Latest / Finding God at Work / 23: Sharing the Good News of the Beauty of Jesus

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23: Sharing the Good News of the Beauty of Jesus · Finding God at Work

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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This is Finding God at Work.
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This is the final episode of our series,
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Gentle Witnesses, sharing the good news at work
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in a way that actually makes sense.
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And we're actually going to have a shorter
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teaching time today, just about eight minutes of
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teaching, and then after that I'm going to
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share a little bit more detail about our
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online course, also called Finding God at Work,
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which you can find at FindingGodAtWork.org.
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So if you're interested in hearing more about
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the course, you can stay tuned after my
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prayer at the end of the teaching.
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But first here's today's episode.
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We've looked at the good news from a
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lot of different angles in this series, talked
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about how we can share it in multiple
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different ways.
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But one thing we haven't talked a ton
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about is the idea of beauty and the
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good news as it relates to beauty.
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So I want to do some Bible work
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on that as just kind of a final
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image to rest on it as we think
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about what it means to share the good
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news.
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There's beautiful language, poetic language in the New
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Testament, that I think can guide us, guide
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our hearts and our minds and our habits
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as we think about what it means to
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share the good news with others.
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So let's look at 2 Corinthians 4, starting
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in verse 4.
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The God of this world has blinded the
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minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing
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the light of the gospel of the glory
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of Christ, who is the image of God.
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For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but
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Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your
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servants for Jesus' sake.
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For God who said, let light shine out
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of darkness, has shone in our hearts to
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give the light of the knowledge of the
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glory of God in the face of Jesus
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Christ.
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That's a really rich, dense passage.
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If you're like me and you normally listen
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to podcasts when you're in the car, you
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never have a chance to see the text
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that goes along with the podcast you're listening
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to.
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And so I'm going to try and repeat
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key phrases here in a way that's helpful.
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But the central phrase here for our discussion
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is seeing the light of the gospel of
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the glory of Christ, seeing the light of
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the gospel of the glory of Christ.
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This is using the word glory, which is
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closely related to the idea of beauty.
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Glory gives an image of God shining forth
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the light of God, the transcendent, inexpressible Godness
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of God.
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That's God's glory.
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And this says that the good news, the
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gospel, the good news is the good news
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of the glory of Christ.
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It's like not seeing the light of the
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gospel of the glory of Christ.
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The good news at the end of the
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day is just how glorious Jesus is.
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If you see Jesus for who he really
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is, if you see just how beautiful Jesus
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is, that's the good news.
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That's the whole thing.
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It's the good news of the glory of
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Christ.
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Now, how can that be?
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How can it be that if you just
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see how beautiful Jesus is, you get everything?
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Well, if you think about all these different
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aspects of the good news we've talked about,
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healing, communion with God, deliverance, all these different
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metaphors that scripture uses, all of them rest
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on the idea that God is good and
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that you can connect with God through Jesus
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Christ.
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It's as you put your faith in Jesus
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that you connect with the God who really
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is good.
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If God somehow is not good, or if
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you can't really get to God by putting
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your faith in Jesus, then none of this
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works.
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But if God really is good, and if
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his goodness is expressed fully in Jesus Christ
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and is therefore available to us when we
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put our faith in Jesus Christ, then it
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all works.
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Then it's possible to enter into life in
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the kingdom of this good God.
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God is good, God is beautiful, and we
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see God's goodness and beauty, God's glory in
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the face of Jesus Christ.
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That's what the end of this passage says.
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It says, for God who said, let light
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shine out of darkness has shown in our
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hearts to give the light of the knowledge
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of the glory of God in the face
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of Jesus Christ.
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In other words, we see just how good
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and beautiful God is when we see the
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face of Jesus.
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That is our good news.
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And so then when we think about sharing
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the good news with other people, with our
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friends in the workplace, which has been our
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primary focus in this series, we think about
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the first part of this passage, verse four,
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where it says, the God of this world
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has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep
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them from seeing the light of the gospel
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of the glory of Christ, who is the
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image of God.
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When it says the God of this world,
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this is poetic language, it actually means the
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enemy, sometimes referred to as the devil, this
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quasi-personal spiritual force of wickedness that rebels
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against God and shows up and attempts Jesus
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defeated in the book of Revelation and conflict
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with the archangel Michael.
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The dragon is how he's represented the serpent
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in the book of Genesis.
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All these different ways of referring to this
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entity of evil who has a kind of
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personhood.
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And it says that God, that lowercase G
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God, that God has blinded the minds of
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unbelievers.
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So that is all that it means to
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be an unbeliever.
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It's to be mind blind about how beautiful
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Jesus is.
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If you see how beautiful Jesus is, you
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will put your confidence in him.
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That's how it works.
