1 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:05,720 I don't know. Have you ever heard of this, 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:08,920 this notion of imposter syndrome? 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,080 Yeah. Yeah, I assure you. 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,400 I don't feel quite like an imposter now. 5 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,920 But it's what it is. It's the inability to believe 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:23,080 that your success is deserved you. 7 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,720 It's kind of like this irrational fear that you 8 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,670 shouldn't be where you are. Yeah, you shouldn't be there. 9 00:00:31,830 --> 00:00:35,910 And as soon as you open your mouth, you're going to get found 10 00:00:35,910 --> 00:00:38,030 out. You know, whether whether it's, 11 00:00:39,030 --> 00:00:41,710 you know, a promotion at work, whether it's a new job, whether 12 00:00:41,710 --> 00:00:43,990 you've joined a team, whether you're starting university, 13 00:00:43,990 --> 00:00:47,350 whatever it is, you have this irrational fear that people will 14 00:00:47,350 --> 00:00:49,430 think, what is that person doing there? 15 00:00:50,190 --> 00:00:51,910 Get him out. Get around. 16 00:00:53,110 --> 00:00:55,390 This is how I felt a few years ago. 17 00:00:56,070 --> 00:01:00,400 I was standing at an open door to a dining room and the dining 18 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:06,360 room was labeled Speakers Dining room and I had been asked to 19 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,600 come and do a talk at a conference in Philadelphia 20 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:14,080 called Business as Mission and it was a fascinating subject. 21 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,800 It was looking at the intersection between faith and 22 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:22,520 work and it was full of academics, pastors, high flying 23 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:27,200 business people and me. And so there I am. 24 00:01:29,570 --> 00:01:32,330 I don't know if anyone remembers the series Star Trek. 25 00:01:33,250 --> 00:01:36,370 I'm quite old so, but they always put the baddies in the 26 00:01:36,370 --> 00:01:41,050 room and it would have a force field, no door to be a couldn't 27 00:01:41,050 --> 00:01:43,170 get. I felt like I was a baddie in 28 00:01:43,170 --> 00:01:45,050 Star Trek. I couldn't, I couldn't get 29 00:01:45,050 --> 00:01:48,970 through into the dining room because I had this fear. 30 00:01:49,290 --> 00:01:52,450 I had this fear that as soon as I stepped through into the into 31 00:01:52,650 --> 00:01:55,050 that dining room, everybody would stop eating. 32 00:01:55,410 --> 00:01:59,040 There would be silence. Everybody look at me and who is 33 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:04,880 this fella anyway? I managed to in the end go 34 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,840 through the doorway and I went out and got some food from the 35 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,680 buffet. And I turn around and of course 36 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:17,710 the next challenge where to sit, you know, and there's people, 37 00:02:17,790 --> 00:02:21,190 all the successful people there, all the confident people, the 38 00:02:21,190 --> 00:02:23,830 people who should be there, they're chatting away and having 39 00:02:23,830 --> 00:02:26,190 a wonderful time. And then there were there's 40 00:02:26,310 --> 00:02:28,070 empty tables. There's no way I'm going to sit 41 00:02:28,070 --> 00:02:33,350 on an empty table anyway. I spot 1/2 full table and I 42 00:02:33,350 --> 00:02:34,830 think to myself, that's the one to go for. 43 00:02:34,990 --> 00:02:39,390 So off I go and I sit down and I sort of say hello. 44 00:02:39,390 --> 00:02:43,550 And would you believe every single person around that table 45 00:02:43,910 --> 00:02:52,270 was from Harpenden? And what God was telling me was 46 00:02:52,270 --> 00:02:57,190 your home, Bruce, your home? Because home is where God is. 47 00:02:58,390 --> 00:03:01,750 And whether we're with family, whether we're on holiday, 48 00:03:01,750 --> 00:03:04,430 whether we're on a bicycle, whether we're gardening, 49 00:03:04,430 --> 00:03:08,270 whatever, and whether we are at work, God is with us. 50 00:03:09,910 --> 00:03:17,200 And you know, I found it a challenge and maybe you have to 51 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:23,520 to to deal with this idea of faith and work, how to square 52 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,760 that, how to manage that, that that dynamic. 53 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:33,960 And the problem that that I have is that about 40% of of our of 54 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,360 on average of of a working, working person's life is at 55 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:38,440 work. So let me say that again. 56 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:43,180 But 40% of our time is spent working as adults, so it's super 57 00:03:43,180 --> 00:03:45,140 important that we kind of get our head around this. 58 00:03:46,340 --> 00:03:53,020 So why is it a problem? You know, I find myself almost 59 00:03:53,020 --> 00:03:57,260 metaphorically checking in my faith in reception of the of the 60 00:03:57,260 --> 00:04:00,380 office and then at the end of the day I pick it up again. 61 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:04,220 So. So why do we find it a 62 00:04:04,220 --> 00:04:08,620 challenge? Well, favor of rejection being 63 00:04:08,620 --> 00:04:13,160 seen as as different, upsetting the cultural norms of the 64 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,480 office. Perhaps it's feel it's 65 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,040 appropriate or professional to be able to demonstrate your 66 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,040 faith in the workplace. Perhaps you feel that you might 67 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,160 be upsetting people or getting into an argument, and may even 68 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,720 be a company policy that doesn't allow you to do so. 69 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:35,960 So it's a challenge. It's a challenge for us, but of 70 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,120 course it's not a challenge for God, is it? 71 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:44,660 Because he doesn't distinguish the me at work, the me at home, 72 00:04:45,500 --> 00:04:47,380 the me on a bicycle, the me in the garden. 