 Right, good morning everyone. Good morning to our students online and those here as well. Let's begin this time with a word of prayer and we'll get into our teaching sessions. Okay, let's pray. Father, we thank you once again for giving us a new week in our lives ago. We're grateful for everything that we are learning. Lord, we pray that you will continue to minister to us even as we study these principles that you have placed Lord, these godly principles. I pray that you will enable us God to apply these principles in our lives, in our personal lives, in our work, in everything that we do God, that we may see, fruit, we may see that Lord, you are granting us your favor. Lord, we thank you. We just submit these two sessions into your hands Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay. All right, so we're in chapter 9 and we stopped in between chapter 9. So let's let's get to the point where it says develop workplace etiquette and cultural sensitivity. And develop workplace etiquette and cultural sensitivity. All right. Hold on. Let me just try to present the notes. Okay. So Proverbs 23, 1 to 3. Go ahead. Anyone would like to read? Proverbs 23, 1 to 3. When you sit down to eat with someone important, keep in mind who he is. If you have a big appetite, restrain yourself. Don't be greedy for the fine food he serves. He may be trying to trick you. This verse is quite stern, right? When you sit down to eat with someone important, keep in mind who he is. If you have a big appetite, restrain yourself. So again, the point that Solomon is trying to bring is to have good workplace etiquette. Now the word etiquette means, simply means manners, right? The way we conduct ourselves, right? It is important to make it easy for people to relate to you, right? It makes it a pleasure to be around you. How you present yourself and how you interact with people in the workplace environment determines how effective you will be in your communications within your organization, right? Look at this. Standing straight, sitting erect, body language, eye contact. Have you spoken to people and you know you're speaking to them, but they're looking everywhere. They're looking at the stars. They're looking down. That's a very bad habit. It's not a good thing. It only shows that the person is not being respected. So always remember to look at a person when they are talking to you, right? That's very important. Proper attentiveness, proper dress code, punctuality, orderless, personal hygiene Very important, keeping your mobile phone on silent mode during a meeting. It is a basic etiquette. Okay, you don't have to check now. No, the reason it's, these are things that are basic, right? And what happens is, you know, when you have these values in place, you know, okay, these are certain things I will do. And it could also be, you know, when you're having your food, right? How do you eat? You may be as hungry as a lion. You don't grab the food and just gulp it in your mouth. You eat it knowing that, okay, I'm at a workplace. At home, it's a different story. You can be yourself. But always remember that etiquette, especially when you're outside in the workplace, is very important. Learn to apologize for the mistakes that you make, right? Pay attention to cultural backgrounds, because what may be accepted in one culture may not be accepted in another culture. And this happened to me once, you know, in the workplace. I'm a pure non-vegetarian. Okay, so we had the workplace. And then there were a lot of guys who were vegetarians, right? And I would say, Hey, what is this? It's okay. I will eat whatever I want to eat. You know, but then I realized after some time that people didn't want to sit with me and people were like, you know, hey, you know, and I realized it's my mistake because I acted too smart by saying that, okay, so just being sensitive, right? And so and like, you know, we also have believers who are, you know, who have come from a Hindu background and they're, you know, like yesterday we had our church services and we had lunch together. And we have, you know, two, three families who were from Hindu background, but they all ate vegetarian, right? Because for them, it's, they've been doing it for years. It's not something that I should go and say, Hey, now you're a believer, you can eat what you want. I don't have to, that's their food preference. It's basic cultural sensitivity. I'm being sensitive to people. And when you're meeting with senior leaders, walk in wisdom, it is best to take your rightful place. Don't try to promote yourself, right? Remember that promotion comes from the Lord. Yes, you work hard. You be honorable in your work. Be faithful in your work. Promotion will come for you. You don't have to please your boss. Right. No matter what, no matter which organization, whether ministry, whether workplace, you don't have to please anybody. You do your work, do it effectively, be faithful. Promotion comes from the Lord, right? When the heat is on, behave wisely. First Samuel 18, 13 through 15 and verse 30. Let's read that. Therefore Saul removed him from his presence and made him his captain over a thousand and he went out and came in before the people and David, David behaved wisely in all his ways and the Lord was with him. Therefore when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. Then