Wisdom for Work | Wisdom | Mark Moore

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CCV. Hope your morning is off to a great start. We're so glad that you're here. And we're going to have an awesome service together. We're going to sing some songs, warm up our voices here in just a moment and worship God together. We're going to hear a great message. But as we get started, I want to read a passage of scripture. This comes out of the Psalms. Psalm 107, verse 1 and 2 says this. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. Just a fitting way for us to maybe break the ice and get the morning started is just to think about something that we're grateful for. So before we sing, I want to invite you to turn to someone around you. Say hi to them this morning and tell them one thing that you're grateful for in your life today. One thing, simple thing. Let's worship together. Come on. Hasn't he made a way for us? Didn't he pour through waters? Didn't those walls come crashing down? Wasn't he in the fire? Hasn't he kept his promises a thousand generations? Hasn't he made a way? Didn't he make a way? Didn't he make a way for us? Come on, all together. He's working. He's working. He's working everything for good. He's working. He's working. He's working everything for good. Hasn't he been so good to us? Didn't he heal the broken? Didn't he freely give his life? Wasn't the veil torn open? Doesn't he cause the dead to rise? Oh great new creation. Hasn't he been so good? Working it all for good. Won't he be so good to us? He's working. He's working. He's working everything for good. Look at that today. He's still working miracles Right here in this moment So we pray for the impossible And believe that He will do it Hasn't He made a way? Didn't He make a way? Won't He make a way for us? Hasn't He made a way? Didn't He make a way? Won't He make a way for us? Make a way for us

He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. Oh, oh, He's working everything for good. Oh, oh, He's working everything for good. He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. He's working, He's working everything for good. Yeah. Father, You've done what You said You'd do, carried me through. Like I knew You could, You have been faithful, it's all so good. I know You've heard every prayer I pray. My faith may have wavered, You stayed the same. You have been faithful, it's all so good. We declare our trust for Him today, we sing. God, I will trust in Your name forever. My provider, my defender, here in Your presence, I'm resting assured. You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good. I know the days ahead are long, troubles and trials yet to come. You will be faithful, You're just like Him. God, I will trust in Your name forever. My provider, my defender, here in Your presence, I'm resting assured. You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good. We respond to His goodness in full surrender, singing hallelujah to the only one worthy. I lift my hands, holy surrender. We sing. I lift my hands, holy surrender. Hallelujah. I lift my hands, holy surrender. We sing. Hallelujah. I lift my hands, holy surrender.

All to You. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. All the praise is Yours. Hallelujah. God, I will trust in Your name forever. My provider, my defender, here in Your presence, I'm resting assured. ♪ You've been passing your pages ♪ ♪ Nothing but good ♪ ♪ You've been passing your pages ♪ ♪ Nothing but good ♪ ♪ You've been passing your pages ♪ ♪ Nothing but good ♪ ♪♪ ♪ We declare your holiness ♪ ♪ There's no one who compares to you ♪ ♪ No one can stand against you ♪ ♪♪ ♪ A thousand generations falling down in worship ♪ ♪ Sing a song of ages into the ages ♪ ♪ And all who've gone before us and all who will believe ♪ ♪ Sing a song of ages into the ages ♪ Join together and we sing. ♪ Your name is the highest ♪ ♪ Your name is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ Above all thrones and dominions ♪ ♪ All powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name, it stands above them all ♪ ♪ And the angels cry, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh ♪

♪ All creation cries, holy ♪ ♪ You were lifted high, holy ♪ ♪ Holy forever ♪ ♪ If you've been redeemed, if you've been redeemed ♪ ♪ Sing a song forever and a day ♪ ♪ If you're walking free, if you're buried still ♪ ♪ Sing a song forever and a day ♪ ♪ Sing a song forever and a day ♪ ♪ And the angels cry, holy ♪ ♪ All creation cries, holy ♪ ♪ You were lifted high, holy ♪ ♪ Holy forever ♪ ♪ Would you hear our Lord say? ♪ ♪ Give a people sing, holy ♪ ♪ To the King of kings, holy ♪ ♪ You will always be holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ It's the name above all names ♪ ♪ Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name, yeah ♪ ♪ Above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ Above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions ♪ ♪ Your name stands above them all ♪ ♪ And the angels cry, holy, all creation cry ♪ ♪ You are holy, you are lifted high, holy, holy forever ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ And Your people sing ♪ ♪ Holy to the King of Kings ♪