73 00:04:48,620 --> 00:04:50,460 It's all the same. It's all the same to God, isn't 74 00:04:50,460 --> 00:04:54,300 it? We're still a child of God, 75 00:04:54,300 --> 00:04:57,060 whatever we're doing. In fact, he has a word for it, 76 00:04:57,580 --> 00:05:05,420 and that word is a voda. And it's a Hebrew word, and it's 77 00:05:05,860 --> 00:05:11,010 a kind of cool word because it means to work, to worship and to 78 00:05:11,010 --> 00:05:15,050 serve. It's this picture of integrated 79 00:05:15,050 --> 00:05:19,890 faith. Alex. 80 00:05:20,650 --> 00:05:24,810 Thanks, my friend. So six days you shall work a 81 00:05:24,810 --> 00:05:27,730 voda, but on the 7th day you shall rest. 82 00:05:27,890 --> 00:05:31,530 That's Exodus. But As for me and my household, 83 00:05:31,530 --> 00:05:36,690 we will serve a voda, the Lord. This is what the Lord says. 84 00:05:36,690 --> 00:05:41,600 Let my people go so that I may worship a voda you. 85 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,920 So over the last few weeks we've been in a boat, haven't we? 86 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,520 We even in a boat. Marks talked about Jesus in a 87 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,680 boat. Luke 5 and the first, the first 88 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,600 session was around our our our call to be with Jesus. 89 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,760 This idea that you know is that everything comes from being in 90 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:08,600 that place, of being a place of being with Jesus. 91 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,480 And then there was the call to holiness, you know, the call to 92 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,840 be separate from the world and to be consecrated to him. 93 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,160 And then we've spent the last few weeks looking at the lot, 94 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:27,640 the Great Commission, and and today we're going to look at our 95 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:33,800 walk of faith in the workplace. What I want to do, what I hope 96 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:39,920 to do, is to reframe how we see work. 97 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,080 I want us to relax about it. Yeah. 98 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:49,000 I want us for it not to be a burden and to get closer to 99 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:55,040 Jesus in how we approach work. OK, so I'm going to pray, and 100 00:06:55,040 --> 00:07:07,150 then we'll get stuck in. Well, Jesus, I just want to 101 00:07:07,150 --> 00:07:12,170 thank you for this wonderful privilege of being up here, 102 00:07:12,330 --> 00:07:19,330 sharing your message today. Pray, Lord, that the points that 103 00:07:19,330 --> 00:07:25,810 you have encouraged me to develop will land, that we will 104 00:07:25,810 --> 00:07:32,330 get a real sense of the joy you have in being with us and your 105 00:07:32,330 --> 00:07:36,530 desire to be with us all the time, whether we're at work or 106 00:07:36,530 --> 00:07:40,990 whether we're at play. Pray law that you would open our 107 00:07:40,990 --> 00:07:43,470 hearts to receive you today. Amen. 108 00:07:46,590 --> 00:07:47,750 Okay. Next slide, please. 109 00:07:47,750 --> 00:07:49,910 Alex. Oops. 110 00:07:51,070 --> 00:07:57,150 All right. It's true to say that we're 111 00:07:57,150 --> 00:08:01,790 limited by the resources that we have available to us. 112 00:08:02,830 --> 00:08:06,150 Yeah, we've got to work within those limitations. 113 00:08:07,190 --> 00:08:09,920 That might be your wages, salary. 114 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,600 That might be the Turner of the company that you either work for 115 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,640 or the company that you run. Maybe that's there's a budget 116 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:23,600 that you have to plan to. Yeah, we work within 117 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:31,200 limitations. Even Elon Musk has limitations. 118 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:36,280 Yes, he has 175 billion. Yeah, it's quite a large sum, 119 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:42,600 but he doesn't have 176 billion, so even he is limited. 120 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,960 Yeah, we work with within limitations, but we know as 121 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,720 Christians, don't we, that God is our father, God is our 122 00:08:49,720 --> 00:09:00,360 provider, He's our provider. So if we acknowledge that all we 123 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,320 have is from God. Next slide is Alex. 124 00:09:09,390 --> 00:09:12,710 My God will supply all your needs according to his riches 125 00:09:12,790 --> 00:09:16,990 and glory in Christ Jesus. We acknowledge that we have. 126 00:09:17,070 --> 00:09:21,790 All we all we have is from God that he provides for us. 127 00:09:23,390 --> 00:09:28,150 And what you could say in fact actually is the workplace is his 128 00:09:29,670 --> 00:09:33,520 is his workplace. Yeah, the earth and everything 129 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,920 in it. The world and its inhabitants 130 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:45,280 belong to the Lord. So you could say we work for 131 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:49,120 God. Yeah, God's the boss. 132 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:56,600 We work for God, and God's resources are limitless. 