the Prince of the Philistine went out to war and so it was whenever they went out that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul so that his name become highly esteemed. This is a classic story of jealousy and how jealousy can lead to murder. We always look at how what pink Saul did. But if you look at the other picture, look at David, you know, pink Saul is targeting David. But David is saying he's acting wise. Say, he's the king, one he wants me right in front in the battlefield. I'll go. I'll not argue that. He behaved wisely and then later on he made him his son-in-law and yet he was targeting him. Yet David was wise. He didn't say, you know what, now I've got, you know, 400-500 people with me. I can, do you think David could have killed Saul, King Saul? How long would it have taken for him? One evening's work. One stone with a sling, yeah. If he didn't go live, it would have taken no time, right? He could have finished him off but he acted wisely. In the workplace, there can be people who sometimes who are bosses and leaders who, you know, try to have their own personal agendas, there's politics and all of it. When the heat is on, behave wisely. And I would say the best way to behave wisely is to keep quiet, right? There are times we'll have to present our case, but most of the time when the heat is on, stay quiet. Let the Lord fight your battles, right? Let the Lord speak on your behalf and, you know, a boss could be unfair. He may overlook your good works, learn to be bigger than these things. Yes, we may feel bad. Hey, I've been working here for so long. Nobody has, you know, appreciated me. That's all right. Sometimes we tend to overreact. Fight for your rights but do it at the right time, right? Not when the heat is on, right? So just be wise on how you behave and David did that. He behaved wisely, right? But imagine, you know, I always, when I read scriptures, I always imagine what would have happened if we had taken the other step. What would have happened? What if David killed Solomon? Sorry, David killed King Saul. What would have happened? Would God have said, you know, I didn't ask you to do this? Now, you know, because of this, I will not make you the king of Israel. Could have happened. God told Moses, don't hit the stone. Just speak to it. He hit it. God told Moses, from the rivers of Kadesh, you will see the people walk into the Promised Land. You will not go in. But God, you, I did everything from the burning bush till now have been obedient. Now you're letting me see the Promised Land. You're not letting me go in. See, that's why I love first Samuel. I think it's first Samuel 15. He says, for God, obedience is better than sacrifice. And so David was obedient. He acted in wisdom, right? Stay clear of meaningless arguments, Proverbs 3, 30 and 31. Proverbs 3, 30 and 31. Don't argue with others for no reason, when they have never done you any harm. Don't be zealous of violent people or decide to act as they do. In the workplace, you will have discussions, right? But whatever organization, even if you have five people in an organization, you have to have discussions, right? Now, sometimes these discussions can get into arguments, gets into an argument, stay away from it. Stay, just keep quiet, right? Because sometimes these well intended discussions, when they become arguments, it becomes a meaningless argument. People are talking out of personal agenda, they have a personal vendetta, meaning they have something against you, right? So they'll say, no, they'll start, you know, arguments. They'll pick up something you did two years back and bring it up now. That's there, right? Did it happen to Daniel? There was nothing wrong with him, but they tried to find something in this fellow, Daniel, right? And did Daniel go and fight his case? Hey, why you want to put me in the lion's den? I heard it. Now, the interesting part is, in Daniel 6, Daniel is the governor. So for them to write and say, okay, those who don't worship, this God would be thrown into the lion's den, Daniel would have given his signature, his seal would have been there. Do you think he wouldn't have known? He didn't say, no, I'm not signing this. He said, I'll sign. You want me to sign? I'll sign. It didn't affect him. He stayed clear of meaningless arguments. Why? Because he knows, God is there, right? If I argue with these three people, they won't meet them. If I argue with them, there is no point. They're only going to make up a story and go tell the king something else, right? So, okay, I'll give you a seal. Now Daniel knew he's not going to do it yet. He may have put the seal, right? So stay clear of meaningless arguments. Differ the discussions to another day or choose another approach, right? Now, even in our office, right, in an organization that we, especially ministry, see, we all have different strategies and different plans, right? And the media team will want to do it one way. The graphics team may want to say, hey, we'll do it this way. Or as the pastoral team or in charge of the ministry, I would want it that way, right? So we got like three, four ideas. But the best part is when we come together and we collaborate and we put all those ideas together, right? Number one is we see that there should not be any personal agenda. I