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Implementing a Theology of Work - Lesson 2

What are God’s Purposes for Us?

In this lesson, you will learn about the importance of implementing a theology of work in your life. Kent Humphreys shares his personal journey and how God used his experiences to shape his understanding of God's purposes for us in the marketplace. He discusses the significance of the workplace as the primary place God uses to build relationships, apart from the family. The lesson also highlights four keywords the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in the workplace today: Kingdom, Relationships, Community, and Transformation. By understanding and applying these concepts, you can become an effective ambassador for Christ in your workplace and make a lasting impact for God's kingdom.

Kent  Humphreys
Implementing a Theology of Work
Lesson 2
Watching Now
What are God’s Purposes for Us?

I. Introduction

A. Kent Humphreys' journey

B. Importance of the workplace in God's plan

II. Key Words the Holy Spirit is Emphasizing in the Workplace

A. Kingdom

B. Relationships

C. Community

D. Transformation


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Transcript
Quiz
  • In this lesson, you learn about the importance of developing and supporting workplace leaders, likened to shepherding horses, and how to guide them to make a positive impact in their workplaces while growing spiritually. You'll explore the challenges of managing their independent spirit and potential pitfalls, and the significance of trust, control, and focus in their development.
  • Through this lesson, you will gain insight into God's purposes for us in the workplace, emphasizing the importance of relationships and the four key words the Holy Spirit highlights: Kingdom, Relationships, Community, and Transformation, helping you become an effective ambassador for Christ in your workplace.
  • This lesson teaches you how to naturally proclaim Christ in the workplace, emphasizing that the core mission is to love God and love people. You will discover the importance of evangelism and discipleship as ongoing processes, and how incorporating biblical values in the workplace positively impacts employees and business growth.
  • This lesson helps you understand and overcome obstacles to workplace ministry, emphasizing the importance of personal transformation, serving the community, and representing Jesus in daily life.
  • In this lesson, you will learn about Jesus' approach to work and leadership by examining the five things He did: telling everyone the good news, teaching many to understand God's principles, training some to do the work, equipping a few to reproduce, and modeling a relationship with the Father. These principles can help guide your own approach to work and leadership in various settings.
  • In this lesson, you gain insights on the significance of training spiritual leaders, using the Bible as a guide, and Jesus as a model. You will understand the value of influence over position and how to train leaders for different spheres of society. Embracing your uniqueness and learning about 12 styles of assistance for emerging leaders will equip you to effectively develop others in their spiritual journey.
  • In this lesson, you gain insight into the vital process of connecting church leaders and workplace leaders, fostering personal relationships, and understanding the six key responsibilities pastors have toward workplace leaders to create a thriving spiritual community and extend the church's influence beyond its walls.
  • Walking through open doors teaches you to bring Christ's kingdom to the workplace, developing relationships and fostering unity. Learn the four steps to successful workplace ministry, including prayer and responding to opportunities, while offering support during times of crisis.
  • In this lesson, you learn the significance of character in leadership, focusing on God, and the importance of building trust through relationships. You'll also explore the value of people and their gifts and understand how to hold others accountable and empower them as a spiritual leader.
  • This lesson highlights the importance of finishing well in your spiritual journey, emphasizing the need for a heart for God and an undivided heart, while providing biblical examples of those who succeeded in doing so, encouraging you to strive for the same in your own life.

With Kent Humphreys. Using the mental picture of a shepherd caring for his sheep, Kent Humphreys likens the shepherd to a pastor and the congregation to sheep, into which a few horses (strong business leaders) have been let loose. It is hard to understand these horses, who are just as capable of causing chaos with their strength and of standing quietly off in a corner of the pasture by themselves. How is a pastor to understand and equip these potentially powerful creatures to be part of the “flock” and then to go out into their workplace to minister and influence it for God? The answer to that question is the focus of this book. Taking the example of how Jesus handled His “horses”, a simple plan is offered that can build bridges between pastors and workplace leaders, impacting both the church and the community.

Recommended Books

Shepherding Horses, Volume I (A Pastor's Guide to Equipping Workplace Leaders)

Shepherding Horses, Volume I (A Pastor's Guide to Equipping Workplace Leaders)

Kent’s most well-received book yet! This 50-page guide to Understanding God’s Plan for Transforming Leaders is a must-read for any pastor and the strong and driven...

Shepherding Horses, Volume I (A Pastor's Guide to Equipping Workplace Leaders)
Shepherding Horses, Volume II (A Pastor's Guide to Equipping Workplace Leaders)

Shepherding Horses, Volume II (A Pastor's Guide to Equipping Workplace Leaders)

In this book, Kent encourages pastors to invest in the incredible resource they have - the business leaders in their churches. The book is full of practical and possible...

Shepherding Horses, Volume II (A Pastor's Guide to Equipping Workplace Leaders)

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Mr. Kent Humphreys
Implementing a Theology of Work
CM120-02
What are God's Purposes for Us
Lesson Transcript

[00:00:05] Hi, I'm Kent Humphreys, and this is our second session in the series. And today we want to talk about what are God's purposes for us as we seek to reach the marketplace for Jesus Christ. And we're going to be helping you with you're a leader in the church or a leader in the workplace to understand some basic principles about preparing leaders and people from the church to go outside of the walls of the church, into the marketplace, into the workplace, to impact it for Jesus Christ. Let me just share with you in this session, before we began a little bit about my journey, I learned to walk with Christ at an early age. I really came to Christ as a young man of nine years of age, and then the 1960s, when I was only really 13 years of age, I really began a serious walk with Christ, spending time with him each day and learning to get into the Word and learning to pray. And I was helped by a number of men and women who helped me as a teenager in my journey with Christ. And in the sixties, I learned to have a heart for God and to be called by God. I remember when I was 15 years of age that I came home one night from all the church activities of the day, and I put everything down on my bed and I got on my knees before God and said, God, if really if this is all there is to the Christian life. I don't know if I'm interested in that, but God seemed to say to me that night, you know, can if you'll get up early tomorrow morning as a teenager in high school, and if you will seek my face and get into my word, then I will show you myself.

[00:01:39] And so as a young man at only 15 or 16 years of age, I began to spend a lot of time with God. Remember, I went through John 15 and begin to learn the relationship that Christ wanted to have for us. So in the sixties, I learned to have a heart for God and a calling on my life and really thought I was going into the professional ministry, into the pastorate, and kind of prepare that way in my university training. And so I answered the question, Why am I here? And I answered the question that I'm an ambassador for Jesus Christ, that's why I'm here. But in the 1970s, as I graduated from college, married a couple of kids, my wife and I showed up back in our hometown and my brother and I took over a family business and we lost all of it in about a year and a half and had to start over again. But as we took over that family business and started from scratch again, I began in the seventies to have a heart for people. And I was fortunate enough in my twenties to have some models from some men in the workplace that showed me that I could have an integrated life. I was extremely active in my church, but I answered the question not only why am I here, but who am I? And I understood that I'm to be a minister to others and to serve others. And so in the seventies, I was so fortunate to have the model of these men in the marketplace, what it's like to walk with Jesus Christ in the marketplace of in the 1980s, long before it was popular, my brothers and I and our distribution business begin to have a heart for our coworkers, and we begin to ask the question, how can we use our distribution business, which was growing across the country? Eventually the 30 or 40 cities across the nation? How can we use our distribution business as a platform to share Christ with our coworkers? And so I answer the question, where am I to minister? And the answer was the workplace.

[00:03:36] Well, I was extremely active in my church and a leader in my church, and probably there too much of the time, God, gradually over a period of years, begin to shove me outside the walls of the church, to extend the walls of the church out into the workplace, where I was to use my business platform as a platform to model and share Christ with those around me, with my suppliers, with my customers, with my coworkers, with even my competitors. And then in the 1990s, I began to 20 years ago share some of the principles that I'll be sharing with you in the next few sessions. I begin to share those principles with business leaders around the world, and God took me through times of brokenness where I had a heart for business leaders. And the question was how do I lead my business and at the same time ministered to the leaders. So in the 1990s, over a period of five or ten years, I would spend 80 or 90% of the time in the business community. And then I would spend many times a couple of weekends a month traveling around the United States, sharing with other workplace leaders how they could impact their coworker for Jesus Christ. And then over the last ten years, I've been able to have a heart for the nation, a bridge building. What is my small part in the in the move, the spirit of God in this workplace? How can I build bridges between pastors and business leaders? How can I help build? Business leaders and marketplace leaders around the world, particularly in Asia and Eastern Europe and parts of Africa, and working with other partners who went to Central and South America, Latin America. How can we have a heart for the nations that begin to have a heart for China, begin to have a heart for Malaysia, begin to have a heart for Croatia and other nations around the world? I was just, as I said, in Kenya and Nigeria just a couple of weeks ago, I was in Israel and working with leaders from Bethlehem.

