Tag Archive for: job

The Exchange (Ian McKellar)

Ian McKellar (from Church of Joy in Singapore, and on the NCMI team) shares about how business and the marketplace and God’s Kingdom intersect.

You can download the Q&A session that happened at the end here.

The Exchange with Steve Wilson

The Exchange: Kingdom Meets Workplace

What does your job have to do with God’s kingdom? How can you bring glory to God through your job? Is there a bigger call to the 8 – 5?

The Exchange on 4 March

The Desires of the Flesh

This Friday, 4 March

This Friday we continue with the second part in our series Discipling in the Trenches. We’re looking at 1 John 2:15 – 17 and unpacking its relevance to how we lead ourselves and disciple others in the workplace.
1 John 2:15 – 17
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides for ever.”
We’ll be looking at understanding what the ‘desires of the flesh’ actually are and how the enemy uses them to try and distract and disqualify us from being the disciples of Jesus we are called to be in the workplace. Jesus has given us the power and will to live lives victorious over these desires of the flesh. This Friday, we’ll show just how much he has done that.

The Exchange
Friday, 4 March
At Cornerstone Church Bedfordview
Click here for a map

6:00am: Coffee
6:30am: Prompt Start
Followed by a breakfast

Work Eat Sleep Repeat: Part 3

By Waldo Kruger and Spha Ndawonde
01 March 2015 at Bedfordview PM

[easy_media_download url=”http://www.cornerstonechurch.co.za/Downloads/20150301-WK-work-pt3.mp3″ text=”Download MP3″ color=”blue” force_dl=”1″]

Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat: Part 2

By Shane Rielly and Phill Quinn
15 February 2015 at Bedfordview PM

[easy_media_download url=”http://www.cornerstonechurch.co.za/Downloads/20150215_PM_PQ_SR-work-eat-sleep-repeat-pt2.mp3″ text=”Download MP3″ color=”blue” force_dl=”1″]

Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.: Part 1

By Lance De Ruig and Ryan Peter
08 February 2015 at Bedfordview PM

[easy_media_download url=”http://www.cornerstonechurch.co.za/Downloads/20150208-LD-Workseries Part 1.mp3″ text=”Download MP3″ color=”blue” force_dl=”1″]

Partnership (The Exchange)

By Gregg McAlpine
6 February 2015 at The Exchange

[easy_media_download url=”http://www.cornerstonechurch.co.za/Downloads/20150206-Exchange-Partnership.mp3″ text=”Download MP3″ color=”blue” force_dl=”1″]

The book of Job

As we’re going through the book of Job as part of our Bible reading plan – a very difficult, and interesting, book – we thought it would be good to provide some info on what to look for in the book.

One of the biggest questions of life is attended to in the book of Job: Why do bad things happen to good people?

Don’t we all want to know!

The book is essentially a story about a man Job. Job comes into serious suffering in his life for no apparent reason to him. We receive some background insight into a conversation in heaven between satan and God, but Job is never told about this. He essentially suffers blindly.

Many chapters are taken up with the advice and comfort Job receives from three of his close friends. Each of them has a view about why Job is suffering. Job’s discussions with them become quite heated at some points.

It’s important to know that his friends are right and wrong in their advice. This is a hard part to grasp in the book as it’s not easy to discern exactly what is right and wrong in their advice. But the main reason why they are wrong is that they essentially say to Job that he is suffering because he has sinned. ‘If he were to repent, everything would come right for him’, is their advice. But Job insists that he has not done anything so obviously wrong.

This idea of his friends is wrong because of two main reasons. (1) Some people suffer for no direct reason, and (2) if we don’t sin we are not promised a perfect life.

This is challenging because people do suffer because of their mistakes, and if we were to sin less a good amount of issues would come right in life. Nonetheless the book of Job insists the friends’ application of this truth is wrong.

The culmination of the book comes in chapters 40-41 where God answers Job. God’s answer is not as direct as many people would like. God never tells Job (and us) why he suffered. He does, however (and to paraphrase very liberally) say this to Job:

“Job, have you looked at creation lately? Are you able to make and control any of it? Is it not exquisitely made? I am in total control of the universe. I know what I am doing. Everything has purpose to me even if you don’t understand. Job, if you think you can run the universe better than me you are welcome to try. Even suffering is within my arsenal to bring about my perfect will. Job, will you rest in me being God and you not understanding everything?”

In the narrative God reveals important things about himself, yet never answers Job why he had to suffer. Yet after God reveals himself Job seems satisfied. In tragedy we don’t need answers, we need God.

And so the book ends.

Job is a rich literary work. There is more than meets the eye for us philosophically and in usage for everyday life.