Latest / Finding God at Work / Finding God at Work: Episode 0

Transcript

Finding God at Work: Episode 0 · Finding God at Work

• 0:06
  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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  This is Finding God at Work, episode zero.
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  Just want to give a brief intro to
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  what the podcast is about before we start
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  digging in with episode one.
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  And the main idea of the podcast is
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  right there in the title, Finding God at
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  Work.
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  So we are finding God in our workplaces,
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  in our job, whatever it is we do
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  for a living, whatever we do to put
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  food on the table, how can that be
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  part of our life with God?
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  And then second meaning, finding God at work,
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  finding what God is up to in the
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  world.
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  What is God's mission in the world?
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  What is he doing?
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  And the main idea of the podcast is
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  that those two different understandings of finding God
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  at work are not so far apart from
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  each other, that we can find God in
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  our workplaces and the work we do every
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  day can become part of what God is
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  doing in the world.
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  And so in both meanings, we can find
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  God at work.
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  I want to share just a smidge about
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  my own personal story because I fell into
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  leading a ministry called Mission Central, of which
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  this is a production kind of by accident.
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  And the vision for that ministry is forming
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  Christians for mission in everyday life, including their
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  jobs.
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  And my lifelong ambition since I was 12
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  years old was to become a pastor.
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  And here I am 20 years later, I'm
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  32 years old, and I'm still not a
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  pastor.
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  I have a seminary degree, I have a
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  student group in my church.
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  But what I do for a day job
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  is I work at the regional food bank,
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  and I used to work at a mortgage
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  company before that.
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  That was totally unexpected in my career and
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  vocational journey.
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  Right out of school, I was in quote
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  unquote full-time ministry.
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  I worked at a church and then at
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  a college ministry.
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  I was planning to do that forever.
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  I was never planning on not being a
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  full-time professional Christian, but God had other
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  plans.
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  Because my wife Katie faced a series of
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  health crises, and I was also facing certain
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  challenges, we just had a need for me
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  to have a normal day job for a
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  while.
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  So that's when I pivoted, got the job
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  at the mortgage company, and I was faced
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  for the first time in my life with
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  figuring out, what am I supposed to do
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  as a disciple of Jesus Christ when I
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  spend 40 or more hours a week doing
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  something that doesn't feel very spiritual?
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  I was working on mortgage data.
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  I was helping with things like processing problems
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  with the mortgages, and I was working with
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  some people who were Christians and some people
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  who weren't Christians.
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  And it was very, very different than the
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  stuff I'd been doing in, say, college ministry,
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  when it was literally my job to just
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  have spiritual conversations with people pretty much all
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  day.
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  And that was really fun, and I enjoyed
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  that because I'm that kind of person.
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  I enjoy having those conversations.
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  And so I'd just gone from having all
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  of these conversations with Gen Z college students
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  about their spiritual lives and that being my
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  job to now reporting to boomer managers at
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  a mortgage company and being like, what's the
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  spiritual meaning of this?
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  I don't know if that connects with you
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  at all.
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  Many people, many disciples of Jesus, most disciples
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  of Jesus work a job that doesn't necessarily
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  explicitly have to do with the kingdom of
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  God.
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  And that can lead to the sense of
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  almost like varsity and JV Christianity.
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  Like the varsity team are the pastors and
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  the missionaries and the college ministers and the
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  people doing social justice work, you know, all
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  that good stuff.
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  And then there's the rest of us who
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  like to have normal day jobs and make
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  money and put food on the table for
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  our families and maybe give to those ministries.
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  And maybe we share our faith with a
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  coworker every once in a while, but there
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  can kind of be this sense of a
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  disconnect that our life with God is on
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  one side of the wall and our life
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  at work is on the other side of
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  the wall.
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  And my prayer for this podcast is that
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  God would tear that wall down, that God
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  would help you see that you can have
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  a fully integrated life as a disciple of
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  Jesus Christ with him at your day job.
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  You can find God at work.
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  We have two main angles of coming at
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  this question about finding God at work.
