Continued from “Did You Know? (Part 1).”

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod adopted eight Stewardship principles at its 1998 national convention. These principles reflect a definition of stewardship commonly used throughout the LCMS. Each principle stands alone as an important guide for the church, yet all eight principles stand together as a summary of how we live our lives of stewardship.

Principle Three—God's Stewards are Saints and Sinners

God’s stewards rejoice in and live out what the Lord has declared them to be through the cross. At the same time His stewards recognize they are sinners who fight sin and its consequences each day.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. … What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Romans 7:21–25

Principle Four—God's Stewards are Uniquely Singular, Yet Profoundly Plural

God’s stewards recognize that their lives of stewardship are not solo performances but are personal responses to God, lived out within the community of faith to benefit the whole world.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4–5

Next in this series: “Did You Know? (Part 3).”

Saint John’s Stewardship Board promotes the development of good stewardship and giving patterns among the members of Saint John’s.