Making a Difference in our Workplace

Faith in the Workplace Series : 

Making a Difference in Our Workplace

Luke 9:23-25

Brother Eric Chong

28 July 2019

Purpose Statement 

We choose to be in the process where we follow Jesus Christ and obey His commands hence influencing others to do the same. 

1. Follow Jesus Christ Our first and foremost calling is a calling to follow Christ and experience the great extent of His love hence being transformed to be more and more Christ-like. First and foremost, we need to follow Jesus. When Eric first started working, he didn’t understand how following Jesus has anything to do with the workplace and segregated church and work properly. He experienced heartaches and backstabbing in the workplace. His dreams came crushing down when the project manager told him in a site meeting, “I don’t need a coffeemaker in this meeting!” He told himself that day, “There must be more than just making money in the workplace and climbing the corporate ladder.” And on that day, he decided to be different and to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in his workplace and impact people’s lives. 

Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

Matthew 4:18-20 Verse 19 – “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Our greatest fulfillment in the workplace should be found in fulfilling the Great Commission and making disciples of all nations. We must answer his call to reach out. 

But what can I do? The call to reach out is more than just (about) going to work day in day out. 

How can we reach out to others? We need to obey his commands and influence others. We need to be different. We need to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily according to the Father's will. We need to be the light and fill our lamps. The workplace is where we are called to be. For example, the school is the workplace of students, the office is the workplace of office workers, the home or neighborhood is the workplace of housewives. It doesn’t mean that money is not important but it simply means that we’re not driven by money. 

There is a promise in John 14:15-16 – “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” We are not called to live a perfect life but a life which we follow Christ and obey his commands and by doing so being transformed into who we are. We’re called to live a life pleasing to him until we meet him again. 

2. Obey His commands hence influencing others to do the same 

(a) How can I best reach out to others in my workplace? 1) Recognizing that the Holy Spirit is the one that works through us (John 14:16). We do not need to do it in our strength only but we can rely on the Holy Spirit as our helper when we feel weak in our times of need. Eric related an incident in which his senior “honored his honesty” and helped him though the situation when he was prompted by the Holy Spirit to inform his senior that he had designed a structural beam wrongly, a fact he had initially tried to hide for fear that he would be reprimanded. The Spirit of God will prompt and help us when we want to obey God’s commands. 

2) We need to experience and enjoy the transformation in our life (Acts 22) If we have never experienced God before and never been transformed by God in our life, it’s very hard to obey something that we have never experienced before. We need to experience and enjoy the transformation in our life as we follow Jesus in our journey of discipleship. 

3) We lose yet we GAIN (1 Samuel 24 & 1 Samuel 26) We all battle to win. But we also know that when we go into battle, we lose something, we lose some benefits or perks or even relationships as well. We also know that when we lose, we will gain peace. In 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26, we read that because David spared Saul’s life, he was blessed and went on to triumph and do great things and eventually became King. Sometimes we lose, but we gain. We lose relationships, but we gain peace. When people see us living a different life, they will be interested to know why we are different. We lose because we obey and follow the commands of God. The “danger” of professing your faith as a Christian in the workplace is that you become the target of jibes and “bullets” from colleagues when you “misbehaved” or did something wrong and become a stumbling block. Battle of Jericho! God told Joshua the incredible and implausible things he needed to do – circumcize the people right before battle, first send in the foot soldiers, then the priests with the trumpet and the priests with the ark, finally the foot soldiers behind, and circle the wall of Jericho for seven days. But on the seventh day, when the priests blew the trumpets, the wall came tumbling down and they won the battle. The battle that we’re in is not our own battle but it belongs to God. As we follow Him and obey His commands, we need to let God take charge and let God help us win this battle, with us being the instrument of success. It isn’t us who save lives but it is Christ who saves lives. We always need to remember to refill our lamps, with God being the fuel of our lamps. 

4) Allow God to take the centre stage in your work! (Joshua 6) In the story of the Fall of Jericho, the arrangement (or the order of procession) of the battle of Jericho was first the soldiers, then the priests, followed by the ark of God and lastly the soldiers. What was in the middle or centre? The ark of God! The ark represents the presence of God. They won the battle because they allowed God to take the centre of it all and allowed God to be the centre of their battle. Therefore in the same way, we need to allow God to take centre stage in our work and to be in control of our situations. 

Keeping God in the centre 

1) Start your day with the word of the Lord 

2) Say simple prayer before working 

3) Keeping God in mind by saying simple prayers at midday 

4) As you end the day thank God for the day and reflect on the day 

(b) How do I obey his commands? 

Questions 

1. Study Acts 22:1-21 and summarize what happened to Paul and how his life was transformed. 

2. Share an unpleasant experience in your workplace. Did that experience require you to act against God’s principles? How did you handle it and/or how can you handle it better? 

3. Share an experience where you are able to help someone in your workplace because you simply live by the principles of God. What did you learn in this experience?

