Sermon Illustrations on Work

Work

Both practical and artistic work serve higher purposes and reflect the worker’s character.

See GENIUS AND WORK.

WORK AND ART

Between digging a ditch to drain a meadow and composing a sonnet, what is there in common? Nevertheless, if we look closely into the matter, the ditch and the sonnet are much the same thing. We might even fairly challenge that category of “useful” and “fine.” The useful are surely fine, for nothing is finer than use; and the fine, if they be not in a high sense useful, are not fine after all. The ditch is dug to increase the serviceableness to man of nature; the sonnet is composed to enable man to discern in nature a beauty (or serviceableness) to which he had heretofore been blind. From a broad standpoint, there is little to choose between them. The ditch is nothing in itself, but neither, strictly speaking, is the sonnet. They are both means to ends. The ditch is, perhaps, more distant from its end than the sonnet, but it is a link in the same chain. Moreover, the ditch will always be an honest ditch, but the sonnet may be false or artificial, and in that case counts for nothing, or less. The real difference resides in the person doing much more than in the thing done. A workman, building a wall, may have a perception of the value of the use he is performing, or he may not; only in the former case, of course, does he deserve the name of artist. The seamstress who plies her needle in our attic, or the poor man’s wife who must needs wash and scrub and darn and work all day long, and from year’s end to year’s end, if she realize the universal bearings of her industry, is an artist, and a nobler and more adorable one than she who sings for $5,000 a night.--_America._

1872 Work Rules

Luke 10:7

List of work rules issued by proprietor Zachary U. Geiger in 1872:

1. Employees will daily sweep the floors.

2. Wash the windows once a week.

3. Bring in a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal.

4. Make pens carefully.

5. Hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed on Sabbath. Each employee is expected to spend the SABBATH by attending CHURCH and contributing liberally to the cause of the LORD.

6. Men will be given an evening off each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go regularly to CHURCH.

7. After an employee has spent 13 hours of labor in the office, he should spend the time reading the BIBLE and other good books while contemplating the glories and building up of the KINGDOM.

8. Every employee should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years, so that he will not become a burden upon the charity of his betters.

9. Any employee who smokes Spanish cigars, uses liquor in any form, gets shaved at a barber shop, or frequents pool and public halls, will give me good reason to suspect his WORTH, INTENTIONS, and HONESTY.

10. The employee who has performed his labours faithfully and without fault for a period of five years in my service and who has been THRIFTY and attentive to his RELIGIOUS DUTIES, is looked upon by his fellowmen as a SUBSTANTIAL and law abiding CITIZEN, will be given an increase of five cents per day in his pay, providing a just return in profits from the business permits it.

Be worthy of your hire.

[One urban legend researcher says this list has circulated for a long time but cannot be verified and is probably unauthentic. See http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp]

Wait For God To Drop A Roasted Goose

Luke 12:22

Martin Luther, 500 years ago: "God wants nothing to do with the lazy, gluttonous bellies who are neither concerned nor busy; they act as if they just have to sit and wait for God to drop a roasted goose into their mouth."

The Martha Syndrome

Luke 10:38

Work can get out of control.

1. Workaholism can result from an overused spiritual gift.

2. A workaholic loses sight of why he's working.

3. Work interferes with intimacy.

4. Workaholism's most debilitating side effect is joylessness.

5. Balanced living comes only by choice.

Confusing Inspiration

"You evidently confuse the inspiration, that is, the first instantaneous vision or emotion in the artist's soul (which is always present), with the [work]. I, for example, write every scene down at once, just as it first comes to me, and rejoice in it; then I work at it for months and years."

-- Feodor Dostoevsky

Rest? Never On Sunday

Mark 2:27

Christians have many excuses for ignoring the Sabbath. The Sabbath is made for man, but it makes sense of observe it. Three reasons for observance:

1. Grace of God. The rhythm and pattern of creation.

2. Freedom. The Jews were reminded they were slaves in Egypt.

By observing the Sabbath we show we are not slaves to

work.

3. Hope. It gives us a peek into the next world.

Microloans In Peru

David Wroughton is working to give loans so Peruvians can start their own businesses. Successes and failures are described.

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Want the Day Off?

Job 14:1

So you want the day off. Let's take a look at what you are asking for:

365 days in year

-104 weekends

-175 evenings and nights

- 23 coffee breaks

- 46 lunch hour

- 2 sick leave

- 14 vacation

____

1 And you think I'm going to let you have this day off?

(Boss's response is from Los Angeles Times.)

[see also #3872]

Working Out What Matters Most: Tensions Between Job and Family

The stress of working out priorities as a Christian father and bread-winner.

Author began reemphasizing his family over work.

#980

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Full Service Christians In A Self Serve World

Mark 10:43

Principles for all times:

Serving your Spouse

Serving at work

Serving in the Church

Serving in the neighborhood

Our Privilege of Service

Big Government Depends On Big Gambling

Mark 10:28

Congress may commission a study of consequences of gambling. Only two states make it illegal. Wagering was pandemic in 18th-century Britain and most people saw all of life as a gamble. Massachusetts Puritans passed America's first law against gambling in 1638, and George Washington was distressed by the level of gambling among his troops at Valley Forge (yet he also supported a lottery to finance construction of District of Columbia).

