I want you to imagine for a moment, pioneering across America on the original Oregon Trail. Now, why the Oregon Trail? Well, it's only the most iconic and epic educational game ever created, right? for my millennials in the room. OK. If you grew up in the 80s, 90s, it, it was the thing you hoped for when you could go to school, is that you get on this brand new thing called a computer and, uh, and go in and you had just these in just the the detail on, on this trail was, was epic. This is the green lines on a black screen. And you had to manage so much if you and the power and the stress that came with trying to navigate the Oregon Trail when you were at school, the food, the supplies, the weather, the sickness. You never, uh, you never understood the, the dangers of a high river crossing or you didn't even, I didn't even know what dysentery was playing that game. If you remember that, you understand what I'm talking about. But the Oregon Trail, wow, an awesome educational experience that I feel like the next generation is missing out, even if you played some version of it, it doesn't beat the original there. But I want you to go back to, for those first group of Americans, there're about 400,000 of them who made their way from Missouri to the West Coast. And they're traveling and traversing the countryside to pick a spot in which to settle their family and for future generations. Now, imagine the beauty of seeing a West Coast sunset for the first time. Whether the mountain ranges, or I, I can't imagine somebody coming across Sedona for the first time, just doesn't look like anything else in this world. But imagine as you're walking through with your family, all the ups and downs, and you come across a beautiful field of trees and flowers that potentially no one at the very, or at the very most, very few people in human history have ever laid eyes on. Now let me ask you, if there is a flower in a field. That no human has ever seen. Is that flower wasted? I would say no, right? And no, because the purpose of a blooming flower is not simply for the enjoyment of the human eye, but rather, the existence of the flower itself is for the very glory of God. Whether anyone in human history sees it or not. Think about our universe for a moment. If the purpose of the universe as we know it is for humanity. Then it makes sense that the universe is way too large, right? But if the purpose of the universe. is to simply demonstrate the power and bigness and glory of God, then the universe itself cannot be too big. There are entire galaxies that exist that no man will ever see, but they are living out, it's serving its purpose to bring glory to God simply because they exist. The reason I say this is because when you think at the macro level of a universe, or you think at the micro level of a flower blooming in a field that no eye will ever see, understand that God receives glory in it all. The reason we're starting out this morning in this way is because we wanna talk about why your work matters. Why your work matters, that the average adult is gonna spend over 90,000 hours in their lifetime at work or working in some capacity. Almost a third of adult life will be spent working, but it's easy to feel like your work gets overlooked. Anybody ever felt like they were unseen at their job? That they worked for a difficult boss, scanning the room for my staff. Mhm. And when I say work, I, I mean anything in which it takes effort to bring about change, right? For the parent, that's changing that diaper, right? In the middle of the night. For the person that is working and is is answering 1000 emails or prepping a spreadsheet that no one sees, or going into a meeting and and having a conversation or cleaning up a room, or, or building something with your hands, that it's easy to feel overwhelmed, overlooked, and alone. But if God gets the glory, From a blooming flower in which no one ever sets eyes on it. Then I wanna let you know this truth, that your work has an earthly assignment, but a heavenly calling. That whatever you find yourself doing. In those unseen, unheard, unknown hours that takes effort, that takes discipline, that is, is, is, is troubling and challenging. I want you to know that God sees you. And God is with you in that very moment. Now, we're in our series Walking with Jesus and in Ephesians 5 and 6, we've talked so far about what does it mean to walk in love, to walk in light, to walk in wisdom, and over the last couple of weeks, we're talking about what does it mean to walk in our relationships for the glory of God. And all this is based around the middle of chapter 5, in which Paul writes to the church in Ephesus. He says, do not be filled with wine, that is debauchery, but rather be filled with the spirit. And so, a couple of weeks ago, we talked about what does it mean to have a spirit-filled marriage in which you submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. And then last week we talked about what does it mean to have a spirit-filled family and what are children called to do and what are parents called to do. Well, today we're gonna talk about what does it mean to have a spirit-filled workplace. But the terminology is gonna feel a little different than what we know in our modern context today. You see, the passage is gonna talk about what are called bond servants or even some translations use the word slave. So it's slave and master, and it feels weird, especially with our understanding of slavery. But understand the context and what we're reading here that in Ephesus, the slavery and servanthood in Ephesus is not the same thing as we are studying and understanding slavery in American history today. I say that because the word duos or duos really comes from this word that just means under someone's authority or ownership of another. And about 25 to 35% of the Roman Empire was actually made up of bond servants or slaves. This was part of their economy. That it wasn't based on, on, on race or ethnicity, but rather someone who was put into slavery or put into a, as are called a bond servant was someone who was trying to work off a debt of another or for their own. And so you could potentially work out your freedom. And so some of the bond servants were actually Uh, people of the trades. They were teachers, they were craftsmen, they were trade workers. Some were even doctors and nurses. And Paul wasn't trying to overthrow slavery in this context, but rather, a third of his church was made up of bond servants. And so he's addressing them and actually giving them or or acknowledging their value or worth in a church setting, just as he just did earlier in those relationships. So he spoke directly to wives, he spoke directly to husbands, he spoke directly to children, he spoke directly to parents, and now he's gonna speak directly to bond servants and their masters who might be in the same context in the same room. And so for our context, it's better understood for employee, employer. But don't misunderstand that that Paul is not supporting slavery in here, but rather he is planting the seed of gospel truth. That ultimately, in multiple times in various places throughout human history has led to the abolition of slavery altogether. See, other examples we have is in the letter he writes to a master named Philemon about uh a slave he had, Onesimus, and he says he's not just a bond servant, he is a brother in Christ and so I wanna plead with you to set him free. In another letter in Galatians 3:28, Paul actually writes, here, there is neither slave nor free, but all are one in Christ Jesus. And so he's not overturning an entire system, but he is planting a seed that all men and women, women, that everyone from different financial classes, from different ethnic backgrounds are equal of equal value in Christ, and so ultimately would plant the seeds. And if you study history, Where the gospel is infiltrated in, and you study the likes of people like Wilberforce or, or you study like in terms of ethnic cleansing and, and people standing up for justice like Bonhofer and others, and, and these incredible people, or you think about the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King Junior, that a lot of the, the movement towards the abolition of slavery is actually comes from gospel principles. And so understand here that he's not supporting slavery in this context, but rather, he's dealing with the reality of the workplace environment of the church that was set to where a third of his church. was most likely bond servants or slaves, and he's he's addressing them directly. And so for you and I today, understand that Paul, if he was writing a church to us here in Cave Creek. He would address the employer and he would address the employee. And so let's dive in and see what is it that Paul has to say to you and I today. Ephesians chapter 6 verses 5 to 9. Bond servants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling. With a sincere heart, as you would Christ. Now I wanna pause here for a second. That word sincere, our English word sincere, can be traced back to the a Latin word, sincere, which means without wax. So sculptors in the ancient Near East, to uh make up for mistakes would fill their sculptures with wax and fix it in to where it would look solid, it would look strong. But when you hold it up to the sunlight, you could actually see where some of the counterfeit or broken pieces actually existed. And so to have someone with a sincere heart would be described as someone without wax. In other words, are you the same on stage as you are off stage? Are you the same person in a public setting as you are in a private setting? And so I love that here he says, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ. Not by the way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bond servant or he is free. Then he turns to the masters and he says, masters, do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. You see, while bond servanthood and slavery was different in their day than what we understand today, what is commonplace is that there still was a lot of abuse, a lot of misuse of power and control. That there were limited rights, there was neglect and bad things were happening across the way. And so it, by default, was an expectation of an owner or a master to abuse, neglect, or lord over those who were working for him. And so Paul is challenging in mixed company, in a church setting to say don't do that. He says, do the same thing as what I'm telling the bond servants to do. And what is he telling them to do? Well, from this passage, we, we're gonna see today 3 ways to worship at work. If you're gonna spend 90,000 hours of your adult life at work, it makes sense that we come to understand what does the Bible say? Because sadly, what happens in too many churches in too many places, you come in. To a church like this, and we sing songs of blessing and glory, right? We think, Christ is my firm foundation. And then you go in on Monday, and you completely forget everything else we just sang and talked about. Because you got 1000 emails. You got a multi-million dollar contract to negotiate. You got a facility to clean up. You got diapers to change, you got groceries to get, you got bills to pay. And so it, it can get difficult to match your Monday through Saturday with your Sunday experience. But if our faith doesn't apply seven days a week, what are we doing? See, the Bible doesn't separate things from the secular and the sacred, but rather everything you do is sacred before the Lord. See, sin doesn't enter the world until Genesis chapter 3. But work enters the world before that. So as soon as God created Adam and Eve. He gives them a job to do. He gives them dominion. He gives them stewardship and authority to work on his