 All right, everyone can hear me. Okay. Okay. All right. Sorry for the delay. Good morning, everyone. Wishing you all a very blessed and a fruitful 2024. Trust you had a good Christmas and a good new year. So looking forward to this semester. This semester is I'm going to be teaching on the timeless principles for the workplace. I'm going to be learning a lot about principles, organizational development and all of that. So before we begin, let's start with a word of prayer. I'd be one of us can pray please. Go ahead. Ansis. Thank you for one of the time. We are going to study about a new subject in your course. Lord, please be with us. We need your presence. Lord Jesus, please help our pastor to teach us to unveil the mysterious of your scripture law. Thank you for your with us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Ansis. All right. So I have posted the PDF on the stream, the timeless principles for the workplace. So feel free to download it and then you can just follow along as we study together. The main purpose of this topic, it's a very wonderful topic. And it's a topic which really doesn't matter which what are ages, which sphere of influence we are in, right? So we're going to be talking about concepts, theories, ideas about management, organizational development, entrepreneurship, leadership. And I think whenever we are, right, whether we're students or in the workplace, these are principles that will continue from ages to ages, meaning it will not change these principles, right? So now it's 2024, 2034. Also, these principles are valid. And towards even throughout eternity, through life, no matter where we are, these principles are timeless. So when we say timeless, it means it's not like, you know, okay, 10 years or 20 years back, we use this. Now we don't use it anymore. No, the principles that we're going to study on send time, place, people, culture, it doesn't matter what changes around us. These principles are constant, right? So even as we study, we're going to look at how when we study all these principles, we will realize that not only is it beneficial for our personal life, but also our work ethics, the way we work, the way we function, family, we'll be able to manage all of this as believers, right? And then we're going to be talking about also now, if we are in a workplace setting, there's going to be corruption, not everyone are going to say praise the Lord to you, right? Everyone are going to be, there's going to be malpractices, wrong methods, there'll be oppression, there'll be favoritism. So there'll be so much in a, in a work environment. So how you and I can apply these principles, use it in our life and be fruitful for the kingdom of God, right? So we're going to start off with chapter one. Even as we start, I want to keep this always open. If you have any questions, feel free to stop me. No question is the wrong question. Any question you can ask me, you can also type it on the chat. And, you know, we can answer them together. Right? So let's begin chapter one with personal vision and purpose. Now we look at this personal vision and purpose in fulfilling God's purpose for your life. We look at personal vision, we look at purpose. You know, some of us maybe in college, right now we are in college, then we may enter into the workplace, right? Or some of us may already be in the workplace. And, you know, there are, you're going through certain things in the workplace. But here are certain, you know, personal vision and purpose that you and I must have as believers, right? Number one, remember that you and I were made for a purpose. We got to discover it and we got to live it. Right? Let's read Ephesians chapter two and verse 10. Go ahead. Anybody can read Ephesians two and verse 10. Ephesians chapter two verse 10, God has made us what we are and in our union with Christ Jesus, he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do. God has created us or he has designed us for a purpose and this purpose he has created and he has prepared us to do it. What does it mean to he has prepared us? It's not like, okay, God has created us, for example, God has created you to be an engineer. It's not like he's prepared you to be an engineer. There are preparations that we have to do. So remember this, when God has a purpose, it's always a two-fold book. Number one, we have a general purpose. We have a specific purpose. So what is a general purpose? General purpose is basically all of us believe in Jesus. We are created to know God. We have created to worship God, but we all have a specific purpose as individuals. So God may have called some of us as engineers, some of them as doctors, some of them as prophets, some of them as entrepreneurs, whatever God has called you for, it is important to understand that you and I must have this personal vision. You've got to discover it. You say, okay, God, I know that I have these gifts. I have these callings. I need to discover it. And when I discover it, I begin to live it. And it's very important