 All right. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the session. Let's just begin this time with a word of prayer and we'll get to our teaching session. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this time. We thank you for giving us this opportunity to come together and study your word. I pray God that you will minister to us. You will speak into our hearts together. Everything we learn, we will use it in our lives to build your kingdom. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. All right. Thank you so much for accommodating this change. I couldn't come for the first hour, but we'll just get into our teaching. In the last class, we talked about leadership, quite a big chapter, but we looked at some of the very important points that are required to be effective leaders. So we'll get into chapter 14. Chapter 14 is talking about marketing, brand building and selling. Now, when you talk about marketing, the first thing that comes to mind to each one of our minds is maybe the marketplace. You look at what's happening around us. So basically the process of marketing is understanding customers' needs, creating an awareness, creating a brand and selling that brand. Now, the question comes, how do I create a brand and how do I market the brand? So I know some of us may feel, okay, this feels like MBA, business management, but we're not going to go too deep into a lot of technical side of it, but we're going to look at how we look at certain scriptural principles when it comes to marketing and marketing strategies. So if you and I want to build a brand, we need to have strategies. Those are called marketing strategies. So if you translate this to the ministry, you start a ministry, you need to have a way to build your brand. So for example, you started your own ministry, you have your vision, your mission. You need to have like, it's a brand. Of course, on the bigger picture, it's a ministry, but how will you build your brand? So for example, some of the things that you look at APC, everywhere, we always use our logos. And sometimes in anything that we do, we put a statement to be salt and light. So what is that? That's branding your products. And so let's look at a few scriptural principles and how we can apply this when it comes to marketing, brand, building and selling. First one, let's look at this. Marketing communications. Describe your product accurately. Proverbs 1219, a lie has a short life, but truth lives on forever. So describe your product accurately, meaning whatever you're going to do, describe it accurately. Don't add to it. Don't need to remove anything from it. Don't be dishonest. Don't be disloyal. Don't do things in the lawful manner. Be truthful in your sales and your marketing communications now. So for example, if you're translating this to a church setting, if you're planning to do a worship program or you're planning to do an evangelistic meeting, right? A healing service, for example. You're going out, you're giving out tracks to people. They ask you, what is this all about? You don't say, you know, this is, you come and see or, you know, whatever, you know, it is just something that we are planning to do. No, you tell them what it is. This is a Christian program. We're going to talk about Jesus. We're calling it a healing program because if you believe in healing, we believe that Jesus heals people. And so when we believe in him, you know, Jesus is able to heal us and we tell them the truth. Now, the response is depends on them, whether they like it or not, that's not our, you know, that's not up to us. But what is important is that we speak the truth, right? Avoid being dishonest. Build your brand, a good name and reputation. Money will follow. Proverbs 22-1. If you have to choose between good reputation and great wealth, choose good reputation. Now, this is coming from a person. Solomon is writing this. He's got both actually, right? So he's got reputation. Why? He's the first one to build a temple. David gave him his father. David gave him all the papers, gave him all the ideas and said, Solomon, you build a temple. And of all the things when God said, Solomon, what do you want? He said, give me wisdom, right? And so he had a good name, he had reputation. He had both. But here Solomon is saying, if you have to choose between wealth and a good name, choose a good name, right? Focus on establishing a good name. And this is very, very important when it comes to ministry. A good name, a good reputation. It's very hard to find nowadays, right? But that's a good name and reputation and organization. People will trust you. People will give into your organization or your ministry. People will give. We don't have to force people, hey, can you, you know, we need this, we need that. You have to give, you have to give. We don't have to do that. Why? Because they know that, hey, this is a good name. This person, this organization, the person who's leading the organization has a good reputation. We know that he's not after money. So I don't mind giving it. So people will just come. They will give with all their heart, right? But what's important is to not go after money, right? And we talked about this, right? Because money can change the way we look at things, can change our attitude. It can change our character. Money is the root of all evil. And it's true, right? And that's why Paul writes, and he says, Godliness with contentment is a great