don't have anything against him. He doesn't have anything against me, right? Now, were there disagreements? Yeah, they were, right? Many times I said, hey, can we do it this way? Then I was wrong. And so they said, no, you know, we should have done it this way. I said, okay, yeah, I think we will do it the next time we'll do it this way. Many times, you know, we've tried, but in all of it, we try to avoid getting into meaningless arguments. Now, of course, this is a church, so it's easy to, you know, work like this. But even in an organization, you ask God for favor, Daniel didn't work in the church. He was not looking after the temple of Jerusalem. He was working in Babylon, one of the worst places to work in at that time. Right? And so, especially when you're in a discussion and you feel that everything is getting heated up, choose another day for the discussion. Right? So, so for example, in Bible college, you have two of them fighting and you are standing there. They don't fight. Okay, I'm just saying example. There's a misunderstanding. You're standing there, but that this thing has become argument has become too much. I don't keep continuing and talking there. Different to another day, I will meet tomorrow 3pm. Right? So things are, you know, you're not getting into meaningless arguments. When a coworker underperforms or violates rules, handle it cautiously. Proverb study 10. Don't blow the whistle on your fellow worker behind their backs. They all accuse you of being underhanded. And then you all be the guilty one. In an organization, remember, you're all working together, you'll have people who are underperforming, who are just average people are forming very well. Right? Now, in all of this, there will also be people who will violate rules. Every organization will have rules. Right? Now, what happens when you find out that a person violates rules? Don't always take the matter in your own hands. Right? There could be a team, a HR team. You go and report the matter there. Yeah, I feel that this is what this person is doing wrong. I'm just letting you know, please leave my name anonymous, meaning don't let them know that I'm the one who's, but this is going against the rules of the organization. So I'm just sharing it with you. You handle it. Whether there's a legal team or a HR team, just do it that way. So that way, you are being cautious. Right? Next one. Feedback, pay attention and pay close attention to it. Proverbs 27 21. Proverbs 27 21. The defining part is for silver and the furnace for gold and a man is valued by what other says, say of him, who can give good reasons for their opinions. Nice. Lazy person will think he's smarter than all the seven fellows. There'll be seven smart fellows. The lazy person is saying, Hey, I'm better than all seven of them. It's only words. There's no backup with action. Why? It's very important as as people, right? Whether we are whatever sphere of influence to take feedback. The moment we feel we know everything, that's the end of the story. Right? You cannot do anything. I keep telling my little ones, you know, he's very good in music. So I say, he keep practicing. No, I know everything. So how you know, I don't know everything. How you know everything. No, I know, I know all the songs. So I keep telling it. No. The moment you keep saying, I know everything. I'm not going to say anything to you. I'll say, Okay, good. You know everything. So you got to change the way you think, you know, you got to change, change the way you look at it. Okay, you want to be a drummer, you look at the other drummers, see how good they are. Okay, you have to practice to get there. You can't just say, because I know everything. So these are children, right? But even in adults, there are people who will say, I know everything. But it's very important to pay attention to feedback. As an in an organization, when you have team leaders, managers, they give you feedback, take that feedback, see where you can improve. Right? So one of the things that I do is when people share feedback with me, I don't take it lightly. Right? Remember, I told you, like, you know, one uncle came up to me and he said, Paul, your preaching was very good. All of that. But why are you bent? Why are you bending? I said, No, it's just a habit because every time he said, No, you sound straight. Nothing about preaching. Right? But just a feedback. And he's a grown up, you know, person been with the church for many years. I could have said, forget about the standing. How was the message? A powerful message. No, did you listen to the whole message? That means you are looking at me. You're not hearing the message. This is wrong, right? Don't take feedback lightly. And, you know, so even when you are in an organization, when leaders give you feedback, hey, why don't you come on time? First, you come on time. Don't say that, right? No, it sounds funny. But what happens is we are not taking any feedback. And when we don't take any feedback, we try to defend our shortcomings. So, you know, because I am like this, I'm like this. So I will do it like this. What will happen? You're putting a blockage on our growth. Right? I think, No, I don't want to grow. I will do it my way. And that's very wrong, right? So, recognize areas of improvement, growth, skills, development and work on these areas. There's something called as, we're just reminded of this, you know, when I was working in the IT company, there's something called as a SWOT analysis. That SWOT is strengths. I hope I get it right. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. So we do a SWOT analysis. We used to do it during those days. We used to do it like every half yearly or yeah, it was half yearly. And then, it's a June and December, we would do a SWOT analysis. So we look as a team, what is our strengths? What's our weaknesses? What are opportunities and what are some of the threats to the organization? We do an analysis and we work with that for the entire year. So it enables us to be effective in our work. Always receive correction with a good attitude. Proverbs 12, 1. Whoever loves instruction, loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is a stupid. He's not worried about what people think. Why? Because he's gone through life. He's saying very clearly, whoever loves instruction, loves knowledge. You hate it, you're stupid. So basically, what he's saying is you receive correction with a good attitude and with a willingness to change, work on improvements. And there will be times as a leader, you will be corrected. Now, as students, it's easy to take correction. Okay, okay, pass. I will do it. Okay, sir, I will do it. Okay, ma'am, I'll do it. But when you come to a certain level, 10 years in ministry or 10 years in an organization and someone tries to correct you, what's your name? You know how many years I was here in this organization? Do you know how many years? When you were planning to join ministry, I was already finished 10 years. So that's where humanity comes into place. So no matter how long you're doing something, always remember that there is a place for correction, there's a place for improvement. And when you come to a certain place, when you are willing to take correction, and you bring correction to people, people will take it. People will receive it. If I keep saying, no, I'll do it my way. When I want to correct people as a leader, they're not going to listen to me. They'll say, okay, they may listen out of respect, but they may not apply it. And the point of giving a feedback is for them to apply it, right? So the people who you correct are the ones who you care for, and you want to see them grow and develop and become a better person. So build rapport with them so that they can continue to provide input, right? So even as you are ministering to, not only ministering, but even as you're working in the organization, build rapport with people, right? I shared last week, right? How I would sit with these guys and listen to their calls, right? Build rapport and understand and learn and grow and get better and what I was doing. Be careful as you stand as a guarantor. Let's read Proverbs 11, 5, 15, sorry. And Proverbs 22, 26, and 21. Proverbs 11, 15. He who is 30 or stranger will suffer, but one who hates being 30 is secure. Proverbs 22 was 26 and 21. Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge. One of those who is surety of depth. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you? Words of King Solomon there. Here, basically what he's trying to say is see in an organization, people will come now. For example, I mean, it may not happen always, right? Now you've built a rapport with somebody, you've become friends with them and now they may say, Hey, I'm taking a home loan. Can you become a guarantor? I'm taking a car loan. Can you become a guarantor? First thing you say is no. Okay, right? Because you see the reason I'm saying, saying no is because it says you'll be careful, right? So I've heard of stories where people have gone as a guarantor. The person has bought a house, not even in the same city in their hometown. And this guy's happily gone and he's living there. And this person here is paying the loan. And we're trying to connect with him. Yes, he's in another city. He left the job. He's this other person signed as a guarantor, right? And so even as you stand, if you have to stand as a guarantor, be careful, be wise, right? Don't just sign on the dotted line without thinking, right? Don't get into, you know, it's like you digging a hole and you yourself jumping into it. Doesn't make sense. So just be careful in all of this. Avoid astrologers, horoscopes, fortune tellers and palm readers. Jeremiah 10-2. Jeremiah 10-2. Thus says the Lord, Do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven. For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. So here again in Jeremiah, do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Do not be dismayed at the signs of the heaven. Meaning like, you know, stargazing. If three stars are together today, I'm going to get good food at home, right? Or palm reading, right? And all of these things avoid it. Fortune tellers, the bird will come and take one card and tell you what you are. That bird doesn't know when that bird is going to die. So there's no point in going. And as believers, we must stay away from it. Don't even think about it. Don't even let not the thought itself come because the Bible says that the Lord is the one who sustains us. Psalms 139. He's written all the days of our life, even before one day came to us. So this astrology, horoscopes, palm