[00:05:34] How can I, as a leader from the United States, help a Palestinian Christian who has a business in Bethlehem and the challenges of the Israeli-Palestinian issues today? So I've been involved with business leaders around the world, and what I've found is that the principles that I'm going to share with you, those principles are the same whatever place we find ourselves. So my heart is primarily for business leaders and for pastors and for particularly students who are graduating out of the university, whether they're going into seminary in the pastorate or whether they're going into the marketplace, how can I help them and mentor them with some things that God has taught me? My life first is in Philemon chapter one, verse seven. There's only one chapter in film, and I like it because it's a short book. But Paul writes for I've come to have much joy and comfort in your love because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. My brother, in my prayer for you, is that during this series, your heart will be refreshed and that you will have a glimpse of some new ways that you can reach your community for Jesus Christ. So. Next to the family. The primary place that God uses to build relationships is the workplace. Let me say that again next to the family, the primary place that God uses to build relationships is in the workplace. God uses these relationships to build character, to build his relationship with you. And so the workplace is where that's the testing ground that God takes us through. And I want to share with you some things that I've learned over the last few years that God's taught me in several things in terms of what God is doing.

[00:07:25] God is doing some amazing things around the world. If I could just share with you what's happened just the last few weeks, you be thrilled with what God is doing among leaders across our nation in the church and as they've scattered out to the workplace. So first of all, today in today's session, I want to share with you for specific words that the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in the workplace today. And those words I have seen as I've traveled around the world, really for a period of the last two or three years. I can have a conversation with a person and I can know within five or 10 minutes whether they're really on track with what I think the Holy Spirit's doing today. And these words will come into their vocabulary and probably they've come to your mind, to the Holy Spirit is doing this. It's not me or other leaders in the workplace movement or someone at seminary or a pastor in a church. No, this is the Holy Spirit saying to the church at home today. These are the words that are important to me. The first word is kingdom. The second word is relationships. The third word is community. And the fourth word is transformation. And let's look at each one of these words just briefly. Kingdom You know, Jesus talked a lot about kingdom and only the last couple of years have we heard much about it. But he constantly told us about it, he said in Matthew 633. But Siki, first, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things shall be added into you. The thing that we need to understand about Kingdom, it's not about him. It's about him. It's not about us. And labels are no longer important.

[00:09:02] What I've found is that as I brought leaders from the community and the workplace together, that they have brought leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ together. As I travel around cities around the United States, I'm finding that denominational walls are coming down. I'm finding out that walls between peer church organizations are coming down. I'm finding that that we're trying to not build our own institution, but we're looking to build his kingdom to bring Jesus Christ to our communities. The second word is about relationships. This is something that you need to remember as long as you're in leadership within the church, the workplace, or whatever. Men and women build institutions. God builds relationships. As I said in the first session, if you as a pastor, when you leave your church after 12 years, the only thing that's really going to last as you go to your next church are going to be the relationships with the people that you had a serious investment into their life. Jesus said in John 15, I'm the vine. You are the branches. Whoever abides in me at the same and I am here at the same time bringing forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. Jesus said these things that I command you, that you love one another. Jesus was always about relationships and the Pharisees. In the new season, all those church religious leaders were about building their institution and covering their position. But Jesus was about relationships. Wherever you go as a leader in the workplace, as you go from one firm to another, one position to another, wherever you go As a pastor, if you're a seminary student, as a graduate from seminary, and it you begin to go out and take various positions of leadership.

[00:10:45] Remember that men build institutions. Do not give your life for an institution, even a good one, even a church, even a good business. Don't give your life for an institution. Give your life for people, for relationships. Number three, the word today is community. And Jesus modeled that with the 12 in John 17. He said four times that they may be one in one translation. It's six times that he talked about them being united as one. My son, who's both a business leader and a pastor, says, Dad, it's about accountable community. Jesus wants us to be involved in an accountable community, a small group of other followers of Jesus for the rest of our life. And the fourth word that I see is transformation. Transformation is a result of the Holy Spirit working in us, Paul wrote in Romans Chapter 12. You're familiar and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what is the will of God, which is good and acceptable and perfect. I mean, God wants us to be trained. He's in the transformation business. That's what he does. That's what the Holy Spirit does in us. He wants us to be transformed. If you're involved, whatever you're involved in, if you're involved in something where you're not seeing the transformation of your own self and of people, then you need to change what you're involved in because the Holy Spirit is all about transformation. So it's a transformation of individuals. You know, in the Bible there's three things that God talks about individuals, cities and nations. The word church is only mentioned like 100 times in the Bible. The word disciple is mentioned a couple of hundred times.

