Willmar Area Faith Work

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Introducing
WebsiteWillmarareafaithatwork.com E-mail
Info_at_Willmarareafaithatwork.com 320-222-9793 PO
Box 934 Willmar, MN 56201
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Willmar Area Faith _at_Work

• We are modeled after the Alexandria Unity
  Foundation in Minnesota, an inter-denominational
  group of business leaders and professionals that
  offers a monthly luncheon event to people in the
  region.

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Willmar Area Faith _at_Work

• Our name Faith _at_Work has a double meaning
• To introduce Faith into the workplace with
  practical insight dealing with Ethical, Spiritual
  and Value issues.
• To help the Christian Community to walk the talk.
  Through inter-denominational prayer and events
  focused on addressing specific issues in the
  Community, we hope to bless the community by
  Faith at Work (a faith that works).

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Why Willmar Area Faith _at_Work?

• Mission Statement
• To encourage and facilitate the understanding of
  Gods complete plan for a balanced and purposeful
  life at work.

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Work-life Status

• 60 to 70 of our daily lives are spent at work.
• Our surveys reveal that 90-97 of Christians
  have never heard a sermon relating Biblical
  principles to their work. Doug Sherman, Your
  Work Matters to God.
• Most people are dissatisfied with work
• Survey of Christians revealed a 50
  dissatisfaction (Sherman)
• 80 of the general population and 50 of
  executives are dissatisfied with their work (Wall
  Street Journal)

Os Hillman The 9 to 5 window
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The Call in Life

• The realization of it (the call) in a mans life
  may come with a sudden thunder-clap or with a
  gradual dawning, but in whatever way it comes it
  comes with the undercurrent of the supernatural,
  something that cannot be put into words.- Oswald
  Chambers
• I have done many things in my life that
  conflicted with the great aims I had set
  myself-and something has always set me on the
  true path again. - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

(Source The Call)
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Discovering a purposeful work life

• Do you wish to live life as a journey? Are you
  eager to know the Way? Deeply desiring to reach
  the goal of your quest? Willing to lead an
  examined life, travel with those who use the same
  signposts, and associate with all who long for
  the same home? Listen to Jesus of Nazareth
  answer his call.
• Os Guinness (The Call)

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The Caller

• We are not primarily called to do something or
  to go somewhere we are called to Someone.Refuse
  to play the word games that pretend calling means
  anything without a Caller. Os Guinness

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Understanding the realities

• Our fallen world
• The core of our talents and abilities may or may
  not be fulfilled in our lives on earth.
• Due to the fall, work is partly creative (good)
  and partly cursed.
• Work that fits perfectly to our callings and
  abilities is not a right, but a blessing.
• Michelangelo once complained having seen, as I
  said, that the times are contrary to my art, I do
  not know if I have any hope of further salary.

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Priorities

• How do we rank
• Community, Family, God, Work, Church?

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Priorities

• Some say
• God is number one!
• You shall have no other God (nothing else,
  nobody else) before Me

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Priorities

• Others say
• Family must be number one!
• If we dont first take care of those God
  entrusted to our care, then we dishonor God.

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Priorities

• Other factors can also be difficult to
  prioritize
• Work to provide for our families
• Church to learn about life and experience God
• Community to serve people beyond the immediate
  family

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Priorities

• John C. Maxwell
• When does our obligation to serve and honor God
  (Priority 1) ever get satisfactory completed
  enough to move on to Priority Two? Ever?

Life_at_Work Maxwell, Swenson, Hybels
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Priorities

• It is impossible to rightfully prioritize/rank
  these five areas in life
• God, Family, Work, Church, Community

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Priorities

• When can we truly say
• God
• God, I think I have done everything you expected
  of me, so now I move on to the needs of my
  Family.

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Priorities

• When can we truly say
• Work
• Boss, everything is completed and prepared for
  the future. I am now going to help with the youth
  in church.

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Priorities

• When can we truly say
• Church
• Pastor, there are no more needs in our church. I
  will now help the community at large with...

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Priorities

• God actually desires that we continuously juggle
  and balance all areas in life.

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Life Original Purpose
God is the circle
God
Work
Family
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come, your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6 9-10
God
God
Church
Nation
Community
God
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The Modern Compartmentalized Life
We redefined God from being the Circle and moved
Him inside the circle to a limited role.
Me
We define God and limit His involvement!
God
Private Sphere
Church
Family
being served (ego)
Me
Me
EGO Edging God Out
Work
Community (Nation)
Secular Sphere
God is removed from ½ of life
Me
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The history of the distorted-modern-
compartmentalized Christian life
Spiritual Distortion
Secular Distortion

• 312 A.D. Era
• Elevated the spiritual at the expense of the
  secular
• A spiritual form of dualism spiritual and
  secular
• God has never separated the spiritual from the
  secular

• Year 1650 A secular form of dualism elevation
  of the secular at the expense of the spiritual.
• Work replaced vocation and Calling
• Most now see work and the spiritual (faith) as
  two separate worlds.
• Inference layman works for money while
  minister works for God.

