Sabbath: The Role of Stewardship
Image © Pacific Press from GoodSalt.com
Read for This Week’s Study: Col. 1:16-18; Heb. 4:14-16; 3 John 3; Gen. 6:13-18; Rev. 14:6-12; 1 Pet. 1:15-16.
Memory Text: “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life” (1 Thessalonians 4:7, NIV).
Because of the depth and breadth of stewardship, it is easy to get lost in the big picture, bogged down by tangents and overwhelmed by its enormity. Stewardship is simple yet also complex, and thus can be easily misunderstood. However, neither the Christian nor the church can exist or function without it. To be a Christian is to be a good steward as well.
“It is not a theory nor a philosophy but a working program. It is in verity the Christian law of living. . . . It is necessary to an adequate understanding of life, and essential to a true, vital religious experience. It is not simply a matter of mental assent, but is an act of the will and a definite, decisive transaction touching the whole perimeter of life.” – LeRoy E. Froom, Stewardship in Its Larger Aspects (Mountain View: Calif., Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1929), p. 5.
What are some of the core tenets of what it means to be a Christian steward? This week we will look more at the roles that stewardship plays in Christian life. We will do so, though, through an interesting analogy: a chariot wheel.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 10.
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I look forward to this weeks lesson study. The concept of the wheel to teach stewardship is an intriguing one.
As stated elsewhere, Stewardship and salvation are inseparable.
The concept of using a wheel and spokes with each spoke a different doctrine, is creative. Most of the subjects are familiar to Seventh Day Adventists with sufficient backgrounds. The book of Revelation has been the source of many Seminars, discussions , and evangelical printed pages. Mondays lesson "Sanctuary Doctrine" refers Revelation 14:7,and is about the Three Angels.We call it, "the Three Angels Message". I have a SDA friend that is disappointed that the Three Angels Message does not have the interest that used to be preached often. My friend has searched from coast to coast, trying to find a church that preaches this Gospel with little if any success. my friend is a converted Baptist and the question may be a bit embarrassing. Is this doctrine no longer a subject of interest? There may some exposure on Mondays lesson.
It is not clear to me what the two hands together are holding and seemingly pouring out to the ground where the cross is in the background. What is this supposed to be a symbol of in terms of stewardship?
....and prove me now, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Pete, Apparently it depends on what the artistic ability is as directed by the lesson originators. You can supply a redeeming value as you choose. Applications can be left to the imagination.
“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9).Stewardship is not God taking something from us; it is His method of bestowing His richest gifts upon His people.Stewardship defines our practical obedience in the administration of everything under our control, everything entrusted to us
Looking forward to repetition of a great lesson from Pr J.h.h.Mathews who usually crafted each lesson study with his chosen words selected phrases to elucidate the point of the lesson.And Lars Justinen illustrations manifest well thought out means of depiction of the subject in his arts is indeed wonderful showing how human hands play in shaping up accomplished greatness to praise the Lord.(Deut 8:17,18)
It will be most interesting to see how a wheel can help us understand stewardship.
So it appears that in the intro text, the uncleanness is not in the physical sense. This is uncleanness of the heart. It is not the dirt on the outside of man which destroys him; it is having an unclean heart. Our call is to be a sermon to others in the way we conduct our daily lives.