gain. Be aware that the enemy can use money to take us away from the call of God. Because initially we are excited to do ministry and all of it. And sometimes, you know, the enemy can say, you know, money starts coming in. And then if we are not guarded, what will happen is we focus more on money than on a good name and reputation. And we look at globally, you know, there's so many, so many, so many ministries who are going through trouble and going through difficulties and challenges. Why? Because they don't have the papers, right? And with that, the good name is just goes away, right? And just what you and I can take 10 years to build can just dissolve in a couple of months, right? So build your brand, focus on what you're doing, focus on the ministry or focus on your business and do it in the right way. Money will come in. Protect your brand. A little foolishness can destroy good reputation. That's what we talked about, right? Protect your brand. Ecclesiastes 10-1 says, dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink. And a little stupidity can cancel out the greatest wisdom. Look at this wisdom from Solomon, right? He's saying he has tasted every single thing he wanted in his life. Fame, money, women, wealth, everything that he needed. He had at his disposal. But at the end of his life, he's saying, listen, you know, a little bit of foolishness can get us, can cancel out the greatest wisdom. And he goes on in Ecclesiastes. He says, everything is vanity, meaning everything in life is useless if it's not from God. It's nothing. It doesn't mean anything. So let me tell you, Solomon was the richest person during that time. And he's saying this, little stupidity can cancel out the greatest wisdom. So every time we are doing something in the ministry, Nikhil, I think your mic is on. Every time we are doing something in the ministry, be wise. Avoid being foolish. Think about your steps. That's why the Psalmist says, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. So think about what you're doing. Don't just do things. Think about what you're doing. Think about how this decision that I'm going to make is going to affect my team. Think about how this decision is going to affect the people, how it's going to affect the organization, and how a decision can affect you personally. So always ensure you're protecting your brand. How do you do that? Have checks. Have counterchecks. So if you have a certain process in place, you check what's happening within the organization. These are certain checks we'll put into place. Now initially, especially if you look at a ministry, you start off a ministry, it's small. You will be doing everything. You will be checking on everything. And then over time, as the ministry grows, you'll have people coming in and doing things for you. Initially, be there. You'll have to keep a check. You'll have to see where the things are going right and build their confidence. And over time, you can just make sure that they do it the right way. But ensure that the brand or the organization in the ministry is protected. Don't let go of that good reputation. I can think of some very, very wonderful men and women of God who have left such a lasting impression on ministry with such good reputation. Flawless, meaning no cheating. Everything has been done the right way. I praise God for these people. And that means what? You and I, with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can walk that way. Guard your intent. Even if packaged well, evil intent will bring disrepute. Would anyone like to read Proverbs 24-8? Go ahead, read that. Proverbs 24 and verse 8. Proverbs 24 verse 8. He who plots evil will be known as a schema. Okay, you're reading from a different version. It says here, the good news version it says, if you are always planning evil, you will earn a reputation of a troublemaker. I like that word troublemaker. You keep doing things that is not right. They'll say, he's a troublemaker. And so in our building, brand building, in marketing, in advertising, the intent is we must not cheat or deceive people because what will happen is over time. They'll say, hey, this is a troublemaker. And we don't want to be known as a troublemaker. If you look at, you know, you have these children in school and I'm sure in your class while growing up in school, you had this one or two troublemakers. Any problem happens. Even if the troublemaker is absent, the teacher will say, where's that boy? Oh, where's that girl? Why? Because he's a troublemaker. Now he's absent. So now the teacher is confused. Who's the second troublemaker who's made the problem? Why is that? Because when somebody is going on trying to do something with evil intent, the organization's reputation gets marred. Can you picture this? Say for example, you are the CEO of a company, you put all your sweat and blood into starting this ministry or an organization and then you hire people, people come in and they do something so terribly wrong that the whole organization gets exposed. Because of that. It's such a painful thing. As a leader, you may have done everything right, but the employee or the person in your team have done something wrong. So it's very important that we check on all of this. Okay, I need to be able to, you know, talk to my team, make sure that they're doing the right things at the right time. Advertisements. Now, when it comes to marketing, obviously, you know, there has to be advertisements