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  So one angle is spiritual formation, this idea
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  that all of us are on a journey
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  of becoming a certain kind of human being.
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  And this word has been used in a
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  variety of contexts.
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  I often cite the author Dallas Willard.
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  And so we'll get lots of quotes from
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  Dallas Willard along with many other women and
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  men, saints and thinkers and leaders of the
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  Christian tradition.
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  But that's kind of where I'm coming from
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  for the spiritual formation conversation.
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  So if you're kind of wondering what my
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  theological angle is, it's very much informed by
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  Dallas Willard and his ideas.
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  But his main idea is that the main
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  thing God gets out of your life is
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  not the achievements you accomplish, but the person
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  you become.
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  And I think that's essential for talking about
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  our work because if we don't have that
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  first grounding of we're becoming a certain kind
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  of human being and everything else gets out
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  of whack and it's not ultimately fruitful in
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  God's kingdom.
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  Our second angle for looking at all this
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  is the idea of mission.
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  God is on a mission in the world.
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  God is doing things in the world.
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  God cares about justice and beauty and healing
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  and proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ
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  crucified for our sins and risen from the
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  dead on the third day.
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  And that is really exciting that God has
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  a mission in the world.
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  And our everyday jobs, even if they are
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  not explicitly spiritual, even if you're a plumber
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  or a bus driver or a mortgage person
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  like I used to be or a food
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  banker or a teacher or whatever your job
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  is, your job itself, the work itself can
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  be part of God's mission in the world.
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  And so we're going to talk about that
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  and how God is on a mission to
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  foster the beauty of creation and human flourishing
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  and our jobs are part of that and
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  that's amazing.
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  And also as disciples of Jesus, we want
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  to be about the work of sharing the
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  good news of Jesus and sometimes our jobs
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  are really good context for doing that.
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  Now that's not the only thing that matters
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  but we'll talk about that too because I
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  know many people I talk to, they want
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  to grow in confidence and sharing their faith
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  in the workplace.
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  So we'll talk about really practical ways you
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  can do that as well.
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  Now my journey of figuring out how to
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  be a disciple of Jesus in a job
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  that is not explicitly spiritual has been so
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  rich and I thought it was a detour.
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  I thought it was something that somehow had
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  thrown off God's vocational plan for my life.
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  And there was deep grief as part of
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  that process.
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  Those of you who know me personally know
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  that struggling through that question of am I
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  ever going to be a pastor has been
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  a real difficult sticking point in my life.
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  And maybe you too have the experience of
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  kind of the death of a vocational dream
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  and having to meet God in the middle
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  of the shambles and the ashes of that
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  dream.
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  That's an important experience that we'll touch on
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  as well as how do we make sense
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  of this idea of calling and the work
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  of God when our story doesn't go the
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  way that we thought it was going to
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  go.
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  But in the middle of all that pain
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  and all those questions I have found that
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  God loves doing stuff at my day job
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  and it's exciting and it's amazing and it
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  counts.
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  It counts in the kingdom of God.
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  It counts as a loving God and neighbor
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  and I'm more passionate about it than I've
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  ever been before.
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  So at this point I'm almost like maybe
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  I'll be a pastor someday but am I
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  even going to want to quit my job
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  if I do become a pastor someday because
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  God does so much amazing stuff in the
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  day job job.
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  I don't want to miss out on that.
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  And so it's totally changed my perspective rather
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  than seeing the day job as a detour
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  or an obstacle or a problem.
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  I now see it as a place for
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  meeting God for living life with God for
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  living on the mission of God just as
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  much as any other place just as much
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  as any quote unquote ministry activity.
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  So that change for me has been incredibly
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  joyful and gratifying and encouraging and my prayer
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  for you whether you're a professional Christian or
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  not is that you can find God in
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  your work.
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  That you can experience this kind of transformation
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  where your work is not separate from your
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  life with God.
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  Where God tears the wall down so that
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  he can be with you every minute you're
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  at work.
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  And that's not just about you that's also
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  about the people you work with and the
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  people you work for.
