Making the Case for the Forgotten Sermon

The following is from The Forgotten Sermon: How to Preach Effectively on Giving. https://acts17generosity.com/shop/the-forgotten-sermon/

Why should you regularly preach on stewardship? Here are two major reasons why.

1. It’s biblical! The Bible has a lot to say about money. Don’t let a few people talk you out of preaching the whole counsel of God. Jesus talked about money and finances because he understood its power in people’s lives. It truly is the god and idol of our age.

Consider that the New Testament has about…

• 500 verses on faith
• 500 verses on prayer
• Over 1,000 verses on giving
• 1/10 of the book of Matthew deals with stewardship and giving!

Why are you not preaching on it if the Bible talks about it so much?

2. It brings results. In his book How to Increase Giving in Your Church, George Barna found churches where pastors preach…

• Single messages about giving raise more money than do churches in which no stewardship takes place.
• Two or more nonconsecutive messages do not have any advantage over churches that only preach on stewardship once a year.
• Two or more consecutive messages about stewardship raise more money than do those churches that only hear one message a year.
• Churches in which pastors preach two or more consecutive messages about stewardship matters raise significantly more money than churches that hear two or more nonconsecutive stewardship messages.
• A series on giving is nearly two and a half times more likely to experience an increase in giving than preachers who only talk about stewardship once a year or on two nonconsecutive times in a year. ⁽¹⁾

The bottom line is that the more you preach on giving, the more you will raise. Don’t shy away from preaching on stewardship. The challenge is to do so effectively.

1. Barna, George Barna. How to Increase Giving to Your Church. Ventura, CA: Gospel Light, 1997. 92, 93