WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.679 The scripture reading this morning is taken from parts of Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2. 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:09.900 You can follow along in your bulletins or on the screen behind me. 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:15.259 Starting in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 we read, 00:00:16.580 --> 00:00:18.140 Then God said, 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:23.080 Let us make men in our image, after our likeness, 00:00:23.699 --> 00:00:26.900 and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:30.599 and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:37.000 and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:41.500 So God created man in his own image. 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:45.200 In the image of God he created him. 00:00:46.019 --> 00:00:49.200 Male and female he created them. 00:00:50.480 --> 00:00:51.980 And God blessed them. 00:00:51.979 --> 00:00:54.599 And God said to them, 00:00:54.839 --> 00:01:00.140 Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it. 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:03.819 And have dominion over the fish of the sea, 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:06.019 and over the birds of the heavens, 00:01:06.459 --> 00:01:10.359 and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:14.920 Then in chapter 2 verse 15 we read, 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:22.719 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:26.680 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:32.140 You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:38.780 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. 00:01:38.780 --> 00:01:45.019 For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:47.620 This is the word of God. 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:51.159 Great. Thank you, Angeline. 00:01:51.460 --> 00:01:54.579 Let's pray, and then we're going to look at this together. 00:01:54.859 --> 00:01:58.920 So, Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.060 we come to you this morning, and we come to your word. 00:02:02.060 --> 00:02:08.640 God, we've sung your praises because you are truly worthy of worship and adoration. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.740 We know that that is not only right for us to do, 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:13.099 it's also good for us to do. 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:14.140 It's good for our souls. 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:17.039 It's good to rightly align our hearts to you. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.920 But, God, we don't just come to worship you. 00:02:19.980 --> 00:02:23.580 We also come to hear you speak to us from your word. 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.740 And so, God, I pray that as we look at these verses, 00:02:26.740 --> 00:02:31.460 won't you help us to make sense of your calling for us in the workplace, 00:02:31.640 --> 00:02:33.860 in the marketplace, the things that we give ourselves to. 00:02:34.580 --> 00:02:36.560 God, won't you speak to us this morning, I pray. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.719 In your good and gracious name, amen. 00:02:41.540 --> 00:02:48.060 Well, we are starting today this four-week teaching series on work. 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:53.180 And what God and the Bible have to say about our work lives 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:59.900 and how the Christian worldview should shape and influence our work lives 00:02:59.900 --> 00:03:02.439 and our concept of work and our practice of work. 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:08.199 And so, I wonder for you what comes to mind when we think of work. 00:03:08.640 --> 00:03:10.879 What's been your experience of work? 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:14.379 I know that for many of us here, you are students. 00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:18.400 And so, your work has involved lots of studying, reading lots of books, 00:03:18.519 --> 00:03:22.280 going to lots of lectures, and you've never been paid one cent for it. 00:03:22.699 --> 00:03:24.659 And you might feel like that doesn't count as work. 00:03:25.740 --> 00:03:27.479 It's only work when I get paid, right? 00:03:28.019 --> 00:03:31.359 But that's an important part of your work life for this stage of your life. 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:35.039 For some of us, maybe we are starting out in our careers, 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:38.819 the first few years, maybe it's your first job or your second job. 00:03:39.219 --> 00:03:43.019 And that means you get given all the junk work, right? 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:45.080 You're at the bottom of the pile in the company, 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.640 and you do what nobody else wants to do. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:51.780 Maybe for some of us, you're at the other end of your career, 00:03:52.340 --> 00:03:55.260 and you're at the end of your career, you're at the top of the corporate ladder. 00:03:55.820 --> 00:03:57.320 And so, there's some freedom there. 00:03:57.400 --> 00:03:58.660 There's some benefits there. 00:03:58.820 --> 00:04:00.080 Maybe you own your own business. 00:04:00.760 --> 00:04:03.200 But there's also a lot of pressure, a lot of responsibility. 00:04:04.040 --> 00:04:07.320 And when things don't go well, it all falls on your shoulders. 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:10.260 The client doesn't pay you money that they owe you, 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:13.060 or the markets turn and you feel the weight. 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:18.060 My guess is that for many of us, we're somewhere in between those two stages, 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:19.920 neither at the top nor at the bottom, 00:04:19.980 --> 00:04:21.800 and you feel the crunch from both ends. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:23.399 Your bosses are putting pressure on you, 00:04:23.599 --> 00:04:26.099 but the people you've got to manage, they put pressure on you, 00:04:26.139 --> 00:04:28.819 and so you just feel like you're in pressure all the time. 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:32.719 Maybe for some of us, our work is unpaid work. 00:04:33.060 --> 00:04:35.420 You look after kids at home. 00:04:35.719 --> 00:04:37.459 You look after elderly parents. 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:39.759 That's your primary calling for the season of life. 00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:44.180 Maybe you work for an NGO or you volunteer your time for some ministry. 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:48.299 So many different experiences, different expectations. 00:04:48.659 --> 00:04:51.899 And so, for some of us, work is a calling and a joy. 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:53.939 For some of us, it's a real burden. 00:04:54.699 --> 00:04:57.919 For some of us, it's a necessary evil just to pay the bills 00:04:57.919 --> 00:05:02.319 and to allow us to really live on the weekends and when we retire. 00:05:02.919 --> 00:05:04.419 For some of us, it's a privilege. 00:05:04.779 --> 00:05:06.139 For others of us, it's a pain. 00:05:06.139 --> 00:05:10.599 For many of us, I'm sure it's a combination of all of the above. 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:16.939 I wonder if you've ever thought about what does the Bible or the God of the Bible 00:05:16.939 --> 00:05:20.620 have to say about our work, our vocation, our calling? 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:22.719 And if you're a Christian this morning, 00:05:23.039 --> 00:05:27.659 how does your Christian faith shape and influence your Monday to Friday, 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:32.060 your work life and what you do with your time most of the week? 00:05:32.719 --> 00:05:34.899 Well, today we're going to go back to the beginning of the Bible 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:36.779 and we're going to look at the first few chapters 00:05:36.779 --> 00:05:41.939 and how God's design for humanity shapes the way that we think about our work. 00:05:42.599 --> 00:05:45.000 Now, when we talk about work, just by way of definition, 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:47.599 we're not simply talking about paid work. 00:05:47.979 --> 00:05:50.459 As we said, there are many kinds of work that are not paid. 00:05:50.579 --> 00:05:51.279 You could be a student. 00:05:51.479 --> 00:05:54.859 You could be looking after your kids, looking after elderly parents. 00:05:55.259 --> 00:05:56.859 There's many kind of unpaid work. 00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:02.139 We're talking about the primary activity that you give yourself to week by week 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:07.319 or that endeavor that you committed to spending your time and your energy on. 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:11.600 So think about what is the main thing that you devote your time and your energy 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:14.100 and your resources to week by week. 00:06:14.500 --> 00:06:17.020 That's what we're thinking about at the moment. 00:06:18.420 --> 00:06:20.180 And so today we're going to look at four things, 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:26.840 the dignity of work, the design of work, the discomfort of work, and the redemption of work. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:28.180 Okay, that's where we're going to try and go. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.879 So firstly, let's look at the dignity of work. 00:06:31.400 --> 00:06:36.759 If you've got your Bible, your bulletin, look at Genesis 1, verses 26 with me. 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:38.879 Angeline read it to us earlier. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:39.879 Let me read it again. 00:06:40.019 --> 00:06:40.199 It says, 00:06:40.199 --> 00:07:08.240 Now, there's lots of things in this passage, 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:11.060 but one of the things that should stand out to us immediately 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:15.460 is how often it talks about this word image or likeness. 00:07:15.900 --> 00:07:18.259 Four times in just these brief sentences, 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:22.139 it talks about mankind is made in God's image, in His likeness. 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:23.699 In the image of God, He made them. 00:07:23.780 --> 00:07:26.860 In the image of God, He made them, male and female. 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:33.579 Central to the Bible's teaching of what it means to be a human being, 00:07:33.579 --> 00:07:39.139 of our humanity is this notion that we are made in God's image. 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:42.259 It's what distinguishes us from the plants and the animals, 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:46.899 even animals that look very similar to us and have maybe similar DNA in some ways. 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:53.379 What distinguishes humanity is this idea that we carry this virtue of made in God's image. 00:07:53.379 --> 00:07:58.259 We carry the imago Dei, the image of God in us. 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:00.000 Well, what does this mean? 00:08:00.579 --> 00:08:04.120 Well, it means a number of things, but for our work, it means two things in particular. 00:08:04.819 --> 00:08:06.659 On the one hand, it means that as human beings, 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:12.779 we are designed to think and act and behave as God thinks and acts and behaves. 00:08:13.599 --> 00:08:15.360 Of course, we are not exactly like God. 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:16.159 We are not divine. 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:18.560 We don't carry divinity within us. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:22.779 But there's something about the way that we think and act and behave, 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:28.919 the way we live our lives is meant to represent or shape the way that God thinks and acts and behaves. 00:08:29.539 --> 00:08:33.339 And when we live contrary to that, when we go against that, 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:37.459 not only does it go against God's instructions and therefore break down relationship, 00:08:38.079 --> 00:08:41.059 it actually means we go against our very design, our makeup. 00:08:41.419 --> 00:08:43.519 It's like we clash with the way that we designed. 00:08:44.139 --> 00:08:47.500 And when you go against your design, that's never a good idea, right? 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:54.399 Think of somebody taking a ding-ding tram and trying to use that for a star ferry to cross the harbor. 00:08:54.659 --> 00:08:56.480 It's not going to go down very well. 00:08:57.320 --> 00:08:59.659 Or as some people said, it is going to go down very well. 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:00.399 But that's the problem. 00:09:00.539 --> 00:09:02.179 The star ferry is not meant to go down, right? 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:08.620 When something goes against its design, its makeup, it doesn't function properly. 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:15.259 Well, God has designed us in His image to live and think and act like He does. 00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:17.000 And what does God do? 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:20.740 Well, one of the things that Genesis tells us is that God works. 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:22.299 God is a worker. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:24.379 Look at chapter 2 with me. 00:09:24.460 --> 00:09:25.799 It says, verse 1, 00:09:26.340 --> 00:09:29.580 When the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, 00:09:31.059 --> 00:09:33.600 and on the seventh day God finished His work, 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:37.399 He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:44.600 The God of the Bible, the God that Christians worship and adore and learn from and follow, 00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:51.439 is not just a cosmic do-nothing who sits in the clouds scrolling through Instagram because He's got nothing else to do. 00:09:51.939 --> 00:09:53.500 No, He's a creative God. 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:54.179 He's working. 00:09:54.179 --> 00:10:00.239 And His creative work and His sustaining work, the Bible describes as His work. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:06.680 In fact, that Hebrew word for the work of God is a word that's often used to describe ordinary human work. 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:11.039 Or Genesis, it describes someone's occupation, their vocation. 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:13.899 God is a working God. 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:20.939 And this idea of the divine being working was scandalous in the ancient world. 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:27.299 In the ancient culture, almost nobody thought of the divine beings as being those who engaged in work at all. 00:10:27.779 --> 00:10:34.120 Work was considered far too menial, far too materialistic, far too worldly for the gods to be involved in. 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:38.699 And certainly creation wasn't something that the gods engaged in. 00:10:38.700 --> 00:10:44.200 Many ancient cultures thought that creation was the result of this cosmic warfare in the world. 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:48.740 And the world kind of formed out of the result of this cosmic battle. 00:10:49.400 --> 00:10:51.460 But the Bible says that God has no rivals. 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:55.420 The world wasn't formed because of this cosmic battle in the sky. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:00.140 Actually, creation is the handiwork of a creator God. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:03.080 It's His artistic masterpiece. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:04.879 Psalm 8 says, 00:11:08.700 --> 00:11:15.780 And not only that, the Bible says that God enjoys His work. 00:11:15.860 --> 00:11:16.680 He delights in it. 00:11:16.800 --> 00:11:17.420 Genesis 1. 00:11:17.780 --> 00:11:19.840 God saw everything He had made. 00:11:20.520 --> 00:11:22.420 And behold, it was very good. 00:11:23.780 --> 00:11:30.040 And so what this tells us is that work, as God has designed it, is not a necessary evil. 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:37.079 Something we've just got to endure in order to save enough money so that one day we can retire and then really live. 00:11:37.439 --> 00:11:39.120 Or something just to pay the bills. 00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:49.000 Work has an inherent importance, a profound significance, a profound meaning to it in and of itself. 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:52.439 Because it's part of the way that God has wired us and designed us. 00:11:52.440 --> 00:12:00.520 As Christianity says, the idea of giving ourselves to the creation and the care of something worthwhile is a gift that God gives us. 00:12:00.580 --> 00:12:03.160 And it's part of what it means to be made in His image. 00:12:03.680 --> 00:12:05.400 And therefore, it has profound purpose. 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:09.660 But here's another aspect about living, being made in God's image. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:15.100 And that is that we're meant to act as His representatives in the world in which we live. 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:22.100 So in the ancient world, emperors and rulers, when they conquered a land or they wanted to conquer a land, 00:12:22.560 --> 00:12:28.580 they'd often set up a statue of themselves or an image of themselves in the town square or the marketplace or in the temple. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:38.019 Kind of as a way of saying, there rests my representative, my authority, as a way of kind of claiming authority over that land. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:44.800 Well, here God doesn't set up an image of Himself anywhere other than putting humanity in the world. 00:12:45.100 --> 00:12:47.300 God says, you are my image bearers. 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:50.180 You exercise my rule and my authority. 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:52.720 And you continue my creation work. 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:53.860 And how is that done? 00:12:54.259 --> 00:12:55.759 Well, it's done through our work. 00:12:56.560 --> 00:13:00.100 And so again, we see this in Genesis in the creation account. 