133 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:01,650 God's resources are limit. We work for a boss whose 134 00:10:01,650 --> 00:10:06,810 resources are limitless. Yeah, that's pretty cool. 135 00:10:07,570 --> 00:10:10,690 And God is able to bless you abundantly so that you in all 136 00:10:10,690 --> 00:10:13,770 things and at all times. Having all that you need will 137 00:10:13,770 --> 00:10:19,810 abound in every good work Abundantly he wants to bless you 138 00:10:19,890 --> 00:10:25,530 abundantly so that in all things and at all times, having all 139 00:10:25,530 --> 00:10:28,530 that you need, you will abound in every good work. 140 00:10:28,690 --> 00:10:32,210 That's pretty that's a pretty strong indictment of a limitless 141 00:10:32,210 --> 00:10:34,330 God, isn't it? But he's saying, listen, I want 142 00:10:34,330 --> 00:10:35,930 you to have my limitless resources. 143 00:10:35,970 --> 00:10:38,330 I want you to tap into these limitless resources. 144 00:10:39,290 --> 00:10:44,370 And that changes. I think I think it changed 145 00:10:44,370 --> 00:10:47,370 certainly changed my perspective on on work. 146 00:10:47,410 --> 00:10:51,810 It changes my perspective on my own business that I'm actually 147 00:10:52,050 --> 00:10:57,090 working for God. So if it's God's business, if 148 00:10:57,090 --> 00:11:01,650 it's God's career, if he's the boss, then, then then what are 149 00:11:01,650 --> 00:11:07,210 we? Well, we're his stewards. 150 00:11:07,570 --> 00:11:09,370 Next slide, please. We're his stewards. 151 00:11:17,710 --> 00:11:25,590 So what is a steward? We are familiar with the notion 152 00:11:25,590 --> 00:11:28,550 of of being a steward from the New Testament, but I thought I'd 153 00:11:28,550 --> 00:11:35,130 just check in with Google. And Steward is an individual 154 00:11:35,210 --> 00:11:38,450 who's responsible for managing and caring for something 155 00:11:38,530 --> 00:11:41,050 valuable on behalf of someone else. 156 00:11:41,050 --> 00:11:47,650 OK, And we know, don't we, that Jesus spent a lot of time 157 00:11:48,210 --> 00:11:50,490 talking about our role as stewards. 158 00:11:53,250 --> 00:11:55,730 Next slide please. Alex, each of you should use 159 00:11:55,730 --> 00:12:00,470 whatever gift you have received to serve others, his faithful 160 00:12:00,470 --> 00:12:04,590 stewards of God's grace in its various forms. 161 00:12:04,590 --> 00:12:06,750 And of course he taught a lot, didn't he, about being assured. 162 00:12:06,750 --> 00:12:10,350 Of course, the probably the most famous one is the parable of the 163 00:12:10,350 --> 00:12:15,790 talents, and that parable is about using God's resources with 164 00:12:15,830 --> 00:12:21,950 respect and wisdom and the big challenge. 165 00:12:22,830 --> 00:12:25,910 And you've heard this many, many times from this stage. 166 00:12:26,630 --> 00:12:32,660 The big challenge we have is to understand as stewards, we 167 00:12:32,660 --> 00:12:35,900 cannot be independent from God. Yeah. 168 00:12:36,260 --> 00:12:39,500 As stewards, we cannot be independent from. 169 00:12:39,620 --> 00:12:43,460 We cannot be independent from the resource that we are drawing 170 00:12:43,460 --> 00:12:44,500 on. Yeah. 171 00:12:45,900 --> 00:12:51,660 So we need to ensure that we are dependent on God's resources. 172 00:12:51,660 --> 00:12:56,250 Yeah. And if a steward is not 173 00:12:56,250 --> 00:13:00,610 dependent on the resources that he or she is stewarding, then 174 00:13:01,330 --> 00:13:06,370 something tricky happens. And what happens is you start to 175 00:13:06,370 --> 00:13:08,130 think that you're the owner of those resources. 176 00:13:08,130 --> 00:13:12,250 Yeah. You start to think actually this 177 00:13:12,250 --> 00:13:17,770 success, it's my success, yeah, I've created this opportunity. 178 00:13:17,810 --> 00:13:21,410 I've created, I've built this, this, this Kingdom, if you like. 179 00:13:22,570 --> 00:13:25,380 And that's when the trouble starts, isn't it? 180 00:13:26,100 --> 00:13:29,780 When we as stewards forget our role? 181 00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:35,100 Yeah, And instead of drawing on God's limitless resources, we 182 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:38,420 start to draw on our own limited resources. 183 00:13:40,420 --> 00:13:45,700 And Jesus nails it with the the story of the vine and the 184 00:13:45,700 --> 00:13:47,340 branches. He knows this. 185 00:13:47,780 --> 00:13:50,180 He knows this challenge. He knows we're going to slip up. 186 00:13:50,670 --> 00:13:52,310 So he he told us a story, didn't he? 187 00:13:52,310 --> 00:13:57,310 Told us a story about a vineyard and that the key verse for me is 188 00:13:57,310 --> 00:14:00,950 verse 5 isn't John, isn't it? I am the vine. 189 00:14:01,870 --> 00:14:07,310 You are the branches. If you remain in me 9 you you 190 00:14:07,310 --> 00:14:11,070 will bear much fruit. I am the vine. 191 00:14:12,510 --> 00:14:16,430 I am the resource. You are the branches. 192 00:14:16,430 --> 00:14:20,180 You are the stewards. So if you keep drawing on that 193 00:14:20,180 --> 00:14:23,900 resource, if you keep remaining in me and I in you, you will 194 00:14:23,900 --> 00:14:31,740 bear much fruit. And to bear much fruit to be a 195 00:14:31,740 --> 00:14:37,820 good steward, the most important facet that you need, the biggest 196 00:14:37,820 --> 00:14:41,220 skill you need is to be a good listener. 197 00:14:42,780 --> 00:14:43,940 Next slide, please. Alex. 198 00:14:44,780 --> 00:14:49,240 Yeah, we need to listen. We need to listen to him. 199 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:58,440 Why? Well, you could say that 200 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:03,360 actually, the problems and the challenges that you have at work 201 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:08,040 are actually not yours, but actually not your problems. 202 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:13,280 They're God's problems. Yeah, there's no reason why you 203 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,180 can't Then walk into God's metaphorical office which by the 204 00:15:17,180 --> 00:15:21,460 way he opens it has an open door policy and say to God, listen, 205 00:15:21,460 --> 00:15:24,540 you've got a problem. You have got a problem. 206 00:15:24,540 --> 00:15:27,300 God, what do you want me to do about it? 207 00:15:28,940 --> 00:15:31,580 You see the difference? I've got a problem. 208 00:15:32,140 --> 00:15:35,380 Help me God. You've got a problem with this 209 00:15:35,380 --> 00:15:37,220 resource that you've asked me to steward. 210 00:15:37,980 --> 00:15:41,580 So how are you going to help me? What are you going to How do I 211 00:15:41,580 --> 00:15:42,780 deal with it? How do I deal with it? 212 00:15:42,780 --> 00:15:44,300 Dependency. Yeah. 213 00:15:44,300 --> 00:15:48,180 Whether it's with team dynamics in the office, it's perhaps 214 00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:50,460 you've got a line manager that doesn't support you. 215 00:15:51,780 --> 00:15:55,380 Perhaps you know you're looking for a new role in the business. 