Big government now depends on big gambling. It is exploiting what Robert Goodman, a student of gambling, calls "the pathology of hope," which is particularly strong among the poor who have lost confidence in work as a means of upward mobility. Kim Phillips, a Chicago journalist, reports that one South Side liquor store sells 2,700 lottery tickets a day when the state jackpot reaches $20 million.

At the end of the century, with the weed of pessimism growing in profusion in the national garden, gambling may be for many people a fatalistic assertion of the belief that most of life is luck. ... Life is to a significant extent a lottery won or lost at conception, so one might as well roll the dice as life rolls along.

The pursuit of wealth without work is not new to this vale of tears. However, to the extent that "players" regard gambling not as play but as a utilitarian activity, and one tinged with despair or desperation, the proliferation of gambling is deeply depressing.

Dorothy Sayers On Work As A Calling

Dorothy Sayers wrote in "Creed or Chaos":

"Work is not, primarily, something one does to live, but the thing one lives to do. When a man or a woman is called to a particular job of secular work, that is as true a vocation as though he or she were called to specifically religious work."

What Makes A "Good and Faithful" Servant

Luke 19:12

The Biblical ethic toward work.

1. Work is good. (Genesis 1) (9/1/91)

2. Work is hard. (9/1/91)

3. Work is moral.

Success should not be simplistically linked with spirituality.

Moral accountability: parable of the talents.

a. We are responsible for the task we are given to do.

b. We are responsible for the character we bring to the task.

c. We are responsible for the attitude with which we work.

"Servant" attitude.

Don't Ask Me What I "Do"

Luke 10:2

Many Christians allow their job to define them and become trapped in hierarchies of power, prestige, and pedigree. They should get their fulfillment through kingdom ministry. Labor only has value when we know its purpose.

Two problems:

1. Christians have failed to distinguish between temporal and eternal labor.

2. Christians place an inappropriate amount of importance on the jobs

because of their real needs for self-esteem.

Writer doesn't want to end up at conclusion of his life with attitude of Ecclesiates 2:20 ("gave up my heart to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun.)

"What Makes You So Different?"

Writer was a nurse and was told by her supervisor she would have a better witness if she worked harder and was not so lazy. She became diligent and others noticed. [see below]

“Again and agin, Scripture points to our attitudes and actions as the critical touch point between us and others.”

________

Becky Brodin is a nurse and works in a Cardiac Unit on the midnight shift. This night she only had 2 patients and both were sleeping. She settled in to stare at the monotonous blips on the monitors.

The other nurse on duty that night interrupted Becky’s day-dreaming. “Can I talk to you about something?” Her tone of voice snapped Becky to attention. “Sure, what is it?”

She cleared her throat and began. “I’ve noticed you bring your Bible to work every day, and I know you are a Christian, but...” She paused - “As a nurse you are dispensable. You have a lot of potential, but the discrepancy between what you could be and what you are is disappointing. Let me give you some advice whether you want it or not. If I were you I’d become indispensable. Maybe then someone will listen to your religion.”

Becky was shocked, but not offended - she knew the nurse was right. Becky had learned what she needed to do in order to get by, but hadn’t progressed any further. She was eager to share her faith, but had become blind to the laziness that clouded any chance to witness effectively.

How to live an impressive life:

A. Be wholehearted at work.

B. Be clean in your speech and keep a positive attitude.

C. Be a servant to everyone, not just friends.

D. Admit your sinfulness.

1) Accused of doing wrong.

a) People question our motives.

b) Sometimes justified?

2) We are not perfect, but we can be honest.

"Does Your Job Matter? "

God sees our job as an important part of His work on earth.

1. God is a worker.

2. God created people to be his coworkers.

a. Through work we love people by serving them.

b. Through work we meet our own needs and those of our family.

c. Through work we earn money to give to others.

d. Through work we love God.

Business Without Compromise

Luke 9:23

Biblical truths can work in the business world and we can do our job without ethical compromise, but it is not easy.

1. Working for the right Boss.

a. Trusting the True Provider.

b. Serving as salt.

c. Avoiding spiritual shipwreck.

2. Establish boundaries.

3. Seek an alternative.

4. Stand firm!

The Puritan View of Work

The Puritans had a well-rounded view of work:

A. God calls every person to his or her vocation. 1 Pet 4:10-11

B. Work has as its goal and motivation, spiritual and moral rewards.

1) Wealth is not a goal, but rather a temptation.

2) Not self-reliance, but an ethic of grace.

C. There must be a sense of moderation in work.

1) Puritans praised diligence but not workaholism.

D. The Puritans declared the sanctity of all honorable work.

1) No separation between sacred and secular.

E. All of life was God's.

Reclaiming the Biblical Doctrine of Work

Human-divine collaboration characterizes all honorable work.

I. Work is good.

A. God is a worker (Creation).

1) Humans, made in God's image, are meant to work.

