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Australian Marketplace Connections Inc.

Fear or Faith in the Marketplace?

Bulletin 2007-03

Are you fearful about openly being a Christian in the marketplace?

Relax, fear is not from the Lord and the Bible has a soft entry point just for you. Firstly be encouraged by the following scripture:

There is no fear in love. Perfect love puts fear out of our hearts. People have fear when they are afraid of being punished. The person who is afraid does not have perfect love (1 John 4:18 NLV).

So rather than being intimidated by fear... switch to the antidote: loving God and loving others... then you will be an effective co-releaser of the blessings of the great commandment:

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest of the Laws. The second is like it, 'You must love your neighbour as you love yourself.' All the Laws and the writings of the early preachers depend on these two most important Laws (Matt 22:37-40 NIV).

If you do nothing else but set your heart on bringing these laws of God into your daily experience then you will have done tremendously well.

How good is that! This is such good news for all those who want to be part of the exciting adventure of making their daily occupation more significant by being "salt and light" in the world (Matt 5:13-14 and John 17:18).

But then sometimes I hear people say: 'Oh, there are rules in my job that preclude me from being evangelistic'. Well let's hear what St Paul has to say about this:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Gal 5:22-23 NIV).

So just start right here and see what Jesus can do with these attributes of the Holy Spirit in your life!

On Easter Thursday I went to a lunch for retired colleagues and one of them said to me: "Peter, do you remember a conversation we had in a bar 30 years ago? He continued: "At that time I was smoking and drinking and running like there was no tomorrow and you were trying to share Christ with me. Well, I have waited a long time to tell you that you were right... prayer and faith are now really important to me, I am enjoying reading the gospels and I am so happy".

How good is that? Praise God for all the goodness and grace he wants to extend through you to the people in your personal sphere of influence.

So what about the biblical soft entry point for you? Here is your do-able call:

If any of your colleagues do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by your behaviour, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your attractiveness should not come from outward appearances, such as hair-do's, jewellery and designer clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight (adapted for the bride of Christ from 1 Peter 3:1-4 NIV), and
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience... (1 Peter 3:15 NIV).

In the above conversation with my former work colleague he then asked me: "Peter, what if one of these colleagues asked you 'why did Jesus have to die such a horrible death', what would you say?".

Well let me ask you, what would you say? Are you ready for a family member, friend or work colleague to ask you a question like this? Take some time to write down your answer to this question so that you are "prepared" (ready and willing) to explain the reason for the hope you have.

So with such great foundations what's stopping us having much more impact for Christ in the world? I want to suggest the following:

Intimidation from secularism and the politically correct
Fragmentation from silo church mentalities and denominational segregation
Poverty of Christian networking in the marketplace
Compromised lives and a sense of unworthiness
Lack of Biblical world view.

To help overcome these impediments AMC runs a Basecamp on Prayer Mountain once a year in Melbourne. This is a special God space to encourage, equip, build relationships, receive excellent teaching and learn from shared experiences with peers.

This is a special place to revitalise leaders of Christian small groups in the marketplace and to connect those who want to be networked with other Ambassadors of Christ in the marketplace.

Blessings to you,

Peter

Peter Kentley
0414 622-633
Australian Marketplace Connections

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