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As you know, in our church, for the past three, four weeks, Pastor Paul has been preaching to us on the family. And the relationships at home are very important. We know what it means to be a godly father, a godly wife, a godly child from the Scriptures and as he has ended the series on the family, I thought it is appropriate for us to take a little step further. Because under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul talked about the family, but he also went on to talk about the workplace.

See, it is not only that we must be shining for Jesus at home, we must also be shining for Jesus in our offices. And so, today, let's look at the Christian and the workplace.

What does it mean to have Jesus in our jobs? What does it mean to have Christian work ethics? The Bible gives us the answer. Ephesians chapter 6 and verses 5 to 9.

You will realize this is really a continuation of Paul's teaching on the family and so it is natural, once you look at the home, to move now to the workplace. This is what God has to say.

Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eye service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

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This is God's Word.

A story is told of a barber; cuts hair. He was cutting hair for some people one day, and one man came right into the shop and this is a policeman, the cop, the policemen came and he wanted a haircut and so the barber, feeling very generous that day, said to him, "I realize you have been a very good policeman, because of you, our city is safe, because of you, crime rates are low, because of you, we feel very secure, so I'd like to give you a free haircut today." So he gave him a free haircut and the policeman was very pleased.

The very next day, the barber turned up at the shop, ready to work and he found a box of doughnuts waiting for him. It was from the policeman. On the very same day, another man stepped in, he is a florist, someone who does flowers and the barber said again to the florist, "You have decorated our town beautifully, we really appreciate your beautiful work and because of that, we will give you also a free haircut." The very next day, the barber turned up, he found a bunch of 10 roses waiting for him. On the very same day then, a third man came in, and this is a preacher and the barber said to the preacher, "Preacher, you have been doing a good work, you have been teaching our people the Bible, you have been helping our children come to know God and I am very appreciative of what you have been doing, so I am going to give you a free haircut." And the very next day, ten preachers were waiting for him. (Laughter in the congregation).

Now we all appreciate good work. When a job is well done, we are appreciative of it. Does the Bible teach us how to get a good job done? Does the Bible teach us about Christian work ethics? Absolutely.

In this passage here, in just these few verses, Paul teaches us about Jesus and our jobs - Christian work ethics and it is really important, you know, because it is said that most of us, unless you are a tai tai, you know, tai tai is a very rich housewife, who probably doesn't need to work, unless you are a tai tai, most of us, would have to work at least a third of our lives. Think about it, at least a third of your lives would be spent at work and that's quite something.

So how are you going to live that one third of your life? Well, these five verses are going to be helpful for our consideration. So let's look at what it means to work with Christian work ethics, what it means to be a Christian at the workplace.

There are three things I want you to take note of today.

Number one, we are going to look at what it means or how we are to work, the manner of our work, number two, we are going to look at the master of our work and number three, we are going to look at the motivation, just that little bit of motivation that will encourage you in your work.

So, very simple, three things, The Manner, The Master and The Motivation, alright, so let's get cracking.

First of all, let's look at the manner Christians are to work. How is a Christian to work? The Bible says in verse 5

V5. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh..

So, the word here that strikes us is the word "obedient". It is the Greek word "hupakouo" which means, to listen under, to hearken, to subject to, to submit to, it is the word that means I'm to conform myself to the will of my master, hupakouo, that means to be obedient, that's the right translation.

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Listen to your mastera. In other words, whatever he tells you to do, as long as it is Biblical, it is not sin, whatever your master tells you to do, you do it, you obey, you listen. And he goes on to say, with fear and trembling. It is a picture of a man very, very eager to please. He wants to please the master, he wants to do his utmost to fulfill his master's requirements. So that's what it is. We are to submit ourselves to our masters.

You say, practically, Pastor, what does it mean? It means this, whatever he tells you to do, do. Moreover, you must do it with the right attitude as well. In Titus 2:9, the Bible also reminds us

Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;

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You know there are some people when you tell them to do something, they give you 10,000 reasons why they shouldn't do it. Have you met people like that? Have you had employees like that? People just tell them what to do, they give you 10,000 reasons why not and if they can't, they will give you 10,000 questions why should I do it.