[00:12:35] Kingdom, as mentioned, I believe 400 times, but cities are mentioned 1300 times in scriptures. When God looks at Portland, Oregon, He sees the city of Portland and he sees the body of Christ. He doesn't see individual churches. He sees followers of Jesus in the city of Portland, and he wants them to impact Portland, Oregon, for his son, Jesus Christ. And so if you look in the Bible, God constantly deals with individuals. He deals with cities, he deals with nations, and that's what he wants to see transformed. He wants to see us transform. He wants to see our cities transform. He wants to see our nations transformed for Christ. So in our series that we do as business leaders, one of the series we have is called Pathway to Purpose. It's a journey with Christ in pursuit of personal and business transformation. And we seek to have our business leaders be personally transformed. We want to see them transformed as a leader. We want to see their business transformed. And then we want to see that impact that community. Those are the four pathways that we work with business leaders as we take them through our small groups. Personal transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit and a follower of Christ, and it's a lifelong process. God's been working on me for over 50 years. I'm 63 years of age and God's been working on me a long time. And every day I hope that I'm placing myself on the altar so he can bring personal transformation into my life and then a transformed business leader. I've been called in my small little distribution business to be a transform leader so that I impact the people around me, the other business leaders that I work with, the coworkers that I work with.

[00:14:24] So God's influencing. He wants to not only transform me as a leader, but transform me as a business leader in my business, and then to see a DNA change in my company. When we let our distribution company of 400 people scattered around the nation sold the company a few years ago, we were able to see a change in that, not in the structure of the company per se, but in the culture of the company, of the people that were there. And it was transformed. I mean, I'll share with you some stories later on how people were so transformed that it became like a family to them. And then that company needs to be so much salt and light to be used in the hands of God that that change can begin to impact the community. I'm working with some other leaders in our community in Oklahoma City now, where we have leaders from media, leaders from the business world, leaders from government leaders, from education, where we're coming together to see how together we can work to see our city transformed by Christ across the spheres of influence in our city. And we have a mentoring program that we've just completed our first year this spring. And so that's what God wants us to do, is to impact cities and impact nations for him. So we have a leader transformed, which helped transform the company and the culture of the company, his or her marketplace, and then the whole community, your cities. Can it really happen? Yes, it can happen as we as followers of Jesus come together to bring Christ to our cities. Here's an example that I want to take in a group. As a leader, I want to grow in spiritual maturity and my life development.

[00:16:12] I want to grow in servant leadership, in my leadership development. I want to grow as a business leader in business excellence, in organizational development. And finally, I want to grow in my community with transformational development. These are things that can impact the community for Jesus Christ. So that's why it's important that God's purpose for us as leaders in the church is to equip our men and women so that they can be that kind of leaders, not just to impact one person in their workplace, but to impact their entire workplace. For Christ so that lives are developed. Leadership is developed, organizations are developed, and we see transformation. So in God's purposes for us, how do we as leaders balance the demands of family, the workplace, or church life or finances, the physical, social, mental and spiritual growth? And how do we do a desired ministry to others? How do we do all of that? How do we how do we keep that in balance? Well, I'm going to share with you four ways that we as leaders grow and how do we establish a spiritual foundation. I'm going to share those four ways with you. There's four things I asked leaders a number of years ago. I said, How did you grow? Now, these are not just the followers and the everyday attendee of church, but the leaders who are spiritual leaders who are having a ministry both inside and outside the walls of the church. And there's four ways that they grow. Number one, they said we grow through a consistent devotional life. Number two, someone was a role model or a mentor to us. Thirdly, we've been involved in a small accountability group. And fourthly, through the encouragement of a family member or a friend.

[00:17:58] And I looked at those four and I said, There's something missing there. Did you notice it? None of them mentioned in the top four. It was number five or six growth through teaching in a large group, which is the primary way that we teach in our churches. So therefore, if we're going to help a person, we've got to help them in their personal relationship with Christ to really make that a deep one in an inner circle, which an inner circle is two or three people, Peter, James and John, that I have to meet together, but two or three people who care about their soul. It could be a one on one relationship, but I found that as I talk to leaders, if they're really going to grow, they had two or three people who intimately had a relationship with them, like Jesus model with Peter, James and John. And when they reached the crisis of life, who do you call at 2:00 in the morning? And so our small group, we need to be in a small group and we need to be in a large group. So on this chart, it just shows that that we need that time with God. We need that inner circle or one on one relationships. We need to be involved in a small accountability group and we need to be involved in that large group for encouragement. That's where we come together as the Body of Christ once a week or a couple of times a week where we come together for worship, we come together for biblical teaching, we come together for that kind of instruction. So each of us, if we're going to grow as a leader, needs to be involved in those four areas. I will say to you that when you come to the crisis of life, you will not be able to make it if you're not involved in those activities.

