 Right, good morning everyone. Everyone can hear me okay? Online? Alright, let's begin this time with a word of prayer and we'll get into our session today. Let's pray. I'd like to invite any one of us to pray. Chirah, would you like to pray? Chirah or Ravali, anybody can pray please. Okay, anyone else? Go ahead and pray. Are you able to hear me? Can you hear me? Yes, yes, go ahead Nina. Our gracious loving Father, we thank you for this day and this time that you've given us Lord to come to your feet and to we pray at this time Lord that you would open our hearts to receive your word or we thank you for this class Lord and all that we need to learn even as we grow in the grace and knowledge of you and to know how to be effective no matter where we are Lord. We commit our time once again into your hands in Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen, amen. Thank you Nina. Alright, so last class we completed chapter 3, we talked about right workplace attitudes and now we'll get into chapter 4 so this is the next section. We'll talk about corporate vision, values sorry vision, mission, values and culture. Right now if you look at an organization you know every organization no matter what organization it is they would have a vision they'll have a mission they have values and they have certain cultures right now every organization may have different visions different missions meaning how to fulfill that vision they may have different values right and so when you and I are working in an organization right now I always want to say this right I don't think okay I'm going to be a pastor how am I going to apply all of this or I'm going to be an evangelist no look at it as okay I'm going to be part of an organization right even though it's ministry it's part of an organization or you're working in a small-scale sector you're part of an organization right so what is a corporate vision a corporate vision describes what you wish to become as an organization and may include why you wish to become that so a corporate vision is basically an organization where they have a vision and they state it now I'm sure all of us know what's the vision of our organization what's the vision of our organization right we know it right we know that and so vision is important so imagine we are an organization and say hey what is the vision that you have I'm not sure what is the vision we just want to do ministry that's not good enough right well a vision is something that is pursued over time right now picture this in 2001 saying to be salt and light to the city of Bangalore voice of the nation and the nations there were 10 people in church but a vision is something that is pursued over time as the organization grow right we saw the vision coming into fulfillment right so it's not something vision is not something that can be accomplished in a couple of years right it's always an ongoing process right and the mission describes how we are going to achieve the vision right we got a vision how are we going to achieve that vision now remember just having the vision is of no use right you have a vision and say hey I have a vision right it's it's of no use the vision needs to be backed up with a mission the mission is how you're going to achieve it right so I'm going to use this example of APC right to be salt and light in the city of Bangalore so that's the vision how is the what's the mission how are we going to achieve that vision okay we first start with a strong local church raise up leaders start locations in different parts of the city okay reach out to schools raise out to colleges you're penetrating you're permeating into different spheres of influence so somewhere we are trying to be a salt and light yes then okay a voice to the nation how can we reach the nations just here city of Bangalore okay now live streaming right so people from different places across our nation are watching conferences our pastors conferences Christian leaders conference all of this what is it what's happening we're impacting the nation and now we want to go global right so we want to see people from other countries being impacted from what APC is doing now all of this took time but there was a mission right there were certain things that had to be done to fulfill the vision okay then there are values which describes what the organization stands for and their ethical standards right what are the values that they carry right every organization should have certain values if they don't have values then it's just functioning like the wheels are in motion but they don't know why they're in motion there should be values right certain ethical standards then you have culture describes the work environment right now the culture of a certain organization can vary like let me give you this example now when I was working in the corporate sector we were asked to wear formals right so we I was more into training learning and development so we had to wear formals and we had to come in and not a tie at all formal shirt formal fan but dress neatly and go there you train the new batches but now things are changed right so we may have people from big organization maybe Apple and Google they come with shots and they sit in the office or they don't care what kind of hairstyle they have nothing matters now but they're the best organization that's the work culture there are some organizations say you do what you want you want to work from India you want to work from America from any other country you work I want the work done I want to see numbers where you sit you want to sit in office you want to sit in your home you want to sit in another country that's up to you I want to see the numbers right some organization you have to come you have to be there in office you want to see you you want to work together right so every organization we have different work cultures that's a work environment and the best part about us as people when we join an