♪ Holy, You will always be holy ♪ ♪ Holy forever ♪ ♪ You will always be holy ♪ ♪ Holy forever ♪ ♪ It's who You are ♪ ♪ You will always be holy ♪ ♪ Holy forever ♪ Wow. That is so powerful. Thank you so much for singing. You can be seated. I wanna welcome you all again to CCV. My name is Travis Brown. I get to serve as one of the pastors here, and I love that psalm, because no matter who you are or what status you have, every single one of us will eventually have to declare God as holy. You know, many years ago, the great boxer Muhammad Ali was on an airplane getting ready to take off, and he's sitting in first class, and a flight attendant walked by, and she noticed that his seatbelt wasn't buckled, so she asked him to buckle his seatbelt, and a couple minutes later, she walked back by and noticed that he still hadn't buckled his seatbelt, so she asked him again, and then right before the flight was getting ready to take off,

she came through one more time and noticed that he still hadn't buckled his seatbelt, and so she leaned down, and she said, Mr. Ali, this plane can't take off until you buckle your seatbelt, and that's when he looked up at her, and he said, Superman don't need no seatbelt, but without missing a beat, the flight attendant replied back. She says, well, Superman don't need no airplane either, so I guess you ain't Superman. Buckle your seatbelt. I love that story because it reminds us that no matter your title, or your net worth, or your situation, or your successes and failures that you've experienced, every single one of us stands on equal ground in front of a holy God. In Philippians chapter two, the apostle Paul writes this, starting in verse nine. He says, therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Listen, one day, every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And one of the things that makes communion

that we take every single week here at CCV so powerful is that we don't just remember how God is holy, but we remember how a holy God loved us so much that he came for us. And Jesus willingly gave his body, and he shed his blood so that every single one of us could be forgiven and restored and brought back into a right relationship with him. And communion reminds us that no matter who you are, you can't save yourself. Every single one of us needs Jesus. So over these next few moments, as we're taking communion together, I pray that we would be grateful that the one who's the only one who's worthy of our worship is the same one who gave his life for you. Let's pray together. Father, we're so grateful that we get to come into this space and this time and continue our worship of you. Thank you that no matter our situation, no matter our status, no matter where we're at in life, our successes, our failures, Father, you desire to meet us right there, and you've died for us, and we need you all the same. Lord, bless this time. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ All right, you're going to fail, but the important thing is that you keep trying. All right, try again. It's important that good roots have good soil. You want to make this super yummy for mama? Okay, okay. Okay? Good job. Good job. Okay, remember, we don't skip any steps, right? I'm not on time, and I'm just managing it all by myself. Hey, we're not meant to do this alone. ♪♪ Do you guys remember that documentary, Super Size Me? Where this guy decides, I'm going to eat nothing but McDonald's for 30 days straight. It was a terrible idea. Decades before that documentary, I actually did that. I was 18 years old. I had worked at McDonald's, first job from 16 to 18. I'm getting ready to go to college. By that time, I was a trainer, so they let me eat whatever I wanted, free food. And one of the managers challenged me to a contest to see which of us could eat the most food at McDonald's in one month. Not by bulk, but by price. I'd go down and down a couple of OJs because they're expensive and they're easy just to get down. So at the end of the month, he beat me barely by like 20 bucks. The equivalent cost in today's value for what I ate was $1,190 in McDonald's in one month.

