God has put a specific plan in place to resource His church and to lead His people out of financial repression. You carry a large part of the impetus for bringing that plan about.

Teaching your people biblical stewardship principles is part of shepherding them well. You can’t just step back and hope they’ll give. There are specific steps you need to take to help release the strongholds the enemy wants to have on their finances.

Take the lead by educating your people on the biblical basis of stewardship during your weekend service. The majority of your congregation probably has no idea what the Bible says about giving — and many of those who think they do know are misinformed. As long as your people remain ignorant on the topic, they won’t have a fair opportunity to grow into godly stewards — or into fully developing disciples, for that matter. You can spearhead the charge by teaching on stewardship, incorporating stewardship testimonies into your services, and issuing giving challenges.

Adopt the same boldness Jesus had in teaching on money and possessions. He understood that a person’s heart is tied directly to his or her checkbook. I suggest teaching on stewardship at least four times every year. Here are two crucial dates to get started:

• Mid to Late January — Your people will be recovering from the Christmas rush. Bills will be coming in. This is the perfect time to teach on issues of budgeting, debt and how to get your financial house in order.

• Right After Back-to-School — The beginning of the school year is the other natural period when people pause to reorganize their lives. Make sure you plan the teaching for a week or two after everyone gets into the swing of the fall schedule so that the majority of your regular attenders will be there.

The other two stewardship Sundays during the year are up to your discretion. I usually like to do something around Easter and then revisit the topic over the summer. Feel out what works best with the flow of your calendar. What’s most important is not when you preach on money, but that you take the lead and do it.

Check back next week for part 2 of this series.

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson