GYC Africa 2024 Conference: ONE

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GYC Africa

Financial Stewardship

Rose Mwaniki

Stewards of God’s Treasures

I was able to talk to 2 young men who were here before.

But I know as we go through, you will know why you joined.

Because I know it's by God's appointment that each 1 of you is here.

I'm sure you've already seen when the introductions were done on the bulletins and all.

I come from Parklands Church and I love Jesus as my personal friend.

I've dealt with money all through life, although in the university nobody taught me about money.

I'm an economist by training, but I've taken great interest in financial stewardship within God's family.

And so I speak to many people, especially teenagers, on how to manage God's money.

And so I see all of you are young people, and we are going to discuss this subject.

I would suggest that you make a point to be in this seminar all through, because the first 1 we are just going to do the introduction on what is financial stewardship biblically, and then In the afternoon, we are going to talk about how to invest where it matters.

And then tomorrow, we are living in this world, isn't it?

Every time I go to talk to many people, that's the area of interest, but you cannot understand it well unless you understand the base and then what God says about transfer of money to his kingdom, and then he leaves you with some money that he also gives you biblical tools to manage.

So that is what we are going to do in our 3 seminars, and I'm sure, because I have been blessed as I was preparing, I'm sure you'll be blessed.

You are young, and so when you learn this subject when you are young, you are unlikely to make the same mistakes your parents made, or many Christians make, and towards the end of their life, they don't like what they have done and how they have lived.

So it's my prayer that the Lord will help you follow through, and then you can be a teacher and a trainer to others in your churches and within your communities.

So it's that's my hope and as I was praying that's my prayer that we may have many people that understand the subject that can help.

You have the notes, you can use them, can change them here and there and use them to train others.

Our dear Heavenly Father, we are talking of becoming 1 in mission and Lord we know you require us to use our talents, to bring our bodies, to work with time very well, and also to use the possessions you've given us to extend your kingdom.

Some beautiful young people are seated before you to listen to this subject.

I pray Father, just like you have spoken to me as you taught me and as I was preparing, that Lord, this will be their place to understand this subject so that they can become missionaries in this area.

I want to ask that Lord, I will diminish as you increase in me so that Lord I can be able not to speak on your oracles guided and guarded by the Holy Spirit.

Begin these seminars with us and end with us.

Bless all the seminars, wherever your speakers, the ones you send are speaking, that we may only glorify Jesus.

So we'll go through the basis of our subject and then we'll see.

The first thing is that we are stewards over the resources God blesses us with.

And God does not ask us to bandage what he hasn't given us.

And so we are only stewards of what God has given us.

So I want to begin with you and ask, who is a steward?

Before we go to financial stewardship, who is a steward?

So you have been given some responsibility over something.

And stewardship is then doing what you have been given to do.

When we talk about stewardship, we are talking about the management of another person's possessions.

They give you an opportunity to manage on their behalf.

And I want you to take these terminologies very critically.

Because next time when we talk about my money, my choice, You must be careful.

You see, that's what we, some people say.

And that's why it's very important we understand this subject.

So a steward is a trustee or a manager of another's possession.

So whatever you have, even your own body, does not belong to you.

And the owner will ask you 1 day, what is it you did with my possession?

So when we talk about stewardship, And that is why once you understand it, you will be very careful how you apply God's possessions.

Jesus himself in Luke 12, 42, asks a question.

He says, the Lord answered, who then is the faithful and wise manager?

Who then is the faithful and wise manager?

New Kingdom says, it says faithful steward.

And so we use the word manager, steward interchangeably because we are charged with God, we are charged with God's, you know, to manage God's possessions.

Anything, Anything we have belongs to God.

But, so Jesus is asking, who then is that faithful and wise manager?

So I am praying that by the time we finish these seminars, you'll be able to answer this question.

You'll be able to tell God, I haven't been wise and faithful.

Investing Where it Matters Eternally

So this afternoon, we will go a step further.

And we saw, and maybe this 1, please remind, for those who are in the class, there are 3 things that God expects of us as faithful stewards.

