This time, children can be dismissed for Children's Church. They'll get there. See you, Ryker. Come on, Riot. Ryker's waiting on you.

So is miss Katie. Alright. Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. We'll continue on the series we began, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, relating to our church covenant, which we read together.

We're not gonna read the whole covenant again, just a piece of it again in a moment as we continue to look at some of the scriptures and what the Lord has to teach concerning the importance of the things that we have written there. Acts two forty two, and we'll read down through verse 47 as soon as Ashley gets back to her seat. Alright. Acts two forty two. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers.

And fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need. And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Let's pray to the Lord.

Dear heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word. Thank you Lord for what we are reminded here of the actions of the first church there in Jerusalem and the importance, Lord, of being stewards of one another in this place. Thank you, Lord, for this congregation. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to serve you, to worship you, and to praise your name. Thank you for the opportunity to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to others who desperately need to be saved.

Lord, we pray that our ministry would grow in faith and knowledge and in number. And, Lord, that we would do our part each and every one as members of the bodies of the body of Jesus Christ to bring glory to our Lord and savior. In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen. Reading from the third, fourth, fifth, sixth paragraph in our church covenant, it says this.

It's entitled As Christian Stewards. As Christian stewards to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations. We also engage to maintain family and secret devotions to religiously educate our children to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances. And if you have a copy or you got one back a few weeks ago, you'll see there's a lot of verses there. We won't look at all of those this morning, but we will look at a few as we discuss what this means.

The church covenant, again, is a reminder to every member of Missouri Avenue Baptist Church of the responsibilities we have as children of God and members of this local body to bring glory to our Lord, to advance our church, that means one another, and to bring the lost to the savior. And so there are that involves commitment and commitment that is surely lacking in many ways in our world today. It says in first Corinthians four:two, Moreover, it's required in stewards that a man be found, what? Faithful. Faithful.

Dependable. Trustworthy. Committed. In regards to stewardship we're talking about this morning, notice with what personal sacrifice the first church began its ministry. Rome demanded money, obedience, sometimes service, and sometimes their lives.

Judaism demanded money and time and obedience of every Jew. Christianity demanded nothing but needed everything. And so these first church members shouldered the burden voluntarily. If a church is to function successfully, especially in today's climate, God's people must be willing to support it voluntarily by God's grace with their time and money and talents and prayers and their hearts as the first church in Jerusalem. We are told in Luke 14 to count the what?

To count the cost of discipleship, of following Christ. Every worthwhile endeavor cost you something. I went to college for five years. It cost me something. It cost my parents something.

If you want to be a great athlete, it is going to cost you something. Those athletes didn't get to be what they are by just sitting around on their couch all day long. If you're going to build something, it's going to cost you something. If you're going to build a business, it's going to cost you something. And all of those things are temporal.

They're what? They're passing away. In the view of Solomon, they're nothing but what? Vanity. But what we are building here is eternal.

The relationships that we build with one another will last. The ministry will have eternal repercussions, the salvation of lost souls. This is not vanity. This is worthwhile. This brings great reward.

This is of far greater value than all those other things we listed. And faithfulness as stewards is important, and the church is suffering today. And this is one of the reasons, not so much our church, but the church in general. Yes. Faithfulness and endurance is the key to any long term endeavor, which certainly describes the church.

Last week, we saw both in our church covenant and the word of God, the meaning of the word body as it applies to the church. We are God's children. We are his representative, his hands, his feet, his mouthpiece in this world together. We are his body. He is our what?

Head. We discovered the purpose of the church and its goal to the advancement of the growth of the body for the glory of who? For the glory of God, for the glory of Jesus Christ. Today, we are going to look at three specific means of reaching that end which can be placed under the heading of stewardship. I say three.

We'll see if we get to the third one this morning. That clock is is is not my friend. Okay. What is a steward? A steward is one who has been granted the privilege of watching over or taking care of something belonging to another.

A steward is one who's been granted the privilege of watching over or taking care of something belonging to another. A trustee, if you would, like a trustee over someone's trust fund. They watch over it. They take care of it. We are stewards of the gospel.

We are stewards of the time that God has given. We're stewards of the provision that God it's all it all belongs to who? It all belongs to God. It all comes from him. We are blessed to be stewards of this church and this church's testimony and this church's ministry together.

