Aside for God. Daniel Mangler, pastor at Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church, Estes Park, CO, talks about the spirit of stewardship. "I've heard it said that there are three kinds of givers--the flint, the sponge, and the honeycomb."

Giving God Our All. Gregory S. Kaurin, a pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church, Auburn, WA, explores tithing and the peculiar rules of Christian math. "We can only respond in fractions, but God makes our fractious thanksgivings into powerful tools for his mission."

But this is MINE! Are we the vineyard tenants? Based on Matthew 21:33-44, Jesus' Parable of the tenants. By the Rev. Judith A. Cobb.

How much risk are you willing to take? Based on Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus' parable of the talents. By the Rev. Keith Spencer.