I started the month at 135 pounds. I ended the month at 135 pounds. Oh, to be 18 again. It wasn't the greatest job I've ever had. I go to college. First semester, I don't work, just focus on studies. But the second semester, I need to get a job. So I got another job. Joplin, Missouri, it was kind of hard to find work for me. But I'm going to let you guess what job I got of all the difficult jobs. I'm going to give you four options. You decide what I did. A, I was a door-to-door vacuum salesman. B, a rodeo clown. I remind you, it was Joplin, Missouri. C, the midnight shift at 7-Eleven. Or D, a nanny for two-year-old twins. What's your guess? It was actually one month I went door-to-door selling Kirby vacuums. That job sucked. You're welcome. I sold a grand total of two vacuums in that month. One was to my brother-in-law, and that was just a pity purchase. So if you have a job that you don't love, I get it. I've had a few of those. But work in God's economy is not a punishment for sin. Work didn't start after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. It actually began before that. It was a gift of God to humanity. I'm going to read one of the earliest verses about work in the Bible.

Genesis chapter 2. The Lord God placed the man in the garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. Now imagine the dignity of God to allow you and me to partner in his creation. He made the heaven and the earth and told us, I want you to make a world out of it. I want you to look at those two words in this verse. The word tend could be translated as serve. We're serving the physical creation that God gave us. The other word watch is to guard. We're protecting it. God created all this beautiful world and the beauty of the garden is a beautiful, perfect place and God put us there and said, okay, the perfect place, I want you to make it even better. The dignity that God has given us to work. We find value in our work when we are valuable to other people. Now we're in this series of wisdom through the book of Proverbs and we've talked about wisdom for worship and wisdom for character. Next week we'll talk about wisdom for families on Father's Day. But today I wanna talk about wisdom for work. Remember, wisdom is not knowing stuff. It is the ability to live properly. And when we live properly at our work, we spend more time at work than we do sleeping. We spend more time at work than virtually anything else.

So shouldn't it be one of the best parts of our day? So how could, here's a question I want you to ask you. How can I use my profession as a platform for Jesus? See, we're not just improving a garden anymore. We are improving humanity for eternity by using our profession as a platform to profess Jesus. Or put another way, how could you use your occupation for your preoccupation with Jesus? Making Jesus famous where you spend the professional energy that God has given you. So that is the question of the day. How can you use your profession as a platform for Jesus? And I know that may be difficult to even imagine how you would do that. Because maybe you're a banker or an accountant, or maybe you're a school teacher or a nurse, or maybe you're a first responder. I wanna give you a few ideas of people from around our CCV campuses that have actually done that. Bernie is a business owner in Avondale. He has a creperie. So actually he was so successful serving crepes that he doesn't have one, he has several now. And other people around Bernie are asking, how were you so successful in your crepe business? And as he coaches other business owners, he tells them it is about your spiritual foundation. And as he coaches other business people, he brings it back to faith. But one of the things that Bernie does that I love

is he chooses to be closed on Sunday. Now if you're in the restaurant business, that's a bad day to be closed. But he thinks God will bless him more if he isn't open, and so that opens him up to invite his employees to come to church with him. Because he knows they're not working. He closes on purpose. Now Jeanette, she didn't have any choice to close her business because she is the new owner of a brand new Chick-fil-A. And as we know, that is the chicken that is served in heaven. Therefore, you can't get Chick-fil-A on Sunday. So what she does, she doesn't invite her employees to church, she invites her employees to a Bible study because she knows they're available. This is just a couple of ways that you might use your business if you're a business owner. What if you're not a business owner? Well, we have a young man named Jeremy who is a police officer in Surprise. His words, not mine, he is a pastor of the community. And he does a lot of the same things a pastor does. He's a father figure to some, a disciplinarian to others, a protector for others. He uses his vocation to make Jesus famous by doing what Jesus would do in the community. I love the story of Kevin at our central Scottsdale campus. Kevin's a realtor.

