PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GHANA

EBENEZER CONGREGATION

TEACHING SERVICE

REV. ERIC JOEL NII OKLEY BOTCHWAY

STEWARDSHIP OF TALENT

OUT LINE Definition Of Stewardship & Talent

Biblical Basis Of Stewardship

Origin Of Talents

How To Discover Your Talents

How To Use Your Talents Effectively

GENESIS 2:16-17

“And the Lord God commanded the man saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you will eat of it, you shall surely die”

INTRODUCTIONAfter God had finish creation, He gave Adam the responsibility for the garden and told him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Gen. 2:16-1716 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat;

17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

This was a test for Adam. A test both of his acknowledgement of God's ownership of the garden and his position in its garden as a care taker (steward)

This means that Adam was free to be in the garden but his freedom was limited.

God entrusted the management of His creation into his care.

He (Adam) was to explore the possibilities which his special “creatureliness” and his rich endowment by God of both natural and human resources to manage God’s creation of which he stands to give accounts.

It was his responsibility to explicate principles of stewardship that would allow for the responsible use of the resources at his disposal to the glory of God and for the good of humanity.

Adams mandate charges us also as Christians to responsibly manage what God has entrusted to us. i.e.:

MATERIAL GOODS

ENVIRONMENTAL GIFTS

NATURAL ENDOWMENTS

HUMAN RESOURCES

The process by which we manage the rich endowments of God and the respective accountable services is called stewardship

It has to do with reckoning of something that has been entrusted into your hands.

A steward is a trustee, it is being accountable to your master who owns all that has been entrusted to you.

1 CORINTHIANS 4:7“For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you deed indeed receive it, why do you boost as if you had not received it.

1 CORINTHIANS 4:7- (AMP)…what have you that was not given to you? If then you received it [from someone]., why do you boost as if you had not received it. [but had gain it by your own efforts]?

Every good gift and every perfect gifts is from above and comes down from the Father of light with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

(James 1:17)

ROMANS 12:6 (AMP)Having gifts [faculties, talents, qualities] that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them…

The above mention passages points to the facts that, our faculty, gifts, talents and abilities are given to us by God as a sacred (solemn) trust and responsibility.

In the Old Testament, a steward is a person in the position of trust

GENESIS 43:19“And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house”

GENESIS 44:4When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet fare off, Joseph said to his steward, “get up, follow the men: and when you overtake them say to them, “why have you repay evil for good.

ISAIAH 22:15-16Thou says the Lord of host, “Go, proceed to this steward, to Shebna who is over the house, and say, what have you hear and who have you hear.

A classical example of stewardship is the role Joseph played in the house of Potipher.,

GENESIS 39:4-64 “And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he

served him, and he made him overseer(steward) over his house and all that he had he put into his hand.

5 “Ad it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer (steward) in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptians house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field

6 “ And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; ad he knew not aught he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person and well-favored.

In the New Testament, Stewardship had to do with the management or caretaker or administration of a household.

The person who manages or administers a household or is in a position of trust or holds public office is referred so as steward.

TALENT

Originally, the word talent is referred as a balance – an apparatus for weighing.

Usually the word talent involves human activities.

In the New Testament the word has a new meaning.

It was identified as a sum or value of money in gold or silver.6000 denarii's which is equivalent to 240 pounds sterling.

The parable of the talents; Matt. 25:14-30

The Oxford Dictionary of current English defines Talent as: a special aptitude or faculty; high mental ability

In current usage, Talent refers to a gift or natural ability for a specific undertakings or work.

By stewardship of talents we are referring to the management and due accountability of the varied abilities which God has entrusted in to individual human hands for specific undertakings or work.

POSSIBLE SOURCES OF TALENTGENETIC:

from parents to offspring. Some families are noted for a particular endowment.

- The Pele – football, the Williams sisters- Long tennise

- Musicians – The Kotey’s of Nungua- ArtistSome people have a natural flair for some thing in

their family.

TRAINING

Some people find abilities to do things through training and discipline.(practice)

NATURALSome people are naturally endowed to do something. They have the flair for doing things not learnt or inherited. (Multi-talented)

Multi talented people

Talent, be it genetic, natural or acquired is from God.

Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of light…

Their purpose is to bring pleasure to God and soothing to neighbor.

HOW TO DISCOVER YOUR TALENT

i. One way of discovering your talent is to take note of what others acknowledge in you. It is often a pointer to what you have over looked.

ii. One other pointer talent, are the things that irritate you. The irritations are often indications of hidden talents for correcting what produces that irritation.

1. Check your passion; it can reveal what you are gifted to do.

Your passion is an inward drive which pushes you to do something very often and brings you fulfillments.

2. Narrow down on that which you call your hobbies.

The activities you do in your free time because you enjoy doing.

The things that you have the flair to do.

PRACTICE / EXERCISE

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF

DOING UNTIL YOU ATTEMPT TO DO

SOMETHING

HOW TO USE YOUR TALENT EFFECTIVELY

1. You need to realize that all gifts and abilities are from God.

You are a steward of God who is accountable to him.

2. Accept that not everyone has the same talent or ability

Our shape is for a particular ability.

Our talents varies but at the end it serves the same purpose (gives glory to God and bring pleasure to man)

3.know who you are and what you can do best.

4. dedicate your talent to Gods service and not for your personal success.

5. Be willing to utilize your talent whole heartedly.

What you need to do, you should not be told to do it.

BENEFITS - Matthew 25:19 - 30According to this parable there will be

reckoning by the master for accountability.

Those who have been faithful will be rewarded abundantly.

Those who have not been faithful their talent will be taken from them and be punish severely.

CONCLUSION The proper use of your

talent defines your effectiveness in the

management of your talents

THANK YOU

QUESTION TIME