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  Your co-workers your clients even your competitors.
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  God loves them.
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  Those people are all created in the image
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  of God and there's incredible potential for how
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  you can touch those lives as you live
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  as a disciple of Jesus in your workplace.
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  So we're going to talk about all of
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  those things.
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  We're going to talk about it from the
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  spiritual formation angle.
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  We're going to talk about it from the
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  mission angle and hopefully we're going to have
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  some fun along the way.
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  Okay just a few things about the podcast
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  format.
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  As you can tell in my voice I
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  am really energetic sometimes.
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  Full disclosure I also sometimes struggle with depression.
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  That was also true when I was recording
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  some of the early episodes.
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  So my affect may be a little bit
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  different from episode to episode.
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  I just figured I'll be transparent about that
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  but in general I find that energy place
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  by God's grace.
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  My mental health journey is part of my
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  whole journey with Jesus as I'm sure is
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  true for many of you too and we'll
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  get around to talking about mental health in
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  the workplace as disciples of Jesus among other
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  things in our future series.
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  Each episode is roughly going to be 15
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  minutes long.
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  Sometimes a little bit longer usually no more
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  than 20.
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  So if maybe this is something you listen
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  to on a morning commute you can just
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  kind of plan on that.
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  We're going to release this twice a week
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  other than the first few episodes we're kind
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  of doing a batch release just to make
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  that easier so people can get a feel
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  for the podcast.
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  But normally it's going to be two episodes
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  a week usually on Tuesday and then Thursday.
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  And the main format is me sharing my
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  thoughts from the scriptures from other great Christian
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  thinkers just trying to put together in really
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  practical way how we can find God at
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  work.
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  So it is mostly me talking.
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  It's not primarily an interview based podcast although
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  we'll hopefully have a chance to sprinkle some
• 9:32
  interviews in here and there.
• 9:34
  So just so you know what you're signing
• 9:36
  up for if you want to try and
• 9:37
  listen to it.
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  But we also want it to be interactive.
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  So in as much as you care and
• 9:41
  you want to send me your thoughts you
• 9:43
  can reach me on our website missioncentral.church.
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  We would love to hear from you.
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  We're also going to add resources on the
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  website that tie in with the episodes.
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  And then we have other resources as well
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  that are part of the rest of our
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  ministry that you can explore there.
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  We have a blog.
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  I lead courses in person in the Illinois
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  Fox Valley area.
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  We're going to have an online course launching
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  relatively soon as well also called Finding God
• 10:05
  at Work.
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  So stay tuned for all that if you're
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  interested.
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  But I'll also be ending every episode in
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  prayer.
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  So I just want to do that now
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  to kind of anoint the entire series in
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  prayer knowing that ultimately it's not about finding
• 10:19
  Chris.
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  It's not about you or me.
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  It's about us coming into the reality of
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  the kingdom of God.
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  And God is good and God is generous
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  and God is at work.
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  So let's pray.
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  Jesus thank you for your good news that
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  you did die and rise again for us
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  and that good news is relevant to every
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  aspect of our life including our lives at
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  work.
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  We pray for your grace that you would
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  minister to us in the real difficulties we
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  face at the workplace in the real power
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  that you give us to love you and
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  to love others that we would not miss
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  out on what you are doing in our
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  workplaces and that we would just be so
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  free to see every part of our lives
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  including our lives at work as part of
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  our life with you.
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  That you would get rid of the divisions
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  and the categories that prevent us from living
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  that way and you would help us to
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  lean into your mission every moment of our
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  waking life.
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  Come Lord Jesus come do your work in
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  us as we do our work with you.
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  Amen.
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  Thanks for listening.
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  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 11:28
  Mission Central a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois
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  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
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  life.
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  You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
• 11:36
  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
• 11:38
  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
• 11:40
  and Thursday.
• 11:41
  To get resources to go deeper with each
• 11:43
  podcast series read our blog and get info
• 11:46
  about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace
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  go to our website missioncentral.church.