2) Adam worked while in the Garden of Eden. Gen 2:15

B. Work produces benefits. (John Stott)

1) Work is intended for fulfillment of the worker.

Gen 1:26, Eccl 2:24; 3:22

a) Spiritual work has eternal rewards.

2) Work is intended for provision of the family.

3) Work is intended for the benefit of the community. Eph 4:28

C. All work should be done as unto the Lord.

1) The Puritans declared the sanctity of all honorable work.

a) No separation between sacred and secular.

2) All of life was God's.

Sweet Or Sweat? the Christian View of Labor

Genesis 2:2

Sermon: SWEET OR SWEAT? THE CHRISTIAN VIEW OF LABOR

I. People hate to work.

II. Biblical view: Work is good.

A. God is a worker (Creation). Genesis 2:2

B. Work produces benefits.

C. All work should be done as unto the Lord. Col 3:17,20-24

III. Work is hard.

A. After his sin, Adam's work became sweaty toil. Gen 3:17-19

B. Because of its hardness, Christians need dedication.

C. Dangers in work:

IV. Our society needs to rediscover the Christian work ethic.

A. Commentator on Soviet Union disintegration:

B. Impact of Methodism in England.

C. America needs to find its work ethic once again.

Faces To the Coal

John 9:4

Don McCullough writes in "Waking from the American Dream":

"During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war. First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky.

"Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner's caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, 'nd where were you during the critical days of our struggle?' And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, 'We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.'"

Not all the jobs in a church are prominent and glamorous. But it is often the people with their "faces to the coal" who help the church accomplish its mission.

The Top Counts

Job 2:3

Integrity is more than not being deceitful or slipshod. It means doing everything “heartily as unto the Lord” (Col.3:23). In his book “Lyrics,” Oscar Hammerstein II points out one reason why, a reason Christians have always known:

“Around 1983, on the cover of the New York Herald Tribune Sunday magazine, I saw a picture of the Statue of Liberty … taken from a helicopter and it showed the top of the statue’s head. I was amazed at the detail there. The sculptor had done a painstaking job with the lady’s coiffure, and yet he must have been pretty sure that the only eyes that would ever see this detail would be the uncritical eyes of sea gulls. He could not have dreamt that any man would ever fly over this head. He was artist enough, however, to finish off this part of the statue with as much care as he had devoted to her face and her arms and the torch and everything that people can see as they sail up the bay … When you are creating a work of art, or any other kind of work, finish the job off perfectly. You never know when a helicopter, or some other instrument not at the moment invented, may come along and find you out.”

Second Coming

Mark 13:33

In the 1987 NCAA Regional Finals, LSU was leading Indiana by eight points with only a few minutes left in the game. As is often the case with a team in the lead, LSU began playing a different ball game. The television commentator pointed out that the LSU players were beginning to watch the clock rather than wholeheartedly play the game. As a result of this shift in focus, Indiana closed the gap, won the game by one point, and eventually went on to become NCAA champions.

While Jesus called us to be aware of "the signs of the times," he clearly called us to expend our energies in faithful, active service. As we await Jesus' promised return, we are not so much to watch the clock as to be diligent servants during the time we have available.

No More Pity For the Poor

Job 24:4

America believes several untrue myths about poverty:

1. The "War on Poverty" only made things worse.

2. Welfare dependence passes from one generation to the next.

3. Welfare costs are a major tax burden on the middle class.

4. Work is a guaranteed way out of poverty.

Three truths about poor people:

1. The poor are less educated than other Americans.

2. Most of the poor don't work.

3. Most of the poor live in single parent households headed by women.

Four false assumptions:

1. The poor have too many kids.

2. Most of them live in inner city ghettos.

3. Most of the poor are black. (They make up 29%)

4. Poverty is a lifelong affliction.

The Job That Ate My Life

Luke 12:29

Do you worship your job? Something becomes an idol in our lives when we give it the paramount importance and the dominion that should rightly be accorded only to God and his commands. That “idol” might be a person, a relationship, a philosophy, a material possession, an aspiration – or even a job. God has established work and given it a role in our lives. There are several criteria we can use to check up on our perspective regarding work.

1. Do work-related considerations drive the majority of our decisions?

2. Do I require those around me to be governed by the demands of my work?

3. Is my self-worth rooted in my work?

4. Am I sacrificing God’s sacred trusts on the altar of work?

"You Need the Rest"

Amos 8:5

Sermon in Ten Commandments series. #4: The Sabbath. Exodus 20:8-11

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YOU NEED THE REST

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I. Remembrances of Sundays past.

II. Jews were distinctive in making seventh day special.

A. Ancient, eternal, serious commandment.

B. The Sabbath is about a balanced life.

C. The Sabbath is about acknowledging God's place in life.

D. Desecrating the Sabbath. Amos 8:5

III. The influence of Christianity.

A. Jesus clarified the Sabbath by his actions. Luke 4:16

B. Jesus clarified the Sabbath by his announcements. Mark 2:27-28

IV. From Saturday to Sunday.

A. Earliest Christians were Jews and accepted the Sabbath.

B. In the New Testament Sunday was becoming the main holy day.

C. Sunday and the Sabbath are different.

V. The advantages of Sabbath-keeping.

A. Grace. God rested, so should we.

B. Freedom. We are not slaves to labor.

C. Hope. God has good things in store for us.

#3163

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"Laboring Day"

John 6:27

Sermon for Labor Day Sunday. John 6:27-29

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LABORING DAY

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I. The paradox of Labor Day.