The church is Christ's body as we saw last Sunday, but we have been granted the joint privilege of being its stewards. The first is by by giving to provide for the temporal ministries and that's necessities and ministries of the church, including helping those of its membership in need. That is what we mentioned in the covenant here, to contribute cheerfully, regularly to the support of the ministry, the expense of the church, and the relief of the poor. We didn't just make that up. We got that from where?

From the Bible, from from the scripture. Particularly, as we read here in Acts two forty two concerning the first church, they continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine, preaching the word of God, fellowship, and in breaking of bread, communion, and in prayers. And it goes down to verse 44 and it says, and all that believe were together and had all things come and sold their possessions and goods, parted them to all men as every hand man had need, as every person had need. What did they do? Well, it says here that they gave of what they had to help one another.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the message, Rome demanded a lot. The Jews that were in charge of Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, and others demanded a lot. And yet after Rome and after after the Sanhedrin and the Jews and the temple, then they then they had one another and they had the church to care for also. And what did they do? Well, did they shirk the responsibility of taking care of one another?

No, they did not. Nor the ministry of the church which had to grow. And grow it did. Despite the obstacles of Rome and the Sanhedrin and the persecution and all of those things, the church grew and the church advanced and the gospel went forth and daily people were being saved and coming to Jesus Christ. The Bible actually has a lot to say about money and giving.

Primarily because the love of money is the root of what? All evil. All sorts of evil. Not money, but the love of money. And is the love of money a human problem?

Yeah, it is. It is a huge human problem. And, of course, Christians are entirely immune to that. Why'd you laugh? Alright.

Obviously not. It is it can also be a temptation to us and trip us up. If God does not have your pocketbook, then it is doubtful that he has your heart. What did Jesus say in Matthew chapter six? He said, lay down up yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and thieves thieves breakthrough and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves do not break through or steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. What you treasure will lead your heart. Why is it that so many Christians, church and ministry and the and the preaching of the gospel and the service of the Lord are not high on their priority list? Because their heart is not in it, because they are treasuring things, as Solomon put, that are vanity and vanishing away. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Besides that, for any endeavor, business or ministry to function in this world, it unfortunately does require what? Money. It does. And a lot of it. In the Old Testament, a tithe in money or crops was taken up like a tax for the ministry of the temple, for the provision of the priests and the Levites.

This was a matter of law. They were required to do this by law. Today, we are not under the law but grace. A law written where? In our hearts.

We are not under a theocracy but a kind of democracy. So the tithe is no longer required as a matter of law, though, unfortunately, taxes are, but not the tithe. So therefore, you don't have to worry about it. Right? No.

That by no means exempts us from providing both for the spiritual and temporal needs of the church. The tithe was established as an appropriate means of thanksgiving to God for his provision before the law of Moses was ever given. Abraham in Genesis 14 gave a tithe of all that he had got to Melchizedek, the representative of the Lord. In Genesis twenty eight twenty two, Jacob followed suit. It writes in this stone, the stone he'd used for his pillow and thus a remembrance of where he stayed.

This stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house and of all that thou shalt give me, I shall surely give the what? The tenth to thee. Okay? Not as a matter of law, but it was a matter of conscience. As it was for them, it is now for us a freewill offering and a matter of conscience rather than law.

Though Jesus did not specifically speak about the tithe, he did other areas of the law. And when he did, he did not compel his disciples to shun it or to live by its letter. But according to the spirit of the law, which as a matter of conscience demands, and I mentioned this in Sunday school, demands more and not what? Less. Grace doesn't demand less of us.

It demands more, not less. And so the early Christians, as we see here in Acts two, carried on that spear than their giving not with less but more. They went beyond the tithe. They went beyond the normal offerings and alms. Some of them sold land and property and things that no doubt were dear to them in some respect because their fellow members, their fellow believers were suffering.

They had been cast out. They were now disconnected from the help of the synagogues. And the widows needed help. And the orphans needed help. And others needed help.

And so they voluntarily, they willingly, as a matter of love, not as a matter of law, gave more to help those in need. They gave as needed to fulfill the needs of the ministry even to the extent of selling land and other commodities to reach the goal, not by law but grace, not of compulsion, but of a willing heart. They gave cheerfully because they loved one another in the Lord. Their giving demonstrated where their heart was, the Lord and one another. Second Corinthians nine seven says, every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful a cheerful giver.

