Finding God at Work

Join Mike Henry Sr., the founder of Follower of One, as he shares his transformative journey of integrating faith into daily work. He recounts how he sees his job as a mission field, encouraging listeners to do the same. Discover the concept of Marketplace Mission Trips and how they foster a community for Christians in the workplace. The conversation emphasizes the power of listening, generosity, and being spiritually prepared for everyday interactions, reminding us to embrace God's presence and growth opportunities in our professional lives.

Only living things can bear fruit. A rock can move around, but it can't move itself around. It can't grow. It can't reproduce. It can't bear fruit. The Bible is the story of how God gives us a certain kind of life. He gives us a kind of life that lets us bear fruit. He leads us into a way of life where we can choose our deepest and truest desires over our more superficial ones. He makes it possible for us to choose love. Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Love #Work #Interaction #Life #Rock #Desire #Seed #ArchitectureOfLove #Photosynthesis #Galatians5 #Genesis2 #Genesis3 #James1 #Isaiah27 #Galatians2 #Revelation22 #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

If you could name the one thing that matters most, what would you say? In Galatians 5, the Apostle Paul "shows his cards." He tells us what he thinks, in the end, really matters: "The only thing that counts is faith working through love" (5:6 NRSVue). But what does it mean for faith to "work through love"? We know that we're saved by faith. The same faith that saves us also, by God's grace, turns us into people of love. And that love goes to work. Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Love #Work #Faith #Obedience #Prozac #ThomasAquinas #Aquinas #UnityOfTheVirtues #MotivesOfTheHeart #Discernment #Ethics #WorkplaceEthics #Galatians5 #Psalm73 #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

Sometimes at work, I just feel stuck. Sometimes I feel stuck somewhere dangerous. What's going to happen to me here? Sometimes I feel stuck all alone. No one's got my back. No one's in my corner. I have to fend for myself. When we're stuck fending for ourselves, it's hard to feel free. We turn inward on ourselves. Jesus offers us a different way. He helps us uncoil our spines and rest in the love of God and look out into the world and see: Where can I serve? How can I help? Who can I love? That love becomes freedom. It frees us in our work relationships, in our career decisions, and in our emotional experience of work. That love is never wasted. Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Love #Freedom #Bondage #Kyphosis #IncurvatusInSe #MartinLuther #NTWright #CSLewis #TimothyKeller #HouseOfCards #Galatians5 #Galatians4 #Genesis3 #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

Way back in the 400s BC, the Greek playwright Euripides wrote, "For among mortals happy man is none." In other words, nobody's happy. It's easy to feel helpless against the vicissitudes of life. One day things are going our way; the next, tragedy strikes. What would it even look like to experience truly *secure* well-being? When we turn to the teaching of Jesus, we discover good news about what it means to be joyful and well. Joy isn't just pleasure. It isn't just positivity. It isn't just a powerful idea. Joy is an indwelling of the presence of Jesus in our very being. It's a pervasive and constant sense of well-being. And, strangely, it's compatible with suffering. When we turn to Jesus, the same joy that characterized his life can characterize our life. Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Joy #Happy #Happiness #Suffering #Pain #Fate #CruelFate #UpAndDown #Euripides #Medea #Pleasure #Positivity #Ideas #Depression #Galatians5 #Psalm126 #SowInTears #ReapInJoy #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

Scholars describe "emotional contagion": the way we feel affects the people around us. You can "catch" anger, cynicism, and despair from the people around you. Emotions like these drive violent conflict all around the world, and the more mundane conflicts in our workplaces. But you can also catch peace. You catch it from the Lord: "I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken" (Psalm 16:8 ESV). When you experience inward peace, it doesn't stay hidden. You get to spread it to everyone around you. Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Peace #Conflict #Iraq #Fallujah #CarterSchoolForPeaceAndConflictResolution #GeorgeMason #Power #Emotions #Violence #DanielRothbart #EmotionalContagion #Disengagement #Galatians5 #Psalm16 #3Idiots #AllIsWell #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

When do we get impatient with someone? When they throw a roadblock in our agenda. Rather than pushing ahead to whatever place we want to be, patience allows us to be present right here, right now. Whether we're waiting for the workday to be over, or for a job offer to come through, or for a coworker to finish their part of a project—there's something there for us *now* that we often miss. Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Patience #Patient #LongSuffering #Temper #Anger #Galatians5 #Exodus34 #Genesis39 #Joseph #FFBruce #HenriNouwen #NancyOrtberg #SteppingStone #Here #Now #Waiting #Presence #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

Does kindness count at work? The norm at work is being nice: superficial social harmony. But the kindness that the Spirit produces starts in the heart. Going through the work day is an obstacle course. Not just in terms of everything we have to get done, but also in terms of doing each of those things *with kindness* to everyone around us. The Holy Spirit is our coach as we face this obstacle course. If we pay attention to his guidance, we can start to face every work challenge with a genuine, tender concern for others' well-being. Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Kindness #Nice #ArtificialHarmony #MinnehaElementarySchool #Wichita #AmericanNinjaWarrior #HolySpirit #Coach #Habit #CharlesDuhigg #HabitLoop #PowerOfHabit #Cue #Routine #Reward #JulianOfNorwich #Passion #Galatians5 #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

It sure seems like certain dogs are better than certain people. But what makes a person "go bad"? Or, to put it positively: What does it mean to be a good person? If we don't have a sense of what it means to be a good person, we don't know how to live. But people who try really hard to "be good"—especially religious people—often end up "going bad" in a different way: They get self-righteous, tribalistic, and stuck up. We really want good people who aren't full of themselves. But how do we get people like *that*? Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Goodness #Humility #Religion #Hypocrisy #Pride #Grace #HolySpirit #CSLewis #Competition #Olympics #Jesus #Face #Psalm27 #FiddlerOnTheRoof #Anticipation #Galatians5 #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral

If someone is faithful, that means you can count on them. They're sturdy. They're reliable. When the Bible uses the word "faithfulness," it's often talking about the covenant God made with his people. He swore to be true to them. God proves his faithfulness by sending his Holy Spirit to fulfill his covenant in us, from the inside out. We can be true to each other because God is true to us. We can show up–at work and at church–in ways that really matter. We can learn to say, "You can count on me." Get more resources, including a reflection and study guide for each episode, at https://missioncentral.church. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Fruit #FruitOfTheSpirit #Faithfulness #Faith #Sturdy #Stable #Stability #MyVeryFirstBible #RussFlint #YouCanCountOnMe #Covenant #Marriage #Galtians5 #Exodus34 #Torah #Pentecost #HolySpirit #Galatians5 #Mission #SpiritualFormation #ChristianLife #MissionCentral