They want to contradict you, they want to make things difficult for you, they oppose you, they play the opposition party. The Bible says, we are not to be like that. When my boss tells me something to do, now by all means, I can sharpen his decisions, by all means, but I must not have the spirit of disputing and answering back again to make things difficult for my master, no, that should not be my spirit, that should not be my attitude. So the Bible says, not answering again.

Now, this is about your actions, this is about your speech and then, in 1 Timothy chapter 6 it governs your heart. It says

Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour,...

1 Timothy 6:1

Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.

Wow, that means in your heart, you are to esteem your boss. Boss, I respect you. Boss, I honour you. I know some of you will be rolling your eyes and say, come on lah,  Pastor, you don't know my boss. Of course you say this, you do not know my boss, he is the worst boss in the world, how can I ever count my master worthy of all honor. Well, these are not my words, these are God's words. The same principle applies to children honoring your parents. It doesn't matter if your parents are less educated than you, it doesn't matter if you went for Mensa testing and your parents' IQ are much less than yours. It doesn't matter. You honour your parents because God placed them in authority over you. That's it.

It is not about your abilities, it's about the  position that God has put you. And if you work for your master, he may not be as educated as you, he may not be as sharp as you, but you are to count him  worthy of all honor. You sure or not, Pastor? Huh, I really cannot believe it, he is a bad wicked guy. Yah, I know, but so does the Bible say,

1 Peter 2:18

Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

In other words, you submit and obey not just to the good guys, but also to the bad ones.

Froward, what is froward? The word froward come from the Greek word "scolios". Anybody here knows scolios? Where would it be applied in? I am sure some of you, I look at the group like this, I think some of you may even have this, alright. Sciolios, you get the word, scoliosis. What is scoliosis? This is scoliosis. The word scoliosis means to be bent, to be curved, to be crooked, that's what it means and there are many people who have scoliosis. Some are just marginal, mild, some are severe. But scoliosis means to be bent, crooked and so on.

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So, Paul or Peter is saying, you submit to your own masters, even when they are crooked, perverse, bent. Their character may not be the best, but it doesn't mean you have a right to rebel against them. You are to subject yourselves to them.

So this is what the Scripture teaches us. Number one, the manner in which we are to serve, or to work, is to be one of submission, recognizing authority that God has placed in my life. I am not to be a man who is always disputing, answering back, I am not to despise my master. I am to honor and esteem my superior because that's who God has placed in my life.

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Now, secondly, the Bible also tells us the second attitude in which we are to work and that is in singleness of heart. The word singleness can equally be translated, with sincerity of heart, with your whole heart, that's what it means.

With your whole heart, what does it mean to have sincerity? The word sincere is a very interesting word. The word sincere, in the English is derived from Latin words, and the Latin words are these, sine cera. I was driving to church this morning, and for the first time I noticed a shop that is sincere, Sincere Watches, you know that brand, right. So, first time, today I noticed, maybe, because I have been thinking about the word sincere here, but that's what it is, sine cera, sincere. What is sine cera? Anybody knows, Latin words, anybody studied Latin before, no? Anyone? What's the meaning of sine cera ? Sorry? Wholeheartedly, alright, that's the eventual meaning, but the literal meaning of sine cera, I've got to research it of course, means without wax.

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I say, what is this? What has this got to do with heart? Well, without wax, sine cera is a stamp that potters of old would stamp on their work of art. Suppose they made a vase, a bowl, it was well done, they would use these two words to be chopped on their pottery, sine cera, without wax, why? Because, in those days, when your pottery works are flawed, there are some cracks, what they do is they use some wax to apply, and then to gloss over, to make it look as if it is good but actually, there are flaws within. So, when a potter has done a good job, he didn't use wax, there are no cracks, he would stamp on it sine cera, no flaws, no cover ups, no pretense. So, when we work for our master, not only must we be obedient to them, but we must also be sincere, no cover ups, no pretense. And that's why the Bible tells us, you don't work with eye service, as men pleasers.

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In other words, you work whether your boss is watching you or not. When he's watching you, work hard. When he's away, work just as hard. You don't work for him to see. You see, in our culture a very common word we use today in Hokkien is "Jiak Chua", everybody knows, except our American friends, our foreign friends, "Jiak Chua", you don't know, "Jiak Chua" means, eat snake and I do not know why eat snake is equated to being lazy or skiving but it is Jiak Chua. Or, we would say, when the cat is away, the mouse goes out to play.