organization we get adapted to the work culture right now it is it's very easy to adapt you can just change the way you of course you're not changing your values and your principles but the work culture you adapt to it so in general if you see that people are not always looking for a job just to make money see money is part of it it is important nobody wants to work for free you work you want to get paid for what you work but there's also something called as job satisfaction where you feel okay what I'm doing is really I'm really impacting myself I'm impacting the organization and I'm able to do something for the organization this is job satisfaction so yes there are people nowadays if the pay is good I'll work no matter what it is right but most likely people who work in organizations they like to have this job satisfaction so let's look at a few points on this corporate vision mission values and culture again even as we go through this entire topic feel free to stop me if you have any questions let me just present the notes so it's gonna be for all of us so we are in chapter 4 let's look at this your vision influences your productivity let's read proverbs 29 18 go ahead anyone can read proverbs 29 18 where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint but happy is he who keeps the law the word revelation refers to inspired dream of vision right so when we have a vision when we have a dream or a purpose it is also referred to as revelation now where there is no inspiration there is no course of action what's it we are going to wonder about aimlessly have you seen people on the streets sometimes they'll be just walking they'll be looking everywhere and walking have you seen people like that they don't know what to do why they're aimless they just don't know what to do just walking and what's the thing there's no productivity there right and so but have you seen people who walk on the street they know where they're going okay I need to get there hey I have to get there I have to get done a compelling vision capture the imagination grips our heart fires up passion and inspires action right so when you and I are part of an organization we need to you know like really take that vision and put it into ourselves now it may be you know you may be working for an organization the main vision is somebody else's but as part of the organization you must envision it for yourself especially if you're a pioneer it's easy you'll get up you'll do it because it's there inside you but it's also important to be able to communicate that vision to others right it fires up passion inspires action describes the future it creates focus focus is important right when you're focused on something you will see productivity yes or no it could be even the smallest of tasks right sometimes you could be in the kitchen trying to cook something right and then my mind may be wandering everywhere okay what to do these are the new life groups or these are things to do in church and I'll end up doing something that I didn't really plan right there's no focus thinking about something else but I'm doing something else here right now but when there's focus you can get things done faster right focus enables us to gives us ideas gives us directions give us strategies right so we think okay if I do it this way can I do it the other way right now this way was not productive can I try the other way right so when you're focused on something it'll really change the way we look at things very important next one vision write it repeat it repeat it and keep repeating it again and again and again Habakkuk 2 verse 2 and 3 let's read that Habakkuk 2 2 and 3 then the Lord answered me and said write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it for the vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end of it it will speak and it will not lie though it tarries wait for it because it will surely come it will not tarry you see the thing about a vision initially it will be in us but say for example you're working in an organization one year is over you finished one year after one year the vision is sometimes is just thrown out the window something very peculiar about a vision is it can evaporate it can just go out of our mind out of our heart and we may just be doing the work that we are doing not realizing hey am I doing it in line with the vision of the organization or am I just doing it so very important is to repeat the vision write it down put it on tablets as what Habakkuk says make posters let people see it right so for example you're planning to start a church or a ministry put down your vision don't keep it within yourself and say oh this is what I want to do no write it down put it up people see it and then you talk about your personal life as well you write down the vision that you want 5 year vision 10 year vision write it keep writing it if you see my some of my books you'll find it everywhere I don't know why but it's there everywhere it's there on my wall cupboard it's there on my books it's there my laptop this thing that opens is a word document click on it the vision what I want to be 10 years from now right so I just keep repeating it to myself now over the course of time God can direct our paths but the thing is the vision is something that needs to be reiterated that's why I at church every Sunday the vision is repeated I wake you up at 2 o'clock in the night you learn deep sleep and say hey what's the vision of ABC you'll say it why? because it's gone deep into you you know it it's so very important to reiterate keep people running with that vision and keep people motivated with that vision next very important a compromise vision leads people confused Matthew 6 22 and 23 the lamp of the body is high if therefore your eye is good your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of darkness if therefore the light that is in you in darkness how great is that darkness yes what does the word