And if you're a realtor, and I know a lot of you are, you of all people should be inviting people to church because everyone that is a client of yours is new in the community. So if you're new in the community, you need to know where a dentist is, you need to know where a pet store is, you need to know where the hairstylist is, and you need to know where the church is. And so he invites a lot of people to church, but he doesn't just invite them, he often prays with his clients when it's appropriate. And even when the clients aren't there, he will pray over the houses that are not selling, literally going into the empty rooms and praying that God would bless this home for a place that a family could come and live and find faith in Jesus. Also, at our central Scottsdale campus, there's someone who prays with his clients. He is one of the most well-respected surgeons in the entire city. Now, if one of his clients, someone he's doing surgery on, doesn't want him to pray with him, that's okay, he's not gonna force it. But listen, if your surgeon offers to pray for you before surgery, you kinda gotta say yes, right? I'm interested also in Andrew, who is at our North Phoenix campus.

He has a construction business, and all his business meetings, it's his business, he can do this, his business meetings open with prayer. But the reason is not merely because he believes in prayer, but because he wants to lay a spiritual foundation in his business so that when they do social work, that people understand why. It's not because he's simply a nice person, it's because he loves Jesus. So every Christmas, year over year over year, his employees help him distribute Christmas gifts to clients who may not be able to afford gifts for their children. These are just some of the ideas of how you might use your work as worship. I'm gonna tell you why this is so important to me. You know that our vision as a church is to reach the entire state for Jesus. Every man, every woman, every child for Jesus Christ. I think you're smart enough to know that's not going to happen with 18 campuses. We need to move our people from 18 campuses to 18,000 places of work. To move from a weekend worship to a week of worship through work. And if all of us just got this idea that God gave me work as a blessing so that I'm valuable, not just to the community, but spiritually, I can bring the nature of Jesus

into my work. And some of you are going, well, I can't preach Jesus. Well, I'm gonna remind you of what Francis of Assisi said. Preach Jesus always, and when necessary, use words. It is our actions that are the dominant message for Jesus in the workplace. And if our actions are right, we will earn the right to speak. This is what wise King Solomon said about work. Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people. Do you serve kings? Not literal kings in a kingdom, but you have a king of kings. And if you work well, you will serve him above all else. Proverbs also says this. Work hard and become a leader. Be lazy and become a slave. So have you recently said, I'm just, I'm slaving away. Maybe that's because you have the wrong boss. Maybe if your boss was Jesus and not the man or woman that signed your paycheck, and you might think, well, but if I work for Jesus, not for my boss, wouldn't my boss be upset? Oh, no, they'll be delighted because those who serve Jesus serve better at every level. So what is this gonna look like for you to earn the right to speak at work? Well, it's gonna be different for different situations,

different environments, and different generations. This is probably well known to you, but I just wanna briefly summarize some of the generational differences of workers. For you baby boomers out there, like you are the king of workers. Strong work ethic, you wanna earn your keep, and your biblical virtue is responsibility. You're the can-do, get-her-done people. Next to you is Generation X. And I put Gen X in a box because they love to be put in boxes. Gen X, it values a work-life balance. They're adaptable, but often question authority. So maybe a little bit difficult to work with for bosses that are boomers. But bosses who are boomers, you watch the Gen Xers go home at five, and you go, why are you quitting early? And they go, it's five. And he goes, yeah, you're quitting early. Because boomers get to work 30 minutes early and stay 30 minutes late. And Xers are like, no, no, I'm gonna go home for my family. Why? Because they have a biblical virtue of balance. There's something that boomers can learn from Xers. And after Xers are everybody's favorite to make fun of, millennials, they value security, flexibility,

a positive environment. And everyone's like, well, you're just weak. And no, they're not weak. They want purpose. And their biblical virtue that they add to the workplace is purpose. After them is Gen Z. I love them in the workplace. They value stability, inclusivicity, social impact, and self-expression. But the biblical virtue they bring is community. They wanna work on a team, and that's gonna make everybody better. Soon to come in the workplace is Gen Alpha. They are environmentally conscientious. They have creativity and value collaboration. The biblical virtue they add is stewardship. But what I'm suggesting is that the different generations at work are going to value different things. And if you're a boss, you're a supervisor, a manager, and you have someone from a different generation, it would probably help you to understand what they value so that you can earn the right to speak on behalf of Jesus, or at least live out his characteristics well. On the other hand, if you're an employee, you understand this, right? It is not your boss's job to adjust to you. It's your job to adjust to him or her. So understanding what your boss values