There is a story told about a supervisor, a construction foreman. He would supervise a group of people constructing, working and when he watches them, they worked really hard but when he doesn't watch over them, they all slack, slackened. So, it happened one day that he had to leave the place of inspection, he happened to have a glass eye, those fake eyes, you know, you take out and you put on. So, he has a glass eye, he puts it on the table to watch over them. And they work very hard, even though he was not there and the glass eye is watching them. But soon enough, when he came back, he realized, there was a hat over the glass eye. (Laughter in the congregation). Somehow, instinctive in men, it's that when people watch over us, we work hard but when people don't watch over us, we tend to slacken.

But the Christian work ethic is this, with sincerity, not as a cover-up job, not with pretense, not with hypocrisy, you give of your whole heart in your service. If people pay you for eight hours, you work eight hours, if people pay you for 10 hours, you work for 10 hours. You don't shortchange them, you don't go in late and you leave early, you don't go in, surfing your Internet, your Facebook and your twitter, or whatever website you want to check and it is said, this was some statistics two years ago. I am sure by now, it is way beyond this, alright.

Social networking costs Britain 14 billion pounds in lost work time.

It goes on to say people spending over an hour a day in work time on Facebook are seriously hampering companies' efforts to boost productivity.

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As if, the employees care. They just go on their ways. But the Christian work ethic is different, it's one of wholeheartedness, of sincerity, without pretense. So, no "Jiak Chua" allowed, no laziness allowed as far as the Scripture is concerned. So, we see these two attitudes, number one, submission, number two, sincerity but let's look at number three. It says in verse 7, with goodwill. The word goodwill means to be pleasant, to be kind, to be benevolent. In other words, you do it with a cheerful spirit and you serve with a smile on your face. You don't just go around doing what you're told to do grudgingly, but you really do it happily, positively, enthusiastically.

You know how it is right, boss tells me to do something, Bo Pian lah (meaning, no choice), got to do and then when you do it, you pull a long face, you roll your eyes, you curse him under your breath, you drag your feet and you throw things all around the office, you are just unhappy about doing what he has told you to do. But the Bible says, you have to do it with goodwill, you do it happily. Ask you to wash toilet, go and wash it with a smile. Ask you to clear rubbish, do it with a joy in your heart because that's the way Christians are to work, that's the way you should spend at least a third of your life, submissively, sincerely and sweetly.

So, this is it, the manner in which we are to work, according to the Scripture is submissively, sincerely, sweetly. I want you to turn to the person beside you, to the left or right and tell him your boss's name and tell him or her, I am going to serve my boss submissively, sincerely and sweetly. (Laughter in the congregation). Go, go, go, come on. (Laughter in the congregation). Now, by the way this applies to you as a student, I think so. As a student, the same spiritual attitudes must be there alright, it should be there, so look at the person left and right to you, now, can anyone tell me what are some of the names you have thrown up, who is your boss, by the way, sorry? Your patients, alright, your patient is your boss, alright, you serve your patients, well, true. Anyone else? Sorry? Husband! Yes, your boss can be your husband. It's true, you are right, anyone else? Wife? (Loud laughter in the congregation). Actually, all of us are in a sense right but also, in a sense, wrong. I wanted to ask you the question because that is the second point.

The key, the key to being able to work submissively, sincerely and sweetly is found in recognizing the Master, because the real master in your workplace is not your supervisor. The real master in your workplace is not your patient, the real master in your workplace is not your GM or your CEO or your chairman. Chair Meh (can't see, colloquially speaking)one ah, can't see. The real master in your workplace is none other than Jesus Christ. You see this is the clear point. If you look at the verses carefully, every verse is reminding you it is unto Christ, you are servants of Christ, it is unto the Lord, it is you receive of the Lord, it is all about Jesus.

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Your workplace's real master is Jesus Christ. That's why, I think it is possible for us to submit to good and gentle masters and also to froward masters in the flesh, because ultimately I serve the best Master, Jesus Christ.

It was George Mueller said this, "A servant of God has but one Master."

One of the beautiful descriptions of the Christian is this, I am a slave of Jesus Christ. I love that understanding, because today I don't have to be a slave to anyone else but to Jesus and if Jesus wants me to serve others, I will do that, but because I am first a slave to Him. I received my marching orders from Him, I look to rewards from Him, I seek to please Him, not man. A servant of God has but one Master.