compromised mean you know when when something is how do I say this okay if something is in blue black and white meaning these are things that you have to do and when we don't do it is we're compromising with the rules or the other word can say you're bending the rules right now a compromise vision leaves people confused if not this way we'll do it this way that's compromise but the vision is we will have certain values these are our values no under the table work but there's come a situation okay this one time do it what's happened if compromised on the vision on our values as an organization right now a compromise vision leaves people confused so imagine you are working in an organization or you're leading a ministry or an organization when a vision is blur have you seen in the mirror when the mirror is blur can you see your face clearly same way when a vision is blur people cannot see it what's happening they're there there is a vision but the vision is blur you don't know what to do there's no clarity people don't know which part to take they stumble they could go off in the wrong direction or they could remain in the same place being stagnant so if the leaders say if the leadership say do things or make decisions that are not aligned to the vision the vision becomes compromised if the leadership do things or say things that are not aligned with the vision then the vision is compromised now when you look at the corporate sector I know most of us we may be thinking about it in a church aspect right organization as a church but look at it in the corporate sector are they compromises yes will there be leaders who are compromised definitely yes but how can you and I make a difference in those places stand for what God has called you for you can stand and say hey but this is not what the organization is meant for this is not the value that the organization has has this is not something that we follow and so you can stand for it there is nothing wrong because you are standing for the organization now what happens after that you may feel people may say mock you, ridicule you but if you look at the other hand you are honoring God and I love that verse in Psalm 72 it says God places double honor upon his children people may dishonor you make fun of you, ridicule you God places double honor right so look at the bigger picture when a vision is compromised the productivity drops the organization is affected and it just needs to get back to its original state otherwise it is not going to be any productivity at all totally state your mission loud and clear now we talked about the vision mission is how are we going to achieve that vision right look at what Jesus tells his disciples Luke chapter 4, 18 and 19 the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has chosen me to bring goodness to the poor he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set free the oppressed and announced that the time has come when the Lord will save his people this is a perfect example of vision mission put in place a few chapters before this now Jesus has chosen his disciples they have seen okay he is the Messiah right he is the Messiah and he is the one who has come to save the world so they saw the vision right meaning imagine Peter, Andrew, all the disciples say oh the Messiah the one who Moses and Elijah and Isaiah talks about the one who is the Holy One of Israel he is here with us they are invigorating them they have just shown all of this man Jesus but it does not end there what does Jesus say? he gives them the mission he says the Spirit of the Lord is upon me for what? to bring good news to the poor proclaim liberty to the captives recovery of sight to the blind to set the oppressed now Jesus did not there was no ambiguity there was no feeling of okay I may do this I may not do this there is no compromise there Jesus said I have come this is what I will do what is the mission? to heal the sick to cleanse the lepers to raise up those who are dead that is the mission and what did he do the next three and a half years? he did it right he did not tell his disciples this is my mission so you go and do it no he first did it he showed them how to do it and then he appointed them and said you go do it you see how he worked beautiful example that was the vision to reach the world he applied that vision with a mission chose the 12 the 12 went out fulfilling that mission that mandate and when people saw him sharing this in the book of John there were thousands of people following Jesus yes 5000, 8000 thousands of people following Jesus why? because they knew Jesus was on a mission and he was doing something there were healings, there were miracles there were things that he was doing which nobody else was doing but after he died what happened? 120 people there are all the thousands they are not there but 220 we got to do this and I can only picture Peter after how he would have felt not being there at the death of his master but I can just picture him saying but this is what Jesus said we will do so let's take the mission forward and they took it forward and if they had not had a mission or a plan or a strategy nothing would have happened oh Jesus is dead and gone imagine they were just sitting there Jesus was a messiah he was there, we were with him but they are keeping it to themselves the mission is not going to be fulfilled at all imagine the apostle Paul if he said oh I saw Jesus in the road to Damascus and he is only telling his friends there in Tarsus is there any use? no because what did he do? a missionary journey how do I have the vision now how do I fulfill this vision mission get a plan, get a strategy work it out and if you see apostle Paul in the book of Acts how beautifully he aligned his missionary journeys so powerful such a powerful example to learn so very important state your mission even the apostle Paul did that God has called me to preach to the Gentiles that's my mission that's what