and when you look at advertisements, there are plenty of ways that we can advertise, right? Products, products can be advertised online, on video, on audio, only by pictures. And there are different, in marketing, advertisement is very important. Advertisement is basically letting the people know that there is a product in the market which is this and these other things, or this product offers these benefits. So when you are advertising, avoid sexually suggestive and provocative and indecent kind of advertisement. And when we look at, when you look at what is happening around us, right, there's so much that's happening, I wouldn't say it's happening in ministry, but when you look at the corporate world and we look at what's happening, there's so much of, you know, advertising, which more than half of them don't make any sense, right? The product is something, but the ad is completely not making sense, not even in line, right? And, you know, suggestive pictures, indecent advertisements, these are things that, you know, we must avoid, right? Especially if you're in the corporate world and you know you're going to do something of your own product, keep that away, right? Now in ministry, we are not going to think about that, right? We obviously want to do things in line with God's word. But when it comes to outside, especially in the marketplace, be wise, right? And we can also say, you know, there are probably many, you know, I don't watch television, I don't have a television. I don't know what's happening around me when it comes to advertisement, I don't know much about it, but I'm sure there are a lot of advertisements that are clean and make sense, right? And especially if they are good organizations, like reputable organizations, there are, you know, so being right in terms of advertisement as well. Your unique sales proposition must be well-expressed. The USP is what they call it, right? Unique sales proposition must be well-expressed. Proverbs 25-11, an idea well-expressed is like a design of gold set in silver. Now, some of them also say unique sales point. So they call it the USP. So what is that? Basically, now for example, laptops, right? You got a marketplace, you got a world full of digital, you know, new products coming every month probably. We've got plenty, plenty, plenty of companies who have, you know, come up with laptops and there's so much of competition in the market. But a unique sales point or proposition is something that is unique to your product. And that uniqueness must be displayed so that people can see it and say, okay, I want to buy this product because of this. That is, this is unique about this product. And so if you're translating it again in ministry, it is every church, every ministry is unique. All ministries, whether you are a small, big city, town, village, all ministries are unique. And each one of us, each pastor or ministry leader is gifted with certain skills, abilities. So you find out what God has called you for. If you feel that as a church God has called you for more of an evangelistic calling, go ahead, let that be your unique sales point or sales proposition, meaning get people involved, bring people in that area. If you feel that, you know, right now there are ministries who are focused on Bible teaching. People should know the word. It's the word that can help people. So you focus on that. So whatever, you know, you have that gift and grace, use that to your advantage to touch people's lives. It's not like we don't step into unknown territory. We can. But use what God has given you as your strengths. Use it to capture people's attention. And when you and I are capturing people's attention, you must also ensure that you communicate effectively. We talked about that in leadership, right? Leadership says we have people oriented. People skills, very important. I can't say I know the Bible in and out and not have people skills. I should have both, right? So communication with people is important. It is not how much you say, but what you say that matters. That's so important. Proverbs 15-23, a man has joy by the answer of his mouth and a word spoken in due season, how good it is. The right word at the right time in the right season can make all the difference. And we always, you say it in ministry, we say the Reema word, the right word at the right time. Especially, you know, if you're in the marketplace, you need the right word at the right time. You need to know how to speak, what to speak, when to speak. There are times we just need to keep quiet. And sometimes even in ministry, right? Sometimes we're so used to talking as leaders and as pastors. We're so used to giving advice. We're so used to giving counsel. What should I do? Okay, do this. But sometimes it's just keep quiet. Sometimes we don't need words. I can think of a couple of instances where people have come up to me and shared probably a loss in their family. And it's just so heartbreaking. It's not easy. No words can comfort them. All I did is I held their hand and I prayed for them. That's all you can do. There's no words that can comfort them at that time. So it's not how much you say, but what do you say that matters? Whether in the corporate, whether in ministry, learn to have self-control. It's a gift of, it's a fruit of the spirit. Self-control. Self-control doesn't only mean controlling your appetites, your physical appetites, your mental appetites. No. It's also