reading, stay away from it. Especially when an organization don't go to people and people may come and say, hey, why don't we go to the astrologer or fortune teller and see when will we become managers or when will we become CEOs? You tell them, you please go. You don't go with them, right? So just stay away from all of this. They may ask you why, right? You tell them, hey, the reason I'm not coming is because I believe in Jesus and then it gives you an opportunity to say the gospel, right? And even as you, people may call you, don't be rude with them and say, you go, don't do it that way. But be very humble, be very polite. I wouldn't want to come because this is not something that I believe in. So we've finished with chapter 9. Let's get into chapter 10. Any questions? Those online, any questions? Okay, let's get into chapter 10. Oh, this is a very, very interesting chapter. Chapter 10 is planning and execution. How many of us like to plan? Like plan, right? How many of us plan our week or a month or maybe really? Wow, very good. So planning is very important. That is good. But execution is the key. I can have 10 plans and execute none of them. It's just on paper, right? So we must maintain a good balance, right? So, okay, if I plan something, eventually I want to get to execute it, right? So in this chapter, we look at how we can plan scriptural insights on planning and strategy execution, right? And whether again, whether we are in ministry or in an organization working, you will need to plan, you will need to execute, right? And so let's look at a few insights from here. First one, determine the counsel of the Lord, Proverbs 19-21. We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God's purpose prevails. And I like this message translation. We keep brainstorming options. You know what brainstorming means? Like we all come together and we say, hey, how can we make, you know, biryani today? So we have all of us who put in our thoughts and then that's called brainstorming, right? We all brainstorm, but as you plan, get God involved, involved God in your planning, right? You have the natural, but you also ask God for the supernatural, right? I heard the saying, you do the natural, God will do the supernatural, right? So you do the natural of thinking, okay, I'm going to work here for the next one year or next two years. This is how I'm going to plan my day. I'm going to plan my weeks. This is what I'm going to do in a day. You're planning it out, but then you also get God involved. Say, God, these are things that I want to do. I want to spend time reading this book or I want to spend time serving in the church in this way. So you're getting God involved in the planning. Now, it doesn't mean, see, even in the smallest of the plannings, you can get God involved, right? So, for example, Christmas time, and you have to decorate the house. It's, you've done it for many years. So, you know, take a paper, write down, this is what I'll do on 20th, 21st, 22nd, and you write it down. It's not like you have to fast and pray and ask God, what, when should I put up the Christmas tree? So, even as you plan, right, you just open your heart to God and ask Him to give you insights and ideas, right? To get right people involved in the planning. Proverbs 20 and 18. Proverbs 20 was 18. I'm focused by asking for counsel, then carried out using all the help you can get. Get the key people to be involved in the planning process, right? Now, if you look at an organization, you have a CEO, right, or the leader and the pioneer, and then you may have managers, and then you have assistant managers, team leaders, and then maybe quality analysts, and then you go down to the entry level. Now, when you're in an organization, if you are leading an organization, or you're leading a team, get the right people involved to give ideas, to give strategies, share the plan with them, right? Help them to get a clear idea of what the plan is, and how we're going to pursue the plan. One of the things that most organizations have is something called as a core team. Like, where we have like, you know, a leader, and then you have maybe three people. Did Jesus have a core team? Who? Well, disciples and, yeah, go ahead. Why are you so confused? Peter, James, and John. Peter, James, and John. I mean, I'm not saying that he didn't like the others, but in the 12, you know, when Jairus's daughter was dead, what did he do? He took only Peter, James, and John inside, and they were at the Mount of Fransfiguration. Only Peter, James, and John were there. He was, there was something, right? So we don't know what, you know, Jesus did, like, he probably shared ideas with them and said, okay, where to go for next mission strip? Shall we go here? Or probably he did all of that. So when you have a core team, just share your plans, share your ideas, get their inputs, right? And something that we have in APC is we have the pastoral team meeting every month, or first Saturday, we meet together, we discuss. This is what we share our thoughts, share ideas, come up with new plans, new strategies. If there's nothing, and we just continue to just meet, you know, pray for each other, right? So, but then we keep each other informed of what is happening in our ministries, right? Because see, we're all at different locations, we're