fOLLOW UP FROM rELAY 3?
Hi Guys,
Gutted to have missed the workplace seminar at RELAY 3 this year. We were basically going to look at the background to work and understand that God gives us work as a blessing - it's not something we do just to earn money but is a legitimate part of our satisfaction in life. Once you 'get-it' it brings freedom! Even if you end up in a mundane job for a while - give everyday over to Jesus... work becomes a lot more exciting!*!*
What does an average working day look like?
Use this 24 hour clock as a guide. Block out the hours you spend on...
Sleep, getting ready for work, work, geting home, dinner, free time
 Click on the images to see how hours are spent on an average working day.
We spend 50-70% of our day awake at work depending on your hours!
Question - if God wants us to be living sacrifices and to  shine for him does this just mean on Sundays or in church mid week groups?
Question - is God more interested in your work for local church or your 9-5 work? Is God more interested in what happens in the CU meeting or in the lecture hall?
When we choose to worship God at work we can't help but be a good witness through the way we work, which often opens up opportunities to speak about our faith. This usually works best when the individual Christian partners with a local church making a difference to one life at a time. Sometimes God raises up groups of Christians within workplaces to bring Kingdom values and good ethical practices into companies and organisations. A team of Christians together serving their employer can have a greater impact within an organisation, affecting many lives and bringing ultimate glory to God.
Avodah - Witness by the way you work in worship to God
'Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.' Col 3.23
Give God Praise by the way you work. To discover more about this down load the handout called Theology of Work. It's a fantastic starting point!
Read the story of a life changed becuase of the way a Christian guy did his job - collecting trolleys for a supermarket!
Personal Witness 1-2-1s
"Quietly trust yourself to Christ your Lord and if anybody asks why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him, and do it in a gentle and respectful way." 1 Peter 3.15
If you are interested in thinking through how to speak about your faith at work in more detail down load the Witnessing at Work handout. Also read this encouraging story of a life changed through a Christian dentist sharing with her dental nurse at work. (Note the partnership with local church.)
Colle ctive Witness - Team Work... impacting your workplace with Kingdom values
"Each one should use whatever gift he has recieved to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4.10
Go to the book of Daniel for tips on how to have a Christian witness as a team in your profession or workplace and influence your workplace with biblical values. The pattern we see is that usually God raises up a
- Leader; chap 1:8 Daniel, gives them a
- Team; chap 1:6 Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego (work colleagues) and calls them to
- Action; chap 1:8-14 gives them a speific task to have an
- Influence; chap 1:16 together they affect the values or environment of their work or workplace.
See if you can figure out the Leader, Team, Action and Influence in Daniel chap 2 and chap 3.
Question - Are you a leader or team player? We need you both please get in touch!
Hope you have already recieved the seminar handout as well as the Keeping in Touch form. Please do send it back to TWUK or fill out this on line questionnaire. I hope you have already recieved the below coaster.
 Prayer Coaster
Take this coaster with you as you head into the workplace and put on your desk. If you have any problems and want someone to pray with you about a situation, call the UCB Workplace Prayer Line 0845 330 5098There will be someone on the end of the phone waiting to hear from you and pray.
If you have any queries do get in touch. For more encouraging workplace stories like Ruth's (ex-RELAY worker) please do log in to access them.
Last year at RELAY 3 I shared about Christians in Parliament. Many were encouraged by the speech made by our Christian MPs so I've left it here for you to read.
 Faith in the Future
A number of you wanted to know more about 'Faith in the Future' that I referred to. You can also learn more from the Christians in Parliament web site.
Also if you are interested in reading Alistair Burt MP's speech that refers to a positive Christian voice, you can read it here (go to 8.44pm).
Also a good way to prepared for the workplace is this excellent summer camp for young profesionals starting out in work. It's open for all professions - not just for those working in BT.
 BT Christian Network Summer Camp
For those heading to work for BT you'll be thrilled to know BT Christian Network are running their BTCN SUMMER CAMP in July 2009.
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