First Congregational Church

Loaves & Fishes

WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY ABOUT STEWARDSHIP?

A Selection of Bible Passages for the Use of First Church Group Leaders
Intended to Open Meetings and Provide Discernment/Discussion
From Now Through December, the 2009 Stewardship Period
Chosen by Tom Lindeman at the Request of the Loaves and Fishes Team
- - - - - - - - - -  
Passages Describing God’s Generosity
Genesis 1:1,31:

    In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....And God saw
    everything that God had made, and behold, it was very good.
Psalm 24:1:

    The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
     the world and those who dwell therein.
Psalm 8: 1, 3-9:  

    O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
    When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
    what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
    Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
    You have given them dominion [stewardship] over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet.
    All sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
    the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea.
    O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Matthew 5:43-45 (The Sermon on the Mount):
      You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
      But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
      so that you may be children of your Father in heaven;
      for God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good,
      and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
Matthew 14:13-21
      Jesus...withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.  But when the

      crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.  When he went ashore, he saw
      a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.
      When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place,
      and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and
      buy food for themselves.”  Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them
      something to eat.”  They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”
      And he said, “Bring them here to me.”  Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on
      the grass.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed
      and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the
      crowds.  And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken
      pieces, twelve baskets full.  And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides
      women and children. 
[The Loaves and Fishes theme is repeated in Matthew 15:32-39, this time with 4000 men.
Why do you suppose the story is repeated with only one change in detail?]

1 Corinthians 3:4-9; 4:1-2, 8:
      For when one says ‘I belong to Paul’ and another, ‘I belong to Apollos,’
      are you not merely human?
      What then is Apollos?  What is Paul?  Servants through whom you came to believe,
      as the Lord assigned to each.
      I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
      So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
      but only God who gives the growth.
      The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose,
      and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.
      For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building....
      Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.
      Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy....
      Already you have all you want!  Already you have become rich! 
      Quite apart from us you have become kings!

Other Possible Texts:
— Other segments of Genesis 1         — Genesis 2                      — Genesis 9:8-17
— sections of Job 38-41                     — Psalm 8                        — Psalm 19
— Psalm 23                                         — Psalm 29                    — Psalm 33
— Psalm 46                                         — Psalm 47                    — Psalm 65
— Psalm 67                                         — Psalm 91                    — Psalm 92
— Psalm 93                                         — Psalm 96                    — Psalm 98    
— Psalm 100                                       — Psalm 103                  — Psalm 104
— Psalm 111                                       — Psalm 136                  — Psalm 139
— Psalm 145                                       — Psalm 148                  — Psalm 150

Deuteronomy 14:22-29:
      You shall set aside every year a tenth part of all the yield of your sowing that is brought in
      from the field.  You shall consume the tithes of your new grain and wine and oil, and the
      firstlings of your herds and flocks, in the presence of your God, in the place where God
      will choose to establish God’s name, so that you may learn to revere your God forever.
      Should the distance be too great for you, should you be unable to transport them,
      because the place where God has chosen to establish God’s name is far from you and
      because God has blessed you, you may convert them into money.  Wrap up the money
      and take it with you to the place that God has chosen, and spend the money on anything
      you want – cattle, sheep, wine, or other intoxicant, or anything you may desire.  And you
      shall feast there, in the presence of God, and rejoice with your household.
      But do not neglect the Levite in your community, for he has no territorial allotment
      among you.  Every third year you shall bring out the full tithe of your yield of that year,
      but leave it within yoursettlements.  Then the Levite, and the resident alien, the orphan
      and the widow in your settlements shall come and eat their fill, so that God may bless you
      in all the enterprises you undertake.
Mark 12:28-31:
      One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that
      he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”
      Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
      you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
      your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor
      as yourself.’”
Matthew 6:19-21:
      Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume
      and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in [the realm of
      God].  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Proverbs 11:24-25, 28:
      Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; A generous person will be enriched,
      and one who gives water will get water....Those who trust in their riches will wither,
      but the righteous will flourish like green leaves.
Matthew 6:31-33:
      Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?”
      or “What shall we wear?”  For unbelievers seek all these things; and your heavenly Father
      knows that you need them all.  But seek first God’s realm and God’s righteousness,
      and all these things shall be yours as well.

Luke 12:15-21:
      And he said to them, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness;
      for a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.
      And he told them a parable, saying, ‘ The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully;
      and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
      And he said to himself, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones;
      and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, “Soul,
      you have ample goods laid up for many years;  take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’
      But God said to him,
      ‘Fool!  This night your soul is required of you;
      and things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
      So is the one who lays up treasure for self, and is not rich toward God.”
Mark 10:17-27:
       And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him,
       and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
       And Jesus said to him, “...You know the commandments....” 
       And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.”
       And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him,
       “You lack one thing: go, sell what you have, and give to the poor,
       and come, follow me.”
       At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful,
       for he had great possessions.
       And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
       “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the realm of God!”
       And the disciples were amazed at his words.
       But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the realm of God!
       It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
       than for a rich man to enter the realm of God.”
       And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”
       Jesus looked at them and said,
       “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

Other possible texts:
Almost half of Jesus’ parables are about money; for example:
— a hidden treasure and a pearl, Matthew 13:44-46
— the unmerciful servant, Matthew 18:23-35
— the Samaritan, Luke 10:26-37
— faithful and unfaithful servants, Luke 12:41-48
— the three servants given talents, Matthew 25:14-30

—The rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31
— Christians are to be generous, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15
— Being stewards of God’s grace, 1 Peter 4:9-11