 Hey, good morning everyone. Welcome to the session. Let's begin this time with a word of prayer before we start off. Anyone of us can pray please? Let's go ahead. Anyone can pray. Successful. Do you like to pray? Okay, let's pray. Father, we thank you for this time. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to come together. But we pray that even as we study a word and learn the God, I pray Holy Spirit that you will minister to us. But we pray Holy Spirit that our hearts will be open to receive your word, to apply your word in each of our lives. We thank you Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Okay. We last week we completed chapter 20. We looked at retirement, saving, retiring and beyond. Saving, investing, retiring and beyond. Today we go to the last is chapter 21 and chapter 22. Chapter 21 is entrepreneurship. Now we talked a little bit about entrepreneurship earlier on. But let's just look at a few scriptural insights on. When we talk about entrepreneurship, it basically means whether it is starting your own business, small-scale or big-scale business, or if we translate it to what we are doing in the for the launch. Luke 14, 28 and 30, if one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and figure out what it will cost to see if you have enough money to finish the job. If you don't, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation and all who see what happened will make fun of you. You began to build but can't finish the job, they will say. Now entrepreneurship is a gift. And many of them say it's a gift that people are born with. So some of just had that entrepreneurial skill, the skills to develop new products, develop new ideas. But in entrepreneurship, we must understand that even before we start something, we need to plan it well. Right? So the worst here, the Lord Jesus is talking about in Luke 14, he's talking about this. He's saying, if you're planning to build a tower, first sit down, think about how you're going to do it. Plan it out and then start, lest you start. And then you're unable to finish it and people are going to ridicule you. Right? So be clear about the ideas, the business model, the business plan. Not at all on paper. Write it down, write down your plans, prepare well before you launch. Now if it's a ministry that you're starting, you're planning to start, it can be, it may not be a church, but it could be something small that you're planning to start even in your home. Prepare well. Put down pros and cons. These are the pros. These are the cons and see how you can navigate between the cons. Because when you have a long list of challenges or cons that you see, you need to develop strategies on how you will face those challenges even before you launch something. Right? Be diligent about these things. The idea, the business model, of course the other things will be your values, your way of raising up leaders, financials, everything. You've got to be clear on how you do that. Right? Now secondly, determine to do business God's way. Apply biblical principles to develop your business. Right? Now especially if you're in a corporate setting, doing business God's way is important yet challenging. Right? But we can apply biblical principles to develop our business. Now when we look at the world, a lot of organizations use biblical principles. They may not believe in the gospel or they may not believe in the Bible, but biblical principles are definitely being used. Right? Joshua 1A says, and don't for a minute let this book of Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night. Make sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going. Then you will succeed. Now you take the context, followers, sorry, this letter written to Joshua. Joshua is writing it and he's talking about, he's reminding the people. Right? He's reminding the people of Israel who have come out of this 40 years gone into the Promised Land and he's saying, don't let the book of Revelation, meaning don't let what God has spoken to you. You know, just be thrown out of the window, ponder on it, meditate on it and when you do that, you will succeed. Now in terms of making decisions, right? Because we all make decisions preferably. So certain questions that we can ask ourselves, right? When we're making a decision, do you want to make the decision alone or if you have partners, do you want to make the decision with partners? Who would be your, you know, your co-founders? Do you want the organization to stay small in a comfortable size or do you want the organization to become a big, large organization? Do you want to retain control or the power of attorney for the entire organization or do you want to split it up? How are the, how is the capital, meaning the resources being brought in, how are the resources being sent out? All these decisions must be done God's way, right? So when we look at God's work, I'm sure there are, there is a lot that we can learn, right? Entrepreneurial mindset, motivators, behaviors, character development, you know, timeless principles that we can use to establish kingdom priorities, kingdom focus and especially if it's a church then you've got to be full in if it's your own ministry that you're starting. Even though it's small, you know, we need to have these in place and biblical principles. You know, when a church is small, you may be getting about example, right? Maybe 10,000 rupees as your monthly, you know, tithes and offerings, right? I'm talking about a very small church, right? But as the church grows, you have 100, 200, 300 people, all of a sudden there's a lot of income, a lot of people are giving to the Lord then apart from tithes and offerings, people give for other, of other things, right? Within the church, people give as they are led. How will we, you know, use those resources? How will we use the money? Are we following biblical principles, right? So these are things when we start small and we have these things set in place as we grow and follow the same pattern, right? Three, don't be distracted by quick success. You are in for the long haul, Proverbs 2021. The more easily you get