1. It’s biblical!
Jesus talked more about money than any other subject. Don’t let a few people talk you out of preaching the whole counsel of God. Jesus talked about it so much because he understood its power upon the lives of people.
Consider that the New Testament has about …
- 500 verses on faith
- 500 verses on prayer
- Over 1,000 verses on giving
- 19 of Jesus’ 38 parables deal with giving
- One-tenth of the book of Matthew deals with stewardship and giving!
If the Bible talks about it so much, why are you not preaching on it?
2. It brings results.
George Barna in his book, How to Increase Giving in Your Church, found that churches in which pastors preach …
- Single messages about giving raise more money than do churches in which no stewardship takes place.
- Two or more nonconsecutive messages do not have any advantage over churches that only preach on stewardship once a year.
- Two or more consecutive messages about stewardship raise more money than do those churches that only hear one message a year.
- Churches in which pastors preach two or more consecutive messages about stewardship matters raise significantly more money than churches that hear two or more nonconsecutive stewardship messages.
- A series on giving is nearly two and a half times more likely to experience an increase in giving than preachers who only talk about stewardship once a year or on two nonconsecutive times in a year.
The bottom line is that if you want to raise money, you have to talk about money! So, as you think about your preaching for this year, what plans for a stewardship series do you have?
If preaching on stewardship is not on your radar, then don’t be surprised if making budget is a challenge. Preach the whole counsel of God!