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But if you cannot see how good Jesus
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is, you can't put your confidence in him
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because you don't trust him.
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And we talked about those steps of trust
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all the way through this process.
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So what we are praying for, what we
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are praying for, whenever we're building a friendship
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with someone, whenever we have any conversation where
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there's an opportunity for us to speak about
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the kingdom of God or to share the
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good news in some way, we are praying
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that God would open their eyes to see
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just how good and beautiful Jesus is.
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That's what we're praying for.
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That's our goal in evangelism.
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Just that people would get another glimpse, get
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a little bit of a clear picture of
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how good and beautiful Jesus is.
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I love how Timothy Keller puts this.
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This is in one of his guides about
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how to have these conversations.
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And he's talking about how we might get
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into intellectual arguments.
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He says this, there's really no reason for
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me to get out the guns on the
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evidence for the resurrection, which is trying to
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show that Christianity is true if they don't
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want it to be true.
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But if I get them to want it,
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if they get to the place of saying,
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gee, wouldn't it be great if that was
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true, but is it, then I can do
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my apologetics.
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My apologetics just means that kind of intellectual
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reasoning pursuit of understanding faith questions.
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So he's saying that we shouldn't even start
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by having this argument about intellectual things.
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We should start by stoking people's desire for
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Jesus.
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If they get to the point when they
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want to believe that Christianity is true, then
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we can talk about other things.
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And I would say that that's helping people
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get to the point of seeing how beautiful
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Jesus is.
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If you see how beautiful Jesus is, you
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want Christianity to be true.
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If you see how beautiful Jesus is, you
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want to follow him.
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If you see how beautiful Jesus is, you
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want to live in the kingdom of God.
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So that's what we're doing.
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We're coming alongside people.
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We're praying for God to open their eyes
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and we're trying in as creative and relational
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and healthy ways as we possibly can do
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to show them what Jesus is like, to
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show them how beautiful he is.
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Evangelism is no more and no less than
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that.
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Lord Jesus, we see you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you for making the goodness and the
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beauty of God, the glory of God visible
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in your face.
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Show us how to come alongside our friends.
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Show us how to point out just another
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little bit of your beauty and open their
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eyes to see you.
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Jesus, do your work in us as we
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do our work with you.
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Amen.
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Since this was a shorter teaching episode, we're
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going to take a few minutes now and
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go into more detail about the Finding God
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at Work online course.
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So if, if you're like, I'm here for
8:52
the podcast, Chris, I don't need to listen
8:54
to anything about the online course, then we
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can call it a rap on this episode
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for you, but if you're intrigued by the
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idea of an online course, I just want
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to share a little bit of the how,
9:03
what, when, where, why of the course, as
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you know, if you've been listening to this
9:08
podcast for any length of time, I love
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teaching.
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I love crafting learning experiences, whether it's a
9:14
10 minute podcast or a 10 minute podcast
9:17
that sometimes becomes a 15 that sometimes becomes
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a 20 minute podcast.
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I love having the chance to get into
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it with real human beings who are listening,
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who are looking for ways to grow.
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And an online course provides a way to
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do that in even greater depth.
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So obviously the podcast is short and sweet,
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relatively speaking.
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The online course is a way to, to
9:38
really dig into things, but it's still really
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modular.
9:41
So it's an online video-based course.
9:44
It's self-paced, so there's no synchronous requirement,
9:47
no schedule that you have to follow, totally
9:49
up to you when you take the modules.
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It's divided into six chapters and each of
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those chapters has a few different micro lessons
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in it.
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So there's actually 50 micro lessons spread across
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those six chapters.
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And usually the videos are only like three
10:03
or four minutes long.
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So it's actually really bite sized.
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If you've got a longer period of time,
10:07
you can sit down, go through several micro
10:09
lessons, maybe do a full chapter.
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That might take like half an hour.
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Or if you just got five, 10 minutes,
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you can just sit down, do one micro
10:16
lesson, watch the video, do the associated activity.
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You're good to go.
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So by way of a preview, I just
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want to give an outline of those six
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chapters.
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So chapter one is the stories we're in
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at work.
10:28
Chapter two is called faith, formation, and mission.
10:32
Chapter three is justice, beauty, and healing at
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work.
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Chapter four is evangelism at work.
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Part one, chapter five is evangelism at work.
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Part two, and then chapter six is the
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future of work.
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So we'll be looking at everything from the
10:46
cultural narratives, the influence, the way we think
10:48
about work to the idea of vocation and
10:50
calling how God calls us and how we
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wrestle with that when it feels like maybe
10:54
our job doesn't exactly fit or mesh with
10:56
our calling or our spiritual gifts, we'll be
10:59
looking at the idea of mission and how
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God sends us into the world and how
11:02
that can be expressed through justice, through beauty,
11:04
through the ministry of healing.
