The Cost of What I Offer | E. Dewey Smith | Sermon Notes — Hello Pastor

Sermon Notes

The Cost of What I Offer

The House of Hope Atlanta • May 31, 2026 • 56 min

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Take this message with you through a journey of Scripture, reflection, and prayer.

Summary

In this powerful conclusion to the Management series, Dr. E. Dewey Smith examines King David's mistake in 2 Samuel 24 to unpack the true cost of stewardship and worship. True management begins with acknowledging that God owns everything, warning believers against the trap of relying on human counting rather than divine consecration. Ultimately, God uses our threshing floors—places of pressure and breaking—to refine our hearts and establish our purpose.

Themes

Stewardship vs. OwnershipSacrificial WorshipFaith over ControlConvenience vs. DevotionRestoration through Brokenness

Pastor's Points

1.

Respond to something divine

2.

Resolve to share something deeper

3.

Recognize supernatural destiny

Key Points

1.
Stewardship begins with acknowledging that God owns everything and humans are merely managers entrusted with resources for a season.
2.
A danger in stewardship is adopting an owner mindset, falsely claiming God's blessings and accomplishments as our own.
3.
True worship is a response to the mercy and grace God has already extended, rather than a transaction to earn His favor or blessings.
4.
Convenience is a major threat to genuine devotion because it removes sacrifice, personal investment, and intentionality from worship.
5.
Believers must refuse to outsource their worship, bringing their own personal praise and devotion to God regardless of others.
6.
Worship is a deliberate choice of the will rather than a feeling, requiring praise through life's trials and financial strains.
7.
God often meets us in places of breaking, pressure, and trial—our threshing floors—to establish our purpose and destiny.

Sermon Moments

“The first principle in stewardship is the acknowledgment that we own nothing.”

“David messed up his pronouns; he shifted from 'Yours' to 'Mine.'”

“Worship is not in anticipation for what God will do; worship is always a response to what God has already done.”

“Sometime the greatest threat to our worship is convenience because convenience removes the sacrifice.”

“Worship is not an act of feeling; it's an act of volition.”

“You see my glory, but you don't know my story.”

“God specializes in turning threshing floors into temples.”

“You cannot have rest or be perfectly blessed until all on the altar is laid.”

This Week

Shift your mindset from ownership to stewardship by acknowledging daily that God owns everything you have.

Guard against a calculator mentality by trusting God as your ultimate provider rather than stressing over visible numbers.

Refuse to outsource your worship by personally bringing your heart, voice, and praise before God instead of spectating.

Offer God sacrificial worship that costs you something, giving Him your best even when it requires effort or discipline.

Choose worship as an act of the will, praising God regardless of changing feelings, mental stress, or financial lack.

Approach worship out of gratitude for what Christ has already accomplished rather than trying to earn God's favor.

Reframe your places of pressure and breaking as potential threshing floors where God can build your destiny.

Remember This

Genuine worship requires personal sacrifice and a heart of gratitude, recognizing that God owns everything and transforms our places of breaking into foundations for our destiny.

A Challenge for You

Get out of your head, stop relying on your own numbers and limitations, and trust in the Lord with all your heart by laying your entire life on the altar of sacrifice.

These are personal sermon notes shared to help you remember the message — not a replacement for Scripture, your church, or your pastors.