why? Because when we discover a vision, we're walking with certain principles in life. We're walking with certain ideas and certain plans in your mind. Book of Proverbs is so beautiful. It says, if you don't have a plan, you're like a man on the road who's looking left and right, don't know where to go. Proverbs says that. If you don't have a plan, it's like a man who starts building a house and he doesn't know how the house is going to look towards the end. James says, it's like you look in the mirror, you don't know how you look. So it's very important that we discover, understand the vision, discover that and live it. Now, as we discover and we live it, these principles is what will help us to stand on good ground. Many a times, we see people who are CEOs or business leaders, entrepreneurs. Why is it that they fall? They started off well. 10 years down the line, the business is good. It's growing. They've developed the business, but why do they fall? It's because they've not stood on solid ground. Their work ethics may be very good, but their personal life is a failure or sometimes their personal life is very good. The work ethics failure. So when we look at these timeless principles, remember that all these principles, whether it is personal, whether it's family, whether it is workplace, so going on further on, we will look at a lot of entrepreneurship goals and principles while starting a business. What is it that you and I must have? So another important thing is we must not separate our life by saying, okay, this is full-time ministry. This is no ministry or I'm in business. So you never separate your life that way. And you say, okay, whether I'm here working in the church, whether I'm working in the business, in the corporate sector, I am doing ministry as unto the Lord. Right? So let's look at the first point here, foundation. And the Lord Jesus spoke very beautifully about the foundation. And then I always say, the foundation is the most important aspect in a building. Without the foundation, the building is not going to stand. So let's read Matthew chapter 7, 24 through 26. Matthew chapter 7 verse 24 to 26. Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall where it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it fell and great was its fall. See, the Lord Jesus is so wonderfully explaining this to the disciples. He's saying, the foundation on what you build on is what really matters. He's saying here, in this entire portion that we read, a wise man builds his house on the rock. But a foolish man builds his house on the sand. And so very important, what is Jesus implying here? He's saying what you build on matters. So at a young age, for example, look at the life of David. At a young age, he had certain principles. He had this heart of, okay, God is the one who protects me. God is the one who gives me strength. Remember that? He's going in front of Goliath. What does he say to King Saul? He says, King Saul, don't worry, because God gave me the strength to defeat the lion and the bear. So we see that he was probably 13, 14 years old. But his principles were right. All through, even when he becomes a king, he says, God, should I go for this battle? Should I go? Should I not go? So you and I are a foundation. What you build on really matters. And how you build that foundation will show you how, will basically make you stand as you grow in the ways of the Lord. Your spiritual foundation is very, very important. Here the Lord Jesus is saying, good foundations will keep you solid. What is a good foundation? Those that are standing on the rock. What is a weak foundation? Those that are standing on sand. Meaning, it doesn't mean literally standing on the sand. It only means that you're, so if you talk to an engineer, you tell him, I want to build three floors. And if his foundation is only five feet down, something is wrong. He's got a foundation, but it's not enough. So what you build on is very important. It says here, good foundations for your professional life are important. Take time to lay a good foundation professionally. Right now, for example, you know, if you look at ministry now, during those days, ministry was okay. You go out on the street, you evangelize, you start a church and the church is formed. But nowadays, church is very different. Church is an organization and it's a ministry. It's both. Right. So if you look at every church, almost every church in the city, they have stuff. Yes or no? Right. One pastor can't do everything. They have stuff. And so the moment you have stuff, it becomes an organization. It's a ministry, but it's an organization also. Right. And here it says take time to lay a good foundation professionally. So whether you are, you and I are planning to join the corporate sector as your profession or you're joining, you're trying to join ministry. Take time to lay a good foundation. Right. What would that time be? Have you ever thought of that? Right. Take time to build a foundation. What time is it, is he talking