A. We celebrate work by resting.

B. We have a lot to show for our labor.

C. Yet there is a sense of dissatisfaction.

II. What are we really working for?

A. Stuff that spoils. John 6:27

B. Stuff that lasts. John 6:27

III. What are you doing for the Lord?

A. We are God's preferred way of getting things done.

B. There is work to do in the Church. Matt 9:38

C. There is work to do in the World.

IV. What kind of an impact are YOU making?

Recreation Or Re-creation?

Mark 6:30

Sermon on vacations and leisure. Jeremiah 31:23-34

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RECREATION OR RE-CREATION?

==========================

I. The joy (and hassle) of vacations.

II. Work versus leisure.

A. The dilemma of the work ethic.

B. In Bible, work and leisure go together. Gen 2:2-3, Mark 6:30f

III. Self-denial versus enjoyment.

A. Leisure seems to promote self-indulgence.

B. But self-denial is only one side of coin. Eccl 3:13; 5:19

IV. The stewardship of leisure.

A. As stewards we should strive to be all that God wants us to be.

B. Make leisure activities a matter of conscious choice.

C. Our individual identity stems partly from our leisure.

V. We need more than a change of scenery.

A. Caribbean cruises won't save you.

B. We need re-creation more than recreation. 2 Cor 5:17

C. We also need ongoing spiritual renewal.

D. God's future vacation for us. Jer 31:23-32

Access God's Power, Author Says, By Getting Rid of 'Bits of Baal'

Gaining access to the power of God is critical for anyone who wants to avoid physical, emotional and especially spiritual exhaustion.

That’s according to a new book titled “Battle Fatigue,” released by the Baptist Sunday School Board’s Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Written by Joe B. Brown, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, N.C., the book warns readers Christians will not be able to access God’s power if they hold on to “bits of Baal.”

Referring to Baal -- a pagan god mentioned in the Old Testament -- Brown writes, “We must remove all false gods from our lives, those things that we thought would bring the rain but could not because they are powerless.”

He lists five “bits of Baal” that may hinder a Christian’s access to the power of God:

1) Ambition to achieve fame, success or glory -- no matter what the cost to one’s spiritual life: “It involves replacing God with your own ego and self-will.”

2) Unholy desires: “Ask yourself this question, ‘What is it that I want that God doesn’t want for me?’”

3) Memories of the past: “Is there anything in your life that you cannot let go of? Does your mind carry you back to an event and hold you captive there day after day? If you spend too much time and energy there, it can become a Baal.”

4) Unhealthy relationships: “There are people in our lives who try to draw us away from our power source, directing us toward a path that leads away from God, not toward him. Be careful not to let unhealthy relationships become a Baal.”

5) Business activities and recreational endeavors: “It has well been said, ‘We worship our work, we work at our play and we play at our worship.’ If we expend more energy making a living and entertaining ourselves than building a relationship with God, we have created a Baal in our lives.”

Chasing the Wind

Sermon in Ecclesiastes series. Quest for significance. Eccl 1:12-2:26

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CHASING THE WIND

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I. The quest for significance.

A. What have you sought after for happiness?

B. Solomon did it all. 1:12

II. Wisdom is chasing after the wind.

A. Solomon's quest for significance.

B. Existentialism.

III. Frustration of Pleasure. 2:1

A. Pleasures most people consider worthwhile.

B. Grandiose projects. 2:4

C. Pleasure in and of itself is a dead end.

IV. The ultimate frustrations - work and death.

A. Wisdom is better than insanity, but both die in the end. 2:14

B. Who gets our stuff? 2:17

C. What we get for our sweat.

V. Normal life has meaning - with God.

A. We can experience fulfillment despite life's difficulties. 2:26

B. God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness.

The Man Who Missed Christmas

There is a story of a little boy with a learning disability. He worked really hard to keep up with the others in his classroom, but because of his unique challenges, he kept falling behind. As a result, his backpack was crammed full with homework every night. There was no letup. He no longer could play outside with his friends after school. By the time he had made a swipe at all his school work, it was time for bed.

The parents consulted with the elementary school guidance counselor and decided that their son needed to be placed with a class of slower learners. It quickly became apparent that the right decision had been made. The third grader got his childhood back, complete with after-school play, positive self-esteem, and grades that matched the front end of the alphabet.

After several weeks of asking his dad if they could play together after dinner, he grew weary of the same response: "I'm sorry, buddy, I have a briefcase full of work I have to do." One day he simply said, "Well, Dad, can't they just put you in a slower class, too?"

Quotes On Ability, Talent, Effort

Acts 8:19

“Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.”

--Francis Bacon

“Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.”

--Josh Billings

“Ability is of little account without opportunity.”

--Napoleon Bonaparte

“It is almost as presumptuous to think you can do nothing as to think you can do everything.”