behalf, to partner together to bring about kingdom ministry through which God has placed work into their hands. And so what we see from this passage is that we can worship at work. We can worship with our work in 3 ways. And what we see here, number 1 is you can worship at work when you work with integrity. When you work with integrity. Let's go back through these opening verses. Bond servants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling with a sincere heart, without wax, right? As you would Christ, not by the way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. In other words, what you do matters. Earlier in the letter in Ephesians 2:10, he puts it this way, he says, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. OK? Understand that God is moving, that God created you on purpose with a purpose, right? I'm not really a car guy, but do me a favor real quick and just think of what is your dream car. If you could have a dream car right now, what would it be? So turn to your neighbor on the count of 3 and say what your dream car is. Ready? 123. Honda CRV anybody? No? If you did, I was like, I got one, I can sell you right now. OK. Now imagine getting this dream car. And, and it gets delivered, and it's shiny. And it's got that new car smell, and it's awesome. But you never take it down the road. It just sits in the driveway. And once a week, you go outside to the driveway and you look at it. And then you go back inside. That feels weird, doesn't it? Or would feel weird. But that's exactly what many of us do when it comes to faith. God has given you gifts, ability, personality. You are God's dream car in the sense that he has given, created you. You have a unique set of skills and abilities in a way and a viewpoint towards life, that God has placed you exactly where you need to be to make a difference, that what we have to start doing though is to take our faith for a ride. We have to get out and move. We have to continue on because it makes a difference. But everything makes a difference. Are you the same on stage as you are offstage? Are you the same in that business meeting, in the workplace cafeteria, right? With your friends? At the local bar. Uh, are you that same person in those places? Are you trying to put on different hats at different times? I remember early on in my ministry, uh, career, I was ambitious. I was in my 20s, you know, it was like 2 years ago. And uh OK, you don't have to laugh. That's kinda mean, but no, but in my twenties, I was excited. I was like, I was starting to speak at camps, I was starting to get some momentum, like, yeah, we're gonna change the world, and I was taking a group of middle school students to uh to a camp called World Changers, right? And so we're like, yeah, we're, we're gonna change the world. And so in large settings, I would try to inspire and like, God is with you, God is for you in every moment and every, right? And we're going and we're changing the world. And so then, uh, we were going to sleep, and we were there and I had to get up and use the restroom in the middle of the night. And, uh, and something something nice about the quietness of the night. Anybody tracking with me on that, like when everyone's kind of calm. And so I was like, man, God is good. I'm inspiring lives, right? So you can make a difference, you can, I mean, we're at a camp called World Changers, right? So I was like, yeah, and then I walk in. And someone had thrown up. missed any type of sink or anything available and then went back to bed. I walked in and my first thought is like, nope. I walked back. I was like, man, someone's got to clean that. That's what I thought. And I was like, man, God, like some, that's not good for these students, right? If someone walks in, like, there's all like someone should clean that. And then God gave me a little nudge like, who, who do you think is supposed to clean that right now? Who do you think that gift is for right now? I was like, it's probably the other church, the other Catholic, you know what I mean? Like I, I need sleep. God, I gotta lead some like, it's like, no, is, is your faith real on stage or is the faith real in the middle of the night right now? You just told a bunch of students you gotta serve. It's like, yeah, but no one's gonna see me clean it up. And it sounds silly, but we have these thoughts, don't we? Right? And so I, I went back and then in the middle of the night, just cleaning, and I don't share that because like, I'm trying to like, oh look at me, like I'm telling you it was a genuine struggle for me like to realize like, no. It's either real in all times or it's not real at all. And I just remember being humbled, say, nope. What did Jesus do? Jesus washed feet. Got down on one knee, greeted a child, and the crowd saw Zacchaeus up in the tree. Go alone with his Heavenly Father, and whether he was talking to the woman at the well, or preaching to thousands, he was the same. If God is not Lord of everything in your life, is he really Lord of anything in your life? Right? So if you're working in a tough situation, if you have a tough boss, if you're like, yeah, but he's a jerk, you don't get it. OK, understand this, that you may have an earthly boss. But you have a heavenly audience. You have a heavenly audience. Do you know the Bible is filled with people who worked for difficult settings and remain faithful? Daniel, Joseph, David, Esther, Nehemiah, like repeatedly. Seems like no one's a good boss. And yet, we see even in the challenges, people remain faithful. Why? Because they're able to work with integrity. Just be who you are in every setting. Three ways to worship at work. Number 1, work with integrity, be the same person. Whether you have an audience, or it's no one's around, understand that God sees you and God's with you. Number 2 is we're called to serve with purpose. We're called to serve with purpose. I got