Bible Text: Luke 16:1-13 | Preacher: Pastor Steve | Series: Engage: Do All In The Name Of The Lord Jesus
The VALIDATION Of Our Right Living Is In Part Based On How We Manage Our Money
Luke 16:1-2 Jesus told this story to his disciples: There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money.  So the employer called him in and said, what’s this I hear about you?  Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.
We have a choice to live by God’s principles or by the world’s principles  
BE WISE
Luke 16:3-7 The manager thought to himself, Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg.  Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired. So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, How much do you owe him? The man replied, I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil. So the manager told him, Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons. And how much do you owe my employer? he asked the next man. I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat, was the reply. Here, the manager said, take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.
How We Handle Our Money Is A Spiritual Maturity Temperature Gauge
Luke 16:8 The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.
James 1:5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.
Luke 16:9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home
Christians: Money and spiritual values are linked together
World: Money and spiritual values are separated from each other
If you can’t tithe to the Lord; if you are unable to submit to God’s boundaries as it relates to our money; that indicates that you will also have the same or similar issues with other more important matters in life!
We TIP (15-25%) Better Than We TITHE! (1-3% average)
#1. Genesis 14: 17-20 …then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Tenth=tithe is always the 10th of something.
#2. Leviticus 27: 28-34 The tithe…belongs to the Lord.
#3. Malachi 3:8-10 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, in what way have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings…bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this…
#4. 1 Corinthians 16:2 …bring our gifts on a regular basis
2 Corinthians 9:7; 8:2 …bring our gifts joyfully
(NT giving passages: Luke 16:10-11; Matthew 25:37–40; Mark 12:41–44; Matthew 6:1–4; Luke 6:38; Acts 20:35; Matthew 23: 23-24)
BE FAITHFUL
Luke 16:10 If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.  And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?  And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
As We Are Faithful To The Lord He Will Be Faithful To Us!
1 Kings 17:1-16
Where will we find peace?  In the size of our bank accounts or   in the FAITHFULNESS of our LORD!
ENGAGE IN GIVING!
Use every opportunity God gives for His Glory! Do all in the Name of the Lord!
Jesus said that the people of the world can be more committed than the people of God.
Our commitment for God needs to be greater than the world’s commitment for making money!
BE DEVOTED
Luke 16:13 No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
A believer can be rich and serve God, but a believer who is rich cannot serve the god of riches (Luke 12:13-21).
For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25).
GOD OWNS EVERYTHING
1 Timothy 6:7 For we have brought nothing into the world so we cannot take anything out of it either.
Jesus says we have a choice. We can make the LORD our priorty or we can make money our priority and the things money buys. We can’t make them both our number one priority.