-- Phillips Brooks

“The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.”

-- Andrew Carnegie

“The question ‘Who ought to be boss?’ is like as ‘Who ought to be the tenor in the quartet?’ Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.”

--Henry Ford

“The wind and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”

--Edward Gibbon

“There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability.”

--Elbert Hubbard

“I consider myself an average man, except in the fact that I consider myself an average man.”

-- Michel de Montaigne

“Ability hits the mark where presumption overshoots and diffidence falls short.”

--John Henry Newman

Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work.”

--John G. Pollard

“I am only an average man but, by George, I work harder at it than the average man.”

-- Theodore Roosevelt

“A jury is a group of twelve people of average ignorance.”

-- Herbert Spencer

“Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”

-- Henry Van Dyke, Bits & Pieces, March 31, 1994, Page 16

“They are able because they think they are able.”

--Vergil

“Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.”

--Horace Walpole

“Not doing more than the average is what keeps the average down.”

-- William M. Winans

“Ability is what will get you to the top if the boss has no daughter....”

-- (unknown)

“Ability will enable a man to get to the top, but it takes character to keep him there.”

-- (unknown)

“It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you use that makes a difference.”

-- Zig Ziglar

Handling Life's Disappointments: God's Antidotes For Poison of Anxiety

Luke 10:40

People are anxious about the strangest things. Robert Trench was once the Episcopal Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland. He shared how for many years he was possessed by an unreasonable fear that one day he would lose all feeling in his legs and become paralyzed. He was constantly feeling of his legs and pinching himself. One evening while attending a large formal dinner, Trench reached under the table to pinch his leg, but he didn’t feel anything. With an expression of shock he said aloud, “Oh, no! It’s finally happened; I’m paralyzed. I can’t feel my legs!”

In that moment the dignified lady seated beside him fastened a cold gaze on him and said, “Reverend, would you kindly stop pinching my leg!”

Like Bishop Trench we worry about things that never happen. A man recently remarked to me, “Don’t tell me that worry doesn’t work. It must work, because most of the things I worry about never happen!” Truthfully, we waste a lot of precious time worrying about things that never really occur.

Henry Ward Beecher once wrote, “It is not work that kills men. It is worry. Work is healthy; worry is like rust upon the blade.”

Church Joins With Community In 'Welfare-to-work' Initiatives

The dozen women, donned in white gowns and mortar boards, walked into the sanctuary of the Church at Rock Creek -- and into a new life -- as they "graduated" from an innovative new ministry designed to move Arkansans from welfare rolls to payrolls.

The women, all of whom have been receiving Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) funds from the state, participated in a six-week "Life Skills Workshop" developed and implemented by the Little Rock church's ministry arm, Rock Creek Care Center.

The workshop, held for six Fridays, taught participants fundamentals in lifestyle management, from values to interviews in an unusual hand-in-hand effort to combine ministry with governmental reform. Following the Dec. 11 ceremony, each graduate met with prospective employers at a job fair held at the church as part of the process.

Lisa Davis, 30, said that since attending the classes "they have taught us budgeting, values, forgiveness and how to be a positive role model for my children also."

"What I get out of this is ... hope," Davis said. "Before I started taking this class, I had jobs here, jobs there, just being lazy. I didn't want to go to a job or keep a job for a month. I had a job at Children's Hospital and kept it for about two weeks and quit it. I became totally dependent on the TEA check."

Her comments showed that many of the women have more to deal with than seeking a job. She noted Rock Creek pastor Mark Evans "taught us about accepting God into our life and this is where God taught me about forgiveness, because in November last year I got shot. They tried to teach me to deal with the guy that shot me, to forgive him.

"I have been feeling more positive about myself and my outlook on what I want to do, and I didn't have that outlook at the beginning," she commented, adding she wants to finish her high school education and move into the field of abused and neglected women and children.

Like fellow participant Lisa Davis, Anita Williams, 35, found herself "just sitting at home every day doing nothing but watching TV," prior to attending the classes. "Now, hopefully, I'm going to find a good job, finish school, get a GED and continue training in computers."

Also like other participants, Williams attended a variety of classes that included career-boosting information about filling out a job application, personal conduct and dress during an interview. "We had a lot of people coming out and telling us about their careers and a couple of ladies from the DHS (Department of Human Services) come ... teach us about budgeting. We had a lot of interesting things going on about clothing and, you know, life."

Rock Creek member Shirley Shackleford serves as workshop administrator, "making sure we contact presenters, do scheduling and programming, making sure the ladies understand what their requirements are," she explained. "Our focus is on setting goals, positive thinking, budgeting. We will coordinate through the Department of Human Services for personal needs, such as GEDs. I also fill out progress reports on attitude, participation."

Shackleford, who also is on the staff of Here's Life Inner City, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, said she has served as the workshop's administrator for more personal reasons.

"I was, at one point, a welfare recipient," she said. "I was a single mom for 11 years and I raised three children and there was a point in my life where I needed to rely on the state to help me. There were no programs like this at the time. I have a burden and a heart for this."

