Mission in the Workplace | Dan Deeble | REMIX: MISSION

REMIX

Feb 20

Teaching Notes

“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

Kosmon (Κόσμον)

cosmos, universe; earth; world system; people;

“There's not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is Lord over all, does not exclaim, 'Mine'!”
Abraham Kuyper, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1901-1905)

REMIX YOUR FIT!

“Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”
Mark 6:3

tektōn (τέκτων)
Definition: “One who uses various materials (wood, stone, and metal) in building.

But guess what we do have:

Jesus talked about stones (Luke 19:40)
Jesus gave Simon the nickname Stone (Matthew 16:18)
Jesus talked about foundations (Matthew 7:24)
Jesus talked about cornerstones (Mark 12:10/Psalm 118:22)

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
Luke 14:28-30

“Jesus spoke constantly of financial practice, of management of both projects and people: payment, debt wages, investment, hiring and firing, relationships between managers and staff…”
- Jordan K. Monsoon, Adjunct Professor, University of Northwestern-St. Paul (Christianity Today, The StoneMason The Builders Rejected).

Jesus did not have a well-respected job.

Jesus worked with others

Jesus worked for “The Man”

Jesus traveled for his work

Jesus was subject to temptation and taverns
- For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

“Vocational Ministry” is the exception and not the expectation.

Paul writes the expectation for the followers: “...make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15

“Ordinary Christians they were the key…it was anonymous Christians, not the officially constituted leaders…, who were primarily responsible for Christianity’s spread. Lay Christians traveled to new areas and established churches. What caused ordinary Christians to get involved in this? Often it was work. Christians followed their business opportunities or the imperatives of their jobs by moving from their home areas to new areas as merchants, artisans, doctors, prisoners, slaves and (by the third century) soldiers.” - Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment

Q: Do you know your FIT?

Are you being intentional with it?
Do you know why you’re really there?
What is your company really about?

Going Deeper Discussion

What’s the best job you ever had and what made it so? (Feel free to also share the worst and why)
Based on the insights offered in the sermon about Jesus’ vocation as a builder and businessperson, how does that impact the view of Jesus’ relevance to you and your job?
Who has had the greatest and most Godly impact on you in your work?
Based on 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, what’s your biggest challenge in trying to live out this passage at work?
Based on the sermon, how do you need to ‘remix your fit’ in God’s global mission?