216 00:15:55,380 --> 00:15:57,980 Isn't making the money that it used to make whatever it may be, 217 00:15:57,980 --> 00:16:01,340 whatever the problem is, it's not too big or too small. 218 00:16:01,860 --> 00:16:06,060 But God does not want to be engaged with you in that Yeah, 219 00:16:07,740 --> 00:16:09,860 but it's not a choice, is it? It's not an option. 220 00:16:10,300 --> 00:16:13,820 It's a prerequisite for the relationship that God wants to 221 00:16:13,820 --> 00:16:16,030 have with you. And that relationship is a 222 00:16:16,030 --> 00:16:19,430 relationship of dependency. Yeah. 223 00:16:23,030 --> 00:16:27,790 However, what we can't do, and what I do quite often is March 224 00:16:27,790 --> 00:16:30,870 into his office. So you've got a problem with 225 00:16:30,910 --> 00:16:33,710 XY&Z and then March straight out again. 226 00:16:36,670 --> 00:16:39,230 We've, you know, we've, we've got to, we've got to hang 227 00:16:39,230 --> 00:16:41,310 around. Yeah, we've got to hang around 228 00:16:41,310 --> 00:16:47,020 his office and we have to spend time with him, don't we? 229 00:16:47,020 --> 00:16:51,860 We have to spend time in his company and and the biggest 230 00:16:51,980 --> 00:16:56,820 problem with that is spending time with him because we want to 231 00:16:56,820 --> 00:16:58,380 get on. Yeah, we want to get on. 232 00:16:58,380 --> 00:17:03,420 We got to get moving, you know. And it's a wonderful, it's a 233 00:17:03,660 --> 00:17:05,700 message translation of Proverbs 3. 234 00:17:06,099 --> 00:17:10,260 Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere 235 00:17:10,260 --> 00:17:14,250 you go, He's the one who will keep you on track. 236 00:17:15,410 --> 00:17:19,290 And so one of the biggest challenges I've had, and it may 237 00:17:19,290 --> 00:17:22,450 well be that you're cool with this is just waiting. 238 00:17:22,930 --> 00:17:27,369 Yeah, because because our provider, God, our resource, our 239 00:17:27,369 --> 00:17:31,850 limitless resource, you know, has his own timing. 240 00:17:32,370 --> 00:17:36,970 And it's not our timing. I'll tell you a story. 241 00:17:36,970 --> 00:17:44,090 I've been running my business for 15 years and I had a six 242 00:17:44,090 --> 00:17:49,890 month period three years back where I earned exactly nil. 243 00:17:50,530 --> 00:17:53,250 I earned not a bean, not a penny. 244 00:17:55,610 --> 00:17:59,050 You know I would do proposals and normally I'd write a 245 00:17:59,050 --> 00:18:01,970 proposal or a tender for for a piece of work and about 1:00 246 00:18:01,970 --> 00:18:04,850 every three or one every four I'd I'd I'd win. 247 00:18:04,850 --> 00:18:06,290 And that was that was a good ratio. 248 00:18:07,850 --> 00:18:11,570 I think I did about 21 proposals every single time. 249 00:18:11,570 --> 00:18:17,450 It was a no. And what had happened was that 250 00:18:17,770 --> 00:18:21,010 God was teaching me. God was teaching me something, 251 00:18:21,330 --> 00:18:24,130 not in a bad way, in a tender way. 252 00:18:24,490 --> 00:18:28,250 He was teaching me that my understanding, my intellectual 253 00:18:28,250 --> 00:18:33,850 understanding of trust, that he is my provider, needed to make 254 00:18:33,850 --> 00:18:38,210 the journey from my head to my heart. 255 00:18:39,700 --> 00:18:44,220 And when that journey happened, took me 6 months. 256 00:18:45,580 --> 00:18:49,460 He turned the tap on again. I'm not a millionaire. 257 00:18:49,460 --> 00:18:53,740 No, that's a joke. My wife's in the audience, so 258 00:18:53,740 --> 00:18:56,380 she can attest the fact that that's a complete untruth. 259 00:18:56,740 --> 00:19:04,190 But, and of course the fringe benefit of waiting, the fringe 260 00:19:04,190 --> 00:19:07,510 benefit of being in his office is of course that we spend time 261 00:19:07,510 --> 00:19:09,110 with God, we spend time with Jesus. 262 00:19:09,110 --> 00:19:14,110 And that's what he loves. And going back to to to Peter, 263 00:19:14,630 --> 00:19:16,630 you know, he modeled this beautifully for us. 264 00:19:16,630 --> 00:19:18,830 Peter in the boat, he was with the boat. 265 00:19:18,870 --> 00:19:21,630 He was in the boat. Yeah, he was in the boat. 266 00:19:22,150 --> 00:19:26,270 And so when when Jesus said constitute net over the other 267 00:19:26,270 --> 00:19:30,350 side, he just spent all nine doing this. 268 00:19:30,390 --> 00:19:34,620 But I'm the steward. You're the resource over the 269 00:19:34,820 --> 00:19:40,580 over the net when and you will bear much fruit or you will bear 270 00:19:40,580 --> 00:19:44,660 much fish in this occasion. But anyhow so spending time with 271 00:19:44,700 --> 00:19:47,180 Jesus means that you'll see the fruit of doing his one. 272 00:19:47,180 --> 00:19:51,220 And I want to tell you a story from a friend of Michael Bill 273 00:19:51,300 --> 00:19:54,420 who was at the conference that I that I broke into. 274 00:19:55,140 --> 00:20:00,900 And he he runs a very successful business in China and he 275 00:20:00,900 --> 00:20:03,340 manufactures stained glass products. 276 00:20:04,540 --> 00:20:07,940 So home, home, decal kind of products like for example 277 00:20:07,940 --> 00:20:10,180 Tiffany lamps, you know those sort of lamps that have stained 278 00:20:10,180 --> 00:20:13,860 glass. And he's a brilliant, brilliant 279 00:20:13,940 --> 00:20:17,500 man, fantastic Christian, amazing relationship with with 280 00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:22,940 God and he is always looking at becoming more efficient in his 281 00:20:22,940 --> 00:20:24,860 processes. He has incredible process to 282 00:20:24,860 --> 00:20:27,820 take scrap materials. And make them into these 283 00:20:27,820 --> 00:20:32,180 beautiful artworks etcetera. And it's a very successful 284 00:20:32,180 --> 00:20:33,820 business. It's always looking to innovate. 285 00:20:33,820 --> 00:20:38,060 He's kind of like this efficiency kind of person who 286 00:20:38,060 --> 00:20:41,780 just wants to make the thing as as a machine and as a process as 287 00:20:41,780 --> 00:20:44,940 as efficient as possible. And one day God, work him up 288 00:20:45,300 --> 00:20:47,780 with a with a plan for a new process. 