handling different ministries. So when we come together, we just put it all together and team deliverables, what are we delivering as a team, right? And look ahead, preempt the unexpected, problems 22 and 3. A prudent man who sees evil and hides himself, but the simple pastoral nine are punished. Characteristics of planning. Then we plan of a leader of a leader as well, right? Look ahead. You must be able to envision what your church or what your organization will look like five years or 10 years down the line. And what do you need for that? Plan ahead. Now, yesterday we celebrated how many years APC, 23 years on February 18. What was the vision of the church on February 18, 2001, to be salt and light to the city of Bangalore, voice to the nation and the nations? How many people were there in the church? 12 people. Has that vision changed? It's not changed. It's going to be the same. With 12 people, the vision was the same. With 1000, 10,000 people, the vision will be the same. It is foreseeing, foresight of what we're going to do. Remember, I think it was 2000 and 2009, 9 or 10, when, you know, once Pastor was sharing and he said, one day our Bible college course will go global. I was sitting in the Bible college. I was sitting in church that Sunday. I remember very clearly. We were ministering to people from different countries. I said, how, how we'll go there and plant a church show. We'll go there and started. But look at it now, right? Foresight, right? And look at our publications. We've got a few foreign languages also, right? Russian, French and German and all of those. And it's going to different countries. Foresight, right? And as a leader, we must, in the planning process, we must be able to see ahead. Okay. Now it's 24. In 2020, 8, 4, 4 years down the line. What, what must I see? What do I want to see in my organization? What do I want to see in the ministry? Or what do I want to see in my life? Preempt, right? So you, so for example, for your personal life, you're writing and saying, I want to be a Pastor or I want to start my own business or a school, my own educational school, right? What do I have to do? I have to see it, envision it, look ahead and work on it now, right? Poor, some seasons are more intense than others. Proverbs 10, 5 says, he who gathers in summer is a wise son. He who sleeps in the harvest is a son who causes shame. Now once the planning, once the preparation is done, then comes time for action. That means then comes time for execution. Best example, Joseph, tell me what the dream is the King says. What does he do? He tells the dream. So this is the dream. You will have seven years of abundance, seven years of famine. Okay. Can I go back to my prison? I was just in the middle of something. Did he do that? He gave a solution. He put it into action. He said, okay, here's what we can do. Now, seven years, save up. Next seven years, you will have enough. Not only for Egypt, you can also help others because seven years of abundance. So maybe, you know, God thought seven times more than normal. I'll give you next seven years, you'll have nothing with you. Wise, right? He came up with the idea. And so there was hard work. He had to work hard in that season. Imagine Joseph said, you know, let's take a break. One year break we'll take. I'm sure they didn't because seven years, they knew every grain that is being saved is worth it. It's precious. What would you and I do? If you know next seven years, there's no Wi-Fi. You're okay. But what if next seven years is a famine? What would you and I do? We'll start fasting. So you're looking ahead. Some seasons are more intense. So for example, now when you look at Christmas time, for us as believers, it's more intense. A lot of church events, a lot of things that we're doing within the church. Compared to the other months, usually December is a month that is more intense. So you take it up, right? Take it as an action. Don't say December 1st or no Christmas is coming. Christmas candles and all. No. You take it up as a challenge, right? Put your hands to the task and work. Next. Execution can be messy and destructive, right? Proverbs 14, 14, 14, sorry. We are no oxen are. The row is clean. But much increase comes by this strength of an ox. So when you have oxen and are working in the fields, the troll can get messy. So during execution, other things tend to take on low priority because you have now set your sights on specific goals, right? Now in an organization, right? You may have times when you execute your plans that you have made and more focus is given on a certain decision or a certain plan, right? So for example, you say, okay, when it's usually, when it's March, April, you see most organizations, the accountants are working day and night. Why? Because it's the audit season, right? You look at an accountant during March, April, they'll not respond to your meaning. They'll be so busy. So much of work to get done, right? It's audit. You have to audit the organization. So everything happens. Now during execution, things may get disruptive, right? It may not go as we plan, but you stay the course. Say, okay, if this is something that's not working, let's try something else, right? So you should be able to also be flexible in when it comes to planning and execution. Next, stay focused and