GraceWorldAGLeadershipPodcast

July 9, 2026

Grace World Outreach Church | Leadership Podcast | Ep. #49 | Moving Towards Stewardship - Leaders Make It Better | Pastor Daniel Norris

<p class="p1"><strong>Moving Towards Stewardship</strong></p> <p class="p1">Leaders Make It Better</p> <p class="p3"><strong>Matthew 25:29 (ESV) — "For to everyone who has more will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."</strong></p> <p class="p4">I've had the privilege of visiting Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on four separate occasions. Every visit left its own unique impression.</p> <p class="p5">The first time, it was the awe of standing beneath those soaring ceilings, seeing the beautiful stained glass and the iconic art. It was nine hundred years of church history silently speaking through the cathedral itself. Notre Dame is a masterpiece.</p> <p class="p5">On my second visit, I had the privilege of taking my daughter. It was special experiencing the church through the eyes of a child. You notice things, new things, and appreciate them even more.</p> <p class="p6">Then came April 15, 2019.</p> <p class="p5">The world watched as fire broke out beneath the roof. For nearly fifteen hours, flames consumed one of the most recognizable structures on Earth. The ancient oak roof collapsed and the iconic spire crashed through the ceiling. For a moment, it felt like history was reduced to ashes. No one thought Notre-Dame could ever be rebuilt.</p> <p class="p5">My most recent visit was in 2022, during the restoration. This time the crowds were not there to admire the cathedral, they were watching the craftsmen.</p> <p class="p5">Massive scaffolding surrounded the building as stone masons carefully replaced centuries-old limestone, one block at a time. Carpenters hand-shaped oak beams using techniques that had nearly disappeared from history. I later watched a documentary about the restoration and learned that many of these craftsmen had to relearn forgotten skills just to faithfully restore what had been entrusted to them.</p> <p class="p6">This is a picture of stewardship in the kingdom! None of those craftsmen were restoring something that belonged to them, they were rebuilding something sacred that was entrusted to them. They gave every stone, every beam, and every detail the care of an owner because they understood their assignment as faithful stewards.</p> <p class="p7">Page 1 of 4</p> <p class="p8"> </p> <p class="p9"><strong>Own what you don't own.</strong></p> <p class="p10">Grace World isn't nine hundred years old, but it is over ninety. Our church was built by faithful men and women who came before us, and it is now entrusted to us in the same way that one day it will be entrusted to those who come after us.</p> <p class="p5">We know that Grace World does not belong to us, it belongs to the Lord. We simply have the privilege of stewarding it for this season.</p> <p class="p5">That understanding carries a weight. One day, each of us will give an account for how we led in this season. The question that matters is, did we lead with the heart of the master or did we behave like a foolish servant?</p> <p class="p11"> </p> <p class="p12"><strong>The Talent Was a Test, Not a Reward</strong></p> <p class="p13">Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 25 about a master preparing to leave on a journey. Before he departs, he entrusts his property to three servants. He gives them no detailed instructions. He simply places what belongs to him into their hands and leaves.</p> <p class="p5">Two of the servants immediately go to work. They invest what they have been entrusted, and each doubles it. When the master returns, he speaks the words every follower of Christ longs to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."</p> <p class="p4">But the third servant responds differently. Out of fear, he buries his talent in the ground. When the master returns, he explains himself: <strong>"I</strong> <strong>knew</strong> <strong>you</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>be</strong> <strong>a</strong> <strong>hard</strong> <strong>man…</strong> <strong>so</strong> <strong>I</strong> <strong>was</strong> <strong>afraid,</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>I</strong> <strong>went and hid your talent in the ground," (Matthew 25:24-25, ESV).</strong></p> <p class="p4">Get this! It is entirely possible to become so afraid of getting it wrong that you bury the very thing God trusted you with. You keep the ministry small enough to manage instead of growing it large enough to require faith. You hold tightly to your roles and responsibilities rather than delegating. You hold off on the decision or the opportunity because it feels risky. You call it being careful. God calls it burying the talent.</p> <p class="p5">When the master comes to demand an account, he isn't angry because the servant failed to double the talent like the other two. He is angry because the servant didn't even try. The issue was never what the servant was given. The issue was always what the servant did with what he had been given.</p> <p class="p14"><strong>THE TALENT WAS NEVER THE REWARD. THE TALENT WAS THE TEST.</strong></p> <p class="p15"> </p> <p class="p16"><strong>"For</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>everyone</strong> <strong>who</strong> <strong>has,</strong> <strong>more</strong> <strong>will</strong> <strong>be</strong> <strong>given,</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>he</strong> <strong>will</strong> <strong>have</strong> <strong>an</strong> <strong>abundance.</strong> <strong>But</strong> <strong>from</strong> <strong>the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." Matthew 25:29 (ESV)</strong></p> <p class="p17">The principle here is clear—God entrusts us before He increases us!