a message this morning from some friends that there was some power outage in the area. Anybody lose power this morning? OK. And I, it got me thinking of a time when we just moved into our building and, and Pastor Dan King was preaching, and he was preaching, and the power went out. It was kinda, it was kinda scary at first, but then it was a cool moment, right? Where they turned on some lights and it's just real simple fly church there, we're just preaching the word. And we prayed and we sang a cappella and it was a cool moment for those in the room. But I wonder how many of us here are trying to serve, trying to work without spiritual power in our lives. Like what we do here goes with us everywhere that we go, that we take with us into those difficult meetings, those one on ones, those strategies, those emails, that spreadsheet. The dishes that no one sees you doing. Like God sees you and understand that you can serve with purpose in everything that you do. It says there in verse 7 and 8, it says, rendering service with goodwill as to the Lord and not to man. Knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bond servant or is free. Same author writing to another church in Colossians 3:23-24, seen Colossians and Ephesians are seen as sister books. There's a lot of overlapping content. But Paul writes this in verse 23 and 24, he says, whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. Knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the inheritance as your reward, for you are serving the Lord Christ. You're doing it not for the approval of man, but for the glory of God, right? You can sweep to the glory of God. You can email to the glory of God. You can have these things where you are cleaning a facility, where you are building a structure, where you are working the road. that you are working in 120 degree heat, or you're working amongst 500 other people, or you can start a business for the glory of God. The same author writing to the church in Corinth says this in 1 Corinthians 10:31. It says, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. What we know from scripture over and over and over again is that ordinary tasks can make an extraordinary impact. Ordinary tasks can have an extraordinary impact. I'm a basketball coach, and one of the things I say regularly to my players is that be a thermostat, not a thermometer. Be a thermostat, not a thermometer. See, a thermometer can read the temperature. And so in a basketball game, that'd be like, that was a foul. All right, they can read like they can see what happened. Oh, that was unfair or that fill in the blank. But nothing changes in that moment, right? So if you come home and you complain about your job or you complain about what's going on, and it's good to have a safe space, right, to connect. But if you just come home every single day and continually complain and complain and complain or read the temperature, you might be accurate. It might be true. But what's gonna change? And how is that changing you? Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like Dr. Seuss like in that moment, I just went there. But the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat is a thermostat sets the temperature of the room. Right? When you walk in and enter the room, you bring with you the same power that conquered death itself. And you don't know what one small act with purpose could do to change somebody's day. One smile, one hello, right? Be passionate about what you do. I love when people are passionate. Have you ever seen people who are passionate about their job? Right? You ever talked to the roasters up there at the roaster at Cave Creek? They start nerding out about where the beans come from and all this stuff. I have no idea what they're saying, but it's awesome. You know this to be true. If you've gone out to eat, you know the difference between somebody at uh a waiter who doesn't want to be there and the one who does. Right? I remember playing basketball in high school and there was a kid who was a water boy who didn't want to be the water boy. And, and his name was Grayson, and I said, hey, uh, and I came out of the game like, Grayson, give me some water. He goes, no. Like You're the water boy. Like, what, what, what is going on? We've seen those experiences, right? Have you ever encountered somebody who was doing like a random task, like maybe putting away carts or checking you out at the grocery store or bagging groceries or or cleaning up a space and you encounter them and they just make you feel better, right? It starts with an attitude and a mindset. Because ordinary tasks can have an extraordinary impact. 3 ways to worship or work. Number 1, work with integrity. Be who you are all the time, right? Be consistent. Doesn't say be perfect, but just be consistent, be who you are. Work with integrity. Number 2, serve with purpose. And number 3, if you get put into a leadership position, lead with humility. Lead with humility. It says in verse 9, masters do the same to them. Again, equating them, bond servants and masters here. He says, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven. That there is no partiality with him. What he's saying here is that remember, leaders, that you're under authority too. And what, what does our leader say? What does Jesus Christ say? He says this in Mark 10:43 to 45. It says, but it shall not be among you. Whoever would be great among you must sit, must be your servant. Whoever would be first among you must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus Christ himself. Came not to be served but to serve in a letter to Timothy. He writes, who was the leader of Ephesus. He writes in 1 Timothy 4:12, let no one despise you for your youth, but set the example, set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, and love, and faith, and in purity. I, uh, I nerd out when it comes to leadership, uh, ended