your wealth, the less good it will do you, right? If we experience quick success, it's wonderful, it's great, but don't let it distract us. Stay focused on the vision, the mission, stick to the values and the cultures that you have set in place. When we look at, you know, if you look at the corporate sector right now in our nation, there are, there are a couple of organizations that we know of, especially, you know, now with online things going online, these, you know, apps that are coming in, you know, success is very often it can be, if a product clicks, it clicks and success can just happen overnight, right? When I say overnight meaning in a short time itself. So in ministry also, you never know, you know, suddenly you may have a whole, you know, many people coming into your ministry, many people just, you know, giving to your ministry. Now, all of a sudden, so for example, you have 50 people, now they're maybe 500, 600 people, you know, period of six months, it's very easy to get distracted with that success. So it's good, it's good to have success, but it's also important that you stay the course. God, this is what the organization stands for, whether we are 50, whether we are 500, this is, these are certain things. This is the vision, this is always there in front of us, and we will stick with these values, right? So don't be distracted with quick success. I would say that when success comes in stages, it's more tastier. It's beautiful when success comes in stages. You just relish those, you know, you feel, okay, hard work is being paid off, but there will be times. Success just comes, it falls into your lap. Don't be distracted. Don't be hasty for profit. Proverbs 28-22, a man with an evil eye hastens after riches does not consider that poverty will come upon him, right? Now, profit is important, whether it is, you know, in any organization, nobody's running a charity, right? If you're an entrepreneur, you started your business, you're running it for profit, right? You obviously want to see your profit. If it's ministry, you're not running it for a profit, you trust God to just meet our needs, and to provide our needs, and to continue to be a blessing, especially if you're in the corporate sector, don't be hasty for profits, right? There will be times when you can take shortcuts to make a quick profit, but refuse it, right? Don't compromise on your principles, on your values just to see success, right? Build strong even if it means it takes time, right? Even if it takes time, you build yourself strong. Don't take shortcuts, right? You know, nowadays, one of the things I've noticed, especially in ministry is, you know, I get to speak a lot to a lot of young people, and they come and say, hey, I wish I can preach, I wish I can teach, and you know, just be prophetic, have these words of knowledge, and it's wonderful. They have the desire, they want to do it, and they want to do it. They generally want to grow on the law, they want to do it. And one of the questions I ask them, and I purposely ask, is not to bring condemnation, but the reason I ask is so that they can help think and improve themselves. And I say, so if you want to get to this place of preaching, teaching, ministering to people, and doing all of this, go by stages. They eventually, what happens is they want to, from one level, they immediately want to go to the highest level, and that's normally how God does not work. God does not work that way, right? He doesn't, normally he doesn't do it. He takes us through stages. But one of the things I always ask them is, how much time are you spending with the Lord? And many times they say, you know, maybe half an hour, 45 minutes, and I tell them that's not enough. Now if you desire something that is really high, of course there's God's grace, that you know, God does not, you know, we're not going, we're not asking, you know, God, I'm going to pray for three hours, will you make me, give me opportunities, and that's not the point. The point is, when we want something, we got to do, you know, there are things that we don't know, God to minister to us, use us in our nation and the nations and all of it. There's a work that we have to do, right? We have to go back, spend time. There is a sacrifice. There's a price that we must pay, right? And of course, when we do that, when God opens those doors for us, it is wonderful because we're not hasty for profit, we're not hasty for success. And when we go through those stages, it's beautiful. It's basically building a foundation for us, right? First, plant your fields, then build your barns. Proverbs 24-27 says that first, plant your fields, then build your barn. If you build a barn without planting your field, it's going to be empty for a long time until the harvest comes. And if you have built your barn, but you have no plantations in your fields, that things, it's of no use, right? Stay focused on what is important and work hard. Let me just picture this. You have a field, right? And there's a barn, but we haven't done any plantation, right? What is the use? We should first plant, and as the plants are growing and you know it's time for a harvest, you build a barn so that whatever is harvested, you take it, you put it in the barn and everything is settled in the right way. The barn can be built once the fields have been planted, right? So plan or see, remember we talked about this, know what is important. No, when we talked about, I think it was work-life balance, know what is important. That the barn is important? Yes. But what's more important than the barn, the plants, right? If I don't do the A and I'm directly going to the B, who will do the A? Right? So first plant your fields, then build your barns. So basically what we're trying to say is do what is important first and out of that do the other things, right? One of the important things that I always tell when I meet, you know, very occasionally we meet pastors from different villages and rural areas. The first thing I ask them is, have you registered your church? And most of them don't even know what is the vision. They don't, there's no vision. This is