While the workshop reflects a desire by federal and state government to help move people from welfare to work, Evans said the church sees it as a ministry meeting needs. "The Care Center is the beginning umbrella of how we minister to people by meeting their needs and, ultimately, leading them into a relationship with Christ," he said.

Of the 12 who completed the workshop process, eight have made personal decisions for Christ.

Evans worked with Shackleford and church members to develop the content, he said, "to give the real-life, hands-on, 'Here's how you can take principles and apply them to your life.' These are things like job interview skills, how to prep a resume, learn some things about yourself and to make proper decisions. We also want to show them what the Bible says about how Jesus teaches how to take the time you've been given and make the most of it."

He said the church will continue in the welfare-to-work process, assigning mentors to counsel graduates for a 12-month period and holding its next Life Skills Workshop -- with a new group of participants -- in February.

If the workshop appears to be an extreme departure both in how churches minister and in how government moves welfare recipients to work, it is. Hope Center in Little Rock, held at a First Church of God facility, piloted the project and has seen about 80 graduate from the program. Rock Creek used the Hope Center as a model for their workshop.

Evans said church member Joan Adcock, also a Little Rock city director, planted the idea for a welfare-to-work ministry after her work with the Hope Center. "About the same time, government started talking about welfare to work," Adcock recounted. "We started praying over that and started understanding that God was calling churches to come forward in welfare-to- work."

Adcock noted the Little Rock board of directors recently approved six community centers for welfare-to-work initiatives, as recommended by the board's site base committee. "Every one of those came in with a faith-based component," she said. "I expected more of a government element."

As foreign as it seems, will Arkansans see more churches working in partnership with government to accomplish welfare reform?

"I believe so," remarked Larry Toller, one of Gov. Mike Huckabee's liaisons to DHS. "It stands to reason that the church has numerous resources available to it. It can be an extended family. It has a vast number of volunteers who are not only willing but able to help folks."

Gov. Mike Huckabee, who spoke to graduates, said following the ceremony, "I've always believed very strongly that the absolute key to welfare reform is faith-based ministries to people. Government can give a sterile check, a class, but it takes a human being to wrap their arms around a person and say, 'I love you and you matter, not because this is a job to me, but you are a person like me.' That's the difference."

Helen Webb, DHS economic services supervisor, agreed, explaining "the most important thing is that the churches are giving of their time and efforts and hearts. We at DHS are involved with paper. The churches are able to provide these ladies the Life Skills Workshop where they can learn life skills to go out and get a job so they can got out and help their children."

"We're in a new paradigm," Toller noted. "There has been a paradigm shift in welfare reform. Whereas in the past, welfare was an entitlement, now we're calling it Transitional Employment Assistance. This is time-limited.

"Presently, state law requires a two-year time period for a person who is able-bodied to move from dependency to self-sufficiency," he said. "That's a big jump, considering that we've had decades of the mind-set that this is an entitlement. Now we have a new approach. Federal law requires no more than five years and state law (enacted in 1997) is two."

Toller noted because federal and state law "both encourage churches' involvement in the welfare-reform movement, we're looking for ways to make that happen. The plan for Arkansas is each county has what's called a TEA coalition made up of private citizens, business leaders, elected officials, community leadership and pastors. They'll try to fill in the holes and take down the roadblocks."

For Brenda Rudley, 21, the roadblocks to help were rooted in personal self- esteem. "I wasn't working, I was just at home laying around watching stories every day. I had low self-esteem and attitudes toward other people. Before I started coming here, I would let people put me down just because I'm not working. Coming to this program, having someone telling me I can do something makes me a better person.

"I know that just by going through this program I'll better myself and my kids," said Rudley, the mother of three. "Before I leave here today, I want to get a job not just for the money but because I like to work. I'm ready to go out there and make some money and further myself."

Huckabee recognized the many personal battles fought by welfare recipients like Rudley wanting to make a change in their lives as he spoke to the women during the graduation ceremony.

"Remember not what the people around you say when they tell you what you can't do," he urged, "but what God says you can do. If you'll plug into him, you'll realize that the greatest strength you'll ever have in your day is the strength that he supplies. The best way to get self-esteem is not for somebody to give it to you, but to let God get into you when you answer his call."

Evans urged other churches to "pick up" on the welfare-to-work ministry. "It should be the future of welfare reform. It's not only something that the government needs, it's something that the church needs to do.

"As a pastor, I need to lead my church to do this kind of ministry because this is what Jesus told me to do," he said. "I want us to look at our future relationship and how we continue to develop our ministry plan in partnership with people like the Department of Human Services.

"It's incredible what kind of changes can take place," he remarked. "The government has thrown money at the problem. They stepped up to the plate when the church backed away and got out of the ballpark. It's time for the church to get into the ballpark, step up to the plate and work in partnership with DHS. They can't do everything else the church can do."

*

Quotes On Thinking

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."

-- Henry Ford, cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES (B&P)

"The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers."

-- Sydney J. Harris (1917 - 1986), syndicated columnist, B&P

"Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week."

-- George Bernard Shaw, from QUOTES FROM THE MASTERS (QFTM)

"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of."

-- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), physicist and philosopher (B&P)

“It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting.”

— Millard Fuller (founder of Habitat for Humanity)

“You are what you think about all day long.”

— Dr. Robert Schuller

“What the mind of a man can conceive and believe the mind of a man can achieve.”

— Napoleon Hill

“Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.”

-- Napoleon Hill

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”

— Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

— James Allen

"The biggest lesson I have ever learned is the stupendous importance of what we think. If I knew what you think, I would know what you are, for your thoughts make you what you are; by changing our thoughts, we can change our

lives."

-- Dale Carnegie, QFTM 6/7/03

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes."

-- Benjamin Disraeli, QFTM 6/7/03

“It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.”

-- Robert H. Schuller

“He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.”

-- Andrew Carnegie

How To Tell When You're Rich

Job 21:23

When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelon was a delicacy. One of my father's buddies, Bernie, was a prosperous fruit-and-vegetable wholesaler, who operated a warehouse in St. Paul.

Every summer, when the first watermelons rolled in, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernie's warehouse and take up our positions. We'd sit on the edge of the dock, feet dangling, and lean over, minimizing the volume of juice we were about to spill on ourselves.

Bernie would take his machete, crack our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then we'd bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart - the reddest, juiciest, firmest, most seed-free, most perfect part - and throw away the rest.

Bernie was my father's idea of a rich man. I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that what my father admired about Bernie's wealth was less its substance than its application. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eat only the heart of the watermelon.

What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. Others are rich without ever being more than a paycheck ahead.

If you don't take the time to dangle your feet over the dock and chomp into life's small pleasures, your career is probably overwhelming your life.

For many years, I forgot that lesson I'd learned as a kid on the loading dock. I was too busy making all the money I could.

Well, I've relearned it. I hope I have time left to enjoy the accomplishments of others and to take pleasure in the day. That's the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away.

Finally, I am rich.

[I get his point, but wasting so much watermellon seemed too extravagant to me. - Holwick]

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*

Prayer At Work

Acts 10

The most overlooked way to influence your co-workers for Christ.

When we bring God's word directly into our praying, we are bringing God's power into our praying.

1. God's Accent. Dan 9:21; Ps 138:2; Heb 4:12; Jer 23:29

2. Your Prayer Book. Hab 1:13; Ps 25:6-7; Isa 1:18

3. Word woven Prayers. Ps 119:140; Matt 19:14-15; Col 1:9-12

4. Language Lessons. Phil 1:6; Prov 4

5. An Enlargement of His Promises. Phil 2:3-4; Ps 24:3-8

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a similar idea was #4862

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The most overlooked way to influence your co-workers for Christ.

Our employer was a religious man, a good man. How would he recognize his need for Christ?

1. Clues from conversations.

2. Another Cornelius. Acts 10

3. Dueling with Doubt. 1 Tim 2:3-4, 16; Jn 6:44

4. Christmas Hope.

5. Still Praying. 1 Jn 2:8

Thunder & Lightning

Job 36:30

"Thunder is good, thunder is impressive, but it is lightning that does the work."

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

Writer and humorist

Cited in More of...The Best of BITS & PIECES

Ambition

Acts 20:35

A friend's grandfather came to America from Europe, and after being processed at Ellis Island, he went into a cafeteria in New York City to get something to eat. He sat down at an empty table and waited for someone to take his order. Of course, nobody did. Finally, a man with a tray full of food sat down opposite him and told him how things worked.

"Start at that end," he said, "and just go along and pick out what you want. At the other end they'll tell you how much you have to pay for it."

"I soon learned that's how everything works in America," Grandpa told our friend. "Life is a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want as long as you're willing to pay the price. You can even get success. But you'll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself."

Cited in The Best of BITS & PIECES

Ant & Grasshopper (revised)

ORIGINAL VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

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MODERN AMERICAN VERSION

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can it be that, in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Then a representative of the NAGB (The National Association of Green Bugs) shows up on nightline and charges the ant with green bias, and makes the case that the grasshopper is the victim of 30 million years of greenism.

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when he sings “It's not easy being green.”

Bill and Hillary Clinton make a special guest appearance on the CBS Evening News to tell a concerned Dan Rather that they will do everything they can for the grasshopper who has been denied the prosperity he deserves by those who benefited unfairly during the Reagan summers.

Richard Gephardt exclaims in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his “fair share.”

Finally, the EEOC drafts the “Economic Equity and Anti-Greenism Act” retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal hearing officers that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare moms who can only hear cases on Thursday's between 1:30 and 3 PM.

THE ANT LOSES THE CASE

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he's in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him since he doesn't know how to maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. And on the TV, which the grasshopper bought by selling most of the ant's food, they are showing Bill Clinton standing before a wildly applauding group of Democrats and Republicans announcing that a new era of “fairness” has dawned in America.

No garden unless A gardener

In "First Things First," A. Roger Merrill tells of a business consultant who decided to landscape his grounds. He hired a woman with a doctorate in horticulture who was extremely knowledgeable. Because the business consultant was very busy and traveled a lot, he kept emphasizing to her the need to create his garden in a way that would require little or no maintenance on his part. He insisted on automatic sprinklers and other labor-saving devices.