A couple of weeks ago, we took up a special offering for the Pose missionaries that we support. Debbie Poe, John's wife, has had a liver transplant that led to some other medical problems, and then she came down with mouth cancer, oral cancer. She had surgery. They found it in some lymph nodes, so now she's taking chemotherapy. They have been through the ringer.

They appreciate your prayers, but also we took up an offering, added some to it from the missions fund, but what came in as a matter of free will offering was about 12 to $1,300. And that was just with announcing it a couple days in advance. And for our small congregation, I think that shows some love and is greatly appreciated by John and Debbie. The the young people's the young adult class has been working on a a blessing box to put out in the parking lot. It will allow for people who are in great need to take something out of the box.

We just when it empties, we'll we'll just put more in it and they'll be able to get some help in that way. It's good to see Ashley this morning. We've helped her her in the past on several occasions, and the Lord has has used that to make a great difference in her life, and she's made a great difference in in our church. And so it will not return void as God's word said. It will not either when we honor him and we are doers of the word and not just just hearers only.

The early church did this also. Stewardship demands not only our wallets, but also our time and effort. Stewardship of the church does not end with your wallet. It took time and effort on the part of the early church Christians to do the ministry as well as to support it financially. If you say, okay, I gave my money.

That's all that matters. I come, I sit, I give money, then I'm I'm that that yeah. No. Uh-uh. That's not the way it works.

God doesn't want your money. He wants your heart. The money is just a outgrowth. The time, talents, our love, our thanksgiving, our encouragement of one another. God desires our heart and our heart to care for each other.

Thus, last week, we looked in Hebrews 10, not forsaking the assembling together as manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. As times get harder, we will need one another more, not less. And we see that exemplified in the early church and that is part of the stewardship of this ministry. Secondly, as mentioned in the covenant, we must give in both time and money for the spread of the gospel and the salvation of lost souls, which both bring God glory, the stewardship of the gospel. We recently spent some time on this during missions conference and so I will just briefly review the need and some examples from the scripture this morning.

Otherwise, it would take a lot more than about ten minutes that I have. Okay? But let's start where God starts. Start here. Before Jesus even said this, he said to his disciples, as the father has sent me, so what?

Send I send I you. Who was he talking to? His disciples. Who was he talking to? Believers, followers.

Who was he talking to? Churches. Us. What did he say here in Matthew 28? He said, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

That word power there, there's two words for power in the Greek. One of them speaks of enablement ability. It's the word from which we get the word dynamite, dunamis. But that's not this word. This word is exousia.

This word means authority. So Jesus is saying all authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And then what does he say? Go ye therefore. So Jesus said, all authority is given to me, and now I'm telling you to what?

I'm telling you to go. And if I tell you to go, I have the ability to back you up as well. Okay? So all power is given to me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations.

That word teach means to make disciples, to make converts of all nations. How do you do that? By preaching the what? By preaching the gospel, by telling people all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is what?

Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have what? Everlasting life. He that believeth on him is not condemned. Him that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be what? Saved. And we could continue. The gospel, the good news. We're sinners.

There's a savior. He came. He died on the cross for our sins. He rose again from the dead, and he will save the soul of every person who comes to him in repentance and faith to be their Lord and savior, to give them eternal life, and to forgive their sins. Go ye therefore and teach all nations.

That's followed by baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost, and then teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world. Amen. That is called the great commission. And God has commissioned us, Missouri Avenue Baptist Church, to go into all the world and what?

Preach the gospel. We must begin, first of all, by practicing personal evangelism as stated in our covenant and clearly taught in the scriptures. See, where did I put that? Here it is. To seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances.

That could also be called personal evangelism. Part of our responsibility as members of the body of Christ in this local church is to seek the salvation of those who we know. How do we do that? Well, eventually, we got to get to telling them the what? Telling them the gospel.

In word or in a track, bringing them to church to hear the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but we are not fulfilling God's command to its fullest if we are not personally involved in seeking the salvation of the lost. Not just in our witness, but also in our what? In our prayers. Because you don't save souls. Who does?