a church, you know, we don't blame them because they just started off their home and not very learned. Things I encourage them to do is get to a lawyer and get the church registered. Because when you do that, you're doing it in the right way, right? Keep a close eye on what brings in the bread and butter. Proverbs 27, 23 to 27. Look after your sheep and cattle as carefully as you can because wealth is not permanent. Not even nations last forever. You cut the hay and then cut the grass on the hill sides while the next crop of hay is growing. You can make clothes from the wool of your sheep and buy land with the money you get from selling some of your goats. The rest of the goats will provide milk for you and your family and for your servant women as well. So as your business takes shape, there will be many things that are critical, many non-essentials, many non-critical things that come up. There are many things that can come as distractions. Now choose, there are opportunities which may come in which we may have to say no to. Stick to what is good for your business. Now when we look at it in a, when we talk about ministry, there will be many opportunities that come our way. Now we must carefully see, is it in line with what I want to do? Is it in line with the ministry? Is it in line with the vision? Is it going to be something that is going to build the kingdom of God at the overall picture? Is it going to bless people's lives? Is it going to raise up discipleship? Or is it going to increase in ministry, evangelism? Are these things going to happen? So choose, think about what is, keep a closed eye whether this is the entrepreneurial sense, your bread and butter, meaning when your income, where is the place where you get the most income. And in the ministry side, where is the place where you can be more effective? And so think about that as well. Keep a close eye on the core of your business or the core of your ministry. Stay clear of pride that comes with success. Probably 16, 18 right goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall. Now obviously, you know, when a ministry is small or when a business is small, nobody is, you're not, nobody is looking at you, nobody is even talking about you. But as the business grows, as the ministry grows, stay clear. This is a hard condition. Stay clear and stay away from pride. Always acknowledge God as you continue to walk in humility, continue to operate in the principles of God. And we all know this structure is dangerous. Whether it is in the corporate, whether in ministry, and it's sad to say that right now when we look at ministry, you know, pride has caused so much, so much of trouble. And many leaders have fallen because of pride. So that's a hard attitude. We need to make sure that we don't fall for it. Your personal income and benefits keep it right. Now, for example, you're an entrepreneur, your business is growing. You know, of course, you know, your need, your income from that, right? So, you know, pay yourself well, there are benefits within the organization, organization, use it, but let it be equal to all of them who are in the workplace. So for example, now, you're a, for example, you're an entrepreneur, you're the leader, but you pay yourself well, and then pay your team also well, keep it right. And when you also, when you do this, also make sure that you're not indulging yourself too much, right? Avoid excesses, avoid things that you feel that you wouldn't need. You know, you don't have to live to prove other people. You see what you need, what is needed for you, and that's more than enough, right? We don't have to live to prove, hey, you know, see, this is what I do. This is what I don't have to do that. So basically, this is walking in humility and keeping things right. Multiply what you have by empowering others. Matthew 13, 31, and 32, Jesus told them another parable, the kingdom of heaven is like this, man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds come and make their mess on its branches. Multiply what you have by empowering others. You can empower other people in many other ways, like providing education, paying for their education, providing them with small job opportunities, you know, providing them with, you know, family benefits, health insurances, simple things, right? Medical health. You can empower others to be self-sufficient, right? By helping them start small businesses, you know, rural, in rural settings. And what about in ministry? You know, this is what we are called to do, right? Empower others, raise up other leaders. So we do that. We help rural churches, smaller churches, smaller ministries, plant ministries, build ministries, and we're able to look after them. So multiplying by empowering others. And then finally, the woman entrepreneur can be a virtuous wife, mother, and homemaker, right? Now, as a woman, right, speaking to all the women here, God has called you to be an entrepreneur. Wonderful, right? But also be a virtuous wife, mother, and be there for your family, right? And it's wonderful, right? And we always believe that men and women are equal. God has created us alike. We have the same Holy Spirit inside of us. So God can use us powerfully, woman. God can use you powerfully, right? Or give you wisdom to start businesses, multiply businesses, you know, to be a manager of both the house, the family, the children, and also be an entrepreneur. And this is wonderful. Because when we do this, you know, it's a virtuous woman as the book of Proverbs talks about, right? So we complete this chapter, let's get into the last chapter, chapter 22. Any questions? Any questions on this chapter? I know we just, we're just touching the entrepreneurship is a big, big topic. We can talk about it for days. There's a lot of material, but these are just a few pointers. And I'm just trying to translate both in the workplace and in history. So any questions? Shall we get to the last chapter? It's a small chapter, workplace transformation. Okay, so workplace transformation, what is transformation? Oh, you know, you and I, each one of us, whichever sphere of influence that