00:13:00.300 --> 00:13:04.139 God works by bringing about and continuing to care for His creation. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:11.100 But then He commissions His people as His representatives to continue His work through our work. 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:12.980 So look at 1 verse 26. 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:15.300 God created man in His image. 00:13:15.800 --> 00:13:18.700 In the image of God, He created them, male and female. 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:20.240 God blessed them. 00:13:20.379 --> 00:13:22.519 He means He endows His authority in them. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:28.259 Then He says, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over it. 00:13:28.259 --> 00:13:38.460 Now when God says, subdue the earth, rule over it, have dominion over it, He's not saying to exploit it, to use and abuse it for our own benefit. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:41.080 It's the language of stewardship. 00:13:41.860 --> 00:13:46.340 A steward is someone who's given real responsibility on behalf of an owner. 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:49.019 And God says, you now are my stewards. 00:13:49.160 --> 00:13:50.240 This world is mine. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:51.060 It belongs to me. 00:13:51.379 --> 00:14:01.460 But I give you real responsibility to care for it, to look after it, to utilize its resources for its flourishing, to grow and bless it. 00:14:01.460 --> 00:14:06.220 And Derek Kidner, who's an Old Testament scholar, makes an interesting point. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:12.320 He says, both animals and plants are also told to multiply and fill the earth. 00:14:12.820 --> 00:14:18.139 But only humans are told to subdue it and have dominion over it. 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:27.860 One of the distinctions between humanity and the animal world is not just our procreation, but that we're actually called to steward the world on behalf of God. 00:14:28.319 --> 00:14:29.600 And why is this given to us? 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:32.220 Well, we alone are made in God's image. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:36.539 And so God continues His work through our work. 00:14:37.059 --> 00:14:42.439 And so whether your work is to look after elderly parents, to fly an airplane from one place to another, 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:46.139 to put beauty on display through dance or artistry, 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:50.740 whether it's to draw up fair legal contracts to protect people's rights, 00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:53.120 whether it's to market or sell something, 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:56.840 to instruct and develop young lives and minds through teaching, 00:14:57.460 --> 00:15:02.899 God is entrusting to you His work of creation and caring for the world through your work. 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:08.819 And so tomorrow, when you wake up and you realize it's Monday morning 00:15:08.819 --> 00:15:13.720 and you endeavor to give yourself to something in this world, 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:19.720 tomorrow your biblical worldview gives that work a profound importance, a significance. 00:15:20.300 --> 00:15:23.960 You are carrying on God's work in the world through your work. 00:15:24.660 --> 00:15:26.879 So, firstly, the dignity of work. 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:29.100 Secondly, the design of work. 00:15:29.800 --> 00:15:33.540 Now, what is God's purpose for our work? 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:36.639 What does God intend for our work to accomplish? 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:42.620 On one hand, the dignity of works is that all work has meaning and purpose, 00:15:42.719 --> 00:15:45.120 whether it's blue-collar work or white-collar work, 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:48.079 whether your job is thinking work or work with your hands, 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:50.439 whether you work behind a computer or a machine. 00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:56.980 All work has dignity and importance because it's the way that we carry out our creation mandate. 00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:00.039 But not all work is created equal, right? 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:02.179 I mean, there's some work that's bad work. 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:08.379 So if you work for a company that's pumping toxic pollution into the ocean or the rivers, 00:16:08.740 --> 00:16:10.059 okay, that's not good work. 00:16:10.740 --> 00:16:16.819 Or if you work for a marketing company and you're marketing pornography or prostitution, 00:16:16.959 --> 00:16:18.319 okay, that's not good work, right? 00:16:18.819 --> 00:16:22.679 So all work can have dignity, but it's not all necessarily good. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:25.360 So what makes work good work? 00:16:25.860 --> 00:16:28.279 What is God's intention or design for our work? 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:30.799 Well, Genesis tells us again. 00:16:31.539 --> 00:16:34.819 Look at chapter 2 with me, verses 8 and 15. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:35.179 It says, 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:38.639 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, 00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:40.939 and there he put man in it whom he had formed. 00:16:41.339 --> 00:16:41.939 Verse 15, 00:16:42.459 --> 00:16:47.799 The Lord took the man, put him in the garden to work it and to keep it, 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:49.860 or to care for it. 00:16:50.339 --> 00:16:53.779 Now the translation says to care and to cultivate it. 00:16:54.659 --> 00:16:57.199 Here we see that God's purpose for our work is twofold. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:02.360 One, it's to cultivate civilization and society and culture, 00:17:02.920 --> 00:17:05.740 to serve our neighbors and to look after those around us. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:12.819 And secondly, as an act of worship and devotion to the God who made us and who we love and have come to know. 00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:18.639 So when the Bible says that God called mankind to fill the earth and to subdue it, 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:21.700 it means more than just having lots of babies, okay? 00:17:22.059 --> 00:17:23.279 That's a good thing as well. 00:17:23.679 --> 00:17:27.079 But it's more than just procreation, as one author said. 00:17:27.139 --> 00:17:28.079 It's civilization. 00:17:29.619 --> 00:17:36.240 God's call for us to fill the earth and to subdue it means to cultivate society, civilization, culture, 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:41.819 in the world that was unformed and in many ways wild. 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:48.200 We said earlier that to rule and subdue is more than just exploiting it, not exploiting it. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:49.660 It's taking responsibility for it. 00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:54.099 It's fostering something good out of the unformed nature of the world. 00:17:54.099 --> 00:17:59.579 So part of our work is to take the natural resources of the world, the things around us, 00:17:59.699 --> 00:18:05.199 and to give it shape and to form it such a way that it blesses society and forms culture. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:10.879 I think one of the best examples of this is actually unpaid work of parenting, right? 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:13.859 Parenting is unbelievably hard. 00:18:14.539 --> 00:18:16.619 It's just, it's really hard. 00:18:16.699 --> 00:18:19.179 It's really joyful, but it's really hard work. 00:18:19.180 --> 00:18:24.320 And one of the temptations with parenting is after a while you can think, 00:18:24.779 --> 00:18:28.460 okay, if I've spoken once, I've spoken a thousand times, fine. 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:30.500 If you don't listen, just do things your way. 00:18:30.820 --> 00:18:32.380 And then you'll see what happens, right? 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:36.140 Any parents been tempted to say that this week? 00:18:36.840 --> 00:18:37.080 Okay. 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:40.259 And yet that's not very good parenting, right? 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.080 Though we have all been tempted to do it and we've all done it. 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:45.640 Now parenting, what is parenting? 00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:53.480 Parenting is taking the unformed character, the gifts and ability of this child, 00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:57.700 and shaping it and fostering it and nurturing it and maturing it, 00:18:58.020 --> 00:19:03.660 so that one day this child, you utilize all the latent potential within that child, 00:19:04.060 --> 00:19:06.860 they become a mature contributing member of society. 00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:11.160 Now in some ways, that's a great picture of work. 00:19:11.160 --> 00:19:16.600 Tim Keller says, work is rearranging the raw material of God's creation 00:19:16.600 --> 00:19:23.400 in such a way that it helps the world in general and people in particular to thrive and to flourish. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:29.660 So it takes the raw ingredients and says, how can I form this and shape this? 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:34.900 How can I help society flourish through the contribution of these things? 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:40.460 So maybe if you work in HR, it's taking a job seeker and a job opportunity 00:19:40.460 --> 00:19:44.840 and bringing them together for the flourishing of that workplace but also that worker. 00:19:45.780 --> 00:19:50.280 If you're a banker, it's bringing a client and a customer together 00:19:50.280 --> 00:19:55.019 and helping them so that together they are more than some of the individual parts. 00:19:55.560 --> 00:19:59.740 Maybe if you're a teacher, it's helping to shape a student to see and think 00:19:59.740 --> 00:20:01.620 and behold the world differently. 00:20:01.619 --> 00:20:06.319 It's taking our work and creating something more meaningful out of it. 00:20:06.699 --> 00:20:07.959 Again, Tim Keller says this. 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:08.959 Here's his full quote. 00:20:09.479 --> 00:20:14.619 As Christians, we should not choose jobs and conduct our work merely to fulfill ourselves 00:20:14.619 --> 00:20:19.859 and accrue power, for being called by God is something empowering enough. 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:23.719 We see work as a way of service to God and neighbor 00:20:23.719 --> 00:20:28.079 so that we should both choose and conduct our work in accordance with that purpose. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:33.799 The question regarding our choice of work is thus no longer what will make me the most money 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:39.480 and give me the most status, but rather how with my existing abilities and opportunities 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:45.919 can I be of greatest service to other people knowing what I do of God's will and of human need? 00:20:46.819 --> 00:20:47.679 You see what he's saying there? 00:20:48.099 --> 00:20:52.179 How do I take my abilities and gifts and what I know of God in the world 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:57.880 and steward these things together to serve culture, to serve society, to serve my neighbor? 00:20:59.259 --> 00:21:00.940 So think about your work at the moment. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:05.140 How can you wake up tomorrow morning, whether it's paid or not paid, 00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:08.460 the endeavor that you spend your time and your energy on 00:21:08.460 --> 00:21:12.940 and say, how can I use my gifts and my abilities and the opportunities in front of me 00:21:12.940 --> 00:21:16.360 to serve the city of Hong Kong and to cause it to flourish? 00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:19.219 So maybe you're a financial advisor. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:24.500 Is your work about selling policies so that you can make lots of money? 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.379 Or is it about helping people think about their future and care for their children, 00:21:29.479 --> 00:21:31.559 their children's education and the future? 00:21:32.579 --> 00:21:34.979 That alone gives it a profound dignity and significance. 00:21:36.219 --> 00:21:37.439 Maybe you're a teacher, right? 00:21:37.879 --> 00:21:42.919 On the one hand, you're filling children's minds with ideas and thoughts and how to see the world. 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:48.320 But maybe as a teacher, you're the only adult in their life that is pouring love into their hearts 00:21:48.320 --> 00:21:52.360 and encouraging them and building them up rather than discouraging them and breaking them down. 00:21:53.080 --> 00:21:56.039 How can you be a source of encouragement to that young child in your classroom? 00:21:57.100 --> 00:21:59.880 Maybe you work as a barista at a coffee shop, right? 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:03.140 Is your job just to make coffee and earn some money? 00:22:03.860 --> 00:22:07.920 Or can you create an environment where people come in and have great conversations 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.259 and taste something delicious and encourage one another, 00:22:11.259 --> 00:22:14.980 where they leave your coffee shop feeling better about the world than how they entered in? 00:22:15.879 --> 00:22:17.519 Maybe you're a foreign domestic worker. 00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:21.700 Maybe you came to Hong Kong just to make money to send back home. 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:27.059 But can you see your work as a place of bringing joy and peace and encouragement to a home, 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:29.700 blessing them with your attitude and your presence? 00:22:30.740 --> 00:22:32.099 Maybe you're a banker. 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:35.039 What would it look like to see all the deals that you make 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:39.420 as not just a way of creating wealth for some corporate entity, 00:22:39.420 --> 00:22:43.259 but actually seeing all the families down the line that are going to benefit 00:22:43.259 --> 00:22:45.779 and earn money and put their kids through college and education 00:22:45.779 --> 00:22:47.360 because of your kind of work? 00:22:48.340 --> 00:22:50.880 So the design of work is to be a blessing, 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.900 to help society flourish and to serve society. 00:22:54.680 --> 00:22:56.120 But there's another aspect of work, 00:22:56.180 --> 00:22:59.060 and that is to worship and to honor the God that made us. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:01.140 Now, you might say, 00:23:01.300 --> 00:23:03.519 Okay, Kevin, that's what I'd expect from a pastor. 00:23:03.620 --> 00:23:04.759 Of course you're going to say that, right? 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:08.079 But here, yeah, look at Genesis 2 verse 15. 00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:10.160 God says here, He says, 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:15.480 The Lord God took man, put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:19.839 Now, the word work it there is actually an interesting word. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:22.119 It's the word avada or something like that. 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:23.740 Niels can correct me, my Hebrew. 00:23:24.980 --> 00:23:28.180 And it's a word that is difficult to translate. 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:33.099 Sometimes in the Bible it means service or work or craftsmanship. 00:23:33.099 --> 00:23:36.099 But often in the Bible it also means worship. 00:23:36.919 --> 00:23:40.199 And it's the word that the Old Testament uses to describe the priests 00:23:40.199 --> 00:23:45.399 who go about their work where they serve God and serve the community. 00:23:45.980 --> 00:23:49.459 They go about their work, their service, their worship. 00:23:50.099 --> 00:23:52.419 On one hand, their work is bringing worship to God, 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.379 but on the other hand, it's serving the community at the same time. 00:23:56.139 --> 00:23:59.919 In other words, God's design is that our work and our worship 00:23:59.919 --> 00:24:02.259 should be a seamless way of living, 00:24:02.259 --> 00:24:06.079 that our Sunday flows into our Monday almost seamlessly, 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:08.640 that both our work and our worship, 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:12.720 our Sunday morning singing of God to devotion, 00:24:13.019 --> 00:24:16.099 and our Monday morning going to the office or to school, to university, 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:17.740 is one and the same thing. 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:20.500 So whether you're flying an airplane, 00:24:20.859 --> 00:24:22.420 consulting to a business executive, 00:24:23.099 --> 00:24:24.720 baking bread for a bakery, 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:26.819 or helping your children with your homework, 00:24:26.819 --> 00:24:30.599 Christians approach their work with more than just a sense of, 00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:31.980 this is what I've got to do today, 00:24:32.200 --> 00:24:33.980 but this is how I can honor God 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:37.519 and use my gifts and my opportunities for His glory. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:41.559 And that's why the Apostle Paul in the New Testament is constantly saying, 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:44.279 work not for man, but for the Lord. 00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:47.359 In fact, when Paul writes that in Colossians 3, 00:24:47.619 --> 00:24:49.099 he's writing to a bunch of slaves, 00:24:49.579 --> 00:24:51.700 who their work very much was for man, right? 00:24:51.740 --> 00:24:52.420 For their master. 