Luke 16:1

SUMMARY: The sermon focuses on the concept of stewardship in relation to the building of a new temple for the church. The pastor reads from the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus speaks about money in relation to the Kingdom of God. The pastor encourages the congregation to see the financial campaign not as an effort to get money but as an opportunity to reflect on Christian stewardship and the correct administration of goods. He shares a vision of having 200 people commit to giving $5,000 over two years, which would raise $1 million for the temple. The pastor believes that the congregation can achieve this goal without hiring an expensive company to guide them through the campaign. He encourages the congregation to pray and ask the Holy Spirit if they are called to be part of this vision.

The speaker encourages the audience to be joyful givers for the Kingdom of God. He emphasizes that everything we have belongs to God and that we will be held accountable for how we use it. He also notes the importance of planning for the future and investing in eternal treasures. The speaker encourages the audience to commit to a life of joyful giving and not let fear or anxiety stop them from giving to the Lord. The message ends with a prayer for wisdom and guidance in stewardship.

Let's go to the Gospel according to Saint Luke, Chapter 16, beginning with the first verse. I'm going to read it in Spanish. Let's go straight there now. Chapter 16, verse 1: “...he also said to his disciples, “there was a rich man who had a steward and this man, that is, the steward, was accused before him of being a wasteful man (that is, misusing his property). Then the rich man called the steward and said to him: What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship because you will no longer be able to be a steward. Then the steward said to himself: what will I do because my master takes away my stewardship? I can't dig, I'm ashamed to beg, ah! I already know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship they will welcome me into their homes. And calling each one of his master's debtors, he said to the first: how much do you owe my master? He said: “one hundred barrels of oil”, and he said: “take your account, sit down quickly and write 50”. Then he said to another: “and how much do you owe?”, and he said: “100 measures of wheat”. He told her: "Take your account and write 80". And the master praised the bad steward for having done sagaciously because the children of this century are more sagacious in dealing with their peers than the children of light. And I tell you, win friends through unjust riches so that when these are lacking they will receive you in eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in the very little is also faithful in the most. And he who is unjust in the very little is also unjust in the most, for if you were not faithful in unjust riches, who will trust you with what is true? And if you were not faithful in what belongs to others, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters because either he will hate one and love the other, or he will esteem one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." May the Lord bless his holy word. Of wisdom to expose it.

The last time I preached I almost informally started a series of messages on the concept of stewardship. I am going to continue this as part of what is going to be a kind of financial campaign towards raising funds for our temple. What we want through this financial campaign is not only to obtain money from you, and from us too, because I am also part of that, all the leaders of this church are part of this process. We also want to enrich their lives, our lives with a reflection on what Christian stewardship is, what is the correct administration of the goods that the Lord places in our hands.