11:05
And through evangelism, and we'll be looking at
11:08
how work continues into God's future.
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Work isn't just for this life.
11:13
Work is part of our life with God
11:14
and the new heavens and new earth.
11:16
And that's actually something to look forward to.
11:19
I've tried to draw on a mix of
11:21
different thinkers and ideas and images.
11:24
So like normal, I've got a few different
11:25
kind of pop cultural references in there just
11:28
to illustrate things.
11:29
You know, so we're looking at Pixar movies
11:31
and we're looking at comedians and we're looking
11:33
at inspirational speakers, just like, Hey, what's in
11:35
the cultural milieu that we can draw on.
11:37
But then in terms of our substantive ideas,
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we're drawing on C.S. Lewis about our
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desire for God and how often we don't
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let that desire have its full sway, but
11:47
it's actually good for us to lean into
11:48
that desire.
11:50
We're looking at a Christian philosopher named Greg
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A.
11:51
Tannellshoff about rationalization and self-deception and how
11:54
that gets the better of us.
11:56
Of course, we're looking at Dallas Willard at
11:58
everything.
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We're looking at Dallas Willard a lot like
12:00
we always do, but about God's blessing, about
12:03
how God meets us in less than ideal
12:04
work circumstances, about how coming to a place
12:08
where we see that God has done well
12:09
by us influences the way that we do
12:12
our life at work every day.
12:13
We're drawing on scholar Christopher J.
12:15
H.
12:15
Wright and on justice practitioner John M.
12:18
Perkins to talk about mission, drawing on Thomas
12:21
Aquinas to talk about beauty, drawing on Dan
12:23
Allender to talk about healing and N.T.
12:26
Wright to talk about God's future and how
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our life at work continues into God's future.
12:31
So I personally think it's really rich content
12:34
largely because it's not stuff that I've made
12:36
up.
12:36
I've just gone hunting for some of the
12:38
best thinkers and writers and speakers on these
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topics and tried to put their ideas together
12:43
along with a heavy dose of scripture so
12:45
that we can be inspired and instructed and
12:48
refreshed by the power of God's word as
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we think about our life with God at
12:53
work.
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So that's a little bit of just what
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the course is.
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Again, online, self-paced, six chapters, 50 microlessons.
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It's probably a total of about two and
13:03
a half hours of video content across the
13:04
whole course.
13:05
It's on a platform where you can just
13:07
kind of click through from module to module,
13:10
pretty user friendly, hosted on the website, finding
13:13
God at work.org.
13:14
So that's, that's where you can find it.
13:16
You might be asking, who is this course
13:18
for?
13:19
And I think it's for you.
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If you're listening to this podcast, that's a
13:22
sign you already care about this idea of
13:24
finding God at work.
13:25
That it's possible to seek God and to
13:28
find him in your everyday experience at work.
13:31
More specifically, I believe that this course is
13:33
relevant to people from a wide range of
13:36
vocational and work experiences.
13:39
And I know that because this is the
13:40
online version of a course that we've run
13:42
in person in a variety of churches in
13:45
the Illinois Fox Valley area.
13:47
And so you don't have to take it
13:49
from me.
13:49
I'm going to read some quotes here of
13:51
different people in very different kinds of work
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and what they had to say about this
13:55
course, the in-person version when they took
13:57
it, but we're doing the same content for
13:59
the online course should be a similar experience.
14:02
So Lindsay, a gastrointestinal tech, she says that
14:04
the course helped her to see quote, everywhere
14:07
God sends me, there is an opportunity to
14:09
represent him and to be formed for the
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next place I'm going.
14:14
Maritza, who's a customer service and sales rep,
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she says, quote, the course helps me to
14:19
stay connected to Jesus while at work and
14:22
has led me to share Jesus at work.
14:24
I was able to realize that the work
14:25
I do is meaningful and God is in
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the mix with everything that I do in
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my daily life at work.
14:32
Leah, who's a stay-at-home mom and
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a graduate student says, quote, I learned to
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find joy and motivation in my present work
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and to keep going into God's future work.
14:43
Brian, who's a fleet coordinator says that the
14:46
course quote, helped me to look at my
14:48
job in a different way.
14:49
It gives you tools and reminders to say,
14:51
this is a great opportunity to bring the
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Lord into everything.
14:55
There were times when I kept that separate
14:57
and this allowed me to start to integrate
14:59
my faith in the workplace.
15:01
And then finally, Lynn, a grocery store associate
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said simply that the course quote, helped me
15:05
to be more confident in presenting Christ.
15:09
So I'm encouraged by this round of quotes.
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I hope you're encouraged that it doesn't matter
15:14
whether you're working in at a grocery store
15:16
or in a medical setting.