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:53.559 And yet he says, 00:24:53.740 --> 00:24:54.660 even as a slave, 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:56.859 see your work as not just for your master, 00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:59.920 but for the God who made you and knows you. 00:25:00.879 --> 00:25:02.099 I remember a few years ago, 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:05.200 speaking to a gentleman in South Africa, 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:06.940 but he used to be part of a church in London, 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:10.640 and in his church was a British diplomat, 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:12.740 someone who worked for the British government, 00:25:13.340 --> 00:25:16.860 and he was constantly going on diplomatic missions 00:25:16.860 --> 00:25:19.100 around the world on behalf of the British government. 00:25:20.080 --> 00:25:23.660 And this man commented that in his church, 00:25:23.840 --> 00:25:25.500 the youth group and the young adults 00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:27.220 were constantly going on mission trips 00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:30.660 to Uganda and Zimbabwe 00:25:30.660 --> 00:25:32.539 or different parts of the world. 00:25:33.100 --> 00:25:35.700 And whenever the young adults would go on a mission trip, 00:25:35.700 --> 00:25:37.380 the church would call up all the people 00:25:37.380 --> 00:25:38.960 and they'd lay hands on them 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:39.920 and they'd pray them 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:42.140 and they'd send them out with God's blessing 00:25:42.140 --> 00:25:43.120 on their mission trip. 00:25:44.080 --> 00:25:45.120 And this guy commented, 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:48.460 every month I go on high level missions 00:25:48.460 --> 00:25:52.600 and I see my work as a form of worship to God. 00:25:53.140 --> 00:25:55.100 And yet no one ever lays hands on me 00:25:55.100 --> 00:25:57.200 or sends me out into my workplace. 00:25:57.720 --> 00:25:59.680 And yet is my work any less important 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:02.220 than the youth team that are going on mission to Africa? 00:26:03.299 --> 00:26:04.539 It's an interesting thought. 00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:05.759 And so on that note, 00:26:05.799 --> 00:26:08.639 I hope you notice the words of the benediction 00:26:08.639 --> 00:26:10.920 with which we send you out each week. 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:12.579 Great, do you know them off by heart by now? 00:26:13.099 --> 00:26:13.940 You should know them, right? 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:16.019 So each Sunday we stand, 00:26:16.099 --> 00:26:18.500 we sometimes open your hands if you want 00:26:18.500 --> 00:26:19.039 and you say, 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:20.899 having encountered God 00:26:20.899 --> 00:26:22.960 and being encouraged in the gospel, 00:26:23.639 --> 00:26:26.359 may you go into the city of Hong Kong this week, 00:26:26.740 --> 00:26:27.879 into the places of work, 00:26:28.099 --> 00:26:28.819 the coffee shop, 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:29.839 the school room, 00:26:30.159 --> 00:26:31.339 the negotiating table, 00:26:31.779 --> 00:26:32.420 the classroom, 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:35.700 as may you go into the cities of Hong Kong this week 00:26:35.700 --> 00:26:37.519 or the cities of Asia if you're traveling, 00:26:38.120 --> 00:26:39.560 secure in the love of the Father, 00:26:40.140 --> 00:26:41.560 resting in the grace of Christ, 00:26:41.840 --> 00:26:42.940 not in your own strength, 00:26:43.019 --> 00:26:45.200 but filled with the power of the Spirit 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:48.120 as God's image-bearing representatives 00:26:48.120 --> 00:26:50.420 to work and care for society, 00:26:50.900 --> 00:26:52.200 not just for your glory, 00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:54.519 but for the glory of God. 00:26:55.220 --> 00:26:55.720 You see that? 00:26:55.960 --> 00:26:57.440 Every Sunday we send you out, 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:58.380 we commission you, 00:26:58.700 --> 00:27:00.160 go into your workplaces 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.720 as God's representative doing His work 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.019 for His glory. 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:05.779 Okay, are you with me? 00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:06.640 Are you following? 00:27:07.840 --> 00:27:08.100 Okay. 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:10.500 So what are the implications of this? 00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:12.500 Let me give you three quick implications. 00:27:13.019 --> 00:27:13.940 First one is this. 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:16.980 Think carefully about the kind of work you do 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:18.700 and the kind of company you work for. 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:20.319 So especially if you're a student 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:21.480 and you're thinking about work, 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:23.420 what kind of job are you going to do 00:27:23.420 --> 00:27:24.779 and what company are you going to work for? 00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:26.200 So on one hand, 00:27:26.340 --> 00:27:28.900 all work can be dignified work, right? 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:30.000 We spoke about that earlier. 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:31.180 But on the other hand, 00:27:31.220 --> 00:27:32.420 not all work is good work. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:33.700 So think about this. 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:34.900 You're a surgeon, right? 00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:37.000 Sam Lowe. 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:38.319 You're a surgeon. 00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:39.220 Well, generally, 00:27:39.380 --> 00:27:40.160 we think of surgeons 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:41.519 as doing really good work. 00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:42.440 They're contributing, 00:27:42.580 --> 00:27:43.059 they're healing, 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:44.440 they're helping people in trouble. 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:47.059 But what happens if you work for a company 00:27:47.059 --> 00:27:50.619 that promotes the taking of vulnerable lives 00:27:50.619 --> 00:27:52.379 of unborn children through abortion? 00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:53.720 Well, actually, 00:27:53.779 --> 00:27:55.639 then you're using all your skills and training, 00:27:55.859 --> 00:27:56.980 not for the good of society, 00:27:57.419 --> 00:27:59.679 but actually to harm society, right? 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:02.460 So even work like being a doctor or a surgeon 00:28:02.460 --> 00:28:03.899 can be bad work. 00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:05.779 Are you in financial services? 00:28:06.179 --> 00:28:07.359 Are you selling policies 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:09.139 that will really look after your clients? 00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:12.899 Or are you contributing to a big financial bubble 00:28:12.899 --> 00:28:14.460 that's just going to burst one day 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:15.879 and leave a lot of people in poverty? 00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:18.060 Are you working for a tech company? 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:20.160 Are you building good tech 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:21.240 that is going to help people? 00:28:21.380 --> 00:28:23.280 Or are you contributing to teenage addiction, 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:24.120 to gaming, 00:28:24.260 --> 00:28:25.500 to social media problems, 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:26.960 or to society problems? 00:28:27.460 --> 00:28:28.520 Is the work that you're doing 00:28:28.520 --> 00:28:29.820 contributing to society 00:28:29.820 --> 00:28:31.420 or damaging society? 00:28:31.980 --> 00:28:33.020 Okay, that's the first implication. 00:28:33.580 --> 00:28:34.880 Second implication is this. 00:28:35.320 --> 00:28:37.480 Do really excellent work. 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:39.380 Now, we're going to talk about this 00:28:39.380 --> 00:28:40.720 a bit more in a few weeks' time. 00:28:41.460 --> 00:28:44.380 So let me not steal Henry's thunder too much. 00:28:44.380 --> 00:28:47.140 But if you're an engineer, 00:28:47.720 --> 00:28:50.460 your first primary job as an engineer 00:28:50.460 --> 00:28:53.720 is not to stand on a pile of bricks at lunchtime 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:55.200 and to give a sermon, okay? 00:28:55.760 --> 00:28:58.260 Your primary job is to build good roads 00:28:58.260 --> 00:29:00.700 or good computers or artificial limbs 00:29:00.700 --> 00:29:02.120 or whatever you do, right? 00:29:02.660 --> 00:29:04.000 So Dorothy Sayers, 00:29:04.060 --> 00:29:07.940 who was a British thinker and writer in the 1960s, 00:29:07.940 --> 00:29:08.520 she wrote this. 00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:11.720 The church's approach to an intelligent carpenter 00:29:11.720 --> 00:29:14.599 is usually confined to moral instruction 00:29:14.599 --> 00:29:16.400 and church attendance, okay? 00:29:16.579 --> 00:29:17.779 So just be a good person, 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:19.259 don't drink too much on the job, 00:29:19.420 --> 00:29:20.339 and come to church. 