[00:19:33] If you're only involved in a large group on Sunday morning, you're only involved in spending time daily with God, but you're not involved in a small group of other believers, or you don't really have two or three people who care about your. So you're probably not going to survive when the crises of life come. And Jesus modeled this with a small group of peers. And Matthew ten says that he summoned the 12 and gave them authority in the names of the 12 apostles. The 12 were used. That number was used 1245 times in the Gospels. Disciples was used 215 times in the Gospels, normally referring to the 12 disciples. It's very important to be involved in that. And what was the work with Christ? His primary work that he said in John 17 before the cross was to reveal reveal the father to those 12. And so God's ways are different than us. If I knew that I was going to be gone in the next 24 hours, I would gather all my friends and family together and have a big message with them, and I'd share with them what I wanted them to know and gather together hundreds of people. But Jesus, knowing that this was his last night, gathered together the 12. He spent his final time with, the 12 and then with the three, and then on his face before the father. So a small group can provide accountability for you, wise counsel, Biblical teaching, times of prayer, times of sharing. It's a safe place. It's a place where you can have a mentor available. It's a place where you can find encouragement. A peer group can abide, provide a lot for you, and you need to be in one of those groups.

[00:21:10] Find one in your church, in your neighborhood, in your work place. Let me just say a couple of things about fences. As a leader, you if you're going to survive, if God's going to use you in the workplace and you're going to be the leader that God wants you to use, you need to build fences around your family, your spouse and your children before the year starts. You need to have a time, a family vacation, and a time when you and your spouse are going to get away for a week or a weekend. You don't have to spend a lot of money. But I've found that leaders that take time away from their spouse with their spouse and plan that ahead of time. It gives great security to your spouse and to your relationships. You need to build time around your meals. I mean, we sit in front of the television that we allow the media to control our families. I'm a workaholic. I admit that to you. So I have to build a fence. I have to say I'm going to be home every night at 630. I'll call my wife. Otherwise, maybe one night a week I'll stay and do some work. But there needs to be Daily Times, Weekly Times, annual times when you have fences around your family, set limits on your hours. If you're an aggressive leader in the church, it's even worse than the church because we justify it as being Christian activities. But define your goals, but set limits on your hours and realize there's going to be exceptions, but strive to be the best at what you do and build some high fences, work hard in whatever God's called you to get to know the workplace. Leaders as a pastor get to know those leaders, encourage them, have them take one responsibility in your church and do it well.

[00:22:48] Don't don't try to burn them out. The average time of a leader in the church, a burnout is 5 to 7 years. I can set the clock, I can set the calendar, don't burn them out. Don't give them too many responsibilities in the church. Encourage them to do one thing and do it well. And leaders, don't you try to control your church? For many years I tried to do that. God finally said, That's not my responsibility. Let someone else do that. Let him do that. And so successful leaders also manage their finances. If you're going to be used with God's purposes out in the workplace, then manage your finances. Take take a crown financial course or Dave Ramsey course. Learn about giving and saving. We in the church today are practicing really pagan financial principles of debt and other things instead of God's financial principles. And so we as churches need to model financial principles in our church. Successful workplace leaders do all that they can and leave them some some time to not have to do that much ministry inside the walls so they can minister outside the walls because that's the ministry that God has for them. They will spend the primary place of their investment of a workplace leader is with their family and with the workplace, and so help them to minister to their family. Let's not let our churches divide them. If if we're going to understand God's purposes as we minister outside the walls, then we really need to uplift the family. And many times we're actually pulling the family apart, help them as a minister in the family and as the minister in the workplace. And I want to conclude the session in the area of calling, and we'll be talking about that in the next session.

