Last week we have learned from Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego how they preserve their faith under pressure in their workplace, even if that could cost them their life. We also learned that it is God that we must prioritize over our ministry in marketplace, and with this concept in mind we are continuing our study this week from Daniel chapter 6, where we are going to learn what to do when our relationship with God cause people to hate us, in which challenge our foundations for ministry in the marketplace, an intimate walk with God, relationships with co-workers, and a commitment to excellent work.

In Daniel 6, the Kingdom of Babylon was destroyed by the Medes, and was under the rule of Darius the Mede. Daniel greatly distinguished himself, so much that he was set over the entire kingdom by Darius. With such a high position and his nationality, much hate came from his colleague that tried to find his mistakes, and wanted him to fail. We need to learn from Daniel how he prioritize the foundations for ministry, and how he prevailed under the pressure of his peer and maintained his faith in God.

Join our discussion this week from Daniel chapter 6, Friday, Aug 24^th at 7:00pm.

Ever imagined hearing those words from your boss? Or maybe you have already? Either way, those word are unpleasant and a situation where all of us tried to avoid in a workplace. Let us now try to put ourselves in the context of workplace where what you do is something that goes against your beliefs, for example your employer is expecting you to scam your customer. We as Christian believe that God put us in our workplace for a reason and it is also a part of our ministry to God. What happen here then? Does this mean that God put us in the wrong place? Do we really need to choose between jobs that provide us food over God? Is it simply because we’re ignoring God’s word when applying for that job? Or is it because God wanted us to be His witness in this environment, so we can glorify His name through our action?

When you put yourself in the situation like this, most of the times we have to stand forward and say NO to behavior that is against God’s will, even if its resulting to those words coming out of our employer. We have to stand firm like Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah in front of King Nebuchadnezzar when they were asked to bow down to the king; Not only they will get fired by the king, it might also cost them their lives. We can learn how God protects them and how at the end they become witness of God for the king.

Please join the continuation of our discussion from Book of Daniel Chapter 3, this Friday August 17^th at 7:00pm.

I stutter sometimes when I talked about Christianity or inviting someone to Church and getting a reply, “Why should I, it doesn’t seems to make me a better person, loot at that guy for example, or that girl” or “Isn’t such and such person a Christian, how can they behave like that?”

Whether we like it or not, this is how people look at us, from our action. When we claimed ourselves to be the follower of Christ we must walk the talk, we must follow the example of Jesus himself. Most of the times we don’t care how others think, we don’t care what we do with our life, how we position ourselves under certain situation, but we’re forgetting the important thing is that we are labeled as Christian, even though they might not care how we act, they do care how Christian act!

This week we are starting a new study series “Ministry in the Marketplace” that are based on Book of Daniel. We’re starting by studying how Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah shows and stand firms on their faith in front of King Nebuchadnezzar, even to the smallest thing such as the food that they eat. The way God uses them to shows God’s glory and power to the King which at the end becomes their act of ministry. We will also learn how can we in our current place (school or work) can become God’s faithful servant and do His ministry through our occupation.

Join our Theophany’s discussion this week Friday August 10, at 7pm

When we step into the working environment, we feel like we have accomplished our own income, therefore we have the power to buy materials to satisfy our necessities and needs. We all at some point have been tempted in these situations.

How do we budget our spending to make sure we still make it through the week? How do we utilize every penny that God has entrusted us? How do we expand His kingdom through our money?

How do we know if we have tithe accordingly and whole heartedly?

To learn more about budgeting, come to Theophany this Friday, August 3 at 7:00 pm. Have a blessed week!

I hope you made it to our discussion last week for Lust and Envy. We learned how to differentiate jealousy that is healthy, like how God get jealous if we praise other god, and unhealthy one. We learned how a sense of ownership plays a role in this aspect. We also studied about Lust, how we can guard ourselves to not fall into it, and the consequence that this sin might bring. This week the study continues with the last subject on our series, Greed, Sloth, and Gluttony.

Greed We greed because we feel we have a need in our life that can't be fulfilled. We assume if we have more – given it is money, fame, or materials - we think that we can be happy and our life will be fulfilled. We need to learn from Solomon, in his glory days he has more than anyone, wiser that anyone, yet at the end he said everything is worthless under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Solomon realizes that only God can fulfill his need, yet our greed might consume us before we realize this fact. How can we feel content with what we have? What can we learn from the Bible about greed?There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. -Gandhi

Sloth As funny as that quote be that is what most people do (I have to admit that I'm battling that sin as well). We delay stuff until the last minute which at the end is simply wasting our time and bring us more sorrow than good. We need to remember that time is a precious gift from God to us, everyone has their share of 24 hours a day, and not to use them wisely is simply unacceptable. Procrastination is my sin. It brings me naught but sorrow. I know that I should stop it. In fact, I will--tomorrow! -Gloria Pitzer.

Gluttony Who would have thought the food that we enjoy everyday can be used by the devil to make us suffer. The issue here is not regarding being fat, but simply having to much pleasure! Eat is a necessity of life and God gives pleasure with it; abusing that pleasure becomes a sin. We are no longer being discipline in our life to know our boundary on pleasure. This sin has close relation with greed, where we want more and more, and unable to find contentment.The devil has put a penalty on all things we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get fat. -Albert Einstein

We welcome you all to our discussion this Friday, July 27th at 7:00 pm.