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We are now in our fourth and final week of our Advent series.  This week we will be speaking of the 4th candle, which is known as “the Angel’s Candle,” and it stands for love. We see in the Scriptures that Angels appeared in the Christmas story even before Jesus did!  The Gospel of Luke describes how the angel Gabriel appeared to a man named Zacharias, informing him that he and his wife would soon have a son (Luke 1:1-25). Zacharias’ son was John the Baptist, the one who preached that the Messiah was coming and baptized Jesus in the Jordan River (Mark 1:1-7). And of course, we see the Angels actively involved in the night of Jesus’s birth as they interacted with the Shepherds. The reason why the Angel’s Candle stands for love is because it culminates the season with the birth of Christ, which is the greatest symbol of love that humankind could have ever received from our heavenly Father.

Let’s jump in and see how this Advent candle, representing “love” connects not only to our faith, but our stewardship.

 

How is Love demonstrated in Advent?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV84)

Clearly, God loves us, for that is why He sent His one and only Son into this world soo that one day we could be with Him for all eternity! As you know we are a podcast about stewardship, and it would be wrong for us to not dive deep into the correlation of love, specifically God’s love, and our stewardship of all that God has entrusted to us.  To begin our discussion, let’s look at how love manifests itself in our stewardship. 

 

How does Love manifest itself in our Stewardship?

1. Generosity to God

Because God is a very giving and generous God toward us, we ought to emulate that same quality back to Him and to others.  How would one do that today?  Here are three areas:  

  • Sacrificial giving
    • Sacrificial giving is to go without something that is good in order to give to a need or cause. It is sacrificing a desired lifestyle to support God’s work/kingdom. (Stewardology Podcast Ep. #89)
  • Giving to the Church
    • When we are giving unto the Lord and His work, in our tithes and offerings, this is generosity back to God.  NOTICE, we say “generosity to God” not necessarily the church, and not man.  It is GOD to whom we give unto.
  • Giving to Parachurch ministries
    • When we look at our generosity to God, we also need to look at not just the gift, but the whole of what God has given to you!  As God blesses us, we ought to be a blessing back to the Lord’s work, through the local church (first) and Parachurch ministries also.

2. Save to protect and prepare for your the future for your family

  • Emergency Fund
    • Without having some cash on hand when those emergencies come, we will continually play the “shell game” with our money in order to take care of the “emergencies” that come our way on a regular basis.  Doing this will keep us from borrowing from other budget line areas and/or borrowing on credit card or banks.
  • Getting out of debt
    • Protecting your family by getting, and staying out of debt is a way to protect your family today…and provide better for them in the future!  In doing this we are loving them in taking care of their needs today and tomorrow with a good stewardship mindset.

3. Spend on gifts that demonstrate your love for others.

  • God is not stingy with His gifts towards His children. We should not be stingy towards our children. Generous, wise, lavish gift giving can be a beautiful expression of God’s great love for us. 
    • “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:9–11, NIV84)

Our giving to the Lord’s work in and through the church, by providing and protecting our family through good use of our finances and also through our generosity in gift giving to other (family, friends and those in need) all show our love, our generosity to others, and more so, back to God

 

Be cautious about making an idol out of preparation or generosity

Saving done wrong:

  • Saving done out of a love of money, or a fear of lack in the future
    • Some people tend to hoard their money.
    • There is a difference between saving for a rainy day and hoarding
    • Where is the line between trusting God and providing and protecting our family through savings?

Saving done right:

  • Out of a love for your family, and knowing the realities of the broken world we live in, we want to have reserves that will carry them through the eventualities of life in a fallen world. 
    • In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. (Proverbs 21:20, NIV84)

Giving gifts done wrong:

  • Making up for failures as a parent, or trying to purchase favor from a recipient. This is manipulative and people-pleasing.
  • Trying to have others love you because of the “stuff” that you give…

Gift-giving done right:

  • Giving gifts out of love. 
  • Showing the love of God through gift giving. 
  • Being an example of generosity. 
    • A heart-check… 
      • Many times people give gifts out of obligation or expectation. 
      • Are we giving out of love?
      • Are we giving with NO strings attached?

 

Stewardship Application:

What difference would it make if you gave your gifts out of love, instead of obligation? How might that reflect the love of the Lord in years to come?

We have talked about Hope

  • Hope is a firm expectation that a desired future will be achieved! Our hope is not ultimately in our own health, wealth, and prosperity in this life alone, but ultimately in the life to come. It is based on the promise of Jesus Christ overcoming all of the brokenness and suffering that this world encounters. When we have this hope and expectation, that gives us hope for today as we walk through the here and now as we walk through the financial, physical, and spiritual difficulties that we face every day.

We have talked about Peace

  • Because of our confidence in our eternal reward, we have peace in the here and now. No matter what is happening in the economy, or your job, or your health… No matter what kind of difficulties you are facing, you can have peace! Because Jesus Christ came in to this world as a baby, to undo the curse and the effects of sin (decay), so while we don’t see it fully realized yet, we can have pace, knowing that He will ultimately bring about the full restoration of the created order and undo all of the wrong and the brokenness that we face in our world and circumstances.

We have talked about Joy

  • Joy is the fuel of the Christian life. If we are going to succeed in any amount of growth in our Christian character, it cannot happen apart from finding great joy in who God is, and what He has done for you, and live according to that Joy. Through this, the joy of the Lord will be demonstrated IN and THROUGH YOU to your friends, family, church family, neighborhood…and even the world!

We have talked about Love

  • Because of our experience of the love of God, we can demonstrate God’s love through us towards our families and to those who are in need as we generously love others through our stewardship of what GOD has put into our care.

 

May this season, this holiday advent season be one that you can emulate anew, or possibly for the first time, Biblical stewardship of what is in your care through having and living out:

    • Hope in the Lord.
    • Peace in the storms of life.
    • Joy that exudes out of you because of God’s working in your life.
    • Love through your proper and generous giving to family, friends and those in need.

God has done all four of these for you, and now is the time to emulate His character, work and blessings to the world around us.

 

Next Steps

 

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