289 00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:53,020 And so Bill listened and spent the day throwing up the 290 00:20:53,020 --> 00:20:55,980 blueprints for this new this new machine that that would deliver 291 00:20:55,980 --> 00:21:01,230 this, this, this process. And day two, God wakes him up 292 00:21:01,230 --> 00:21:03,030 again and says, actually, I've got a better idea. 293 00:21:04,110 --> 00:21:07,510 And so Bill spends the day working on this new, you know, 294 00:21:07,510 --> 00:21:13,030 this new better process. Day three, God wakes him up, got 295 00:21:13,030 --> 00:21:15,710 a better idea. So off he goes, Bill, and he, he 296 00:21:15,750 --> 00:21:17,350 just says, blueprint for this new man. 297 00:21:17,990 --> 00:21:20,990 Anyway, this goes on for a week, day eight. 298 00:21:21,950 --> 00:21:24,590 God wakes him up and Bill says whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, time 299 00:21:24,590 --> 00:21:27,690 out. Look, you that, you know, I'm a 300 00:21:27,730 --> 00:21:30,450 I'm a kind of efficiency guy. I'm an efficiency guy. 301 00:21:30,850 --> 00:21:32,490 This is not an efficient process. 302 00:21:34,290 --> 00:21:37,650 Why don't you just tell me the best bit, the best one now. 303 00:21:37,890 --> 00:21:41,770 And God simply said to him, Bill, I just love spending time 304 00:21:41,770 --> 00:21:45,010 with you. And and so the good news is that 305 00:21:45,010 --> 00:21:50,090 when you're in that office, that metaphorical office, you can 306 00:21:50,090 --> 00:21:53,450 chill, you know, have a coffee, spend time with God because 307 00:21:53,450 --> 00:22:00,140 that's where he wants you to be. And all this is going to help 308 00:22:00,140 --> 00:22:04,420 you with the, the point of the sermon. 309 00:22:04,740 --> 00:22:08,780 Yeah, this notion of getting out there, the Great Commission at 310 00:22:08,780 --> 00:22:14,460 work. So it's going to help you what I 311 00:22:14,460 --> 00:22:20,620 call activate your touch points. Alex is still with us. 312 00:22:20,780 --> 00:22:22,180 There he is. Fantastic. 313 00:22:22,940 --> 00:22:26,760 Thanks, Alex. So making connections to share 314 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:34,680 the gospel, this idea of being out there and modeling faith and 315 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,720 Jesus did it for us. Yeah, all through the New 316 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:43,640 Testament there was there's story after story after story of 317 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:48,520 Jesus modeling the idea of activating touch points, of 318 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,640 demonstrating faith. You know whether it's you know 319 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,930 walking through Copernium and and his his literally his his 320 00:22:56,050 --> 00:22:59,410 garment his cloak was touched and the woman who touched his 321 00:22:59,410 --> 00:23:02,690 cloak was was healed or at the pool of Bethesda. 322 00:23:03,210 --> 00:23:07,810 You know where that man couldn't get to the pool in time to to to 323 00:23:07,890 --> 00:23:10,730 when the pool bubbled. And so Jesus got a knelt down 324 00:23:10,730 --> 00:23:15,690 beside him and said, do you want to get well or the conversation 325 00:23:15,690 --> 00:23:18,330 that Jesus had with the, the woman in Samaria at the well, 326 00:23:18,330 --> 00:23:21,490 he, he asked her for a drink of water and the conversation went 327 00:23:21,490 --> 00:23:24,350 on and and and she and her community were saved. 328 00:23:24,830 --> 00:23:28,390 So. So Jesus knows all about this 329 00:23:28,390 --> 00:23:31,150 idea of of touch points. Yeah. 330 00:23:31,590 --> 00:23:36,150 And of of of getting out there and making an making an 331 00:23:36,150 --> 00:23:42,110 impression. And we as people who are work, 332 00:23:42,110 --> 00:23:45,870 who work, have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of 333 00:23:45,870 --> 00:23:48,750 opportunities to demonstrate our faith. 334 00:23:49,110 --> 00:23:51,670 Yeah. So there's a few slides here 335 00:23:51,670 --> 00:23:53,110 Alex. I'll let you run riot. 336 00:23:53,310 --> 00:23:57,750 Just just just so you know, just think about it. 337 00:23:57,750 --> 00:24:01,950 Just think about you'll you'll you may well go to the office in 338 00:24:01,950 --> 00:24:04,350 London. So you'll get out of your house, 339 00:24:04,350 --> 00:24:06,350 maybe you'll walk to the train station. 340 00:24:07,230 --> 00:24:11,950 Maybe you'll buy coffee from that nice van barista van and 341 00:24:11,950 --> 00:24:14,030 you'll sit down and you'll so you have a chat with the 342 00:24:14,030 --> 00:24:15,630 barista. Then you'll go through, maybe 343 00:24:15,630 --> 00:24:18,800 say hi to the ticket person. Then you sit down in the and the 344 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,080 train. Admittedly, the train isn't the 345 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,400 chattiest of places still. And then you'll get off of 346 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,840 whatever station you're off. You'll get a tube, whatever. 347 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,360 Then and you'll walk past. You'll say hi to the 348 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:31,760 receptionist if you're in an office or whatever it may be. 349 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:37,960 And and the list is endless. So you know, sales people, 350 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:43,960 directors, neighbors, board directors, IT support desks, 351 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:48,660 people, accounts departments, canteen staff, assembly line, 352 00:24:48,740 --> 00:24:53,540 interviewers, sandwich makers, storekeepers, warehouse staff, 353 00:24:53,860 --> 00:24:58,660 the list is endless is it not And all these are opportunities 354 00:24:58,660 --> 00:25:03,260 for you to exercise that Great Commission. 355 00:25:03,580 --> 00:25:07,380 Yeah. Hey however what I'm what I'm 356 00:25:07,380 --> 00:25:10,580 not suggesting is you March them all down to the river there to 357 00:25:10,580 --> 00:25:14,280 get them baptized. Although wouldn't be a problem, 358 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,920 but it's but what what I am saying is listen, it's it's 359 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,120 straight out of Sir Francis Assisi's book of how to live 360 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:26,000 treats the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words. 