avoid distractions. And Proverbs 2, 11 says, the one who stays on the job has food on the table, the witless chase, whims and fancies, right? Focus is an integral part of the execution, focusing on your goals, right? Why is it that people make new year resolutions and by the time it's January 30th, they've forgotten it. Why? February 1st, they were wondering what was my new year resolution? Why? There's no focus. You take a binoculars and you have to probably bird watch, right? What do you do? You focus on that bird, right? You need to focus there, okay? You can't look at the sky and say, where's that bird gone? No, you've got to focus. It's there. Focus your lens to that. Focus means avoiding distractions, right? And here, stay focused. Will distractions come? Distractions will come in 100 ways or more. 100 or more ways distractions can come. What is one way? Phone. Yes? What are the other distractions? Friends. What is another distraction? Sorry? No, phone is number one on the list. It's already shared. Okay, phone, friends, laziness. Failure can be a big distraction, right? When we fail in something, you say, oh man, I don't want to do this. I failed the last time I did it, right? So you stay focused, focused on the idea, focused on what you're doing. Ask God for the grace and stay focused. And eventually, when you stay focused, you will reach that goal. You will reach that goal. If some of you here want to be pastors and you want to start your own ministries, the devil will come to distract you with 100 things. You got to stay focused. You got to say, no, I know there is lots of things happening around me, but I want to focus myself on what I want, what God wants me to do, right? And so no matter what, right, ministry, organization, stay focused in your work, you cannot get work done if your mind is wandering from place to place, right? Even if you're, for example, you're listening to a session, right? And, you know, your focus is going all over the place. That's why the Bible says I take every thought captive. I say, no, I want to learn, I want to sit, I want to listen to this, right? And what you're doing is you're bringing your focus back to what is priority, right? Don't just talk, act, but act on what is really important. Proverbs 14, 23. All labor, there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to forward. Talking is very easy. How many of you have friends who only talk? When you were in school, you would have had those friends. They will keep talking and half of what they say is not true. Only talking, right? You don't, didn't have friends like that? Friends like that, you know, they say, you know, one day I went to this country and I came, I went to, you know, and then you'll talk to them. You'll know that all their life, they're sitting there only, right? See, in your work, in your ministry, don't just talk, let people see it, right? When you talk, act on it. If you say that, hey, one day I'm going to do this, it's good. But again, even when you talk, you talk about it to who it's really important. Don't go and knock on your neighbor's door and say, you know what? God is calling me for ministry. You say, what should I do? Go and start your ministry, right? So you be wise on who you share, what you share, but don't just talk, put it, act on it, right? A wiser thing is, you know, like we talked about it, right? Wisdom speaks only when it's necessary, right? So if you have to say some things, say it and make sure you act on it. If you feel you're not able to act on it, don't say it. I will wake up every day at 4 a.m. and I will read Proverbs 1 chapter every day. It's already 6 a.m., nothing's happened. Don't just talk, but you've got to act on it, right? Next, engage your team. Together, everyone achieves more. Ecclesiastus 49 through 12, let's read that. Just 49 through 12. Who are better off than one? Because together, they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it's just too bad because there is no one to help him. If it is cold, two can sleep together and stay warm. But how can you keep warm by yourself? Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break. So when it comes to execution, you see that it says requires passionate commitment and work from all the people that are involved, right? So many of them may be involved when it comes to getting a task fulfilled. Engage your team. Engage them, right? Give them opportunities. And the work done in a collaborative manner, when you see success, it's so beautiful, right? And progress is monitored and shared with everyone. Probably there are pending tasks, there are challenges, there are delays. Everything can be worked on together, right? So engage your team. Never feel in an organization that you are a one-man show, especially if it's a ministry, never feel that. It can never be a one-man show, right? Engage teams, build teams, engage teams, right? And then eventually you know that you're working towards the vision of the organization, right? Information flows freely in an organization. So there's vertically it flows, horizontally it flows. That means you're able to relate to your leaders, you're also able to relate to your colleagues. Okay, let's do the last point before we take a break. Sorry. Oh, no, there's three more points. Okay, we'll take a break, we'll come back.