and what's important to them generationally could add great influence. Bottom line is this. It's gonna be different for all of us in different work environments and different age and stage of life. But there are four similarities. It doesn't matter who you are or where you work. There are four things that will give you a voice for Jesus. Number one, work on your craft, not just your career. It doesn't matter where you work or what you do. If you're good at what you do, people will listen to you. If you're an athlete, score more goals. If you're a surgeon, do better surgery. If you're a carpenter, do better quality work faster. If you're an accountant, don't make mistakes in the numbers column. Whatever you do, do with excellence. And that means we have to work on our craft to be excellent at what we do. That may mean getting there early, doing more reps, and staying late. But whatever it takes for you to get your reps and to get your 10,000 hours, for God's sake, be people of quality. Number two, provide solutions to problems. Every work environment has problems. Well, not mine, because I work in a church, so we're perfect, but for the rest of the normal people, there are problems at work, right?

It is easy to point out problems. You know what your boss does? Every day, all day long, solves problems. And people are bringing to him problems all day long. So it's kind of like, your boss feels kind of like a single mom with four kids going, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy. Don't be the mommy guy at work. Rather, if you do have to point out a problem, bring one or two potential solutions with the problem. Now, they could be crappy solutions. To be honest, sometimes you don't have good solutions. But if you're saying to your boss, hey, I've noticed this, and here's a couple of potential things we might be able to do. Might be a bad idea, but here's a couple potential things. At least, even if they're bad ideas, here's what your boss is gonna think. They're thinking about what I have to think about. You're showing a systemic gravitation towards understanding their position and their difficulty. That's gonna make your boss be happy to see you coming. And if your boss is happy to see you coming, you're gonna have a voice with him, with the people around you, the people below you. And number three, act like an owner. I learned this when I came on staff at CCV. You know whose church this is? Well, it's Jesus' church. But other than that, you know whose church this is?

It's mine. It's yours. All of us should have ownership of this place we call our church home. And therefore, we should do, if we're the owner, we should do the same things that a homeowner would do, or a business owner would do. You see a piece of paper on the ground? Pick it up, because that's what you do at home. You moms, amen? You're just picking up other people's stuff all the time. If you see a toilet that's clogged, don't call someone, unclog it. If it's your toilet, you unclog your own toilet. If you see something that needs fixed, or done, or straightened, or improved, if it's your business, then you do it yourself. And if you begin to act like that, you will have influence with people above you, people around you, people below you. Finally, coach colleagues versus criticize coworkers. Now you see, there's a big difference between coaching and criticizing. That seems obvious. What is less obvious is, whether you coach, or whether you criticize, will be determined by whether you see those around you as colleagues, or coworkers. Coworkers just show up and they work adjacent to you. Colleagues actually work with you.

And if you are part of a team and not a bunch of individuals, then you want the team to get better. Therefore, you coach, usually in private, certainly criticize in private, and praise in public. If you begin, like this is just common sense stuff. It's throughout the book of Proverbs, but it's common sense stuff for how to have wisdom at work. And if you begin to work in this way, you are going to earn the right to speak for Jesus, no matter who you are or where you work. Now, I realize some of you are going, yeah, I think you might not understand where I work. Because I'm not really able, I'm not in an environment that is pro-Jesus people. I'm not in an environment where even legally I can preach the gospel. Listen, I get that. And it would be hypocritical for me because in my work, I actually kind of get paid to talk for Jesus. I get, I'm on salary so that I will speak his name and tell his truth. You're not, okay, I get that. So it'd be hypocritical for me to stand up here and tell you how to talk about Jesus where you work. So I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna let Corey do that.