361 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:31,240 Yeah, So what I'm talking about here is this idea of modeling 362 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,440 faith in terms of how you behave. 363 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:41,080 Yeah, your actions, how you, you know, how you behave, how you 364 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:46,130 speak, what you do. Because as a Christian you you 365 00:25:46,130 --> 00:25:50,330 have a different perspective that you're not to those the 366 00:25:50,330 --> 00:25:52,770 world out there. And this, this is wonderful. 367 00:25:53,050 --> 00:25:56,410 And again, Jesus nailed it with the story of the king. 368 00:25:57,370 --> 00:26:01,010 I think it'll come up. The king will say to those on 369 00:26:01,010 --> 00:26:04,490 his right. Come you who are blessed to be 370 00:26:05,210 --> 00:26:06,890 by my father. Take your inheritance. 371 00:26:06,890 --> 00:26:08,930 The Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world, 372 00:26:10,050 --> 00:26:11,970 where I was hungry. And he gave me something to eat. 373 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:14,760 I was thirsty. You gave me something to drink. 374 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,600 I was a stranger. You invited me in. 375 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,480 I needed clothes, and you clothed me. 376 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:21,960 I was sick and you looked after me. 377 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,640 I was in prison, and you came to visit me, and the righteous will 378 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,880 answer him. Lord, when did we see you hungry 379 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,560 and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 380 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,240 When did we see you sick or in prison and go and visit you? 381 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:38,920 The King will reply. Truly, I tell you, whatever you 382 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,720 did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of 383 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:47,690 mine, you did for me. So it's a golden opportunity to 384 00:26:47,690 --> 00:26:51,970 model your faith through your actions, through your behaviors, 385 00:26:51,970 --> 00:26:58,130 through your attitudes. And make no mistake, you are 386 00:26:58,130 --> 00:27:01,770 being watched. I'm not talking about, I'm 387 00:27:01,770 --> 00:27:05,690 talking about you're being watched by the community that 388 00:27:05,690 --> 00:27:08,890 you are in your work community. Yeah you're being watched. 389 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:14,360 I had a a longstanding relationship with with a company 390 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:19,840 and we were working for a client and the client was exasperating 391 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:25,520 and extremely exasperating and and I've been working with this 392 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,520 company for many many years and you you the the the sort of head 393 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:34,760 of the company very well and after one very very frustrating 394 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,600 interaction I'm ashamed to say I said a bad word. 395 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,820 Luckily the chair of trustees is not here. 396 00:27:42,220 --> 00:27:44,340 It's anyway he's here. Oh gosh. 397 00:27:45,380 --> 00:27:49,700 Anyhow I said a bad word and he turned to me and said you know 398 00:27:49,740 --> 00:27:54,140 Bruce and all the years we've worked together I've never once 399 00:27:54,180 --> 00:27:57,220 heard you swear we've been watched. 400 00:27:57,660 --> 00:28:00,820 Yeah. So and why I want us to relax 401 00:28:00,820 --> 00:28:05,060 about it is I'm just saying this whole thing is around being 402 00:28:05,060 --> 00:28:09,260 yourself in the workplace. Is being yourself as being a 403 00:28:09,260 --> 00:28:12,320 Christian. Yeah, that's the way we're 404 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:17,520 built. So understanding that God is our 405 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:22,200 provider is his workplace. Next slide, please. 406 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,240 Alex is his workplace. And we have at our disposal 407 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:30,600 limitless resources. Yeah, that we are stewards. 408 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:37,120 We work for him. We draw on his resources that we 409 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:42,340 need to listen, we need to spend time with him as stewards of his 410 00:28:42,340 --> 00:28:46,900 provision and that's going to allow us to activate our touch 411 00:28:46,900 --> 00:28:50,300 points to model our faith. Easy. 412 00:28:51,940 --> 00:28:58,500 No? So I think personally I found it 413 00:28:58,500 --> 00:29:02,140 daunting to bring my faith into the workplace. 414 00:29:03,460 --> 00:29:08,390 And so I'm going to introduce you to something that's helped 415 00:29:08,390 --> 00:29:13,950 me and and quite a few others over the last few years to to do 416 00:29:13,950 --> 00:29:17,630 that, to meet that challenge, to start to work on that Great 417 00:29:17,630 --> 00:29:19,830 Commission that call that God has given us. 418 00:29:20,830 --> 00:29:23,350 So I'd like to introduce you to Business Club. 419 00:29:28,670 --> 00:29:30,750 It's working. The slides is. 420 00:29:31,220 --> 00:29:33,740 Thank you, Alex. So Business Club, what is 421 00:29:33,740 --> 00:29:35,660 Business Club? Well, it didn't used to be 422 00:29:35,660 --> 00:29:39,140 called Business Club, it used to be called Breakfast Club and 423 00:29:39,180 --> 00:29:45,580 which is a much nicer name and and so I met with Tim Winfield, 424 00:29:45,860 --> 00:29:48,140 I don't know if you've heard of him, he's a big deal here, big 425 00:29:48,140 --> 00:29:51,100 deal. And 15 years ago or so and I had 426 00:29:51,100 --> 00:29:55,420 a an idea for a new business startup And so I wrote a 427 00:29:55,420 --> 00:29:59,620 business plan and ages on it. And over breakfast I kind of 428 00:29:59,620 --> 00:30:02,860 shared my ideas with Tim and gave him a copy of the business 429 00:30:03,020 --> 00:30:09,860 plan. And no, no, don't do it. 430 00:30:10,540 --> 00:30:14,660 So I didn't. I did something else which has 431 00:30:14,660 --> 00:30:17,260 worked very well for the last 15 years or so. 432 00:30:17,260 --> 00:30:20,580 So, but we continue to meet, we continue to have breakfast and 433 00:30:20,580 --> 00:30:22,060 someone else would join us and someone else. 434 00:30:22,060 --> 00:30:25,780 And anyway, after a while we realized that we weren't having 435 00:30:25,780 --> 00:30:30,230 breakfast anymore. So I had to rebrand Breakfast 436 00:30:30,230 --> 00:30:33,870 Club to Business Club. And so we're a Connect group. 