about here? Is it okay, wait for five years and then start building? Or wait for 10 years and then start building? What does it refer to? We say take time means when you, when you, when you think of it in the natural, you're building a foundation. The civil engineer, the person who's looking after it, make sure that the foundation is built in the right measurement at the right amount of stones and whatever has to be done is done. The right amount of, you know, water is put in at the right time. It takes time. Okay. But what you built on this foundation is what will stay. Right. So for example, you know, I remember we went to, when we went to Mangalore in 2018, we got about maybe five or six of them or 10 of them maximum. So I remember we, I called for a meeting and I said, okay, we are 10 of us. I'm setting some rules. They were very, you see, they don't know me. I don't know them. Right. It was just probably one or two weeks in Mangalore. See, I'm setting some rules. Number one rule, don't tell me about this pastor, that pastor, I don't want to know. Number two, no gossip. If you have a problem, you come and tell me. You have a problem with somebody else. It's going to be there. We are people, right? There will be misunderstanding. All that is going to be, but don't gossip. You come and tell me. Number three, if you want to go through places, you want to move out, you feel that, you know, you're not interested to be here, feel free to go. And even if you want to be part of ABC and you want to attend other, you know, meetings and all of it, feel free. So I put on a whole list. And mainly it was about character and using your gifts in the right way. So many times, you know, our church folks have, you know, they have come to me and they said, you know, about this person, they tried to tell me, but they stopped. Why? Those are principles already set. So there are people in the church who came up to me and said, I heard that in this, you know, as a pastor, you don't listen to other pastors. I mean, you don't talk about other churches. I said, no, I don't talk. I don't want to waste my time talking about others. I'm looking at what I am doing. So the reason I'm sharing this is because you're setting the principles, right? You're setting your standards, right? So in between, there were problems, difficulties, but they knew this is how he will do it. This is how APC will do it. Very simple. Right? Are you getting what I'm saying? Right? And when you set those in the beginning, you're standing on good foundation, right? Take time to effort to lay the foundation in each transition in life. As you move from one phase to the next, prepare to lay a good foundation for the next phase as well. So the person who's coming up next can build on that and improve it. It's basically home renovation, right? You build a house, right? You built a nice house. 20 years down the line, the house is old, right? No matter how 20 years before, it was very nice. But now it's old, but the foundation is still strong. Don't worry. You talk to the engineer. The engineer will say, don't worry, sir. Another 50 years, this house will stand. You do some renovation on the house to make it look nice. So basically, when you are transitioning from one phase to another, to be able to, you know, when you transition to that phase, make sure that you give it when you hand over to another person, it is at a better level. So they can take it to the next level. Very important here. Do the important work first and then plan for comforts. You know, remember many, many years back, I asked one young man. I think he was a young man, meaning his early 30s. I asked him, why did you choose to become a pastor? Why, why, why, why, how come you become a pastor out of all the things? You know, you, you are a masters and I think he was doing masters and engineering or something. I said, why did you choose to become a pastor? He said, Oh, brother, I, I saw all the pastors in the city. I was noticing pastors, they have a relaxed life. You know, they, they wake up anytime, they do whatever they want to do. They go for a couple of houses, they go home and rest. So I didn't want to go and sit in an office from morning to evening. And you know, this struggle when I can just do something much more comfortable. Remember, it is important that, you know, firstly, it is important to work and then look for comforts. When we work hard, comforts will come automatically to us. Right? It should not be the other way around. Because of comfort, I'm doing this. No, God expects us to work hard, work hard. Right? That's, that's a, that is God's design is for us to work. Right? And so when we work, make sure that we play a good foundation professionally. There are certain professional skills that are relevant and useful regardless of which area of work we may be in. Right? For example, communication. Now, whether you are a pastor, whether you are a manager, team leader, no matter what your profession is, you have to talk to people. Yes, you may be