John Stott, he said this, "The great need, or our great need, is the clear sightedness." Sometimes, it is not clear, we see a lot of people in front of us, but what is needed is to peel away all these that we're so used to seeing, and the clear sight to see Jesus set before us.

"It is possible then, when you're clear-sighted, for a housewife to cook a meal, as if Jesus were going to eat it. You do your best for your Master or to spring clean your house as if Jesus Christ were going to be the honored guest. It is possible for teachers to educate children, for doctors to treat patients and nurses to care for them, for lawyers to help clients, shop assistants to serve customers, accountants to audit books and secretaries to type letters as if in every case they were serving Jesus Christ."

I think that's exciting for me, it's really exciting for me because I don't have to wait till I come to church to worship God, I don't have to wait till I'm called to the mission field to serve God, I serve my Master in my workplace every day. So today I can say to you, be excited about Monday. (Laughter in the congregation). Be excited about Monday, don't just say to yourself TGIF, it's unbiblical (Laughter in the congregation) if it is only F, thank God it's Friday, but thank God it's every day, I can serve God on Monday, Tuesday, is not the terrible boss I face, it's not the boss I am trying to please, I please my Master, Jesus. Every day is a beautiful day to serve Jesus with.

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You may have heard of this man, his name is Howard Hendricks, well-known preacher, Bible college professor in the States. He flies often and he goes on to American airlines and one day, when he was in flight, he met a man who is really unreasonable, unruly, rude, loud, just inconsiderate, shouting, unhappy about things, and it got worse especially after he got drunk. And then, a stewardess came to serve this man and she was perfect class. She handled the situation with poise, with patience, with calmness, with sweetness and for a good 20, 30 minutes, she was there just to comfort him and calm him down. At no point was she irritated or upset. When the whole fiasco is over, she left, and went to the back. Howard Hendricks stood up and got to the back as well and wanted to meet this lady and he said to her, "Ma'am, I think you handled the situation really, really well. I have been on these flights for a long time, but this is really impressive to me, can I have your name, so that I can write a letter of complement to American Airlines?"

She said "Sir, that will not be necessary, I don't work for American Airlines." "What!" "Yah, I don't work for American Airlines, I work for Jesus Christ."

Howard Hendricks was like he was going to fall down onto the floor and when he picked himself up in a sense, she began to share the Gospel with him. (Laughter in the congregation) or at least tried to share the Gospel with him. But you see, here is a lady who said, "My Master is Jesus and it is Jesus who enables me to be patient with that man."

What a beautiful scriptural attitude to a working life. And that open for her a beautiful door of evangelism.

You see, this is the joy of it all. When you go to your workplace, recognizing who you really serve and you serve Him with the attitude the Bible has prescribed, you are in no less serving God than a man who is on the other side of the world being a missionary. Both of you are serving God but, at the very same time, when you turn up late for work, when you steal time from your employers, you sin against Jesus Christ, because it is not about the man whom you serve, but it's about Jesus whom you serve.

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There is this great danger in our world today, to separate the secular from the spiritual. Do you know that is a great danger like that? People who think, when I turn up in the office for work, it is a waste of my time. No, you are serving Jesus, you see that's what the Bible says, with goodwill, doing service as to the Lord and not to man. The word, not in the Greek, is the word never. There's some nots that are no and there are some nots that are never. The word that is never is used here. In other words, Paul is saying, you are never serving men, you're serving God. That's exciting. When I speak with people, and they often say, "Am I called?" This question, have you asked? And have you heard this question, "Am I called by God to full-time service?"

Everybody, young people especially, ask the question, "Am I called?" Let me tell you, without reservation, we are all called. Huh, you mean pastor, every one of us got to be a pastor? No! But we are all called to serve God full-time. But where you serve full-time can be very different. Some of us are called to serve God full-time, at GCW, at 360, Dunearn road as a pastor, full-time staff. That's fine.

But some of you, most of us, will be called to serve God full-time at IBM, Pizza Hut, Canon or Coffee Bean, whatever, Kopitiam, but wherever God leads you to serve, you serve him full-time.