Because Corey and Natasha are working in an environment, of all the environments, this may be one of the least Christian environments to work in. And I want you to see through their story how your story could make your problems platforms. So here's the question we're gonna ask. How can I turn my problem into a platform to make Jesus famous? This is Corey and Natasha's story. I had this little fantasy dream of owning an all-female fine line tattoo shop. Honestly, tattooing, it's a very peaceful thing for me. As an artist, I've always loved drawing and tattoos because I really like to create beautiful art. The creative process allows me to get in touch with my clients, figure out what they're looking for on a deeper level than just a tattoo shop. I've also been able to get in touch with my clients and get a little bit of a deeper level than maybe just an inspiration photo that they gave to me. It's a permanent decision that these people are making to change their body and trust our ability and our skill. We're approachable, we're friendly, and for me, most importantly, I'm a Christian. We find ourselves in Hawaii. I was in the middle of a job search for a woman who could help me find a job that would be a great job for us. We wanted to make sure it was Christ-centered.

I had worked remote, so that part was fine, and I could help fund the start of our business, but it was really up to her and, more importantly, God to really drive this thing. And business was great. It was great from day one. You know, we'd pattern it out like you would any other sort of business, where, you know, I need to have X amount of clients a day. You know, every day. And the real big surprise came after about the 13th month when we realized that we weren't actually called to be in Hawaii, and we literally abruptly woke up and were like, hey, I think we gotta get out of here now. And she agreed, and Hawaii was great. Like, everything was fine. So, fast forward, we wound up in Phoenix to be closer to family, and we were just gonna do the same thing, you know? Tattoo shop's going good, you're pursuing your dreams. My work's going great. Let's just kind of rinse and repeat. We'll make sure to continue honoring God. Drugs pulled out from under us with that first shop because of an administrative issue. So we lost that opportunity, and the city was all great. Like, all the people were great, but we didn't know what to do, and now we're going, well, we just bought a house and cars and studios, moved across the ocean with our family.

Like, we need to make some money. I was feeling a little discouraged as if my tattoo career was gonna be put on hold or just not exist anymore. After putting in a few years of work, it was pretty hard to deal with, and prayed over it repeatedly, constantly almost, and we just kept telling God that we knew he had a plan and there was a reason that this was happening and that he would provide for us and anything that came out of this would end up being better than anything that we could dream of, and that truly has been the result, and I could say multiplied by 10. He's delivered more and more. Every time we speak to him and ask him for... Ideas, guidance, clearly it's an industry that doesn't have a lot of God in it, an industry that needs more God in it. And I understand the limits that we have, that we can't force that on every person who walks through the door. So we created a prayer request box that sits right outside the front door next to the entrance of our shop. If we can't speak to each individual about the Lord, there's still that box sitting right there in the front window and anybody who walks through the door is going to walk past that and hopefully that plants a seed for them just to know that anywhere at any time God's there and it could be in a tattoo shop, it could be in Old Town Scottsdale. You're really good about this when you're like tattooing people and talking to them, you're not like aggressively like, you know what you should do is you need to get better, you know, you're just a normal person.

I like to invite people to our Bible study. Yeah, that's the best. A couple people show up, so that was nice. Our first member who's been there forever, AJ. Yeah, he was somebody that I tattooed. The highlight of my week, it's just so cool to be sitting in the tattoo shop that we own and praying with our group over the prayer requests that we receive every week. Try to think of creative ways that you can bring God to work, right? For us, it's the prayer box at the front of the studio or the scripture on the wall. Maybe you leave your Bible on your desk or start a Bible study, you know, with a group during lunch, whatever it is, it doesn't matter. Just listen, try something, God will work out the details, just try it. If anybody knows how hard it is to bring God to work with them, I do, being in a tattoo shop. But if I can do it, you can do it, too. Yeah. If I can do it, you can do it, too. And that's really all I want to say to you in this message is that there are people sitting right next to you on all of our campuses online that are doing extraordinary things in small ways through their work to make Jesus famous. And that's the call for all of us to use our work, which is such a big part of the blessing of God and a big part of our calendar day, to use that, leverage that skill that you have, that profession that you have, to profess Jesus. And I recognize there are problems in doing that. There are challenges in doing that. But Corey and Natasha's story show you that there is no challenge too high. There is no barrier too thick that you can't overcome to live well enough that you eventually have the right to speak out for Jesus. And so I want to tell you two observations I made from their story, two things that they did that will help you break through some of these barriers.