God has called me to do other disciples were not too pleased about it he said it doesn't matter what you think what God has called me to do I will do so state your mission loud and clear and follow that with corresponding action next one values clarify what you really stand for 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 8 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 8 for if the trumpets make an uncertain sound who will prefer for battle? yeah so this is in ancient times so if you look at when the people of Israel came out of Egypt there were millions of people right so it was not easy to coordinate with them so there were different types of trumpets that were used to call people to action now picture this you got 12 tribes of Israel all of them are walking out of Egypt now how do you coordinate with all of them okay this tribe you be here you this tribe you sit here how do we do that so there are different methods of coordinating and one of the ways one of the trumpets was a trumpet call of battle so for example everyone are relaxing in their tents it's a cool day and suddenly the watchmen they had the watchmen who would stand and keep a watch on who's whether the territory is safe imagine the watchmen blew the trumpet of a battle immediately everyone would get up okay those who are go in front get ready for battle now imagine there are enemies coming and this guy the watchmen are with the trumpet but they are not blowing the trumpet loud enough or they are not blowing it clearly what happens the enemy is going to come and plunder the place so a trumpet calls people to action if the sound of the trumpet is uncertain people will not know what to do so the same way in an organization people need to we need to have certain values and these values is what you and I must stand for right now for example you are joining a corporate sector joining an organization and there is a lot of maybe people are making false reports all of these things you hold on to the values that you have you hold on to the values of the organization I can we can say with certainty that nobody has an organization with bad values it could be I mean it could be something that is completely not in line with Christianity but the values will be something like hey we want to help the poor people we have NGOs which are run by people from different faiths and they want to help the children they want to help the poor they want to help those who are divorced and all of these things are normally morally right so what do we understand here core values are not just slogans right they are poor to the organization so you hold on to it right so if there are things that are not in line with the organization tell yourself hey I want to do it I am going to do it this way because this is what they are now don't expect applaud nobody is going to clap and say oh 99 people did it wrong you did it right nobody will clap and say maybe nobody would have even noticed it but remember God will reward you for the good things you have done in time your reward will come be patient just because others are doing something you don't have to do that especially in an organization it falls to stand for certain values that you have and certain values that I have got to stand for it see I always say this in a church setting it's very easy very easy in a church oh everyone say praise the Lord but outside of church if you get to the office you may not have anyone saying hi brother, hi sister and all it's a world that is completely different people just want to go up the ladder they can pounce on you stand on you crush you down so they do that's the corporate life and it's open it's not something that is hidden it's open I am better than you and I am going to get better than you competition is really strong but we will talk about in a couple of chapters even competition how competition is also healthy but during those times is when we stand for our values you tell yourself this is my value this is the value of the organization that I am working for now since I am working in this organization I must be a good steward of the organization so I must obey their values and their culture you get what I am saying don't expect big applause and all of that initially remember God is the one who rewards you so a few co-values that we have here APC as certain co-values integrity integrity excellence in what we do values people meaning ministry is about people we treat people with respect you can come from different cultures different backgrounds all of them are treated equally we pursue creativity so we don't want to keep doing something without being creative God is a God who is creative he wants us to be creative as well and then unity whatever we do together is more important than an individual accomplishment so one of the things that we always do at APC is a person may do well so for example this is just an example APC music this is just an example APC music a team of people wrote songs they came up with the music I think about 40-50 of them different teams wrote songs came up with the melody, came up with the music but was the songwriters and musicians brought on stage and everyone clapped for them some of them who have written the songs their names also are in there but they've written entire songs so when we look at it it's an organization as an organization we have released an album we have released it within that there are teams who have done it so it's not only about the person the individual it is the organization as a church this is what we have done nobody's put on a pedestal oh you wrote 5 songs you wrote 10 songs but I can tell the story the point is again goes back to the vision to be salt in light to the city voice to the nation and the nations yes there are personal rewards that will appreciate the team and all of that but it is first the organization as a church this is what we have done that's just an example okay next one create