00:29:20.879 --> 00:29:22.839 What the church should be telling him is this. 00:29:23.339 --> 00:29:25.019 Your first demand of your faith 00:29:25.019 --> 00:29:28.000 is that you should make really good tables, okay? 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:29.400 So if you're a Christian, 00:29:29.539 --> 00:29:31.519 be the best employee 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:34.519 that your employer has in the company. 00:29:34.519 --> 00:29:37.279 God is as interested in what you do 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:39.099 in the Thursday boardroom 00:29:39.099 --> 00:29:41.139 as what you do in the Thursday night prayer meeting. 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:42.839 Here's the third implication. 00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:45.660 Think carefully about retirement. 00:29:46.619 --> 00:29:48.240 So I know many of us are not there, 00:29:48.379 --> 00:29:49.940 but some of us are maybe approaching it. 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:54.500 If work is more than simply earning money 00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:56.059 so that one day you can stop working, 00:29:56.579 --> 00:29:59.039 it's joining God in his work for the world, 00:29:59.420 --> 00:30:01.099 what does that mean for our retirement? 00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:03.879 Well, I think it means that the Bible's definition 00:30:03.879 --> 00:30:05.179 of retirement is different 00:30:05.179 --> 00:30:06.839 to the world's definition of retirement. 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:09.240 And so one day you may stop working, 00:30:09.339 --> 00:30:10.279 you may not earn a salary, 00:30:10.419 --> 00:30:13.219 you may not need to punch into the office 00:30:13.219 --> 00:30:14.500 or keep certain hours, 00:30:15.159 --> 00:30:16.699 but actually how can you still, 00:30:16.819 --> 00:30:18.059 in that season of life, 00:30:18.159 --> 00:30:20.279 still contribute to the common good, 00:30:20.579 --> 00:30:21.559 to serving society, 00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:23.299 to worship of God, 00:30:23.399 --> 00:30:24.899 to using the gifts and the resources 00:30:24.899 --> 00:30:26.059 that God has given you 00:30:26.059 --> 00:30:27.899 for the betterment of our world? 00:30:28.679 --> 00:30:30.619 Okay, so three brief implications. 00:30:31.099 --> 00:30:33.059 So, the dignity of work, 00:30:33.179 --> 00:30:33.919 the design of work, 00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:35.119 thirdly, the discomfort 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:36.419 and the redemption of work. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:37.559 I've kind of put these together. 00:30:38.679 --> 00:30:39.779 Now you may say, 00:30:40.219 --> 00:30:40.759 okay Kevin, 00:30:40.879 --> 00:30:42.399 that sounds all very well and good, 00:30:42.619 --> 00:30:43.500 but let's be honest, 00:30:43.579 --> 00:30:44.199 you're a pastor, 00:30:44.419 --> 00:30:45.719 you don't know what real work is, 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:46.299 right? 00:30:46.339 --> 00:30:47.539 You just sit around having coffee 00:30:47.539 --> 00:30:48.379 with people all day 00:30:48.379 --> 00:30:49.819 and looking at the Bible. 00:30:50.399 --> 00:30:52.240 Life doesn't work like that, right? 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:53.480 In the real world, 00:30:53.740 --> 00:30:54.759 work is hard. 00:30:55.159 --> 00:30:55.879 It's gritty. 00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:57.000 It's messy. 00:30:57.459 --> 00:30:58.579 People are irritating. 00:30:59.199 --> 00:31:00.059 Things go wrong. 00:31:00.059 --> 00:31:01.899 What do you know about real work? 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:03.159 And okay, you're right. 00:31:03.259 --> 00:31:04.139 Okay, I don't know anything. 00:31:04.679 --> 00:31:06.559 But, still, 00:31:06.859 --> 00:31:08.940 the Bible does tell us a bit about it. 00:31:09.919 --> 00:31:10.940 Today, what we've done 00:31:10.940 --> 00:31:12.599 is we've looked at Genesis 1 and 2 00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:15.039 and we've tried to get as close as possible 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.399 to God's original design 00:31:17.399 --> 00:31:18.960 because we wanted to see 00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:20.639 how God designed us as humans 00:31:20.639 --> 00:31:21.819 and what that means for our work. 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:24.019 And so Genesis 1 and 2 00:31:24.019 --> 00:31:26.899 tells us the way that the world ought to be. 00:31:27.800 --> 00:31:30.360 Genesis 3 tells us the way that the world is. 00:31:30.980 --> 00:31:31.960 And what it says 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:33.360 is that the world is broken. 00:31:34.140 --> 00:31:35.240 And the world doesn't work 00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:36.240 the way it's meant to be 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:38.019 because of sin 00:31:38.019 --> 00:31:40.560 and our rebellion against God. 00:31:41.340 --> 00:31:41.660 And so, 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:43.560 the Bible tells us, 00:31:43.640 --> 00:31:44.160 Genesis 3, 00:31:44.280 --> 00:31:46.460 that as a result of humanity's rejection 00:31:46.460 --> 00:31:47.920 of God and His Word, 00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:50.440 that now our work, 00:31:50.800 --> 00:31:52.160 what the Bible calls our toil, 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:54.080 is marked with frustration 00:31:54.080 --> 00:31:54.820 and hardship 00:31:54.820 --> 00:31:55.720 and difficulty, 00:31:56.360 --> 00:31:57.620 sometimes even futility. 00:31:58.240 --> 00:31:59.640 Look what Genesis 3 says, 00:31:59.800 --> 00:32:00.400 verse 18, 00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:00.980 I think it is. 00:32:01.340 --> 00:32:01.580 It says, 00:32:02.019 --> 00:32:03.860 Because you have eaten of the tree 00:32:03.860 --> 00:32:04.960 of which I commanded you, 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:06.160 don't eat of it. 00:32:07.220 --> 00:32:08.220 Cursed is the ground 00:32:08.220 --> 00:32:08.920 because of you. 00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:10.100 In pain, 00:32:10.180 --> 00:32:11.080 you will eat of it 00:32:11.080 --> 00:32:12.140 all the days of your life. 00:32:12.680 --> 00:32:13.640 Thorns and thistles, 00:32:14.019 --> 00:32:15.460 rather than fruit trees 00:32:15.460 --> 00:32:16.640 and joy and blessing, 00:32:17.140 --> 00:32:18.820 will the earth bring forth for you. 00:32:18.820 --> 00:32:20.900 By the sweat of your brow, 00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:22.560 you shall eat bread. 00:32:23.420 --> 00:32:23.880 In other words, 00:32:23.980 --> 00:32:24.800 since the fall, 00:32:25.300 --> 00:32:26.220 the time when humanity 00:32:26.220 --> 00:32:27.440 walked away from God 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:28.360 and went our own way, 00:32:28.580 --> 00:32:29.420 two things happened. 00:32:30.220 --> 00:32:32.400 Creation and the world itself 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:33.680 is fractured. 00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:34.600 There's a dissonance. 00:32:34.660 --> 00:32:35.600 It doesn't work the way 00:32:35.600 --> 00:32:36.460 that it's meant to be. 00:32:36.820 --> 00:32:37.740 It's hard work. 00:32:37.820 --> 00:32:41.680 Our toil is marked with difficulty. 00:32:41.840 --> 00:32:42.940 It's an uphill battle. 00:32:43.700 --> 00:32:44.720 But the other problem 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:46.580 is that the worker themselves, 00:32:46.580 --> 00:32:47.860 we as people, 00:32:48.580 --> 00:32:49.900 sin has fractured our hearts. 00:32:50.560 --> 00:32:51.360 And so sin has now 00:32:51.360 --> 00:32:52.320 left our hearts 00:32:52.320 --> 00:32:53.180 at a dissonance. 00:32:53.259 --> 00:32:54.160 Our hearts don't work 00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:55.680 the way that they're meant to be. 00:32:56.180 --> 00:32:57.140 As one author said it, 00:32:57.540 --> 00:32:58.320 sin runs through 00:32:58.320 --> 00:32:59.700 the heart of every worker 00:32:59.700 --> 00:33:00.900 and the culture 00:33:00.900 --> 00:33:02.060 of every enterprise. 00:33:02.840 --> 00:33:03.460 In other words, 00:33:03.820 --> 00:33:05.280 sin and the broken world 00:33:05.280 --> 00:33:06.759 has affected our work, 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:08.620 the world in which we live, 00:33:08.800 --> 00:33:10.320 but also the worker 00:33:10.320 --> 00:33:12.080 who engages in the world. 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:13.300 And so it's like 00:33:13.300 --> 00:33:14.300 there's a virus, 00:33:14.300 --> 00:33:15.860 there's a bug in the system 00:33:15.860 --> 00:33:17.740 that we just can't get right. 00:33:17.740 --> 00:33:19.319 And as much as we work 00:33:19.319 --> 00:33:19.859 on the system, 00:33:19.859 --> 00:33:20.960 we can't get the bug 00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:21.700 out of the system. 00:33:21.799 --> 00:33:22.759 And even if we try, 00:33:23.099 --> 00:33:24.099 the bug is in us. 00:33:24.539 --> 00:33:25.519 And so we ourselves 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:28.339 perpetuate the buggedness, 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:29.680 if I can use that word, 00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:31.140 of the system, right? 00:33:32.099 --> 00:33:33.720 And so our work is fractured, 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:34.519 we fractured, 00:33:34.579 --> 00:33:35.640 the world is fractured. 