Number one, focus on your purpose, not on your paycheck. Now a lot of people, and it's obvious when people do this, like they just want another zero on their salary. They want a little bit of overtime. They want a bonus. They want an advance in their career. When your career is the center of attention, you're going to get derailed from your purpose. Jim Collins just recently wrote a book called The Making of, or What to Make of a Life. It's an excellent book about all these people that have made significant impact with their life. It's not a Christian book. It's not about Christian people. But one of the things that all of these people did that Jim Collins observed is instead of using their skills to make money, they used their money to open more opportunities for their skills. They were focused on purpose, not on a paycheck. And I see that in the life of Corey and Natasha. One of the things they didn't tell you in this story, he alluded to it, was when they came from Hawaii, they actually had a business contract with the city to open a shop. But because of a glitch in the paperwork, it wasn't zoned properly, and they weren't able to open a shop there. So the dream dies. And that's when they're just floundering, going, what do we do? And she's a tattoo artist, so somebody offered her a chair, a chair in this shop in Old Town Scottsdale. And they loved the work that Natasha did so much that eventually, when the owner was ready to sell, he said, would you be interested in buying it? But they couldn't afford to buy a shop in Old Town Scottsdale. So Corey ran the numbers, and he said, there's no way they're going to take this bid. But he offered a bid.

But the owner actually liked them enough, he took a, it was what they could afford. So they weren't kind of a lowball or anything, but it's what they could afford, and he took it. And so now, she has... as a dream shop in Old Town Scottsdale at the epicenter of culture. That's what God wants to do with you. Just be faithful to him and he will work out the details. This is what Proverbs promises. Commit your actions to the Lord and your plans will succeed. And I know you might think, but I don't know that I have a spiritual gift or a spiritual skill. You don't need to. You're the first person in the Bible that's identified as a person with a spiritual gift. A spiritual gift was Bezalel. He's in the Old Testament. Days of Moses, they come out of Egypt and God says to Moses, I want you to build a tabernacle for me. And Bezalel is the one I've given the skill to do it. Bezalel was competent with all kinds of artistry, with wood, with metal, with fabrics, with design. And because Bezalel was a craftsman, God used his craftiness with crafts to make the place where people would worship. And you might say, I'm an artist, or I'm a musician, or I write books, or whatever you do can be used by God.

Listen, most of the spiritual gifts that God give us are not spiritual when he gives them to us. It's a natural gift, a natural talent he gives us that becomes a spiritual gift when we give it back. So what is it that God has made you good at, that you've practiced and honed over time that you could give back to him and to his glory? That's what the call is to be a Christ-centered difference maker here at CCV3 Work. Here's a couple more ideas. When I go to my chiropractor and dentist, both of them have this similar simple, simple practice. You walk in the chiropractor and the dentist's office and there's Christian music playing. And then you go see them and they're probably singing along with the music. So you know they believe in this stuff. And with the dentist in particular, you can't stop him from singing because like, la, la, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. He's gonna talk to you about the song and about his life. They're just both, and my chiropractor, you can't shut that guy up. He just loves to talk about the Lord and he's such a, so exuberant, you don't even want him to stop. They're not forcing opinions on anybody. They're not preaching to anybody or making anybody feel guilty.

There's another woman named Melanie who's a hairstylist. And listen, if you're a hairstylist, you might as well be a Catholic priest because you're gonna get confessions all day long and people are gonna share their deepest, darkest secrets and you just have an opportunity to listen kindly and speak the wisdom and truth of the Lord. Andy's an interesting study. Andy works in a supplement company. It's these kind of supplements for building strength. And he is part of their anti-doping campaign for this company, which is funny because he looks like he dopes himself. The dude is just like, phew. And Andy, he's a beast, he's a monster. Because of his work with the supplement company, he gets to interact with athletes all over. And he loves football, played football, and so he became the strength coach and spiritual coach for a local college football team. So he's got all these dudes that look up to him like, Andy, that dude's ripped, you wanna get strong, go to Andy, and Andy knows how to get you strong because he's excellent at what he does. I can't tell you how many dozens of football players he's brought to CCV and how many dozens have been baptized into the Lord because of Andy's testimony, he's good at what he does, and that created space for him to have a voice. Elliot, this will be my last story, I promise, maybe.