[00:24:34] But successful leaders not only know how they grow the four ways that they grow, they not only understand what God is doing in the world today, they're involved in keeping their family and those things as a high priority. But successful leaders understand their calling in. Our calling is to represent Jesus Christ in the workplace. It says in Second Corinthians. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. The old is gone, the new has come. All that is from God who's reconciling the world to himself through Christ and Christ is giving us the Ministry of Reconciliation. He says. We are there for Christ Ambassadors, as though God has been calling you to appeal through us. We want to implore you on Christ's behalf that you be reconciled to God. It's hard when you memorize it out of one version and say it in another. But bottom line is we are ambassadors for Christ. Everyone watching this video is an ambassador for Christ. Every student, every pastor, every leader, every person involved in our church is an ambassador for Christ. I wish you could travel with me around the United States. I can go into any church in the United States, and 80% of the people sitting with you in their chairs in those pews on Sunday morning do not believe this verse. They believe that the professional has been called to the ministry and that they're to support, that they're to give to that, they're to help to that. But they don't believe that they're full time ambassadors for Christ. You see, each one of us as a follower of Jesus is a full time ambassador for Christ. And we don't realize that we have shackles around our hands. We have shackles around our ankles.

[00:26:23] We have handcuffs on our wrist. We have blinders on our eyes because we really believe that the ministry happens on the platform and that the ministry doesn't happen out where we are. You know, if you've got your Bible, you could turn to Hebrews Chapter 11, and I've been able to share the Scripture, Hebrews Chapter 11, if you look in Hebrews Chapter 11. You will see in Hebrews Chapter 11 that this is the Great Hall of Faith. This is this is where God identifies the men and women who are the outstanding members of the faith. And if you look in this chapter, you'll see people like Noah. In verse six, he was in the construction business in Isaac and Jacob. In Abraham, they were shepherds. And right here she was a prostitute. What's she doing there? Gideon, verse 32. He was a military leader. Samson was a judge. David was a king. And there Samuel. Samuel. Samuel was a prophet. But every person listed in Hebrews Chapter 11, in that Great Hall of Faith, every person listed, and he was Chapter 11, with the exception of Samuel, it may be one more. We're ordinary people, just like you and I. They were ordinary people. They were leaders, but they were ordinary people. They were not pastors. They were not missionaries. They were not professionals. They were ordinary people. And the thing that we have to understand today is that God has called us as ordinary people to represent him in our sphere of influence. And if that message I have seen people come up to me and they've said, Kent, I thought I was supposed to be an architect. And then I said, Well, if I wasn't a missionary, then I couldn't serve Jesus and thank you for letting me know I can still be an architect and love Jesus.

[00:28:16] I mean, God has gifted us with certain gifts and talents and abilities, and God wants us as men and women to represent him in our workplace. And so we have each been called to represent him. We have each been called. His purpose for us is to build his kingdom in our workplace, in our cities, through relationships and community seeking transformation, not only in us as individuals, but in us as individuals and in our cities and our nations. God wants us to grow spiritually. He wants us to grow through spending time with him. He wants us to grow through having an intimate relationship with other men and women who care about our soul, our inner circle. It takes years to find that one, but find those two or three people who care about your soul. He wants us to grow through a small, accountable community. He wants us to grow through a larger community, a local church where we get fed spiritually, where we learn to fellowship together and pray for one another and care for each other's needs and and worship together in a larger group. He wants us to balance our family and our workplace, our job responsibilities, our finances, our priorities. He wants us to understand our calling to him and his purpose purposes for us. If we understand this as a foundation, then as we talk about impact in our workplace and impact in our community for Christ, will more already be able to do that. But if we don't lay this foundation, if we go out and seek to be sent outside the walls of the church without a vibrant daily personal relationship with Christ, without an inner circle, without a small group, without a church who can support us, some with their prayers and with their support as we go out to extend the walls of the church and the plant.

[00:30:03] Churches in our communities, in workplaces and in neighborhoods, as we, the body of Christ, go there. If we go without that foundation, without that preparation, then we'll not be effective for Jesus Christ. So I pray that you'll be able to do that. And our purpose to assist you is to help you be equipped by Jesus Christ. Let me pray for you as we in this session, Father, I pray for every leader who's viewing this class with us today. Lord, that for each man and each woman that you would call them into a vital relationship with you, that whatever their position in the church and the city and the workplace perhaps is graduating now from college or seminary. Lord whatever their position, wherever they are, Lord Mayor, they sense that they're a full time ambassador for you, whether they're paid for it as a staff person or whether they're out in the workplace paid by the secular marketplace. Father May we feel that we can be transformed by your power as we're sent out as your ambassadors for Jesus Christ? May we sense that in our spirit that we're full time ambassadors for Christ and we pray that in Jesus name, amen.

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