You know, sometimes we who love the Lord, sometimes we bring in family.

Here we are talking about personal examination.

So you need to constantly examine the way you handle stewardship so that you know whether you are in in line with what God says.

Meaning that you must know, you must be well instructed as to what God says about stewardship.

Many of us will lose heaven because of appetite.

It's appetite for the clothing or anything.

We are all filled with passions and lusts.

And we saw that John really is telling us, please put these things aside.

These are the things we are going to beat hard to remove from our journey to the kingdom so that we don't lose heaven.

And then number 3, if it doesn't pain, it is not sacrifice.

So if you are giving to God mabaki, you know those things that are leja leja, you know like what you have left, you know?

That's what you touch yourself on Sabbath and you see where the last coins are and that's what you are taking to God.

There's an opportunity cost we pay to be part of the family of God.

Where did money come from to build this kind of thing?

Maybe somebody said, I want my money to go to that AU.

And I told you, Some of them are sleeping in the dusty beds, awaiting the trumpet call, but they left behind their money working for them.

So they are sleeping, but their money is working for them.

When you look at your labors in a month, how much of your labor is actually translating to extending the kingdom of God?

At the end of the day, That is the question we need to answer before we finish these seminars.

So this afternoon, we are going to talk about investing where it matters eternally.

What does it gain you to have the whole world?

What does it gain me to have the whole world and lose my very soul?

So we are going to look at the tools God has given us to be able to invest in His kingdom in a way that it will matter.

You remember we talked about God's claim on us as stewards is because he created us.

And he's going to recreate and populate a new earth with us that have been saved.

And so if we have to invest where it matters, we need to know it now so that we do the investing now.

So that is what we are going to discuss and then I'll go quickly and then I open up for discussions.

Father, in Jesus' name, thank you for reminding us that you are calling us to be faithful stewards.

On our own, we are not able, but when we invite you, invite Jesus in the Holy Spirit, we shall be able to do what you have asked us to do.

And so we are not going to try to give you to show our love for you.

We will give back because of the love that is in us, that we have actually brought from you, so that we can be able to extend the gospel to others.

And when they are saved, the glory goes back to you.

I pray father that I diminish as you stand and speak with your children.

As we talk about this holiness in giving, I pray Father that each 1 of us standing before you, sitting before you this afternoon, we will have a part in the renewed heaven and in the new earth.

For this is a prayer in Jesus' name, amen.

So we know that God has given us treasures, no doubt about it.

Remember we said we are trustees and managers of 100% of the financial treasures God entrusts us during our lifetime.

You know, sometimes when people ask for big jobs, I am afraid.

You see, when you have a small job and maybe you are paid 10, 000, you are very faithful.

But when you start earning 500, 000, you start arguing with God.

So sometimes be careful what you're asking God.

Ask God, please give me what you know I can manage.

And I invite you to be part of me so that I manage for you.

We are trustees and managers over 100% of the financial resources we receive.

It says, it is required in stewardship that a man be found faithful.

We must examine ourselves, you know, regularly to see whether we are still on the track.

And this is something that we need to pray about.

Even old and young, self-control is a problem.

It's not just, you know, sometimes you think we are the ones with this problem.

Even people like us, we suffer and we sometimes have difficulties being faithful.

And then of course, we need to give sacrificially.

Martin Luther said, people go through 3 conversions.

The conversion of the head, their heart, and their pocket book.

You see, sometimes also we stand in front and really tell people off.

This person may only have had the conversion of the head, they are struggling with the conversion of the heart.

Because before I am converted in the heart, giving is difficult.

If it's only my brain that is saying I should give, whoa, I will argue with God.

And so he says, you need to examine where you are.

You see, sometimes people who have made it in health reform, have made it in tithes and offerings.

But we have to always remember that there are 3 conversions, the mind, the heart, and the pocketbook.

There are some who are blessed, It happens automatically.

They just give, but others go through a process.

It's only you who knows what you're struggling with.

While We Wait “Occupy Wisely”

This afternoon, we are going to talk about while we wait, occupy wisely.