a head chef, you may be a brainer, any profession, you may be a housewife, you still have to talk to people. Communication is important. Do professional writing. Right? So if you're in the workplace, you got to write emails. Right? So improve that. Right? You, you learn, you improve, you plan how you're going to write your emails. Time management for productivity. Right? Managing your time. For problem solving. How to, how to solve problems. Decision making skills. Now, as you go up the ladder, especially in a professional setting, there's come a time when, even in ministry, right? So everything we're going to talk about, we're going to, right? See it both ways. Ministry and in the corporate. So if you look at decision making, as you join a company, initially, you may not have to make any decisions. But imagine you become a team leader. The moment you become a team leader, you will have to be able to make decisions. You can't say, Oh, I'm not sure how to make these decisions. No, we must develop the skills. Right? When, when I took up this certain responsibilities at the office, I was like, Oh man, now I have to make decisions. I don't know if the decision is right or wrong. I was too young. Of course I worked in the corporate sector, but then this is a different setting. Is it the right decision? Is it the wrong decision? But over time we learn that, right? Decision making. Then understanding of finance, negotiation skills, planning, organizing and leading are useful. Right? Planning, organizing and leading. You plan what you want to do. You organize teams. You organize people to get it done. And then you lead, lead by example. Right? And even as we do all of this, remember to gain knowledge and develop skills. Right? So for example, right now, right now, right? In a time we are in, we've got so much, right? We've got AI. AI can do so much. It does so much. You know, I remember I was preparing the PPT for some, for the youth conference that we went for. And it took me 10, less than 10 minutes. Right? Now AI wasn't there. I'm sure it would have taken me at least two and a half hours to three hours. 10, 15 minutes it was done. Because I had to put in the context and all of it. But it was done. Why? Because it's easy. Why would I want to sit and search? Because sometimes what I do is I do search for images in different Google platforms. I search for good images. But otherwise AI does everything. So for example, you just say I want this. AI will pull up like maybe 500, 600 images of what you want. So life has become easy. Now imagine I as a leader, each one of us as leaders, we say, I don't know how to use it. It means that we are not in a place of learning. We must be able to learn, gain knowledge, develop skills, relevant skills, whether it's preaching, teaching, communication, email writing, leadership skills, organizational skills, right? Communication skills, very important, right? And whether, again, whether if it's ministry, whether it's a corporate business, or whether you're starting your own, if you're starting your own business, it's another level of, you know, all of this that we need skills, but we need them, right? So your personal priorities are foundational. Let's read Mark 12 and verse 13. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. Your personal priorities are foundational. Now we talked about a good foundation, right? Now what does the word priorities mean? We all have priorities, right? We set priorities in our life. So let me give you an example. This is just an example, right? So some of them Apple iPhone is a priority. For some of them, a good guitar is a priority. For some of them, a good shoe, right, is a priority. Recently, I remember I was talking to my brother, my brother was saying, he had bought these shoes. And the moment I heard the corsets and what to wear on your leg, you bought such an extension. But priorities, right? That's his, his priorities. So we all have different priorities, right? So what is our personal priorities? That is important. It's foundational. So as you grow up, and as you mature in the things of God, we must have personal priorities set in our life. For my priority, for example, is I have to get up in the morning, spend time in God's Word. The priority, whether people say, do it, don't do it, whether it's Christmas, whether it's New Year, whether it's 24, 2024, 2026, doesn't matter. As long as I'm there, I will do it with priorities. And so if you set priorities and, and walk with those priorities, your foundation becomes very strong. You get what I'm saying. Right now, it doesn't mean these priorities have to be very big. Start small. Start small, your priorities can start very, very small. So one of the priorities I do is I tell my, I spend time with my children, no matter what. I may be half asleep, but I'm there sitting. And so, you know, they have their tests today. My son has gone for his test. So yesterday I was teaching him maths. Now that maths for me was 2, 16 divided by 2. And so I say, and