Stewardship - My Commitment to God Luke 9:57–62 2 Corinthians 8:5 Our lives should be about finding the ones Jesus loves and giving them the gospel. What is STEWARDSHIP? Stewardship is the proper management of my life in order to enhance God’s Kingdom. It is the recognition of His Lordship in my life. Giving Information • 5% of churchgoers tithe (Church Development). • Out of the 247 million U.S. citizens identifying as Christians, 1.5 million people tithe (Sharefaith). • 77% of tithers give more than 10% (Health Research Funding). • If every Christian tithed 10%, faith organizations would have an extra $139 billion each year (Health Research Funding). Average Giving Per Person in Church • The average giving amount per churchgoer is $17 per week (Health Research Funding). • That’s $73.67 a month per giver. • That’s $884 a year per giver. • U.S. Christians collectively make $5.2 trillion annually — nearly half the world’s total Christian income (Health Research Funding). • Even though inflation rose in 2022, church giving also increased by 3.6% (reachrightstudios.com). Tithers only make up 10–25 percent of any congregation (Nonprofit Source, 2018) 8/10 people who give to churches have zero credit card debt (Nonprofit Source, 2018) Religious giving is down about 50% since 1990 (New York Times, 2016) On average, Christians give 2.5% of their income to churches. During the Great Depression, they gave 3.3%. (Nonprofit Source, 2018) Of families that make $75,000+, only 1% donated 1/10 of their income Reasons Not to Preach on Stewardship We are not in a budget crunch. Stewardship is not about raising money, it is about God raising His children. People will get upset and leave. The church will grow financially as it grows numerically. John Maxwell “Church Giving: The last thing to arrive at church and the first thing to leave.” COMMITMENT is NEVER an Automatic Process. Jesus is Asking for a Commitment Today from you about you. He wants you to commit your time, your talents, your treasure, and your testimony. 1. Count the Cost TIME TALENT TREASURE TESTIMONY 2. Bear the Cross First – proton (s) (first in order of importance) TIME TALENT TREASURE TESTIMONY 3. Follow Immediately “Let ME FIRST” TIME TALENT TREASURE TESTIMONY