a culture aligned to your vision mission and values Nehemiah 220 so I answered them and said to them the god of heaven himself will prosper us therefore we its servants will arise and build what you have no heretic or write or memorial in Jerusalem yeah so let's look at this case study of Nehemiah I am sure all of us have read about Nehemiah right and let's look at the case study of how god gave him the vision he implemented that vision and while he implemented that vision he had certain values in place and that's what made him successful that's what made him fruitful it's not easy to build a wall in 52 days there was no machinery that we have right now but let's look at this case study how did Nehemiah do this and we can apply it in our lives as well right so just a background the city of Jerusalem the Babylonians came they destroyed Jerusalem the walls were destroyed the gates were burned Nehemiah was serving in the court of the Persian king now we all know the story he was a cup bearer now suddenly he found news he got news that the walls of Jerusalem the gates are burnt now there were many Jews there many Jews were there but something happened to Nehemiah the Bible says that the moment he heard it something gripped his heart he put on sackcloth and ashes and he began to mourn now tell me he has a good job right yes or no he has a good job what the king will say get me something to drink he has to go get it to drink it he didn't have any hard labour work royalty he was relaxing in the in the king's palace only but when he heard this there may have been thousands or hundreds of Jews around Jerusalem the the walls are broken the gates are burnt they would have heard it also said Jerusalem what can we do can't do anything as of now but that is not the case for Nehemiah the moment he heard it he was burdened there was anguish in his heart he put on sackcloth and ashes there's a vision came Nehemiah said to himself I am going to build the walls of Jerusalem and I'm going to repair the gates he got the vision he woke up from his fasting and prayer and I'm sure those days of fasting after he finished that he said I'm going to do this but Nehemiah you don't understand where you are you are in Babylon you are under the Persian king you can't do what you want to do no that's a vision look at it Nehemiah shared the vision with the people in Jerusalem so now the whole story goes he goes to the king and the king asks him why is your face so low what's happened Jerusalem is this way the walls are broken the gates are burnt so the king says ok go do what you have to do I will supply whatever you need now he's got the permission the vision has taken one step ahead what did he do the first thing did he keep it to himself first thing he did he shared the vision he went to the people of Jerusalem ok everyone come I can just picture it just picture that everyone will listen to him because he's got the vision everyone come ok see I spoke to the king the king said we can build the wall and he's given me the papers he has given me the the facilities he's giving me the people as well so this is the vision we will go to Jerusalem build the wall repair the gates because that is our city he shared the vision now the vision was compelling imagine the Jews everyone are saying you got the permission ok let's do it then people join that vision right you see what happens when a vision is invigorating it's like saying you know a person can come up to you and say hey you know what let's start a ministry maybe you and your friend come up to you together you say ok this is the vision I'll start here we will start these Bible colleges we will start training centers we will do this then your heart goes wow yes I'll join you what's happening because the vision is invigorating now the same thing a person can share a vision hey you know what we will start a ministry and then we'll do something in 5 years after 5 years we'll retire ok why you want to retire after 5 years the vision doesn't seem invigorating right so when our vision is compelling people are inspired to join too Nehemiah planned out the mission so he gave the vision here's the mission he planned out how the construction work is to be done the work was to be divided into 10 gates into the city of Jerusalem each group of people were assigned some work at their side of the gate make sense make sense so just picture this you got the wall so what he said was there are houses here everywhere right so those who closest to the wall go do the work come back now remember this they were in captivity so they had to also work right so just picture this right Monday to Saturday Friday they are working for the Persian Empire right whatever work they are doing they could be farm or whatever right whatever occupation they are doing Monday to Friday this is an example Saturday Sunday is there so Saturday and Sunday they would go near the wall and do as much as they could then Monday into Monday to Friday after work they would come back oh I can do some more work so they would go to the closest section do as much as they could do now picture this Nehemiah is not there saying hey you're free no why don't you go to the wall no what happened the vision is compelling oh we have to finish the wall see what happens Nehemiah gave the mission near the section of the wall you finish you don't have to travel from east to west to build the wall you see your section make sure that that is done right then here is the interesting part he added values first everyone believed that god the god of heaven will prosper them so everyone are doing the work but they believe that hey god will prosper them 2 they believe that you know we all will arise and build now some of them were probably farmers some of them were probably carpenters wood workers or just doing other small works not everyone were in the construction business there they said all of us will get up and do it we don't know it we