Bible Text: Luke 16:1-13 | Preacher: Pastor Steve | Series: Abiding in the Lord
Stephen King, the horror novelist, advocates generosity
“All you have is on loan anyway. All that lasts is what you pass on. We have the power to help, the power to change. And why should we refuse? …Right now we have the power to do great good for others. So I ask you to begin giving and to continue as you began”
Jesus the Messiah the Son of God advocates generosity
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. 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.
Jesus contrasts the meaning of the word strength I don’t have the strength:
Dunamai: strength from one’s own human ability
—VERSUS—
Dunamis: strength and power from the Holy Spirit
Are we trying to live in two different worlds?
Are we successful in separating out the spiritual truths of God’s word away from the world’s viewpoint?
Have we made the decision to live by God’s principles or the world’s principles?
Luke 16:3-8
Our fiscal responsibility is directly proportional with our spiritual maturity
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.
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
The enemy of God would like us to separate any discussion about money from our spiritual values.
For Christians: Money and spiritual values are linked together.
For theWorld: Money and spiritual values are separate issues.
We often TIP better than we TITHE!
Genesis 14:17-20 …then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Leviticus 27: 28-34 The tithe…belongs to the Lord.
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…
Jesus connects the spiritual and the material together
Our priority is spiritual!
College students “increasingly anxious” about the economy
41.6% reported that  the cost of attending a college is the important factor in their choice of schools,
4.5% reported having an unemployed father
7.9% of their mothers were unemployed
53.3% reported taking out loans
70.0% reported receiving/needing grants
56.5% reported that finding a school where graduates get good jobs most important
Where do we find peace?
In the size of our bank accounts or the largeness of our God! 
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?
What is our system’s value?
First me, then God!
—OR—
First God, then me!
…the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.
If only our passion for God was as great as the world’s passion for money, what greater things we would accomplish?
SEIZE THE DAY!
Use the opportunities God gives you.
Either we ABIDE in the Lord and follow His Word or we abide in the world and follow its values
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
Money cannot buy our way into Heaven
Luke 9:25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
Never forget that GOD OWNS EVERYTHING!
1 Timothy 6:7 For we have brought nothing into the world so we cannot take anything out of it either