learning how to control your mind, your thoughts, your words, your actions, all of that. So as leaders, we must develop that ability to know what to say at the right time, at the right place. So one of the ways that we must learn what to say, how much to say and what not to say is by listening. Listen to people when they speak. And when they speak, you try to understand, okay, is it something that I'm going to say relatable to what they are saying? If somebody is talking about a product, you know, hey, I'm using this, it's been many years, don't suddenly talk about the weather. Yesterday it was raining. It doesn't make sense because the person is talking about something or probably he or she is sharing something that's happened in their life. But if I say something which is irrelevant, it's just foolishness, you will not be taken seriously. Learn to listen, learn to empathize, learn to sympathize, learn to relate to the person that you're talking to, whether it's customer employee, whether it is pastor, believer, learn to relate to them. Okay, next one. Don't overdo the selling. What would you say it can save your life? Proverbs 13-3. Anyone would like to read Proverbs 13-3? Go ahead, anyone can read Proverbs 13-3. Proverbs 13-3. Careful words make for a careful life. Careless talk may ruin everything. Careless talk may ruin everything. So resist the temptation to overdo selling. Has anyone been here? You were in sales in terms of your work before. Has anyone worked in the sales department before? Anyone here? You can just raise your hand here. You've worked in the sales teams, maybe any call center or bank. Nobody? Nobody's worked in sales? Okay. How many of you get calls right now? I'm sure most of us get. They say, so we have a new product. It's better than this. It's better than that. Then we say, no, thank you. We don't want it now. But most of us, I'm sure, will do get a call. The point is, when we want something badly, we can also step out and go into territory we were not asking where we are not supposed to go. We can get into the temptation of giving wrong details about a product and overdo the selling. I remember, I think it was a couple of months that I worked in the credit card sales department. Oh, I know we would make calls. Basically it was a, you know, we would call people and tell them, this is not Indian customers. This is customers in America in the West. So we would call them and tell them, hey, we've got these new credit cards. This is what the credit cards do. This is the interest rate. This is your benefits for the credit card. And, you know, it's not easy. Here in India, they say, our teams will say, team leaders will say, come on, push for more sales. We need more. Otherwise, you know, nothing's going to work out. Our team is going down. And then on the other side, they are in the US. One, they are wise and Indian calling me. Two, they have many other things in mind. I don't want a credit card. Three, they say, I'm working. Why are you calling me during work? You know, so much that's involved. But sometimes we get the temptation to oversell or overdo our selling. Just stay true to your product. Success will come. Stay true to your product. Guard your mouth. Because we can say things that are not true by overdoing our selling point. And then we may get into trouble. Just guard yourself. Again, you cannot get away with lies for too long. Imagine you sell a product. They take it, but halfway down the lane, they realize it's completely opposite to what was promised to me. And then it becomes a whole big problem. You cannot get away with lies for too long. There are limitations in every product. And so we've got to be fair. Just let them know that this is what it is. Cut out smooth talking and flattery. Don't fall for it. And don't give it as well. Look at this. Proverbs 29.5. If you flatter your friends, you set a trap for yourself. What is flattery? I'm sure you've all seen a balloon, right? You keep blowing a balloon. What's going to happen? It's going to grow bigger, bigger, bigger. Looks good. Lies everywhere. But one pin just breaks that balloon. It's going to burst. Flattery is like that. Sometimes for customers or people who are in the organization, when you meet customers, they flatter the customers. And there are plenty of ways they can do it. And sometimes in the flattery, we end up talking too much. End up making them a big balloon. And that's the wrong thing. Flattery will get you into a trap. Now, how do we translate this in ministry? The best is, and people come up to you and say, Oh, Pastor, you have preached such a wonderful sermon. I've never heard this sermon in 10 years. Don't become a balloon. Because next week, somebody else will come and say, What did you preach? I didn't understand anything. That's one prick. The balloon is burst. Somebody will come and say, Oh, you're so skilled. How well you led the worship? Don't become a balloon. And now that if people keep coming and saying, Oh, you're so good, you're very good in preaching, very good in teaching, very good in ministry, very well you lead the worship. And what's happening? You're blowing into this balloon and we are taking everything. We're getting the flattery is becoming big and big and big. And suddenly, you know, somebody will come and say, You know, the cause you played in the worship is all wrong. Gone. One prick like a pin, it's bursted. What's happened now? All the way from being