God has put us in, we can be an influence in that place. We can change things around in that sphere of influence, right? Now, how do we do that? It's not going to happen overnight. It's not going to happen just by, you know, just by doing it on our own strength. Workplace transformation happens when we, when we use the principles of God, when we have certain godly principles, and we begin to reflect that in our work, right? And each one of us, you know, wherever we are, it could be the most meager job that we're doing. We can cause a transformation. Now, it could be just, you know, three or four people believing in, you know, or seeing us and three or four of our colleagues seeing and talking about us. That's a workplace transformation because things are changing. People are looking, people are watching. So let's look at a few points on how you and I can be agents of transformation in our workplace, right? First one, initiate a culture shift. Matthew 5, you are the salt of the earth, Matthew 5, 13 through 16. You are the salt of the earth. If the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing, but to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under the basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. What a wonderful example Jesus comes up with, right? This, the reality is he says, you are the salt and you are the light. Salt permeates, light penetrates, right? And as followers of Jesus, salt and light, both influence our environment, both influence. Imagine there's darkness and you switch on the light, there's light. The light is not thinking twice, oh, should I come on? No. And if there's food without salt, it could be the most expensive food, but without salt, it's going to be tasteless. The moment you add salt to it, it is transformed. The taste changes. When you're in a dark room, the moment you switch on the light, the place is transformed. It's gone from darkness to light. And we have been commissioned. Jesus is saying, you are the salt, you are the light. And wherever you are, we can influence the world, right? We can influence the world by initiating a culture shift, a change in the mindset that accepts things the way they are, right? You do this by walking in the timeless principles that God has for us. You do this by walking in the character of Christ. Wherever we are, we can be salt and light, get commissioned to be that. Now, is it going to be easy? No. Is it possible? Yes. It is definitely possible, right? And I have plenty of examples of, you know, remember this happened in, I forget which revival was this workman's revival. I think it was that where these two men who were in the corporate sector happened in the early 1800s, early 1900s, who were working businessmen. And one of them had this whole, you know, reading the Beatitudes, had this whole thing, hey, I've called to be salt and light, but I'm not doing anything about it. So he decided we will begin a prayer for 15 minutes in the office during the break time. And this is when during the time there was no cell phones, no, you know, laptops, nothing, right? And they started this prayer. And this prayer went on for many, many, many years causing a whole outpouring, a whole revival started off with two people. And we talked about revivals of God, I mean, saw the Welsh revival, the different revivals that happened over the years, all started off small, but it shifted the culture of the entire society, right? We can be an initiator, so culture drift in our workplace, wherever we are. Create a constructive change, Matthew 13, 33, another parable he spoke to them. The kingdom of God is like leaving, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was leaving, right? It only takes a small amount of yeast to affect the entire dough, which is mixed. The kingdom of God is so just a little bit of yeast is able to affect the entire dough. Just a little bit of the glory of God, the power of God, and God using just a few of us can affect the entire dough. The entire workplace can be changed. So what do we need? We need the power of God. We need the power of the kingdom, kingdom values, kingdom authority to be released through us. We start small. Now, many times people come and say, hey, those days, you know, revival was there because there was a need. Now there's no need. And that's not true. There is a need for revival. There is a need. There is so much need for a revival. And when we look at, you know, the book of revelations and we talk about those three and a half years, great tribulation, look at a great world revival that is going to happen through the two witnesses and many other believers. So revival is needed. It's a constant. It is needed every moment until the coming of the Lord, right? So create constructive changes in the workplace, right? In an environment where there is dishonesty and corruption, step in and demonstrate integrity and challenge people to do the same. In an environment where there is hostility and strife, step in and demonstrate love and kindness. In an environment where there's injustice and abuse, step in and demonstrate justice and the goodness of God. In an environment where there is greed and self-aggrandizement, step in, grandizement means self, you know, there's this pride or a feeling of, you know, wanting to be known and famous and popular. Step into the place and challenge and demonstrate sharing and generosity. Now, trying to be a change, you know, trying to be this salt and light calls for wisdom, calls for courage, calls for strength. People may ridicule, people may mock at us, but you know, if God has called us to be salt and light, we are to do our best for it to be that right. Next one, be a transformational leader, John 10, 11 through 14. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He's only in it for the money. The sheep don't matter to him. I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep. My own sheep know me. There are two kinds of shepherds. Jesus is talking about here. One is a shepherd who is a good shepherd. He's looking after his own sheep. Even if a wolf comes, he's willing to stand for a bear or a lion. He's willing to stand, put his life on the line to protect his sheep. We have another shepherd who is if the sheep is not his and the moment he sees his life is in danger, he's going to run away and the sheep are destroyed. Which kind of leader do we want to be? Good leaders care and serve the people they serve the people they need. The others do it just for themselves. Now, you and I are called to be transformational leaders. If we want to transform an organization, if we want to transform communities, we need transformational leadership and we can use this value. This value that God is teaching us. Be there to care, to protect and to provide for your team. Teach them. A good shepherd does not only love and care, but he also corrects and instructs. Leads them in the right way. We got to balance both of these. There's love, there's care, all of it, but there's also correction, instruction, exhortation. All of it should be there in a transformational leader. Finally, last one. Demonstrate the kingdom in the workplace. Acts 17, 16 and 17. Now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him. When he saw the city was given over to idols. Therefore, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. So later on, we see in this chapter, Acts 17, we see that Paul goes on to preach in Athens and what happens? There's a shift. They call him to Mars Hill, the place where the aeropagus, he preaches the gospel there and people believe in Jesus and a church is started. What happened? He demonstrated kingdom values. He demonstrated the power of God's kingdom in that place. God is interested and God is involved in our workplace today. Our knowledge, our science, technology and all our intellectual prowess we have gained have divested the workplace from the presence and the power of God. But remember, it is God who gives us the knowledge, the wisdom, the technology. Everything was given by God. So we need to let people know how to experience and how to walk in this knowledge of God. There are a lot of things that we can do. We can always rely on the supernatural. There are things that science and technology cannot explain. If you've got a friend in the workplace who can share this many years back, this man is a friend of mine in the workplace. Not a friend, but he would always walk and ridicule and he would be really upset whenever he sees me. He would be angry. But one day he came up to me and he said, you are this Jesus boy and all right? So this is what's happening at home. Mother is going through this sickness, this illness for many years. I'm not going to ask you to pray, but if there is a God, my mother is a good woman. She lost her father in the young age. She's the only one that is there for me. Even if she dies, anyway, I don't believe in God. So what kind of a God will do these kind of things? And he was just upset and angry with me. And I remember telling him, hey, it's the way God works with people. It's not God's fault. He was not willing to listen. And I remember telling him, can we pray for your mother? And he said, you pray. I'm not going to pray. And we pray. And I remember after a couple of days, he came back and he said, my mother's discharged from the hospital. The doctors don't know how everything became all right. And this really changed his mind. He stopped ridiculing, mocking. He stopped using overtime. He stopped using bad words. He stopped getting angry with people. And next thing I noticed that he would come and sit next to me every time when we were in office. And he began to spend a lot of time with me. He began to come for those morning prayers which had started. And God just changed him. Just there's a big transformation in his life from this arrogant, rude person to just being quiet and very humble. And I'm surprised of his humility. He became so humble that it didn't matter to him what people say, what people spoke. He was very humble. How is that because of the Holy Spirit? And God is calling us to demonstrate this kind of kingdom principles in the workplace. Wherever we are in our workplace, in our communities, pray that God can use us through the gifts of the Spirit, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit to demonstrate values of God, wherever we are. So that way we will truly be salt and light. All right. So we have completed our portions. Thank you so much each one of you for joining along. I really enjoyed studying this and reading and teaching this entire book. And I just pray and believe that each one of us, including me, we will continue to use these principles and continue to reflect on them, use them for the glory of God. Any questions? Any thoughts before we close for this semester? No questions? All right. So let's just close and pray. Maybe one of us can just pray. Just thank the Lord for this entire semester, for this entire study and close. Anyone like to close and pray? Yeah, let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to the end of the name of Jesus. We thank you for this day. We thank you for this course. Whatever we have learned, Jesus, we thank you for guiding us throughout this whole course, helping us to understand a lot about how to conduct ourselves, how to reflect you in the workplace, Jesus. God, I pray that whatever we have learned, we will put it into practice. We will be doers of the world. Let us not forget anything that we have learned so that we can glorify you through our life, through our actions. No matter where we go, we can reflect you, your love, your kindness, your compassion. And God, we can lift your name above all else. I thank you for all my classmates. We thank you for Pastor Paul. We thank you for blessing him with your knowledge so that he can be a blessing to others. Be with us and guide us throughout the session. We thank you for this whole semester, everything that we have learned. We give you all the glory, all the honor with a grateful heart. We say a big thank you to you, Jesus. We love you and we honor you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Jafina. Thank you, everyone. Have a wonderful break and I'll see you next semester. God bless. Bye now.