Os Hillman
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Avoiding the distortions

• Pursue a holistic understanding to counter the
  dualistic distortions
• Dont emphasize the spiritual over the secular
• Ministry distorted as a greater Call compared to
  regular work.
• Dont emphasize the secular over the spiritual
• Work distorted by defining who we are without
  recognizing
• God as the Caller and limiting God and the
  spiritual to a Sunday event.
• Henry Fords distortion Work is the salvation
  of the human race, morally, physically,
  socially. (Source The Call)

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Why are people dissatisfied?

• The modern Catch-22
• Neither work nor career can be fully satisfying
  without a deeper sense of calling but calling
  itself is empty and indistinguishable from work
  unless there is Someone who calls.
• Os Guinness (Source The Call)

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Why are people dissatisfied?

• The modern Catch-22
• If we leave God out, there is no Caller. So
  people try to find meaning by redefining the Call
  to something that needs doing, which often turns
  into even more meaningless work in endless
  pursuit for meaning (workaholics).

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People are dissatisfied partly because they feel
empty without God

• Words such as calling and vocations were replaced
  by words as work, trade, occupations and
  employment.
• Instead of God being the Caller whispering us
  along way according to our gifted talents and
  learned skills, people are now directed by
  ambition, duties and roles in society.
• Finally, faith and calling were completely
  separated. Each citizen should demand a job.
  Callings became jobs, while the jobs later became
  corrupted without Gods presence.

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Ignoring the spiritual dimension of our being
Modern Christianity has removed God from the
workplace and people do not feel complete.
God the Trinity
Father Son Holy Spirit
God whispers to us through the Holy Spirit
Gods children
Spirit Soul Body
Mind Will Emotion Memory
Conscience Intuition
Jay Bennett The Kingdom Oil Christian Foundation

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Society is finally realizing that
we are spiritual
beings also

• Business Week Magazine
• A spiritual revival is sweeping across Corporate
  America as executives of all stripes are mixing
  mysticism into their management, importing into
  office corridors the lessons usually doled out in
  churches, temples, and mosques. It is no longer
  taboo to talk about God at work.

Faith Work Do they mix? (Hillman)
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Society is finally realizing that
we are spiritual
beings also

• Laura Nash ethicist at Harvard Divinity School
• Spirituality in the workplace is exploding.
• Os Hillman author and President of Marketplace
  Leaders
• As people work more than before, it is no
  surprise then that the workplace is where this
  social phenomena (spirituality) are showing up
  first. The office is where more and more people
  eat, exercise, date, drop their kid

Faith Work Do they mix? (Hillman)
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Faith in the workplace

• Two Minnesota companies draws business solutions
  from
• the Bible
• Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Carlson Companies
• William George, Medtronic Inc
• At least 10,000 Bible and prayer groups meets
  regularly in the workplace.
• Christian groups in large public companies
• Coca-Cola Christian Fellowship
• Toyota Christian Fellowship
• Continental Airlines prayer group (450 members)
• American Airlines
• Intel
• Texas Instruments
• Sears Christian Fellowship (has its own choir)
• High Tech Prayer Breakfast in Atlanta (1,500
  people)

Faith Work Do they Mix? The 9 to 5 window
(Hillman)
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Reconnecting our spiritualdimension to the soul
and body
As Willmar Area Faith _at_Work, we look for
ways to re-introduce God through
God the Trinity
Father Son Holy Spirit
Creator
Redeemer
Communicator

• Practical
• Spiritual
• Ethical
• Value
• issues

God whispers to us through the Holy Spirit
We pray and feel peace by connecting to our God
Spirit Soul Body
Gods children
Conscience Intuition
Mind Will Emotion Memory
Jay Bennett The Kingdom Oil Christian Foundation

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The aim of Gods Call

• The one aim of the call of God is the
  satisfaction of God, not a call to do something
  for him.
• Do we enjoy our work, love our work, virtually
  worship our work so that our devotion to Jesus is
  off-center? Do we put our emphasis on service, or
  usefulness, or being productive in working for
  God at his expense? Do we strive to prove our
  own significance? To make a difference in the
  world? To carve our names in marble on the
  monuments of time?
• We are not primarily called to do something, but
  called to Someone.

Os Guinness (Source The Call)
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Seek God instead of withdrawing from Him

• To make the choice of career or profession on
  selfish grounds, without a true sense of calling,
  is probably the greatest single sin any young
  person can commit, for it is the deliberate
  withdrawal from allegiance to God of the greatest
  part of time and strength. -
  Archbishop William Temple

(Source The Call)
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The Purposeful Life

• If God is real and knows us all, even from within
  the womb, then HE is a personal God not just a
  remote, perfect and creative almighty power.
• As God manifested his personal dimension through
  Jesus and reestablished the broken relationship
  through forgiveness of sin, then it is reasonable
  to believe His word (Bible) that He truly cares
  for what we do in ALL aspects of life. And most
  of all He desires that we know Him.