</p> <p class="p9"><strong>We Are Entrusted with Two Treasures</strong></p> <p class="p10">Every leader is currently stewarding two kinds of treasure. And it is so much more than finances. These are the decisions, the appointments, the meetings, the ministry, and every conversation you have. Kingdom treasure fits in two different chests.</p> <p class="p18"> </p> <p class="p20"><strong>First — I steward WHAT God places in my hands.</strong></p> <p class="p6">These are the resources you are entrusted with. Your time. Your treasure. Your talents. Your opportunities. Every one of them is a Kingdom tool, and every one of them is on loan.</p> <p class="p21">Am I maximizing what God has already placed in my hands or am I sitting on it?</p> <p class="p21"> </p> <p class="p20"><strong>Second — I steward WHO God places in my care.</strong></p> <p class="p23">These are the relationships you are entrusted with. Your soul. Your family. Your team. Your church. Your neighbor. Kingdom leadership is not the stewardship of programs. It is the stewardship of people.</p> <p class="p13">Remember, in the kingdom, we are entrusted with resources so that we can better steward the relationships because in the kingdom, people are the mission!</p> <p class="p11"> </p> <p class="p24"><strong>What A Faithful Steward Knows</strong></p> <ol class="ol1"> <li class="li20"><strong>Everything belongs to God.</strong></li> </ol> <p class="p16">A faithful steward understands that they own nothing but steward everything. The moment I start treating a role as mine, resources as mine, the platform as mine, results as mine, I am no longer behaving as a faithful steward but a foolish servant. The foolish servant says, "My ministry. My people. My success." They forget that a faithful steward holds everything with an open hand because they know whose hand it actually came from.</p> <p class="p27">Stewardship dies the moment our possessions replaces our surrender.</p> <ol class="ol1"> <li class="li20"><strong>Faithfulness comes before increase.</strong></li> </ol> <p class="p5">God doesn't send more until we've proven faithful with what we already have. Before asking God for more, have you fully stewarded what you already have?</p> <p class="p23">Where you see lack, ask two questions. First: Where is waste quietly eating away at my resources and my relationships? And second: Where do I have a surplus I've been protecting instead of investing?</p> <p class="p13">The increase you're praying for usually walks in through the door of the small thing you've been faithful with. God is watching how you steward the little before He entrusts you with the large.</p> <p class="p28"><strong>3. Stewardship is measured by multiplication, not accumulation.</strong></p> <p class="p29">God does not measure what you accumulate. He measures what multiplies because it passed through your hands. Everything that passes through a faithful steward should become more fruitful. That means the ministry is healthier, the leaders are more capable, and the people are further along than when you first met them.</p> <p class="p4">This means the ultimate test of your stewardship is not what you hold on to but what you hand off.</p> <p class="p16"><strong>That</strong> <strong>is</strong> <strong>our</strong> <strong>assignment.</strong> Not to accumulate resources and relationships around ourselves but to steward those things so well that we hand them back to the Lord stronger than the day it was handed to us.</p> <p class="p5">If your area of ministry could not survive your absence, you have been accumulating. If it is being built to outlast you, you are multiplying it.</p> <p class="p31"><strong>Putting Your Talent to Work</strong></p> <p class="p29">Carry your area like the outcome is yours to answer for. Notice the broken thing before<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span> it becomes a crisis. Invest the talent instead of burying it out of fear. Treat the people entrusted to you as a trust you will one day give an account for.</p> <p class="p5">We are all stewards of something we did not build and will not lay the final stone in place. We are the current stewards. Ninety-two years of faithfulness came before us, and generations will come after us. We are craftsmen on a very long project. Refuse to be the ones who cut corners or fail to invest in the present. Carry this house with the master's heart one stone, one beam, one leader, one person at a time.</p> <p class="p31"><span class= "s15"><strong>Questions</strong></span></p> <ol> <li><strong>What am I under-stewarding?</strong> What gift, person, or opportunity have I been sitting on instead of investing?</li> <li><strong>What</strong> <strong>have</strong> <strong>I</strong> <strong>over-controlled</strong> <strong>instead</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>entrusted?</strong> Where have I buried a talent by holding on too tightly and calling it "being careful"?</li> <li><strong>Who needs more of my attention than my agenda?</strong> Which person entrusted to me have I been managing around instead of investing in?</li> <li><strong>What</strong> <strong>resource</strong> <strong>am</strong> <strong>I</strong> <strong>sitting</strong> <strong>on</strong> <strong>instead</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>multiplying?</strong> What has God already placed in my hands that I keep meaning to put to work?</li> <li>If God evaluated my stewardship today, where would He say "Well done" and where would He ask me to grow?</li> </ol>

July 9, 2026

Grace World Outreach Church | Leadership Podcast | Ep. #48 | Rethinking ACTS | Pastor Daniel Norris

June 29, 2026

Grace World Outreach Church | Leadership Podcast | Ep. #47 | Moving Towards Ownership | Pastor Daniel Norris