God does. It is the responsibility of every sheep to produce more sheep, not just the pastor. This often starts with building relationships, bridges to the heart of lost person who needs Christ. Now, it's wonderful. We've got tracks back there.

I hope you'll take them all. I hope I have to print some more for next Sunday. Pass them out so people get the word of God and and the gospel of Jesus Christ in their hands. Pray praise the Lord. Some will read it, and in time, someone or someones will come to know Christ through it.

However, often personal evangelism takes a little bit more work. And when given the opportunity, you have to build bridges. You have to be patient. It's not just about handing out a track. It's about taking time to get to know people and for them to get to know you, and then in time sharing with them why it is you are who you are in Christ Jesus.

Passing out literature can be effective means of witness. And, of course, the verbal testimony and preaching are vital elements of evangelism. But it doesn't just start and end with the preaching at the pulpit or the missionaries on the wall. It must include the congregation. Number two, we are commanded to go not only to our next door neighbor, but to the whole world with the gospel message.

Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and Judea and all Samaria all Judea and Samaria and unto the what? Uttermost part of the earth. That is part of this responsibility of the local church. Starting in Jerusalem, your local area, and but then extending further out. You can either do that by leaving your homeland and going yourself or by giving and praying.

You must choose one of these two options or mix of both, but neither but to do neither is to fall short in obeying our Lord's command. That's why we have a missions worldwide missions ministry, Faith Promise Ministry, call it. That's why those 11 missionaries are are back there on the prayer cards are back there on the board and it shows you where they are. That's why many of you give regularly to the missions fund to support them so that the gospel we can partner with them and they with us to get the gospel to places where I that I will never see in this life. But yet, we are helping to get the gospel to people that live there.

Though some of the early missionaries such as Paul never requested money, they often received it and could not even begin to fulfill their calling apart from the hospitality of others. Look, read the book of Philippians. See how grateful Paul was to receive a gift from the Christians at Philippi to help support him in the ministry of the gospel. We have that privilege to support those missionaries and others in reaching people with the message of Jesus Christ. We believe the best way to do this is through the local church as seen in the scripture.

Paul was sent by a what? Local church. Which local church? The church at where? Antioch.

The church at Antioch. He reported back to the same church at the end of his journeys. He received gifts from local churches like the Philippians to assist in his ministry. And he collected free will offerings from local churches to support the struggling ministry and churches in Judea. First Corinthians sixteen one and two.

Now concerning the collection for the saints, I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye upon the first day of the week. Let every one of you lay by him in stores. God hath prospered that there be no gatherings when I come. And so our Faith Promise Missions ministry is set up similarly. It is not by law.

It is not by compulsion. It is a free will offering. God loves a what? A cheerful giver. Every man according his purpose according as he purposed in his heart, so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a a cheerful giver.

But again, we're not just talking about what? Not just talking about money. For the church to advance, to grow in faith and knowledge and number, to bring souls into the kingdom, to bring glory to our father in heaven, we must be willing to give of ourselves. We must recognize that we are stewards of something that is indeed, what, very precious to the Lord. We have looked at two of three this morning.

I'm not gonna get to three or we'd be here till 12:30. And some of you, your stomachs would be complaining. And we looked at two of the three by giving of ourselves to assist each other and provide for the needs of the church, and by giving and going with the gospel to a lost world to bring them to Christ. So the question is this morning, how are you doing? How are we doing?

Could we do better? I think we we probably could. How are you doing personally? The Lord has given us this opportunity in this place. He says, be not weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

Is one of these lacking in your life, your home, your church today? If God has put a finger on some area of your heart, don't tell him no. Have a little talk with Jesus. Don't walk away. And if you're here this morning and you have yet to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of your life, if there be any doubt at all, I would love to meet you down here as we give sing the invitation song this morning and share with you how you can know Jesus Christ, how you can receive the gift of eternal life that he purchased for you on Calvary's Cross.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the opportunity to share it this morning. Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit would indeed move in our hearts, Lord, that we would not forget it, that we might listen to you in your word, that we might endeavor by your grace as we leave this place this morning to be your hands and your feet and your mouthpiece to a world, to bring blessing to others, particularly other members of the household of faith.

Lord, give us grace and guide us, Lord, forward in your service as Missouri Avenue Baptist Church and bring souls to the savior. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.