So many of us just sitting there, "Am I called? Am I called?" and you allow the devil to rob you from the privilege of serving Jesus today and everyday.

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There is no distinction between the secular and the spiritual as far as the Bible is concerned. Whether therefore, you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do, all to the glory of God. Everything is to be an act of worship unto our King. Do you realize, Jesus, His life, did He serve God when He died on the cross? Is that a difficult question? Did Jesus do the will of God when He died on the cross? Yes. Was Jesus in the will of God, when He was teaching and preaching? Yes. Was Jesus in the will of God when He was making a cupboard, a wardrobe, a table, a chair, when He was working as a carpenter's son, was He? Yes. He was absolutely doing the will of God when He was a younger man. You today can be a carpenter for Jesus' sake, for the glory of God. There is no need for us to separate the secular from the spiritual. All are to be an act of sacrifice and worship to God.

You see, we serve our Master.

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So, there're many Christians today who are very uncomfortable in life, they feel that they are not serving Jesus enough, they can't be a full-time staff and they feel that they are just wasting their lives. No, have a renewed attitude towards your work life. Now, if God calls you away from your work life, from being an accountant, a doctor or a road sweeper to something full-time in church, that's fine. But, whilst you are in it, don't shortchange yourself, that's the message I want to share with you.

Also, when you realize you serve Jesus in the office, in your factory, you are turning your office, your factory, your cafe into a mission field. Do you know that? You will be turning your factory, your office, wherever you are working, into a mission field.

I think sometimes, we are more excited about going somewhere else to preach than we are called to be a light where we work and where we live. You know, how it is, in the workplace you don't dare to tell people you are a Christian, because your life not very different anyway. You complain about your boss, you come in late, you steal time. Therefore, with all these things, you feel I can't really be a witness. So you can only wait for specific times, when the church organizes events, then you say, I will be a witness.

But we've gotten it the whole way wrong. God wants us to be good fathers, good mothers, good children. He wants us to be good workers in the office, right where we live, so that this excellent character in your life, will open the doors for effective evangelism. You see, it is very different, when everybody's complaining about towkay (colloquial for boss), and you are saying, we need to honor him. Everybody is Jiak Chua-ing (colloquial for skiving), but you are the one who comes in early, leaves later. Everybody is doing their own thing, but you say, I need to do what my boss tells me to do, I need to be honest.

You know, everyone's going to look at you and say, wah, you are so weird. But, they will respect you and if they ask you, why do you do this? You say because I serve Jesus. Something clicks in the heart of men when they see that God is real in your life.

You can turn your office into a mission field. Too many of us want to leave our own mission fields and go to somewhere else and just preach and then come back again. We don't dare to evangelize, using our lives as the opening. By all means, preach, we must, the Gospel must be preached. But the open door, is through the excellent spirit within you.

So, recognize your Master today. Serving Jesus is exciting, from Monday to Friday. You can, and so, that's what I want to encourage you to do.

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But finally, I like us to look at the motivation. The motivation.

Now, some of us are not very motivated to work, because the pay is very low. Wah, work so hard, pay so little, don't want to work already. And, that is the mindset we have, the motivation. You say, why should I work so hard, why should I submit and be sincere and do all these things? Let me tell you, there is a beautiful motivation found in Ephesians 6 and it is here.

Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:8

Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

You say $2000, not enough for me to be motivated. $3000 enough or not? No? $5000? No? $10,000? No? Some of you, very greedy lah, want $1 million per month. (Laughter in the congregation). But even then it is not good enough. The real motivation is not what your earthly masters can give you. Have longer perspectives, have more spiritual perspectives. Your real reward is from Jesus, from the Lord. That should excite you to serve, that should excite you to live for your Master.

Two years ago, there was this Filipino domestic helper, who for the past 20 years, had been taking care of a more elderly lady, until the lady eventually passed away. And the lady left for this domestic helper, her name, pseudonym, not her real name, Christina, left for her how much, do you remember? Wah, you all very sharp ah, I hear the, huh? You are right, you are right, $6 million dollars. This is the article, I think you can find it anywhere, you just key in and you will find, she inherited $6 million.

I don't think she expected it on the day she came to work for her employer. They probably agreed on a certain salary and fee and that was what she was contented to do. But with her excellent work, wow, she was richly rewarded at the end. But I think what we get from the Lord Jesus is more than 6 million. I think it's something I could not quantify but I know, if it is from the Lord, it is great motivation for me.