he's, you know, counting us and God, please help me. But it's a priority. You got to do it. Right? Why? Because family, children, and they'll come at a time when children move on. They're never, they're not going to come at a time when, you know, my kids will say, please come and sit with me. No, they'll have friends that they got to go with their friends. They'll have other things to do. But when I set my priorities on them and I say, okay, this has to be done. What am I doing? I'm making a good foundation. I'm setting a good foundation, right? In addition to laying a good and spiritual and professional foundation, remember that personal character, values and attitudes are important. You know, there are some of us who can really work, work, work and work. Can work 10, 12 hours a day. Comfortable doing that. But when it comes to personal character values, personal values and attitudes, we may fall in those areas. Right? So these areas are also very important. Knowing and establishing your personal priorities are important. So if any of us, you know, if we haven't set personal priorities, I would encourage you, set those priorities. It would be small. But over time, you will see that it becomes a habit and it becomes a foundation that you stand on. I love what happens in the book of Deuteronomy and Joshua. Joshua says, each the next generation, don't do the mistake that the other generation made. Teach the next generation the things of God. Lay the foundation for them. They may not understand, but you teach them. Right? Put them, put those scriptures on the doorposts of your house. And when your children ask, what does that mean? You, you speak to them and tell them, this is what God did in their lives. What is that? You're setting priorities. You're raising up a good generation. If loving God, worshiping him and serving him are a priority, then that as a sense, then you will keep that as central and try to work your professional activities around that priority. Right? Now, it's nothing wrong to work eight hours in the office. Right? Everyone, most of them do that, right? 90% of us are working 9 to 5. But when it comes to priorities, if we have Jesus as the center of our life, in office, we are working, we know that, hey, I'm working because of the Lord, because God has blessed me. And then we begin to, everything that we do is, you know, it's surrounded because of the priority that I belong to Jesus. Right? He is the central. If family is important, then you will make choices that gives precedence to your family over opportunities that may take, that may take your time away from your family. You need to know what is important for you and be clear on the list of your priorities. As I said, priorities vary for each other. Right? So you need to know what is your priority. I need to know what is my priority. Right? And when we do that, really, it's going to really build a strong foundation for your life. Right? And then you will notice, you'll realize that, hey, three years has passed and I've been praying or I've been doing this for the past three years, and you feel you will know, you will recognize. See, Jesus says you will bear fruit. Right? It's not like we are doing all of this and we will not see fruit. We will see the fruit. Right? Where we set priorities, we will see the fruit in our life. It may take time, but we will see it. It's like going to the gym. You go to the gym the first week. It's not like the muscles are all big and bulged out and it's only one week. Right? And then you go for one month, you feel like giving up. And somehow you extend to six months, get on to one year, two years. After one year, it becomes a habit. It becomes, you don't have to say, oh man, I have to go, you'll be excited to go to the gym. Two years, three years, five years, and probably about two to three years, you'll see a change in your life. The way you walk, the way you eat, the way your body, everything changes. Why? Because you work for it. The same way, when we set priorities, when we say, God, I'm putting you the center of my life, all the other things will work around you. You're setting a good foundation. Right? Any questions? Any thoughts? Right? Everyone with me? Okay. Okay. We'll do this next point and we'll take a break. Okay. Be clear about non-negotiables. Right? Luke 9.62. Let's read that. Luke 9.62. But Jesus said to him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Okay. Now, there are some things you and I cannot sell out on. Right? Oh, for the sake of money, for the sake of benefits, or for the sake of anything, you need to have non-negotiables. Right? What is the meaning of negotiable? Change? Yes. Yes. If you go to a store and you see the, you know, you want to buy something and you say, the storekeeper says it's thousand rupees. You say, hey, come on. How can you say it's thousand rupees? You got to reduce it. He says, okay, it's negotiable. I will negotiate that rate for you. I'll give it to you for 800 rupees. Say, okay, fine. So what is the storekeeper