And in the area of financial stewardship, specifically, we want to hear what God has to say about it.

And the last 2 days, We have looked at stewardship in general, and we have seen that God is calling a faith, a people that have faith in him.

A people that are so faithful that they will occasionally and regularly examine their lives.

They will also, on a regular basis, practice self-control.

Because if you don't practice self-control, it's hard to support God's work.

It means that you have to give up something to support God's work.

It's difficult to have the world and God at the same time.

The Bible says we cannot serve both God and mammon.

And thirdly, the Lord would want to remind us that he's looking for people who sacrifice for his cause.

So, if we want to really benefit the lord's work, we must give until it pains.

So that god can have a place in our lives.

He opened the whole of heaven and gave Jesus.

And he wants us also to give through sacrifice.

We are not going to give to God's work in ease.

Generally, that is what it is to be a faithful servant or a faithful steward.

And then we looked at the 4 areas God has gifted us.

I don't know who are staying here this time.

Whether you wake up and run, there is space for that.

If you come out of ECD without walking on this, you know, this very beautiful place, you have missed a point.

You didn't have made your body stronger and the Lord would want us to keep our bodies very strong.

For that is where the Holy Spirit dwells.

For the Holy Spirit cannot stay where there is impurity.

And then we saw that we have only 70 years, and you can be able to subtract from 70 and see where you are.

You'll be surprised at how the other half goes.

The Lord would want us to live for wisdom, that he may help us understand that there is no time.

Every time you wake up in the morning, remember, time does not wait for anyone, and if we have to work for God, it is now, it is not tomorrow.

And then the use of our talents and the gifts God has given us, let's see them used for mission.

They need you out there, talking to somebody and bringing somebody to the church.

And then of course, these 3 days we're talking about treasures.

But we cannot talk treasures without looking at the other areas and spheres of stewardship.

And so yesterday, we looked at the 2 tools that God has given us to invest in heaven.

None of us can be able to go out without knowing what they are.

And I just want to remind you by giving you some images for you to think about.

I don't know whether you know of this man.

He's probably like that, you know, what God says about job.

John Rockefeller was a Baptist, and he joined his father in business.

They were dealing with hospital items, machinery, and this man also went into energy sector.

He was the richest man, but very faithful, very faithful to God.

He says, I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made, if I had not tithed on my first salary, which was 1 dollar and 50 cents.

And so You cannot learn to give back to God in your old age.

You need to learn to give God when you are young.

I normally use this when I'm talking to teenagers.

And I say to them, it is not the amount that God is looking for.

It is the faithfulness and loyalty to him.

We don't hear much about his mother, but he was taught by his father to give back to God.

And throughout his life, he gave for the cause of God.

When I am starting to think, should I, I remember John Rockefeller, and I say, Lord, give me this heart of this man.

At his peak, John Rockefeller would have had an estimated net worth of how many billions of dollars?

He would have paid all the teachers in Africa and probably all the doctors.

He did not become pure, poorer, because he gave for the cause of God.

There are children who have been educated by this man lying in the grave because of the foundations he left behind.

There is great blessing in returning a faithful tithe to God.

And what we saw yesterday, God is not talking about amounts.

He's talking about a percentage of your increase.

10% just return it so that the gospel workers can be paid.

And I want to leave you with an image of our sister White.

In the area of giving, I'm sure she was a fantastic type giver.

She returned her type but I love her giving spirit.

She says, when I was only 12 years, I knew what it is to economize.

And although we would earn only 25 cents a day, from this sum, we were able to save a little to give to missions.

We saved a little, little, until we had $30.

Can you see 25 cents working, building to $30?

And she says, which we invested in trucks and pamphlets to send the message to those who are in darkness.

You see, when Ellen White will be receiving her stars on her crown, mine will be on her crown.

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Series

Financial Stewardship

Stewards of God’s Treasures

Transcript

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Parts

Stewards of God’s Treasures

1h 8m

Investing Where it Matters Eternally

1h 39m

While We Wait “Occupy Wisely”

1h 47m

Sound Doctrine