Stewardship

What is Stewardship?

Stewardship comes from the Greek word "oikonomia", or economy, which means management of the house or household. In the New Testament, it means man's management of his whole life in response to God's love. Man is a steward, a manager of the "time", "talents" and "treasures" that God has given to him. God as Creator gives us time by granting us life, our very existence. God as Giver of all gifts, grants us our abilities and talents. God as Maintainer, provides for our needs by affording us opportunities to earn a living. If I believe that God is the Giver, the Owner and I the manager, then it follows that a Steward trusts the Bible's directions on how to manage God's gifts. God expects us to give Him thanks by managing our gifts of "time", "talent" and "treasure" according to His will.

The essence of Stewardship is that we first give ourselves to God and then seek to do His will as his servants. Unless our hearts are in Christ, then we will find it difficult to do His will. We can only become His servants, by accepting His lordship over our lives. We can give our "time" to the Lord by our daily devotion, reading his Word, by attending Church services and by assisting others in need. We can use our "talents' in response to God's love by serving God as a Sunday School teacher, a Choir member, a Parish Councilman, a Philoptochos member, by cooking, cleaning and responding to the call of service to others. We use our "treasures", our income, God's gift to us to glorify his name. By sharing our "treasures" with the Lord, we become co-workers with Him in His work of salvation. Stewardship, as the management of God's gifts to us, is the method by which Christians should support their Church. We are to return a portion of what God has given to us back again to God.

Stewardship is a matter of our personal faith in God and He keeps his promises. St. Paul writes: "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).

2010 Stewardship Pledge Drive

God said it plainly, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV)

When the Lord looks at your heard, what does He see? Everyone has an outer life and an inner life. The outer life is our public life that people around us see. The inner life is made up of our thoughts, attitudes and motives. Only you and God know what is going on inside of you.

Too many people go around today pretending - acting one way, yet on the inside they are thinking something very different. Their heart and their actions do not line up. We have to understand that God looks at the inside. We can fool many people, but we cannot fool God. He would rather us be open and honest than go through life pretending.

Take inventory of what is going on inside of you today. Are you at peace? Are you overlooking offenses? Do you believe the best in people? When we line up our whole being, we can live a blessed life that pleases God every day.

The annual stewardship emphasis in our church is upon us. At Saint Katherine, we have always emphasized that a deep commitment to God is the best way to approach life. All the things we do are oriented toward lining up our heart and our actions. Please join us in making a financial commitment for 2010 to make sure that God's work through our church is done.

Below is a link to our stewardship pledge card which you can download and record your commitment for 2010. Please fill this out and either mail this to the church or email a copy to pappademos@saintkatherine.org. Remember, at its heart, stewardship is a spiritual expression of our faith.

Stewardship Resources

Parish members and guests can send in their donations through PayPal. There is no need to have a PayPal account. The site will also take all major credit cards. Click on the link below to make your stewardship payment.


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