big. Now you think you're an ant. Why? Because that's what happened. And people give flattery. Now I'm not saying we should not encourage people. I have told people, right? Hey, you, thank you. What you've shared was beautiful. I've shared, right? And people have come and told me also, right? So when they say, Okay, praise God, thank you. Thank you, Lord, for you just give the praise to Jesus. And there are times I've given. I've gone to people I've said, Hey, but I've not flatter them in such a way, you know. Oh, you know, when you walked on the stage, only the fire of God came. I could see in my own eyes that fire was surrounding you the whole time you preached to 45 minutes. The last five minutes, the fire went and spread everywhere. Now, what is happening? This guy is getting fully, he's on fire now. So, no, you don't have to do it. Remember, everything is from God. Without God, we can do nothing. That's established in our mind. That's, it's done. We are nothing without God, right? So, cut out the smooth talking, cut out flattery. If you don't like something, say it. If you like it, say it. Be true to yourself, be true to the customers, be true to the people that you're ministering to. Don't give it flattery. Don't give it. Don't receive it either. I'm not saying people won't come and tell you, especially if you're in leadership, people will come and tell you that's for sure. Wonderful message, wonderful song. Say it. Praise God and finish, forget about it. Don't go back home and write down, okay, this person said, so today I got five likes on my sermon. Don't go to YouTube and say, okay, how many people have watched my sermon? How many people have liked this? What about comments? It's all a waste of time, I feel. You don't have to sit and ponder on that, all of that. Your words must be backed up by your work. Proverbs 12, 14, well-spoken words bring satisfaction. Well done work has its own reward. Back up your words with your work. And this is the, this is key, right? Imagine you're saying, hey, this is what I will do in the organization. How many of you, you know, you have these friends? I remember during college, we had these friends, they keep saying something. They keep saying, I'll do this, I'll do this, I'll do this, but they're not doing anything. There's no backup. So what happens? When you get to know the person, I say, okay, we know this guy is only talking. He's not going to do anything, he's only talking. Why? Because there's no authenticity. There's no backup for the words that they're speaking. If you want people to take you seriously, back up your words with the work that you're doing. So if I say, you know, if somebody comes up to me and says, I want to learn an instrument. And one day I will be leading worship or leading, you know, my own worship team and we will travel all across India and other countries as well, clading worship. That sounds really good. Wonderful to have such a vision and a purpose. And then after six months, I see him and I ask him, or maybe a year, I ask him, so have you joined guitar classes? He says no. Have you bought a guitar? No. Are you planning to buy a guitar? No. What happened? No, I don't want to be a guitar musician. I want to be a preacher now. What's happened? There is, now after one year you meet him, have you joined any course to learn about, you know, if you want to preach, you have to learn the Bible, right? You have to learn scriptures, you have to go in there. No, I haven't joined. So what are you doing one year? I was just thinking about what I must do. Now what does that call? That's all words. That is not backed up with any work. In the marketplace, in the ministry, we got to back up our words with the work. Faith without deeds is useless. So always remember this. A free gift gets attention, use it. Proverbs 18, 16. A gift gets attention. It buys the attention of eminent people. Now, especially when you start a product and you feel, you know, if you go into the supermarket and you buy something, you say, buy one, get one free. Or buy one and you get some of the product free. It gets people's attention, right? But also make sure and sure that the point of entry or the way that this free gift is being given is given in the right way. One of the things I've noticed many a times, I won't say always, is when you buy a product and something is free. Normally, that free product is expired. It's made in 2010. And now it's 14 years ago. We want to say both something and then they said, this is free. And then I saw the expiry date. It was 2012. I said, you managed to keep this for 10 years. I said, yes, sir, we have a go down. We keep everything there for 10 years. So you're giving this free because nobody's buying it and it's more than 10 years old. He said, yes. So I said, I don't want the free product. Just give me what I need. Even when you're doing your marketing, be right. Do the things in the right way. Because of that, the brand or the product that I wanted to buy has lost its value because of what was attached to it. So when things like this, make sure we do it the right way. Peep can thrive among wolves. They stay wise and pure. What a wonderful saying, right? Sheep can thrive among wolves. In the natural, sheep can never thrive among wolves. Wolves will come and tear them apart. It hardly takes a few hours for a couple of wolves to eat up a sheep. Matthew 10, 16, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as dogs. Jesus