will learn it but we have to do it right and 3 they knew there were oppositions and hindrances that would come yet everyone were determined that nothing will stop them look at those 3 powerful values 1 god was on their side 2 we will all work when you look at it even Nehemiah put his hand to the plow he also went and did the work Nehemiah was not sitting there under the tree with an umbrella somebody standing holding an umbrella and saying ok what about this side of the wall no he put his hand he did it all of them worked and 3 they knew that obstacles are going to come hindrances are going to come but nothing will stop us but if you read the story there were certain places where they were very upset with Nehemiah Nehemiah you didn't tell us all this but he retreated the vision remember god is with us remember if god has brought us so far he will help us to finish the wall don't be afraid of the enemy don't be afraid of those who are coming against us because the god of heaven is on our side they continued to work right so these were certain values that they had and then let's go down culture again under Nehemiah's leadership everyone worked they all worked see there were priests everyone worked the priests, goldsmiths, perfumers district leaders Levites, gatekeepers, merchants and common people imagine the priests those who are in the temple the whole time what do they know about you know constructing a wall nothing what about gatekeepers, what about the Levites the Levites were higher you know standing because they were called separated by god Levites they also did it it was not like old Levites you go pray and we do the no you pray later you come and build a wall also right and it's good everyone did it district leaders the gatekeepers, merchants and common people they all worked hard with their heart and their mind everyone worked with their heart it was not like oh what is this Nehemiah suddenly he came out of nowhere and he's saying build the wall, build the wall why do we need this wall why do we need a gate anyway they are here in Babylon we can go back to Babylon rest why do we need all of this they all worked with their heart and their mind everything that they had they put into it they supported each other so when they were under threat this is interesting very interesting look at this Nehemiah 416 so it was from that time on half of my servants worked at the construction while the other half held spears and shields and bows and wore armor and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah so what happened Nehemiah knew that you know Sambalat and there are people that are going to come and attack the wall so what did he do again he was wisdom he said ok here's what you do we can't stop building the wall just because there's going to be opposition 50% of you start keep working on the wall the other half you stand with spears and armory in case they come you have to go for battle and so it made sense 50% and so I can only picture they took shifts two days you stand two days I'll stand this is an example but he did it and the rulers were urged to be generous wow this is also beautiful now remember during those times there were rich leaders there were rich people also the Jews were rich they had land they would sell land and all of that so those who are in debt so for example for example I'm in debt I have purchased somebody another person's land I'm in debt how can we both work together whenever I look at him I say I have to pay him no for the money that I took from him but Nehemiah said for now don't look at all that master slave don't look at all that clear of forget about the debt be generous so probably Nehemiah went and said see listen what is priority now the wall of Jerusalem is priority so you forget about all this I know that this is the thing right now be generous forgive his debt finish the debt so that you both can look eye to eye and work together perfect example of a powerful leader a good leader does that he's able to resolve conflicts he's able to bring things you know make sure that people are working in unison with one another right look at this in verse Nehemiah 5 10 to 12 Nehemiah said let the people borrow money and grain from me and so have many companions and those who work for me now let's give up all our claims to repayment and cancel all the debts they owe me owe you money or grain or wine or olive oil and give them back to their fields vineyards olive groves and houses right now the leaders replied we'll do as you say we'll give back the we'll give the property back and not try to collect debts see that we'll do as you say none of them have were like you know but then what about my family what about my children none of them they said okay since you're saying Nehemiah you're a man with a vision right finally Nehemiah led by example through his life example he led he was even though he was the governor of the land right he here's what look at this in verse Nehemiah 5 14 to 16 we'll read that okay during all the 12 years that I was governor of the land of Judah from the 20th year of Artaxas was empire was emperor until his 32nd year neither my relatives nor I ate food I was entitled to have as a governor every governor who had been in office before me had a burden had been a burden to the people and had demanded 40 silver of coin 40 silver coins a day for food and wine even the servants had oppressed the people but I act differently because I are not gone I put all my energy into building the wall and did not acquire any property everyone who worked for me joined in the rebuilding look at that Nehemiah led by example he didn't oppress the people he didn't say you give me taxes I'm the governor he says just like you all are sacrificing I sacrificed I didn't eat from the table I didn't relax in those AC rooms in the palace but I did what I had to do I sacrificed right okay we'll take a break we'll come back and we'll continue from here thank you