437 00:30:34,910 --> 00:30:37,110 We've been going, as I say, for about 15 years. 438 00:30:37,350 --> 00:30:41,110 Numbers go up and down, but we have around about 2025 people 439 00:30:41,710 --> 00:30:45,590 and and I guess about a dozen people come pretty much every 440 00:30:45,590 --> 00:30:49,070 Monday 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Zoom. 441 00:30:49,070 --> 00:30:53,630 OK, just one hour. And so many people come along to 442 00:30:53,630 --> 00:30:56,270 Business Club and also belong to another Connect group. 443 00:30:56,870 --> 00:30:59,760 Totally cool. I don't by the way, I'm lazy. 444 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:05,160 But the point here is that what we what we do is we start to 445 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:09,000 unpack these challenges and we start to unpack how do we do 446 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,560 this, how do we live out our faith in the workplace. 447 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,040 You know it's all very well Bruce standing on stage and you 448 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,960 know but in the in in in the workplace, you know it's a 449 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,400 different it's it's you know there's a great little pressure 450 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,240 about it. You know you want to to live out 451 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,280 your faith in the workplace. But there are challenges. 452 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:26,760 So we we we look at the scripture. 453 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:29,360 We look at how we can take scripture and use it in the 454 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:32,760 workplace. We we give each other advice 455 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:39,080 both kind of scripture advice and the others got advice but 456 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,000 also work advice. We pray with each other. 457 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:46,360 We have a WhatsApp group this awesome and it's busier than 458 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,400 than the group we we as always messages going on in and out of 459 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,200 WhatsApp. It may well be. 460 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,080 You know, I've got a big presentation coming up. 461 00:31:54,730 --> 00:31:57,890 Can you just, you know, pray for me or I've got a, you know, do I 462 00:31:57,890 --> 00:32:00,690 go for this job application or do I know, what do you think? 463 00:32:00,690 --> 00:32:04,370 And it's a very active, very supportive group. 464 00:32:04,370 --> 00:32:12,010 So and we even have a creed we didn't make it up. 465 00:32:12,610 --> 00:32:17,890 It's it's from the Bible and but I do call it the stewards creed 466 00:32:18,050 --> 00:32:21,090 and I'm going to, it'll be on the the chart there. 467 00:32:21,690 --> 00:32:25,160 It's fantastic, and I made everyone to learn it by heart, 468 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:28,440 but I can't remember it now, so I'm going to have to read it. 469 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,680 It said, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. 470 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:39,280 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of 471 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:43,280 1 body you were called to peace and be thankful. 472 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:49,320 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach 473 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:53,490 and admonish one another with all wisdom, do psalms, hymns, 474 00:32:53,490 --> 00:32:56,610 and songs from the Spirit singing to God with gratitude in 475 00:32:56,610 --> 00:33:00,930 your heart. And whatever you do, whether in 476 00:33:00,930 --> 00:33:04,410 Word or deed, do it all. In the name of the Lord Jesus 477 00:33:04,410 --> 00:33:06,490 giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 478 00:33:06,730 --> 00:33:09,210 Amen. Hallelujah. 479 00:33:09,330 --> 00:33:14,490 Yes, So, so anyhow, no. But it's an awesome creed. 480 00:33:15,090 --> 00:33:19,370 And yeah, says pretty much everything really that that we 481 00:33:19,370 --> 00:33:27,340 want as Christians. So however it gets bigger, it 482 00:33:27,340 --> 00:33:32,180 gets bigger because prompted by prayer, and through discussions 483 00:33:32,180 --> 00:33:36,380 and prayer with Mark and his team, we want to make BC 484 00:33:36,420 --> 00:33:41,740 Business Club bigger. So I'm introducing you today to 485 00:33:42,060 --> 00:33:52,070 BC Excel. So extra large, business club. 486 00:33:52,070 --> 00:33:54,430 Extra large. So what we want to do is we want 487 00:33:54,430 --> 00:33:57,590 to create more business clubs. Yeah, we've got one. 488 00:33:57,830 --> 00:34:00,710 We want a lot more. We God's telling us, come on, 489 00:34:00,710 --> 00:34:03,750 this is an awesome group you've got, but we just need to get it 490 00:34:03,750 --> 00:34:07,190 out there. We need more people representing 491 00:34:07,190 --> 00:34:09,350 the Kingdom in the workplace. Yeah. 492 00:34:09,790 --> 00:34:13,230 So we we've got this wonderful I have a land yard. 493 00:34:13,230 --> 00:34:16,650 You can see the land yard, there'll be members of business 494 00:34:16,650 --> 00:34:19,969 club with lanyards. Not as nice as this because you 495 00:34:19,969 --> 00:34:22,889 know mine has to be the nicest. Now there's people, they're 496 00:34:22,889 --> 00:34:24,929 going to be in the atrium and they'll answer any questions you 497 00:34:24,929 --> 00:34:27,889 have about business club, the connect group. 