up getting a doctorate in it cause I just read everything and all things leadership. Uh, but here, here is my definition of leadership that we try to use within our teams and, and, and pass it on because when you lead, it's, it's a stewardship. And so here's what we say leadership is. Leadership is the process of influencing people to partner together for a common purpose. Leadership is the process of influencing people to partner together for a common purpose. It's a process cause it's ongoing. It's not an event. It's not an event. Whether you're leading 1 person or 1000 people, it's ongoing. And it's influencing people and I love that because it's not necessarily a title, right? You don't have to have the title to have influence. You can lead up, you can lead out, you can lead down. It, it's, it's influencing people. It, it's not just accomplishing the task, but how can you impact somebody's day? Well, it's a process of influencing people to partner together that faith is a team sport, right? We are all parts of one body. That's why I get nervous when people say, well, I love Jesus, but I don't love the church. I'm like, OK, but that's the bride of Christ, that's the body of Christ, that you need us and we need you because you have a unique makeup where you can add value into a community of faith, that together we can stir one another up towards good works. So it's a process of influencing people to partner together to work together for a common purpose. And here in the church, we have the greatest purpose imaginable. Uh uh. It's, we get to usher in the kingdom of God. We have to stop living as Christians that the goal of a Christian life is to arrived safely at death. But rather, we get to wake up every single day to usher in the kingdom of God into the community around us. That we get to show people the light and the love of Jesus to bring about grace and truth, in which we get to see lives transformed one conversation, one moment at a time. See, authority is not is not about superiority. Authority is about stewardship. Authority is about stewardship, not superiority. If you've been placed in a position of leadership, that is a position to steward, to steward the betterment of your team. It's not about a transaction, it's about transformation. Are you making your teams, your culture, your family, your friendships better, and a little bit more like Jesus today than they were last week? Why is that important for you and me? Because your work has an earthly assignment. But a heavenly calling. And what I want you to think about here is, um, How much does faith impact your life? Tuesday night, spending time with our Grove students, we talked about uh our phones, right? Think about your phones and just think about for a moment, how many apps do you have on your phone right now? Quick show of hands, how many of you have apps on your phone? That at one point you used, you've not used for a long time, you just have not yet deleted them. Anybody? Anyone have a lot of unused apps on your phone? OK. See, the problem is we approach faith like it's an app. Maybe it's even an app on your homepage. You use it a lot, you use it every week. But the problem with an app. Is that you open the app and you close it. Where you open the app and you close it. The reality is faith is not an app. Faith is the operating system. Faith is a system on which all apps and all applications run. In the foundation of our nation, faith influenced every area of life. Right? The first universities started by churches. The first orphanages started by churches. The first hospitals started by churches. The best architecture. The church, the best music, the church, the best creative outlets in art, the church. But instead we've now systemized it or broken up. Oh, we have work, we have science, we have entertainment, we have healthcare, we have all these different whatever it is, and then we put faith over here. The problem is, then if faith is an app, you just have to open and close it and it doesn't impact anything else. But faith, if it's your operating system, if it actually is your firm foundation, that your marriage should be impacted by your faith, your parenting should be influenced by your faith, your workplace, your teams, how you work out, your discipline, everything that you do in life should have the foundation of faith, because God is real and your faith is real on Monday through Saturday, just as it is on Sunday. If it's not, what are we doing? So I wanna close with this question, is that, how can you glorify God through your work this week? How can you glorify God through your work this week? If you're parenting, how can you glorify God through your parenting this week? If you got that big business meeting, how can you pray for and love on your team members? How can you email and spreadsheet and clean and organize and build and start for the glory of God? Cause even if you feel alone, even if you feel overwhelmed and overlooked. There is a field filled with flowers. That no human eye will ever see, but they exist purely for the glory of God, and I say that's a life well lived. Wherever you are, whatever you put your hand to, know that God is with you. God sees you, God is for you, and we can glorify God with our work this week. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for who you are. We thank you for giving us the theology of work that we can do all things for your glory. Yeah, that we can work with integrity, that we can serve with purpose, that we can lead with humility. God, help us not to treat faith like an app on our phone, but help us to treat faith like an operating system as the foundation for all that we do, and more importantly, all that we are. We wanna honor you and glorify you in our work this week, God. Help us to finish strong, finish well, for your glory and for Your kingdom. And your sons, and we pray. Amen.