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The paradox that Less is More

• The more we get what we now call ourselves out
  of the way and let Him take us over, the more
  truly ourselves we become. C.S. Lewis

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The Balanced Meaningful Life no
compartmentalization
GOD
Family
Church
to serve
G O D
G O D
Community
Work
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us
establish the work of our hands for us yes,
establish the work of our hands. Ps 9017
GOD
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Which among these occupations should be
considered the most spiritual vocation?

• Missionary
• Pastor
• Carpenter
• Billy Graham
• Farmer
• Homemaker
• Business Person

All are Equal According to Gods Word!
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What Gods word says about work

• Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
  as working for the Lord, not for men, since you
  know that you will receive an inheritance from
  the Lord as reward.
• Col 3 23-34

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The Balanced Meaningful Life no
compartmentalization
GOD
Family
Church
to serve
G O D
G O D
Our desire and focus through Faith _at_Work is to
bring faith into the workplace in a healthy
manner. Therefore, fulfilling Gods original
design for life.
Community
Work
GOD
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Work-life in Christianity

• Of Jesus 132 public appearances, 122 were in the
  marketplace
• Of 52 parables Jesus told, 45 had workplace
  context
• Of 40 divine events recorded in Acts, 39 were in
  the marketplace
• Jesus called 12 workplace individuals, not
  clergy, to build His church
• Work in its different forms is mentioned 800 more
  times than any other words used to express
  worship, music, praise and singing combined.
• www.marketplaceleaders.org

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Faith _at_Work

• Values Intellectual Tolerance
• We believe that the Christian God as Creator, has
  given all people free will to accept or reject
  His love.

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Faith _at_Work

• Values Personal Tolerance
• We believe that True Christianity is the only
  value system that truly is tolerant based on
• mankind is created to be free
• individual worth is given by the Creator
• highest challenge to love - even our/your
  enemies

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Faith _at_Work

• The unhealthy (un-legal) way
• Cannot (should not) force people to pray or read
  religious books.
• Cannot tell people to not read religious books
  from other religions.
• Cannot tell people they must join religious
  activities.
• Cannot reward, promote or appraise people for
  joining religious activities.

• The healthy (legal) way
• Can ask people if they want to join prayer group
  or Bible study on company premises.
• Can have Christian principles as company values
  as long as the company does not require the
  employees to practice any one particular faith.
• Can engage in religious speech at work as long as
  there is no actual imposition on co-workers or
  disruption of the work routine.

Verify with legal council / Federal and State
Workplace Guidelines
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What we do

• With so much of our life invested at work, we
  seek ways to facility learning and experiences
• How to better balance the struggles and
  challenges in life.
• How to better utilize our God given talents and
  combine them with our skills and experiences for
  the benefit of co-workers, customers, employers
  and community.
• How to equip supervisors and employers to better
  serve the employees entrusted to their care.

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How we do it

• Planned monthly Faith _at_Work luncheons
• Planned periodic seminars
• Personal interaction across the business and
  professional community.

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How we do it
When Normally 3rd Thursday at noon (Holiday
Inn)

• Planned monthly Faith _at_Work luncheons.
• Planned periodic seminars
• Personal interaction across the business and
  professional community.

When Check website for schedule
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Willmar Area Faith _at_Work

• General Board
• Committees
• Intersession
• Faith _at_Work luncheons (including event PR)
• Connecting across businesses for workplace
  ministry
• Connecting across Churches
• Steering (including budgets and financing)
• Affiliated groups
• - Alexandria Unity Foundation
• - MarketplaceLeaders.org

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Willmar Area Faith _at_Work

• WAF_at_W Board and Committee Members from various
  Churches
• First Covenant Church
• Church of the Nazarene
• Assembly of God Church
• Evangelical Free Church
• First Baptist Church
• We welcome and hope people from other churches
  will join us as well.

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Willmar Area Faith _at_Work

• How to find information
• Upcoming events on our WAF_at_W website.
  www.Willmarareafaithatwork.com
• Call or e-mail us.
  320-222-9793 or Info_at_Willmarareafaithatwork.com
• Provide your e-mail to automatically receive
  WAF_at_W event notifications.
• Sign up through WAFW to receive free information
  from MarketplaceLeaders.org
• Education Faith at work articles
• Equipping Faith at work resources
  (presentations, books, etc)
• Encouraging Faith at work daily e-mail devotions
  (Os Hillman)

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City transformation
Pastors/Local Churches
Intercessors
Bless Willmar Area
Marketplace
Our sphere Willmar Area Faith _at_Work
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Willmar Area Faith _at_Work

• We are looking for people and businesses to get
  involved with workplace ministry and people
  development.
• Contact us

Website Willmarareafaithatwork.com

• Luncheons tickets available
• Good News Book Store
• Cub Foods Customer Service Desk
• (730 am 900 pm)
• Dunn Brothers

E-mail Info_at_Willmarareafaithatwork.com
320-222-9793 PO Box 934 Willmar, MN 56201
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Willmar Area Faith _at_Work

• There is a move of God in the workplace
• I believe the next move of God is going to be
  among believers in the workplace.
• - Dr. Billy Graham

Conclusion