498 00:34:28,330 --> 00:34:31,929 But we're also going to be doing a quarterly get together where 499 00:34:31,929 --> 00:34:37,090 we will have breakfast and the first one is on the 4th of 500 00:34:37,170 --> 00:34:39,690 November at 8:00 AM and it's going to be absolutely. 501 00:34:39,690 --> 00:34:42,770 Also we've got a fantastic speaker coming along one of our 502 00:34:42,770 --> 00:34:48,550 own and she's going to be talking about the challenges and 503 00:34:48,550 --> 00:34:50,989 how she's met those challenges in the workplace. 504 00:34:50,989 --> 00:34:54,310 We're going to have time of prayer networking, it's going to 505 00:34:54,310 --> 00:34:56,710 be fantastic and we'll be doing these every quarter. 506 00:34:57,110 --> 00:35:02,030 So the message here is we're going to be doing, we're asking 507 00:35:02,030 --> 00:35:05,710 you to consider joining a business club, a connect Group 508 00:35:06,990 --> 00:35:10,230 One hour on a Monday, 8 till 9:00 and it is one hour. 509 00:35:10,430 --> 00:35:13,980 Yeah. And and then come along to one 510 00:35:13,980 --> 00:35:20,300 of our quarterly meetings. So and I want to finish with a 511 00:35:20,300 --> 00:35:25,060 court of prayer and I've got a big writing here. 512 00:35:25,180 --> 00:35:28,860 Pink, can I call the band up, please? 513 00:35:30,380 --> 00:35:33,220 So I promised I'd get back to you about that conference. 514 00:35:33,220 --> 00:35:36,220 I mentioned that the conference I was an impostor at and then 515 00:35:36,220 --> 00:35:39,910 Bill spoke at that conference. My friend Bill and I want to 516 00:35:39,910 --> 00:35:43,110 tell you what he talked about briefly and then we're going to 517 00:35:43,110 --> 00:35:46,430 end with a prayer that you that I'd love you to pray. 518 00:35:47,270 --> 00:35:51,750 So what I do, I'm a brand strategist, nobody knows what I 519 00:35:51,750 --> 00:35:56,310 do, me particularly, but apparently one person does. 520 00:35:56,310 --> 00:35:58,030 Thanks Sally. No, but what I do is I help 521 00:35:58,030 --> 00:36:01,030 companies to to basically better define what makes them who they 522 00:36:01,030 --> 00:36:03,870 are and then to be able to communicate that to their team 523 00:36:03,870 --> 00:36:05,430 and to their customers and their audiences. 524 00:36:05,430 --> 00:36:08,390 And what that delivers is growth. 525 00:36:08,770 --> 00:36:10,770 It delivers a much more effective and efficient way of 526 00:36:10,770 --> 00:36:14,850 using resources. And I've been doing this since 527 00:36:14,850 --> 00:36:18,050 that breakfast meeting with Tim for 15 years or so and I've been 528 00:36:18,050 --> 00:36:21,570 all over the world and I work for IT companies, AI companies, 529 00:36:21,570 --> 00:36:23,810 software businesses. But more importantly, I also 530 00:36:23,810 --> 00:36:26,170 work for mission based businesses and faith-based 531 00:36:26,170 --> 00:36:29,930 organizations and it's about using the resources that God's 532 00:36:29,930 --> 00:36:33,730 given us as efficiently and as effectively as possible. 533 00:36:34,270 --> 00:36:35,710 I'm out. I'm a big believer in what I do 534 00:36:36,630 --> 00:36:39,390 and about five years ago I thought, you know, I should 535 00:36:39,390 --> 00:36:41,790 write a book about this. Then I can get that. 536 00:36:41,950 --> 00:36:45,190 I can get what I what I think is important, what I think God's 537 00:36:45,190 --> 00:36:46,950 telling me to do into the hands of many. 538 00:36:48,470 --> 00:36:50,630 I soon learned it's quite difficult writing books. 539 00:36:51,790 --> 00:36:55,350 And so I didn't. And there I was at this 540 00:36:55,350 --> 00:37:00,020 conference and and Bill was speaking and he I was. 541 00:37:00,340 --> 00:37:03,540 I'm unique to quite a lot of his material, but don't let him know 542 00:37:03,540 --> 00:37:05,060 that. But the point here is that he 543 00:37:05,060 --> 00:37:07,140 was saying we need to spend time listening. 544 00:37:08,180 --> 00:37:12,060 So I said, I'm going to say a prayer, and if you want to say 545 00:37:12,060 --> 00:37:14,980 it after me, then please do. This was built at the conference 546 00:37:15,020 --> 00:37:19,540 in Philadelphia. So the prayer was simply this, 547 00:37:19,700 --> 00:37:22,620 God, what is it you want to tell me? 548 00:37:24,300 --> 00:37:28,300 And as soon as those words came out of my mouth, 3 words came 549 00:37:28,300 --> 00:37:31,530 right back into my head. Feed my sheep. 550 00:37:32,450 --> 00:37:35,090 Boom. I'm not a feed my sheep kind of 551 00:37:35,090 --> 00:37:36,610 God. That's not a language I use. 552 00:37:37,130 --> 00:37:39,130 This was from God. And what God was telling me was 553 00:37:39,170 --> 00:37:44,210 Bruce writing the book. OK, and it is difficult buying a 554 00:37:44,210 --> 00:37:48,410 book, but when it's not your book, it's God's book. 555 00:37:48,970 --> 00:37:53,490 When you're stewarding for God, he's graciously. 556 00:37:53,530 --> 00:37:55,450 He graciously allowed me to ghost. 557 00:37:55,450 --> 00:37:58,950 Write his book if you like. Yes, it's tough. 558 00:37:59,150 --> 00:38:04,790 Yes, there are challenges, but the pressure had gone because I 559 00:38:04,790 --> 00:38:06,910 was being obedient. I was being obedient. 560 00:38:06,910 --> 00:38:13,270 Steward to God's provision. And as Mark incorrectly said at 561 00:38:13,270 --> 00:38:15,630 the beginning of this talk, it's not a bestselling book. 562 00:38:16,110 --> 00:38:19,950 It's an awardwinning book. And oh, thank you very much. 563 00:38:21,310 --> 00:38:25,390 Joking apart, what it did it it it it did transform my business 564 00:38:25,390 --> 00:38:27,190 because God's in the business of transformation. 565 00:38:28,340 --> 00:38:33,540 So I'm going to, as the band, start to play meditative, quiet 566 00:38:33,540 --> 00:38:36,060 music. I'm I'm, I'm guessing there. 567 00:38:36,060 --> 00:38:40,420 I'm guessing I'm going to say that, say that prayer again, and 568 00:38:40,460 --> 00:38:46,140 if you feel moved to to say it, fantastic. 569 00:38:46,140 --> 00:38:47,260 You don't have to come up the front. 570 00:38:47,260 --> 00:38:51,940 You don't have to do anything but just allow yourself to be 571 00:38:51,940 --> 00:38:55,260 open to what God wants to tell you. 572 00:38:56,050 --> 00:38:57,570 Because he does obviously want to talk to us. 573 00:38:57,570 --> 00:39:05,050 He wants to be with us. So God, what is it you want to 574 00:39:05,050 --> 00:39:05,450 tell me?