Chuck Bridges Blog

This week we begin a New Series that has the potential to bring about significant life Transformation in those who have been Christ-Followers for a long time and those who are new to the journey. I have a confession to make. I have been preaching on a regular basis for over 16 years now and have presented several message series on “Stewardship” or “Managing Money God’s Way” (and used several other titles). My confession is this: Most of my preaching on stewardship has been motivated by the financial needs of our church. In other words, we put too much emphasis on what God (or the church) wanted or needed FROM our people. I confess the error of this motivation and ask for the church’s forgiveness (i.e. not just the local body but the ‘big’ church).

Even though I repented of my errant ways a few years ago, my reponse has been equally wrong and harmful. Because I could not bring myself to try and convince God’s people to GIVE more to the church (you know the thing about tithing plus offerings) I have remained mostly silent on the issue. Even when I have mentioned money it has usually been related to something that was needed at the church. I also need to be forgiven of my silence.

Here’s what God has recently taught me. A lifestyle of “Managing” the resources that God places in our hands should be taught with this motivation in mind: We need to understand that biblical stewardship is NOT about what God (or the church) wants FROM us — It is about what God wants FOR us! This is totally different than my former way of looking at biblical instructions for Stewardship of God’s property. When we grasp what can happen in our lives when we hold loosely what does not belong to us anyway, our perspectives, attitudes, stress levels, etc. are totally transformed.

In this series we will attempt to show how it is possible to live on a level beyond our wildest dreams or expectations. And, it has nothing to do with greed or getting more ’stuff.’ God has displayed Generosity in everything He has done for us. In the same way, He expects all of His children to live Generous lifestyles. We have all been entrusted with a portion of God’s property and He expects us to be as generous towards others as He has been towards us!

Our Objective in this series is to “Construct a Culture of Generosity” in our church that will spread beyond our walls into the communities where our people live, work, play, etc. I believe God is going to set some people free from the “MORE MONSTER” that saturates every marketing/advertising strategy in our world so that we can begin to live lifestyles of GENEROSITY! Trust me, this is going to be a FUN series! I am really looking forward to sharing what God has shown me in His Word.