Freedom through Faithfulness-part1 Owner and Manager

Freedom in Faithfulness: Experiencing True Financial Freedom through Biblical Stewardship-Part1

Luke 16:1–15 (NLT)
Parable of the Shrewd Manager
Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’

5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’
7 “ ‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’
8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.

9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

What is this parable all about?

Admittedly on the surface it sounds strange that Jesus is using the dishonest person to illustrate something about the kingdom of God and how we should act. obviously He is not saying that we follow the example of the shrewd manager. but he makes several points that we need to pay attention to.

I. Recognizing the Reality of Stewardship (v. 1–2)(MULTILINE REVEAL SMALL)

II. Using Resources with Eternal Perspective (v. 3–7)(MULTILINE REVEAL SMALL)

• The manager acted shrewdly with foresight, securing relationships for his future.
• Jesus emphasizes the shrewdness, not dishonesty, as a quality to emulate (v. 8).
• how we can fund God’s kingdom
  • Start by giving where your equipped. -The Church
  • Find missionaries or evangelist that you can support
  • Buy Bibles or gospel tracts and give them away
  • help people who are in need inside and outside the church

III. Faithfulness in Small Things Leads to Greater Trust (v. 10–12)(MULTILINE REVEAL SMALL)

• Whoever is faithful with little will be faithful with much
• Money is a testing ground for greater spiritual responsibility.

IV. Serving the Right Master (v. 13)(MULTILINE REVEAL SMALL)

• You cannot serve both God and money (Mammon).