A Life Lived by the Grace of God

TOPIC : A Life Lived by the Grace of God - Testimony of Stephen Fung

Text : Jeremiah 29:11-14 

Bro. Stephen Fung 

14 JULY 2019 

Our lives are seasonal and each season brings different touches of God in our lives. The picture of the flowing river depicts a live lived by the grace of God, with us as the stones and God the water. The water may move the stones gently or aggressively, depending on the time and season. The illustrations of cyclists cycling down a slope in a peloton, the runner going down a hill, and the rafters paddling with the flow of the current, seem to show the people exerting minimal effort. However, the participants in these activities still have to exercise care, caution and discipline, and do their part so as to avoid any mishaps or accidents. In the same way, although we know that God has a plan for us in our lives, we have to do our part and live our lives (whether in the workplace, in the family or in finances), faithfully trusting and believing, under the grace of God. 

1. God will provide your needs (Mathew 6:33) I graduated in 1987 when the country was facing recession, yet I was determined to come back to serve God and my country. I was provided with a job under the government’s ‘unemployed graduate scheme’. At the end of the scheme, I was given a contract post in the civil service. From zero income, to a few hundred ringgit, I knew that God honoured my desire to serve Him and my country 

2. Walking in humility and integrity (Micah 6:8 & Ps 41:11-12) When I reported for duty, my section head told me that I had to work under a Technical Assistant. In the same breath, he advised that although the TA may not have the same level of education, he was very experienced and I could learn a lot from him. It was the first lesson in humility. And that was God’s providence in providing me with good mentors that set a good foundation of my career. There were tough situations that challenged my integrity as an engineer. I was threatened and I had to make a police report. And I was transferred to another section (cold storaged) and in times like this, I felt like a failure in my career. But that act of integrity led me to a better job. A public listed company sought me out as they needed someone they could trust and I was recommended as such. 

3. Believe in divine appointment (John 4:4-9) I was unhappy and discouraged in the situation I was put in and I was looking for different career options. One day I decided to drop in at a colleague’s place, whom I had previously shared the office. At that moment, the phone at my previous desk rang, and I picked it up. It was a friend. He asked me to meet up with his colleague who was looking for someone to fill a vacant position. It was a divine appointment for me! Likewise in our lives, believe in divine appointments for God loves to surprise us with the good things we have been praying for. The encounter of the Samaritan woman with Jesus was by divine appointment. Jesus chose to take the route through Samaria and that the Samaritan woman came out at that certain time to draw water from the well. Her life was changed after this encounter with Jesus. 

4. The discipline to tithe (Malachi 3:10) I was taught the principle of tithing while still in the university and I choose to be obedient and adhere to it from my 1st paycheck. As time goes by, as a wage earner, I sometimes question those verses. I asked God, ‘How come your flood water of blessing has not inundated me yet?” God answered me in a Christian Financial Seminar, whereby the speaker shared the story of a Christian farmer in USA, whose wheat fields were spared from locust attacks. God had honoured his faith in tithing by preserving his livelihood. In 1997, at the time of another financial crisis, many of my friends lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts. My boss refused to cut the pay of his staff. It settled upon me, once and for all that the discipline of tithing had preserved and protected me from the financial crisis. 

5. The Word of God in our lives (John 21:11) A few years ago, I was stressed out by the accumulated workload that it caused me sleepless nights. One day, at a Connect Group meeting, John 21:11 was read and after hearing the verse, I felt peace and assurance and believe that God has used this verse to encourage and assure me that I would be able to contain the abundant blessings that He has bestowed unto me. The Connect Group was one of the places where I was ministered to during this time. I urge those who are yet to join a CG to be a part of God’s extended family. 

6. The Potter’s hands on my life (God has a plan in your life) (Jeremiah 29:11) In 1997, I attended a God Encounter retreat. I felt I had not given myself to God as I should have. I wept uncontrollably as the minister prayed for me.. In the flood of tears, I heard God’s gentle voice assuring me that “it was all right and He understands”. A burden was lifted from my heart and there was hope and life to be lived out again in Christ. But God was not done with me yet. He knew there were areas in my life that needed to be addressed. From 2000, for the next 3 years, I went through a series of events that would be spiritual milestones in my life. Like a potter, God was molding and shaping me. My career took a turn for the worst. I was emotionally and financially strained, I was living in a rudimentary site accommodation, away from my family. I was verbally abused by my employer. The pride in me had to be stripped off. I borrowed and read every book related to intimacy with Christ. Throughout this time, my CG was there to support me. At the end of the 3rd year, God brought me out of my spiritual tutelage. I set up my own consultancy, starting from scratch. God had chastised me through this period so that I can contain the blessings He is to bestow on me later. (Like the painting of “The Prodigal Son”, I felt I was not worthy but God’s chastising hand and gentle loving hands were there to enfold me in His loving embrace.) 

7. Conclusion Living a life by God’s grace is like to us as stones in the river. The water is God’s grace over us. It moves and align us according to the direction of His flow. In the process, as we come in contact with other stones in the river, the abrasion will smooth out our rough edges as we continue in the journey of discipleship. God has our best interests in His heart. His plan is good and His burden is light. “Jesus loves you, Jesus died for you, He gave himself up for you. If you have been the only person in the world, Jesus would have died for you. God loves you unconditionally, wholeheartedly and continually.” God is calling you to return to your first love. The invitation is still on as it always has been for He longs to restore us to the plan that He has for us. 

Questions : 

1. The above B to G, please share one of the area that God is currently teaching you in your life. Share your struggles, and / or lessons learnt in this experience. 

2. If you are facing challenges or difficulties in your life (discipleship journey), are you able to share your burden freely with your CG, for them to support you in the process. How can they share your burden? If not, what is preventing you from doing so?