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I have spoken a lot about employees, how you need to work, how you need to serve because you serve Jesus. How many of you here are towkays? Okay, all towkays don't dare not raise your hands. The fake ones will raise their hands, the jin (colloquial for real) one (Pastor laughs), the real towkays, let me speak to you, alright. The Bible says, and you masters, do the same things unto them. In other words, God doesn't let you off the hook. You are equally accountable, you are to do the same things, in other words, treat them respectfully, sincerely, sweetly.

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Look at these instructions, forbearing threatening. I think, the typical Chinese model is rule by fear, I see that quite a bit in SMEs, people tend to be strong, and they rule by fear. There is a certain kind of motivation in fear. But the Bible tells me to forbear threatening. In other words, don't keep calling them in, eh, you don't do this I sack you ah. You want to sack, you sack lah, don't keep saying, I want to sack,  I want to sack. You threaten someone. No, forbear threatening and also, don't show favouritism, partiality. That is no respect of persons with Him.

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An employer is to treat his employees well. Masters are to treat their servants well. This applies to you who have domestic helpers. I think it is a great shame, when we hear of ill-treatment by children of God towards their domestic helpers. It's a terrible thing. The Bible doesn't allow us to do that, not at all. So, shame on us, if we are found guilty of doing so. The Bible tells us to treat them well.

I know, as a boss, what you look for at the end of the year is always your profit or your bottom line, right? Your profit is what everybody looks for. But, do you know something, I think in the Bible, there is no mention here about profit. It mentions about what? People.

I think, on the day of judgment, when we stand before God, God will not call the towkays and ask him, "Hey, how come your profit so low, hey, your bottom line not very healthy ah, aiyah what a shame to me."

I don't think God is going to haul you up for your profit margin, but you will have to give an account of the people, how you have treated them. If you have treated them like dirt, well, you'll have to give account for that, because in the Bible here I see, what the world values is profit, but what God sees is how you treat the people, because at the end of the day, we're hoping our working environment will be the mission field. Be the Christian boss God calls you to be. First, Christian, then, boss. Most of us is first boss, no Christian. When I go to work, I am a boss, when I come to church, I am a Christian. Wrong! You are a Christian, everywhere you go, that is your first identity, your core identity, follower of Jesus Christ.

So, at the end of the day, remember what is at the end of the day most important. I'm not saying all bosses, please all make losses, no lah, not saying that. Do your job well, but at the same time, remember this is what God wants, the priority in the way we treat others.

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I close with this, I think, at the end of the day also, all that we've spoken about is not possible in your own strength. Remember, Ephesians 5 and 6, is a follow-through of Ephesians 5:18, be filled with the Spirit and then, you will be the husband God wants you to be, the wife God calls you to be, the parent God wants you to be, the child you are to be and then the employee and employer you are to be. It flows from a Spirit-filled life. And when you do so, when you recognize your true Master, you will be able to do it submissively, sincerely, sweetly and turn the office, that factory into a mission field for Jesus' sake.

What does it mean to be a Gospeliter, not shining when we gather but shining when we are scattered, when we go back to our offices, our neighborhoods, let's shine because we are serving Jesus, our real and living Master. Let people see Jesus is real. That's what the world needs, alright, not more explanations but more demonstrations and maybe demonstrated in your life.

Let's bow for a word of prayer. Father thank you today that Your Words, so succinct are so relevant for us. It is always relevant because it is your Word. And so, I pray today, by your Spirit, You will not allow us just to be hearers but to be to be doers. That we would be the kind of father and mother, husband and wife, child and parent, employee, employer that you want us to be, so that, indeed we would be that shining light that is set on a hill, that others may see and glorify our Father which is in heaven. May our evangelism be a natural consequence of our excellence in the workplace and in the family. We know all this is impossible without the help of your Holy Spirit. So, once again we pray that you will fill your people here with the Holy Spirit that we will be a people surrendered to You, walking in the Scriptures. Lord, enable us to be the Gospel lights you want us to be. We thank You in advance for what You will do. Continue to mould and change our lives into Christ likeness, we ask and pray all this now in Jesus Name, amen. God bless.