done? He's negotiated from his original cost. Right? But some storekeeper says, you do what you want. I'm not going to negotiate that amount. Right? So you and I as believers must have non-negotiables. That means if people come and say, can you do this and you know that it's not in line with God and you know that it is against God's word, you have to be able to say no. It's a non-negotiable. You cannot say, okay, I'll think about it. Right? Or give me two days time. Give me a week's time. I'll let you know. No, it's a non-negotiable. So what are some of those non-negotiables? Areas in our life are not up for bargain. They are integrity. Number one, integrity. To walk in integrity. They're non-negotiable. If people come and say, you know, as you may be in the corporate sector, your boss will come up to you and say, hey, you change this so that our team will get higher points. And then we'll be the best team. And so all of us can get the rewards for being the best team. What would you do at that time? Again, we talked about it, right? This is office. This is not praise the Lord gang. This is office. So the boss will say, just make the change in this report. If you make the change, if you agree to it, the entire team will benefit. And we will all get rewarded as the best team. What would you do? What did you do? It sounds good, no? Oh man. All I have to do is change the few things in this report. The boss is happy. Team is happy. I am also rewarded. I am also happy. All three of them are happy, but one person is not happy. God. So non-negotiable. What is it you're going to do? Say no. What if I lose my job? That's okay. You know, we may have commitments. We have a lot of things to do, but it's a non-negotiable. You cannot negotiate those kind of things because it's integrity. God is watching, right? To honesty, to be honest, to be dealing fairly and honoring God with your money, right? Honoring God with your money. It's a non-negotiable. You and I earn, God said, you have to give one-tenth of it and it's an honor to God. It's non-negotiable. Now, again, this is a choice, right? People say, no, I don't have to give, still God will bless me. Okay. But the word says you have to give, right? Then, treating people with respect. If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. Yes? You got to stand for something. And I very clearly remember it was, I think I was in Bible college in the hostel. And I've shared this example, I think. All the boys were, we all stayed together in the hostel. And so one day the principal, that time it was another person. He called all the boys, said, sit on. And he was talking to us and he said, all of you get up for prayer in the morning. I said, oh, yes, sir, we all get up. We all wake up and we're okay. Now, I knew who gets up, who doesn't get up. I'm sitting there in the class. I said, I don't want to be somebody who's, I said, I'll keep my mouth shut. I don't want to say anything. Then after that, I just kept quiet. I didn't say anything. Then this, the principal came up to me and he asked me, well, how is it in the hostel? Do everyone get up? I said, no. Now, I could have said, yes, and save the whole team. I said, no, why? Because one, I didn't want to lie. Two is integrity, honesty. And they all were so upset with me. How can you, you could have just said, yes. I said, how can I say, yes, we are in Bible college. How can I say something that's wrong? I'm not in a corporate, in a normal college. I'm in Bible college. Bible, the 10 commandments, one is don't lie. What do you say? How can I lie? I'm breaking the 10 commandments first. So it became a problem. And they all disliked me. And they, you know, they, they were very upset, very upset. Imagine you enter Bible college, nobody talks to you. Everyone just turned their face. Nobody spoke to me for more than a month. I was alone in the Bible college. And nobody spoke. Nobody told me, okay, this is there, that is there. Okay, we have to go nothing. It was very sad. It was very, I was being very alone. But I said, God, I stood for what is right. He can say, you know, whatever they want, I stood for what is right. But in the end, God will honor you for what you do. It's a non-negotiable. And I was able to, you know, later on was, you know, God opened doors for me to go to different places and minister to different places. Still the Bible calls to them. And it was not because I knew everything, nothing I knew. So sometimes when we have these non-negotiables, you know, on the outside, it may look like, oh, people may mock you, ridicule you. But God is proud of you. God says, hey, he has stood for something that is right. So I got to honor him. Remember today's, last week's yesterday's sermon, take God at his word. His word says, I will please double honor on my children, right? So I'm 72. So be clear of non-negotiables. Whenever bosses say, do things that is in violation to the rules, say no. All right, we'll take a break and we'll come back and we'll continue from here. Thank you.