Finally she stopped and said, "There's one thing you need to deal with before we go any further. If there's no gardener, there's no garden!"

There are no labor-saving devices for growing a garden of spiritual virtue. Becoming a person of spiritual fruitfulness requires time, attention, and care.

________________

Bill Norman; Ontario, Canada

Faithful In Little

Luke 16:10

The sign in the window read: “Boy Wanted”. Young John Simmons, though he was lazy, saw his opportunity and applied. He was quickly hired by elderly Mr. Peters. The pace was leisurely so he enjoyed the job. Toward the middle of the afternoon however, he was sent up to the attic -- a dingy place full of cobwebs and infested with mice. “You will find a long, deep box there,” explained Mr. Peters. “Please sort out the contents and see what should be saved.”

John was disappointed. It was a large container, and there seemed to be nothing in it but old junk. After a few minutes he went back to the ground floor. Asked by the proprietor if he had completed his work, he replied, “No, sir, it was dark and cold up there and I didn’t think it was worth doing.”

At closing time he was paid and told not to return. The next morning the old sign “Boy Wanted” appeared in its usual place. Crawford Hill was the next to be employed. When he was asked to tidy up the same box, however, he spent hours separating the usable nails and screws from the things to be discarded.

Suddenly he raced down the stairs all excited. “At the very bottom I found this!” he exclaimed, holding up a 20-dollar bill. At last the store owner had discovered a conscientious boy to whom he could entrust his business when he retired. Years later Mr. Peters said, “This young man, who is now my successor, found his fortune in a junk box!” Then, correcting himself, he added, “No, he actually found it in his mother’s Bible because he heeded the verse she made him memorize: ‘He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much!’”

Effect of bribes

The president of a large international construction company was once asked why his company did not work in countries where bribes and graft were a way of life. He responded, "We never build in those countries, no matter how profitable the project may appear, because we can't afford to. If my employees know we are acting dishonestly, they will eventually become thieves. Their dishonesty will ultimately cost us more than we could ever earn on a project."

Brodie holding football

John Brodie, former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, was once asked why a million-dollar player like him should have to hold the ball for field goals and points after touchdown. "Well," said Brodie, "if I didn't, it would fall over."

Always do your best

During air traffic controller strike several yrs. ago there was shortage of ATCs. Pilot radioed to land & was given o.k. Moments later same pilot heard same controller give another pilot o.k. to land on same runway. Pilot: "What are you doing? We'll be coming right at each other!" "Y'all be real careful out

there, y'hear?"

Tower of Pisa

A cartoon pictured two stone masons, trowels in hand, standing in front of a huge, ornate tower. One said to the other, I skimped a little on the foundation, but no one will ever know. Closer examination of the tower shows that it is the Tower of Pisa, now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa because of the shifting of its foundation several years after its construction.

Pelicans and fish

For many years Monterey, a California coast town, was a pelican's paradise. As the fishermen cleaned their fish, they flung the offal to the pelicans. The birds grew fat, lazy, and contented. Eventually, however the offal was utilized, and there were no longer snacks for the pelicans. When the change came the pelicans made no effort to fish for themselves. They waited around and grew gaunt and thin. Many starved to death. They had forgotten how to fish for themselves. The problem was solved by importing new pelicans from the south,

birds accustomed to foraging for themselves. They were placed among their starving cousins, and the newcomers immediately started catching fish. Before long, the hungry pelicans followed suit, and the famine was ended. Bits and Pieces, June 23, 1994, p. 17

Lies giving references

Lexicon of Intentionally Ambiguous Recommendations, or LIAR.

Here are some examples:

*To describe an inept person--"I enthusiastically recommend this

candidate with no qualifications whatsoever."

*To describe an ex-employee who had problems getting along with

fellow worders--"I an pleased to say that this candidate is a

former colleague of mine."

*To describe an unproductive candidate--"I can assure you that no

person would be better for the job."

*To describe an applicant not worth consideration--" I would urge

you to waste no time in making this candidate an offer of

employment." Larry Pryor in Los Angeles Times

The Plimsoll Line

In the 1800s Samuel Plimsoll was a member of the British Parliament. He became concerned because cargo ships were being loaded so heavily that some sank at sea, with the loss of many lives. He got a law passed that required danger lines to be painted on all ships. When the weight of the cargo lowered the ship down to where the line touched the water, all loading had to stop. Seamen still call this mark the "Plimsoll line."

No free lunch

Once upon a time a plague of poverty came upon an ancient land. The king summoned his wisest counselors and demanded that they write a short text on economics explaining the disaster and how it could be avoided in the future. A year later they return with 87 volumes. He orders his guards to take half of them out and shoot them. A year later the wise men return with 40 volumes. The king had half of them shot. This went on until finally there was only one economist left. He was brought in and fell before the king. "O King," he cried out. "I will tell you in eight words all the wisdom I have distilled from years of study--there's no such thing as a free lunch!" The king was pleased, poverty was eradicated, and they all lived happily ever after."

105 Sermon Illustrations on Work