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:37.900 What's the solution? 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:40.259 Well, we need a rescuer. 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:41.740 We need a redeemer. 00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:43.200 We need somebody 00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:44.740 from outside of the system 00:33:44.740 --> 00:33:46.000 to come from outside 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:47.960 to come and to bring healing 00:33:47.960 --> 00:33:48.799 to the system 00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:50.660 and healing to the human heart. 00:33:51.240 --> 00:33:51.880 We need someone 00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:53.680 who can redeem the world 00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:54.900 and redeem our work 00:33:54.900 --> 00:33:56.420 and redeem us. 00:33:57.200 --> 00:33:58.059 We need a savior, 00:33:58.819 --> 00:33:59.700 a liberator, 00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:01.519 one who will put right 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:02.700 what is wrong with the world. 00:34:02.759 --> 00:34:03.259 And friends, 00:34:03.640 --> 00:34:05.140 that is Jesus Christ. 00:34:05.779 --> 00:34:06.839 God himself 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:08.579 from outside of our world 00:34:08.579 --> 00:34:10.239 became and took on flesh 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:11.320 and took on humanity. 00:34:11.739 --> 00:34:13.739 And came to redeem us 00:34:13.739 --> 00:34:14.819 who are broken, 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:16.339 redeem our work 00:34:16.339 --> 00:34:17.659 and redeem our world 00:34:17.659 --> 00:34:19.539 and to start to put things right. 00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:22.099 Jesus came to fix our hearts 00:34:22.099 --> 00:34:23.259 so that sin no longer 00:34:23.259 --> 00:34:24.939 needs to have the final say 00:34:24.939 --> 00:34:25.619 in our lives. 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:28.959 Jesus came to fix our works 00:34:28.959 --> 00:34:29.539 so that our work 00:34:29.539 --> 00:34:30.239 is not pointless 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:31.579 and futile, 00:34:31.759 --> 00:34:32.479 but there's meaning 00:34:32.479 --> 00:34:33.099 and there's dignity. 00:34:33.799 --> 00:34:35.359 And Jesus came to start 00:34:35.359 --> 00:34:36.139 to fix our world 00:34:36.139 --> 00:34:37.159 and one day he will come 00:34:37.159 --> 00:34:38.559 and bring heaven and earth 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:39.719 and unite them together 00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:41.639 so that heaven and earth are one 00:34:41.639 --> 00:34:43.219 and that all the best things 00:34:43.219 --> 00:34:43.779 in this world 00:34:43.779 --> 00:34:44.699 will carry over 00:34:44.699 --> 00:34:45.460 into that world 00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:46.639 and all the frustration 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:47.519 and the brokenness 00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:48.019 and the sin 00:34:48.019 --> 00:34:48.579 and the pain 00:34:48.579 --> 00:34:49.199 and the tears 00:34:49.199 --> 00:34:50.679 and the death of this world 00:34:50.679 --> 00:34:52.039 will be no more. 00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:53.219 Friends, 00:34:53.319 --> 00:34:54.019 Jesus came 00:34:54.019 --> 00:34:55.619 to change the way 00:34:55.619 --> 00:34:56.219 that we see 00:34:56.219 --> 00:34:57.259 and think about work. 00:34:58.319 --> 00:34:59.599 And so as we close, 00:34:59.719 --> 00:35:00.400 let me leave us 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:02.239 with four brief ways 00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:03.339 that Jesus 00:35:03.339 --> 00:35:04.039 and the gospel 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:04.960 changes the way 00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:05.619 that we think 00:35:05.619 --> 00:35:06.739 and view work. 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:07.920 Firstly, 00:35:08.700 --> 00:35:09.440 Jesus gives us 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:10.940 a new kind of master. 00:35:12.099 --> 00:35:12.960 So for most people 00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:13.800 in our city, 00:35:14.380 --> 00:35:15.200 making sure 00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:16.119 that you're in your boss's 00:35:16.119 --> 00:35:16.820 good books 00:35:16.820 --> 00:35:18.519 is extremely important, 00:35:18.619 --> 00:35:18.820 right? 00:35:18.860 --> 00:35:19.720 Because we think 00:35:19.720 --> 00:35:20.860 that our lives 00:35:20.860 --> 00:35:21.440 and our future 00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:22.159 and our career 00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:23.099 and our progression 00:35:23.099 --> 00:35:24.400 and our financial security 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:25.480 is in our boss's hands. 00:35:26.380 --> 00:35:27.119 Jesus tells us 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:27.820 that if you love 00:35:27.820 --> 00:35:28.599 and follow Jesus, 00:35:29.139 --> 00:35:29.840 your life is not 00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:30.740 in your boss's hands. 00:35:31.180 --> 00:35:32.340 Your life is in the hands 00:35:32.340 --> 00:35:32.960 of a good 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:34.039 and faithful father, 00:35:34.740 --> 00:35:35.400 a master, 00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:35.840 a lord, 00:35:35.900 --> 00:35:36.380 a king, 00:35:36.380 --> 00:35:37.720 but one who loved you 00:35:37.720 --> 00:35:38.119 enough to go 00:35:38.119 --> 00:35:38.840 to the cross for you 00:35:38.840 --> 00:35:39.900 and your life 00:35:39.900 --> 00:35:40.820 is in his hands 00:35:40.820 --> 00:35:41.940 and that's why 00:35:41.940 --> 00:35:42.840 you can do your work 00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:43.519 for the pleasure 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:44.260 of the audience 00:35:44.260 --> 00:35:44.920 of him, 00:35:45.160 --> 00:35:46.160 not just the boss 00:35:46.160 --> 00:35:47.440 who sits in the corner office. 00:35:48.260 --> 00:35:49.099 That's why the New Testament 00:35:49.099 --> 00:35:49.960 constantly says, 00:35:50.660 --> 00:35:51.200 serve your masters 00:35:51.200 --> 00:35:51.960 wholeheartedly 00:35:51.960 --> 00:35:53.340 as if you were working 00:35:53.340 --> 00:35:53.940 for the Lord 00:35:53.940 --> 00:35:54.640 because ultimately 00:35:54.640 --> 00:35:55.380 you are working 00:35:55.380 --> 00:35:55.920 for the Lord. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:57.220 So, 00:35:57.519 --> 00:35:58.660 a new kind of master. 00:35:59.480 --> 00:35:59.880 Secondly, 00:36:00.619 --> 00:36:01.400 Jesus gives us 00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:02.160 a new view 00:36:02.160 --> 00:36:02.860 of humanity. 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:04.480 For most people 00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:04.920 in our city, 00:36:04.920 --> 00:36:07.320 we view people 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:08.619 based on giftings 00:36:08.619 --> 00:36:09.240 and abilities 00:36:09.240 --> 00:36:10.300 and we rank people 00:36:10.300 --> 00:36:10.940 all the time, 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:11.200 right? 00:36:11.579 --> 00:36:12.680 What are your giftings? 00:36:12.840 --> 00:36:13.860 What school did you go to? 00:36:13.980 --> 00:36:15.200 What degree did you get? 00:36:15.340 --> 00:36:16.059 Where do you live? 00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:17.500 What job do you do? 00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:18.460 And if you do 00:36:18.460 --> 00:36:19.680 blue collar job 00:36:19.680 --> 00:36:20.760 or you sweep the streets, 00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:21.700 oh, you're not very important. 00:36:22.260 --> 00:36:22.840 But if you do 00:36:22.840 --> 00:36:23.960 white collar job, 00:36:24.059 --> 00:36:24.840 oh, you have a certain 00:36:24.840 --> 00:36:25.480 kind of ranking. 00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:27.700 But Jesus changes all that 00:36:27.700 --> 00:36:28.700 because Jesus says 00:36:28.700 --> 00:36:29.320 that no matter 00:36:29.320 --> 00:36:30.059 who you are, 00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:30.559 no matter what 00:36:30.559 --> 00:36:31.159 your ethnicity 00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:31.960 or your culture, 00:36:32.119 --> 00:36:32.740 your background, 00:36:33.220 --> 00:36:33.800 your gender, 00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:34.720 your language, 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:35.880 all people have 00:36:35.880 --> 00:36:36.820 inherent dignity 00:36:36.820 --> 00:36:37.880 and worth and value. 00:36:38.700 --> 00:36:39.720 And so Jesus changes 00:36:39.720 --> 00:36:41.340 the way that we view people. 00:36:42.180 --> 00:36:43.000 Jesus Christ says 00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:44.420 regardless of that, 00:36:44.519 --> 00:36:45.420 we don't view people 00:36:45.420 --> 00:36:46.500 as a liability 00:36:46.500 --> 00:36:47.519 to be managed 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:48.580 but as a person 00:36:48.580 --> 00:36:49.240 to be understood, 00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:50.620 to be valued, 00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:51.920 irrespective of how 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:52.860 difficult they may be 00:36:52.860 --> 00:36:53.740 to get along with 00:36:53.740 --> 00:36:54.960 or what they contribute 00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:55.720 to your career. 