Faithful Stewardship

Before launching into our official 8-week sermon series, we began with a prequel: a call to steward the gift of prayer. Prayer is not a spiritual accessory or last resort—it is a gift from God to be received with joy and practiced with consistency. We saw four ways prayer invites faithful stewardship: (1) build it into the rhythm of your day, not just the margins; (2) guard it with watchfulness and gratitude; (3) practice humble dependence through prayer, especially before you feel strong or ready; and (4) let prayer shape the way you live in the world, as a person of grace, wisdom, and presence. We reminded one another that in the kingdom of God, there’s always grace for those who ask.

Stewardship begins with clarity on whose everything actually is. We are not owners — we are tenants. And the tragedy of the parable isn’t simply disobedience; it’s forgetfulness. The tenants acted as if the vineyard was theirs to possess. This sermon reframes stewardship as a call to faithful response rather than fearful obligation. God has entrusted His vineyard — His kingdom, His people, His world — to us. And He expects fruit. But even in His judgment, we see mercy: the Son was sent. The cornerstone was laid. The sermon calls us to live lives that bear the fruit of belonging to Jesus — lives marked by responsibility, remembrance, and joy. 

This week, we explored the foundational reality that stewardship does not begin with doing, but with being—with abiding in Christ. Before we manage anything for God, we must receive what God has given: access to His presence and promises through the finished work of Jesus. The restless ache in every human soul is not a flaw, but a signal—pointing us to the only true source of satisfaction, joy, and peace: life with God. When we try to produce fruit apart from the Vine, we strive and strain in vain. But when we abide—when we remain, stay, and rest in His love—we are filled with the joy and life that only He can give. This is the gospel gift, the fountainhead of all faithful stewardship: not performance, but presence. Not pressure, but promise. The Christian life begins—and continues—not with a to-do list, but with a heart that returns again and again to the feet of Jesus.