For the next few weeks we’re going to be talking about why and how to properly manage or use the resources that God has given to each of us. Dictionaries define stewardship as “a personal responsibility for taking care of another person’s property or financial affairs.” Today, we’ll look at our most important belonging of all – God’s calling to belong to Jesus.

Today, we’re concluding our look at the Seasons of Life by considering the last phase, age 60 and up. Many have a negative view of old age and do what they can to avoid any appearance of age. But the Bible presents a positive view of what it means to be old. At the same time, Psalm 90 teaches that our days on earth need to be lived with wisdom that comes from an understanding of God’s eternal plan.

Today, we’re looking at the season of life from 40 to 59 years-old. It’s during middle-age that many choose to place a new focus on their health. This is wise, but our spiritual health is even more important than physical health. The examination may be uncomfortable, but Jesus, the Great Physician, provides us any healing that we need.

Today, we’re looking at the season of life from 20 to 39 years-old. It’s in the twenty-something years that God wants us to open our eyes to the resources that He has blessed us with. The “life lesson” of this stage of life is that our treasure, talents, and time are resources to be invested. Jesus challenged a man in his twenties to invest where the need was greatest – his own soul.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “there is a season for every activity under heaven.” Just like spring makes way for summer and fall is nature’s way of preparing the world for winter, the teenage years are just a preparation time for young adulthood, and the physical and mental changes of middle-age are just part of getting ready for old-age.

Our focus last week was on restoring our worship to right side-up through a relationship with Jesus. It’s only through Jesus and a faith-based relationship with Him that we can worship God properly. Today we’re going to look at corporate worship – why we should worship together, what worshiping together does, and how we should do it.

When we talk about worship, most people think of it as a space-time event - something that happens in a particular place – a church – and at a particular time – say, between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. on Sundays. Is this what God had in mind when He said, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”?

Painful thoughts are not unusual for a Christian to have. The emptiness of unanswered prayer, pain that you can’t describe or that you’re afraid to share, loneliness. That feeling like you’re going to have to quit the Journey, that you can’t make it to the finish line. How do you keep going then? How do you find endurance to finish the journey when you feel alone or worn out or are running hurt?

For the next three weeks we’re going to be thinking about how and why to embark on a spiritual Journey with Jesus, how to enjoy the Journey, and how to develop endurance for the Journey. In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables to drive home the point that “lost people matter to God."

The purpose of the Bible is to record how God is working out His redemptive plan through human history. God graciously called Abram into a covenant relationship to show that salvation is about God’s blessing rather than man’s effort. During times of confusion, doubt, and uncertainty, we can have confidence that God is at work.