00:36:56.820 --> 00:36:57.320 Thirdly, 00:36:57.940 --> 00:36:58.640 Jesus gives us 00:36:58.640 --> 00:36:59.720 a new source of power. 00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:01.779 In our city, 00:37:01.919 --> 00:37:02.899 people are exhausted 00:37:02.899 --> 00:37:04.079 and burnt out, 00:37:04.659 --> 00:37:05.919 anxious and frustrated 00:37:05.919 --> 00:37:07.559 because we believe 00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:07.939 the saying 00:37:07.939 --> 00:37:08.879 that if it's to be, 00:37:09.059 --> 00:37:09.819 it's up to me, 00:37:10.179 --> 00:37:10.419 right? 00:37:10.739 --> 00:37:11.559 If I'm going to get 00:37:11.559 --> 00:37:13.019 ahead in my career, 00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:13.839 I've got to work 00:37:13.839 --> 00:37:14.980 longer than anyone else. 00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:15.459 I've got to work 00:37:15.459 --> 00:37:16.439 harder than anyone else. 00:37:16.779 --> 00:37:17.379 I've got to make sure 00:37:17.379 --> 00:37:18.119 I'm the last one 00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:19.459 to leave the office place. 00:37:19.980 --> 00:37:20.399 I've got to be 00:37:20.399 --> 00:37:21.059 the first one in, 00:37:21.119 --> 00:37:21.759 last one out. 00:37:22.059 --> 00:37:23.019 I've got to progress 00:37:23.019 --> 00:37:23.639 in my career. 00:37:24.699 --> 00:37:25.339 Well, Jesus says 00:37:25.339 --> 00:37:26.459 that if you live for Him, 00:37:26.639 --> 00:37:27.500 by His Spirit, 00:37:27.579 --> 00:37:28.819 He will empower you 00:37:28.820 --> 00:37:30.780 and to live out 00:37:30.780 --> 00:37:31.300 your calling. 00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:32.680 He will give you 00:37:32.680 --> 00:37:33.660 everything you need 00:37:33.660 --> 00:37:34.760 for divine power 00:37:34.760 --> 00:37:35.900 to life and godliness 00:37:35.900 --> 00:37:37.340 to become the person 00:37:37.340 --> 00:37:38.280 that He's called you to be. 00:37:39.220 --> 00:37:40.360 And remember Jesus' words, 00:37:40.460 --> 00:37:40.720 He says, 00:37:40.860 --> 00:37:41.580 I am the vine 00:37:41.580 --> 00:37:42.500 and you are the branch. 00:37:42.600 --> 00:37:44.000 If you abide in me, 00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:45.320 if you rest in me, 00:37:45.700 --> 00:37:47.180 I will produce fruit in you. 00:37:47.220 --> 00:37:48.340 I will cause you to live. 00:37:48.900 --> 00:37:49.760 But apart from me, 00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:51.180 you can do nothing. 00:37:52.180 --> 00:37:52.620 And so friends, 00:37:52.620 --> 00:37:53.220 what that means 00:37:53.220 --> 00:37:54.019 is that our future, 00:37:54.260 --> 00:37:54.800 our life, 00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:55.740 our hope 00:37:55.740 --> 00:37:56.280 is not in what 00:37:56.280 --> 00:37:57.380 you can muster up. 00:37:57.800 --> 00:37:59.340 It's an abiding in Christ. 00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:01.200 And then finally, 00:38:01.900 --> 00:38:02.640 Jesus gives us 00:38:02.640 --> 00:38:03.820 a new kind of rest. 00:38:04.640 --> 00:38:05.640 A new kind of rest. 00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:07.039 For most of us 00:38:07.039 --> 00:38:07.400 in our city, 00:38:07.460 --> 00:38:08.440 we don't know how to rest. 00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:10.099 And even when we rest, 00:38:10.700 --> 00:38:11.360 we are simply, 00:38:12.019 --> 00:38:12.980 it's simply in order 00:38:12.980 --> 00:38:13.760 to work again. 00:38:14.240 --> 00:38:14.960 And that means 00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:16.059 we never experience 00:38:16.059 --> 00:38:16.960 true rest, 00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:18.680 deep abiding rest, 00:38:19.180 --> 00:38:20.039 soul rest. 00:38:20.380 --> 00:38:21.140 Because even when 00:38:21.140 --> 00:38:21.619 we're on holiday 00:38:21.619 --> 00:38:22.920 and even when we're on weekends, 00:38:23.260 --> 00:38:24.519 we're thinking about work 00:38:24.519 --> 00:38:26.039 and how we can get ahead 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:26.579 or the things 00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:27.300 that we need to do. 00:38:28.199 --> 00:38:28.880 Jesus says 00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:29.780 that there's a rest 00:38:29.780 --> 00:38:31.079 beneath your rest. 00:38:31.780 --> 00:38:33.219 A deep soul rest 00:38:33.219 --> 00:38:34.639 that will still 00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:35.599 the anxious voices 00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:36.320 in your mind 00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:37.920 and still the striving 00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:40.340 and the demand 00:38:40.340 --> 00:38:41.019 to get ahead. 00:38:42.360 --> 00:38:42.800 Augustine, 00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:43.639 the great theologian 00:38:43.639 --> 00:38:44.559 in the third century 00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:45.079 said this, 00:38:45.159 --> 00:38:45.739 you have made us 00:38:45.739 --> 00:38:46.320 for yourself, 00:38:46.460 --> 00:38:46.920 oh God, 00:38:47.380 --> 00:38:48.079 and our hearts 00:38:48.079 --> 00:38:49.340 will always be restless 00:38:49.340 --> 00:38:50.340 until we find 00:38:50.340 --> 00:38:51.400 our rest in you. 00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:53.260 Augustine was really 00:38:53.260 --> 00:38:53.680 just saying 00:38:53.680 --> 00:38:54.720 what Jesus Christ said, 00:38:54.780 --> 00:38:54.960 right, 00:38:55.019 --> 00:38:55.460 where he said, 00:38:56.019 --> 00:38:56.480 come to me, 00:38:57.079 --> 00:38:58.240 all you who are weary 00:38:58.240 --> 00:38:59.200 and heavy laden, 00:38:59.720 --> 00:39:01.059 and I will give you rest. 00:39:01.160 --> 00:39:02.260 Come and learn from me 00:39:02.260 --> 00:39:03.619 for I am humble 00:39:03.619 --> 00:39:04.780 and gentle of heart 00:39:04.780 --> 00:39:06.300 and you will find 00:39:06.300 --> 00:39:07.340 deep rest 00:39:07.340 --> 00:39:08.099 for your souls. 00:39:09.860 --> 00:39:10.260 Friends, 00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:10.900 everyone in our city 00:39:10.900 --> 00:39:11.700 engages in work, 00:39:11.800 --> 00:39:12.280 but there's often 00:39:12.280 --> 00:39:13.500 a work underneath the work. 00:39:13.980 --> 00:39:14.480 There's a work 00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:15.340 to prove ourselves, 00:39:15.539 --> 00:39:16.619 a work not to be a bum, 00:39:16.800 --> 00:39:17.740 a work to impress 00:39:17.740 --> 00:39:18.300 our parents, 00:39:18.740 --> 00:39:19.440 a work to prove 00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:20.260 that we're not a failure. 00:39:20.260 --> 00:39:21.600 Jesus comes 00:39:21.600 --> 00:39:22.440 and he gives a rest 00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:23.600 to that kind of work 00:39:23.600 --> 00:39:24.520 and he says, 00:39:24.680 --> 00:39:25.400 you are my child. 00:39:26.120 --> 00:39:26.740 You're enough. 00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:27.980 I love you. 00:39:28.420 --> 00:39:29.100 You're accepted. 00:39:29.740 --> 00:39:30.500 You'll give us a rest 00:39:30.500 --> 00:39:31.320 below our rest, 00:39:31.660 --> 00:39:32.800 a deep soul rest 00:39:32.800 --> 00:39:34.200 that will deeply satisfy. 00:39:35.100 --> 00:39:35.420 Friends, 00:39:35.520 --> 00:39:36.160 Jesus Christ 00:39:36.160 --> 00:39:37.320 is a complete savior, 00:39:37.540 --> 00:39:38.700 a comprehensive savior. 00:39:39.200 --> 00:39:40.080 And what he does 00:39:40.080 --> 00:39:41.180 is he invites us 00:39:41.180 --> 00:39:42.240 to love him, 00:39:42.700 --> 00:39:43.660 to trust him, 00:39:44.100 --> 00:39:45.060 to follow him, 00:39:45.500 --> 00:39:46.500 to worship him, 00:39:46.840 --> 00:39:47.900 to adore him, 00:39:48.260 --> 00:39:49.120 to come and find 00:39:49.120 --> 00:39:50.120 our rest in him, 00:39:50.700 --> 00:39:52.820 and to let that change 00:39:52.820 --> 00:39:53.580 the way that we think 00:39:53.580 --> 00:39:54.200 about our work, 00:39:54.720 --> 00:39:55.260 our calling, 00:39:55.780 --> 00:39:56.600 our vocation, 00:39:57.140 --> 00:39:57.860 our purpose. 00:39:58.380 --> 00:39:59.260 Let's pray together. 00:40:02.360 --> 00:40:02.800 In fact, 00:40:02.860 --> 00:40:03.860 maybe before we pray, 00:40:04.620 --> 00:40:05.240 let me give us 00:40:05.240 --> 00:40:05.860 just a minute 00:40:05.860 --> 00:40:07.060 just to think about 00:40:07.060 --> 00:40:09.600 what we've heard today. 00:40:11.200 --> 00:40:12.680 What should our response be? 00:40:12.679 --> 00:40:17.500 Friends, 00:40:17.559 --> 00:40:18.359 maybe what's one 00:40:18.359 --> 00:40:19.299 or two things 00:40:19.299 --> 00:40:19.940 that you want to 00:40:19.940 --> 00:40:22.460 take home from today, 00:40:22.659 --> 00:40:23.440 change the way 00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:24.079 that you wake up 00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:24.779 tomorrow morning 00:40:24.779 --> 00:40:26.440 and approach your work? 00:40:26.440 --> 00:40:27.400 all right. 00:40:27.400 --> 00:40:29.579 Amen. 00:40:29.579 --> 00:40:59.559 Thank you. 00:40:59.579 --> 00:41:29.559 Thank you. 00:41:29.579 --> 00:41:31.579 Thank you. 00:41:59.579 --> 00:42:01.579 Thank you.