Dear Brothers and Sisters, Shalom.

Welcome to tune in to the program by GLOBAL REACHOUT. I am Angelie. This program is based on the workplace training course of GLOBAL JIREH entitled "Christ-centered Entrepreneurship”. This course was compiled by Pastor Tony TAY Mingxian to help brothers and sisters live out Christ in the workplace.

What we want to talk about in today's program is that an excellent heavenly enterprise must comply with four principles. These four principles can be represented by the four English letters "PLEA".

First of all, what P refers to is Partnership. Heavenly Enterprise does not rely on a single person, we need partners, excellent partners. Who are our indispensable business partners? The answer is--our Lord.

We want the Lord Jesus to be the largest shareholder of the company and allow Him to have the greatest decision-making power. Because all the resources we have, including time, talents, money, etc., are from him, and his will naturally overrides our personal will. Once the Lord Jesus becomes the largest shareholder of our company, He will clearly instruct us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness first, and He will provide us everything we need.

Since the Lord Jesus is the largest shareholder, we must follow His standard, which is "righteousness", and to think about how to make people part of the kingdom of Christ through our business activities, and to reflect the culture of the kingdom of heaven on the earth. Only when we do business with this mentality can the Lord Jesus be willing to be our partner.

Brothers and sisters, is the Lord Jesus the largest shareholder in your company? If the answer is yes and if our business is led by Christ, then we will definitely experience the Lord's wonderful works continuously.

With the Lord Jesus as our partner, we will receive the Lord's grace in our business abundantly. We are actually just a channel for His accomplishment of the plan, and a vessel used in His rich grace. In the process of doing the Lord's work, we need resources, and all resources come from the Lord, so every time you receive resources, don't forget that this is a sign of the Lord's grace.

With the Lord Jesus as our partner, we will gain the power of the Lord abundantly. The success of Heavenly Enterprise relies on divine power--supernatural ability to accomplish the Lord’s work. Since what we are doing is exactly what God himself wants to accomplish, resources must come with the vision of the kingdom.

With resources and the ability to manage and utilize resources, our enterprise can glorify Lord abundantly. The businesses we operate demonstrate the abundance in Christ.

Of course, with Christ as an excellent partner, the operator of our heavenly enterprise must also be an excellent steward. As stewards, what principles should we follow?

The first principle an excellent steward should follow is “Leave”. Leviticus 23:22 reminds us: “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.” Kingdom entrepreneurs need to leave part of their harvest to those in need—good stewards are people who take care of the needs of others. They know that they should take social responsibility, which is also the requirement of the priestly role of entrepreneurs. Take it from the people and use it for the people.

Proverbs 11:25 tells us: “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” If kingdom’s enterprises want a harvest, they must keep some for the needy people, and don’t take all the blessings of God into their own hands. Let it flow out. God is blessing us to be a blessing to all (Genesis 12:2). The ability to make money is bestowed by the Lord, and it is the grace that we have received in vain. The Lord teaches us that freely we have received, and also freely give (Matthew 10:8). So we follow the remaining principles without asking for anything in return. In this regard, the biblical character Boaz is worthy of our imitation. We know that Boaz eventually married Ruth and was an important member of the family tree of the Lord Jesus.

Micah 6:8 mentions: "what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Good steward will have mercy to others, because this is a sign of compassion.

Next, the second principle that the heavenly corporate steward needs to follow is ‘Excellence". Those who adhere to the principle of excellence value God's calling, and he will be extremely diligent in what the Lord calls him to do. The work you are engaged in is consistent with the call you have received, coupled with a pragmatic work attitude, the enterprise run by such person will have a clear brand and credibility, and this is also the characteristic of prophecy.

Brothers and sisters, how do we know what God's calling is for us? Many times, calling is revealed through gifts. In other words, our gifts are all given for our calling. Gifts need to be discovered (Discover), developed (Develop) and deployed (Deploy). So after knowing our gift, we must work hard to develop that gift, and then we can make full use of it. This whole process requires diligence. Proverbs 21:5 mentions: "The plans of the diligent lead to profit, as surely as haste leads to poverty." In addition, Proverbs 22:29 also says: "Working diligently, you will serve before the king." I hope we will do things step by step. Respond to the calling and become a person used by God.

The third principle that an excellent steward needs to uphold is the institutionalized management of "Assets". We need to be loyal, kind and knowledgeable servants-this is a manifestation of the characteristics of the king. The institutional framework of asset management cannot be set up arbitrarily, and must be formed through strategic ideas. Proverbs 13:15 reminds us: Good judgment wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful leads to their destruction. It can be seen that we should manage assets with good wisdom to gain grace. People like professional management because it is the most effective, efficient, and economic approach. Proverbs 4:7 tells us: " The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." In the work of asset management, we need to put wisdom first, followed by cleverness. With wisdom, we can distinguish which system best meets the needs of our own business. In addition, we also need to be smart to operate this system effectively, including knowing how to integrate resources, shape successful practices into templates and copy them, and ultimately achieve the goal of multiplying benefits.

Dear friends, we discussed the four principles of PLEA in today's program. The first principle refers to an excellent Partnership, Lord is our largest shareholder; the second to fourth principles are the principles that an excellent steward needs to uphold--know how to leave (Leave), the pursuit of excellence (Excellent) and Professional and institutionalized asset management (Assets). I hope this can bring some inspiration to your workplace.

At the end of the program, let us invite Ps. Tony TAY Meng Hiang, the founder of GLOBAL JIREH to pray for us.

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Discussion

1. In what ways can we tell whether Jesus is the largest shareholder of a company?

2. In actual work, what actions have you taken to "pursue excellence"?

3. How do you/your company use the "surplus money" on hand?