15:18
We've had a doctor, we've had an architect,
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we've had a car mechanic, we've had a
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line worker, we've had pastors, we've had retirees,
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all of these different people still work, right?
15:29
You still work when you're retired.
15:31
You still work when you're a stay-at
15:32
-home mom, regardless of the setting of your
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work, wherever you are applying effort to add
15:37
value in your life, God can meet you
15:39
there.
15:40
That can be part of your life with
15:41
God.
15:41
It doesn't have to be separate from your
15:42
life with God.
15:43
And it's a context not only to come
15:46
closer to Jesus, to be formed into his
15:47
character, but also to participate in God's mission
15:50
in the world, both in terms of how
15:52
you live out your faith by doing your
15:54
work well every day, being an emissary of
15:57
God in the way of justice and beauty
15:59
and peace and healing, and also in proclaiming
16:01
the good news of Jesus Christ, as you
16:03
have opportunity in ways that actually makes sense,
16:06
like we just explored in this series.
16:09
So that's a little bit of the who,
16:10
anybody who's working and wants to go deeper
16:12
in their life with God and their life
16:14
at work being integrated, becoming one and the
16:17
same.
16:18
Here's the question.
16:20
Why would you take this course?
16:22
Well, you would take this course if you
16:24
feel like it's worth it in terms of
16:26
the time to listen to a few videos,
16:30
watch a few videos, to do some associated
16:33
activities.
16:33
So in between the videos, there's like little
16:35
assignments and ideas for you to work through.
16:37
There's even a couple of chatbot exercises.
16:39
I feel so fancy, artificial intelligence, chatbots, whoo.
16:43
If you feel like, okay, making a little
16:45
bit of time is going to be worth
16:46
it for me to grow a little bit
16:49
closer to Jesus in my daily work, then
16:51
this course would make sense to you.
16:53
Now, the other thing that it will cost
16:54
besides time though, is money.
16:57
So the course does cost money.
16:58
Now that money doesn't go to me directly.
16:59
That goes to Mission Central as a ministry.
17:02
We're under a parent organization that has a
17:04
501c3.
17:05
If you have any questions about that, happy
17:07
to be transparent with you and talk to
17:09
you about the flow of the money, but
17:10
the standard fee for the course is $75.
17:13
There is a discount for podcast listeners.
17:16
So if you enter the coupon code pod30,
17:19
P-O-D 30, when you check out,
17:21
you get 30% off.
17:22
So that brings it down to got to
17:24
do my math, like 5250, I think, double
17:26
check my math.
17:28
So still, you know, that's a chunk of
17:30
change, right?
17:31
You know, it's more than eating out at
17:33
Burger King and McDonald's, even though that's pricier
17:35
than it used to be in our inflationary
17:36
environment.
17:37
But again, you got to ask the question,
17:38
okay, is it worth the 50 plus bucks
17:41
to have this experience, to draw closer to
17:44
Jesus, to be formed in mission, and to
17:47
bring that to my everyday life at work?
17:48
So that would be the why.
17:49
If you think, yes, it would be worth
17:51
the time and it would be worth the
17:52
money, then yes, the course is for you.
17:55
It would make sense.
17:56
And then how, how do you take the
17:57
course?
17:58
You just go to findinggotatwork.org and there's
18:01
all the information that you need right there.
18:03
There's also our main website, missioncentral.church. Also
18:06
links out to findinggotatwork.org with the information
18:10
on the website.
18:11
And if you have any questions, this podcast
18:14
is not like topping any podcast charts.
18:16
It's not so amazingly popular that I'm like
18:18
some remote celebrity who's hard to get ahold
18:20
of.
18:20
You can just email me, chris at missioncentral
18:23
.church, or if you've got my cell phone
18:26
number, you can text me.
18:27
I'm easy to get ahold of.
18:28
We'd be happy to talk to you about
18:30
any questions you have about the course.
18:32
But my prayer is that this just helps
18:34
us reach more people who wouldn't necessarily be
18:36
able to take the course in person at
18:38
one of the churches in the Fox Valley
18:40
area.
18:41
We're planning to still do the in-person
18:42
courses at churches though.
18:43
So that's an opportunity for those of you
18:45
who may be local, but really excited about
18:48
this.
18:48
If you have any questions, let me know.
18:50
And I'm praying that if this is a
18:51
good fit for you, that it would really
18:52
serve you and help you in your journey
18:55
of finding God at work.
18:57
Thanks so much for listening.
19:02
Finding God at Work is a production of
19:04
Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
19:07
dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
19:09
life.
19:10
You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
19:12
listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
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To get resources to go deeper with each
19:19
podcast series, read our blog, and get info
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about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace,
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go to our website, missioncentral.church.