is talking to the disciples. Listen, you 12 or 11 are like sheep. Later on, they find another person who takes on Judas' place and he says, you 12 are like sheep. You're simple. But now I am sending you among wolves in the midst of wolves. And Jesus is warning the disciples. He's telling them there's going to be risks. But you've got to be prudent. You've got to be sensible. You've got to be practical. You've got to be wise. Sheep, you and I can thrive among the wolves because when we are sincere, when we are godly, when we know that we're doing things in a pure way and we're not doing whatever we're doing for the sake of money only, when we stay wise, when we stay pure, you and I can survive. Next one, negotiation. Patiently, gently press towards negotiations. Now, this is more towards in the marketplace where there will be negotiations that have to be done. Negotiations are important and they have to be done. Be patient, be wise, but also gently press towards it. Don't say, this is what I will do. Now, there are times that can be done, but not always. It's not going to always work. Be patient. So, for example, now, we have a lot of vendors. We have a lot of vendors. We use a lot of vendors without which we cannot do a lot of our ministry. And something that we do is we don't force and say, this is what the amount has to be. We negotiate. Negotiate simply means to sit on the table and say, okay, this is the product that you are giving us. This is the facilities of the product. These are the benefits of the product. Now, when you look at the market, this is what the price is. So, now, this is what you are quoting. How can we come to a better price? That's all. We're negotiating. You gently do it. It's not like negotiating with the vegetable vendors on the street. Sometimes, you know, I don't know how they do these things, but I don't understand that. They already make any income and we sit and negotiate with them. Be wise on how we negotiate and how we are doing this. How we press towards an agreement. Be wise. Don't force your thought, your reasoning on the person. Those can be open. Mountains can be levelled supernaturally. Isaiah 45 verse 2, I myself will prepare your way, levelling mountains and hills. I will break down bronze gates and smash their iron bars. Now, this is Isaiah. He's basically prophesying to the Babylonians, to the enemies. He's saying, I myself will prepare a way. I will level down the mountains for the people of Israel. He's saying, level down those mountains and hills. I will break down their bronze gates and smash their iron bars. Basically saying where there is an impossible situation. If you read the book of Isaiah, it was a book, Isaiah Jeremiah. It's a picture of these little group of people. That is the Israelites, the Jews. And this, you know, like a fierce lion. The Babylonians, the Assyrians, just surrounding them and crushing them over and over and over again. That's the picture you can get. Isaiah and Jeremiah. But God is saying, that's what it looks like from the outside. But here's what I will do. I will prepare a way for you. I will level the mountains and the hills. There was no way. When we read the Old Testament, Joshua judges from the time Joshua and then King Hezekiah a little bit. Joshua, the Israelites were very strong. God told them, you go and I will defeat you. Then David had a strong army. Okay, wonderful. But after that, things just started going down. What is it that we can learn here? The market conditions, customer choices, everything can change rapidly. But if God is on your behalf, God will level mountains. He will open unusual doors that you never thought that can open. You never thought it can open. God can open that door. But you have to believe God for it. You say, God, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to do things the right way. I'm going to trust in you. I'm like a sheep among wolves. One thing I know is, you are a God who opens doors. You are a God who can level mountains. You are a God who can destroy every enemy that is coming against me. Trust God to open doors for you. When it comes to ministry, trust God to open doors for you. God can open a door. A door that you never even thought. He can open a door. It's not difficult at all for God. So think supernaturally. Think and understand that, hey, God is with me. So I can expect bigger things. I can expect greater things from God. So always expect those to open. When you're doing the right things. If you're doing something that is not in line with God's Word, if even there's an ounce of, you know, any kind of cheating or deception, most likely those won't open. Or sometimes Jews may open even with that, but God is going to test you. He's going to test me. And so it's very important to do things the right way. God opens those supernatural doors. You step into those doors. That's when we will see the blessing of God. So we'll end with this chapter. And we'll start the next chapter, next class. Very small chapter, customer relations. And then we'll get into chapter 16, which is very interesting, which is challenges and tough times, which most of us have gone through, are going through. And eventually we will go through challenges and tough times and how you and I as believers can stand strong during those times. Okay. Thank you so much for joining this session. Thank you for being here. Have a great week ahead. I'll see you next session. Thank you. Bye.