Elliot is a second grade school teacher. And if you're a school teacher, you know there are rules about separation of church and state and religion and talking about Jesus. There are guidelines. Some schools are more strict about it than others. And he knows that, and he respects that. So he comes to CCV, Central Scottsdale, and you know where he volunteers? With the second grade kids. Why? Deliberately so his kids from school come to church and see him. And back in the classroom on Monday, the kids are going, hey, you know, we saw the teacher on the weekend. The kids are going like, where'd you see the teacher on the weekend? Well, he goes to our church. He teaches at our class at church too. You wanna come to church with me? You see how this works. He's simply using a strategic way of making Jesus famous through the skills that God has given him. This principle in Proverbs is repeated in Colossians in the New Testament. It simply says this. Work willingly. at whatever you do as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

So if you wanna turn your problem at work into a platform, first thing you do is don't work for a paycheck, work for your purpose. Second thing that I noticed Natasha and Corey did is they planned with a pencil, giving God the eraser. They had their plans when they moved from Hawaii here to Phoenix, but they also kept it pretty loose and said, God, whatever you want us to do, okay, this building isn't gonna work out. When you heard him talk, there was not any anger in his voice or frustration in his voice. He's just saying, this is God's business, this is God's plan. I'm gonna do whatever God tells us to do. And that is really living out Proverbs 16, nine. We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Again, in the New Testament, Jesus' half-brother spoke to this, you make a plan in pencil, but let God have the eraser. Look here, you who say, today or tomorrow, we're gonna go to a certain town, we'll stay there a year, we will do business there and make a profit, how do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like that of a morning fog. It's here a little while and then it's gone. What you ought to say is, if the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that. Are you willing to give your career to God as an act of worship so that your profession becomes a platform for professing Jesus? If I were to be honest, just open up my chest here,

this is so important to me. If Jesus stood on stage with me right now and said, look, Mark, you have to make a choice. You can only do one of four things. You can preach sermons or you can write books or you can mentor young pastors or you could coach people in their business to use their occupation as a profession for me. Hands down, without an ounce of hesitation, I would say if I could only do one thing, this is what I would do, to help you use your profession to profess Jesus. That may be a new thought to you and it may be overwhelming to you, so let me give you a starter kit. The next time you go to work, if it's tomorrow or the next day, even maybe later this evening, whenever you go to work, when you sit down for your first task at a spreadsheet or maybe you're making a burger, maybe you're serving someone in a social issue, whatever it is, your first task, I want you to pray this prayer. I'm gonna give you the exact words and there's a meaning for these words. Lord, give me the wisdom and skill to accomplish this task with excellence because if you're excellent at what you do, you have a voice with those you do it for. I commit it to you and ask for this one reward.

It's fair to ask God for a reward for your work. You should be rewarded for your work. Here's your greatest reward, that you show me how this success could bring you glory. If you're a boomer, go ahead and pull out your phone, take a picture of this prayer, if you're a boomer. Everybody else, just connect with us on social at CCV and we'll let you download it and make a screensaver out of it. You're welcome, boomers. If you were to give every task to God and just simply ask him, how could I do this for your glory? You will find that your work gives you an opportunity for your worship of Jesus Christ, to make him famous where you spend the majority of your time. Holy Father, it is my prayer that everyone hearing my voice on whatever campus or online would have a passion in their heart to use whatever they do for a living to bring life to those they do it with, that they would serve their clients and their colleagues, their bosses and their employees with the love of Christ so that you would be famous in our city and in our state so that people could know you and the life that is truly worth living. We pray this in his name, amen. Hey, next week is Father's Day and for all of you on your campus, it's a special day, you won't wanna miss it.

Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!