Our Mission 

To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.

Hebrews 2.3 asks, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.

The wrath of God is coming against all those who deny Him and fail to live under subjection to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Therefore, those who claim to be in Christ must not neglect their salvation, for it was purchased by the blood of God to appease the wrath of God, so that men can be forever reconciled with God.

God does not expect us to pray a prayer then continue on with our living as though He failed to exist. God expects us to become His servants, fellow laborers in His world, reconciling men to Jesus the Savior, teaching them to obey everything He commanded, even, as we ourselves, live those same commands in increasing glory to God.

We demonstrate our commitment to working out our salvation when we engage the disciplines God lived among us. Doing these things will keep us from neglecting our salvation and being lazy in our work for Christ. These things are the core of what Jesus did when He lived with us as one of us.

They are giving, serving and sharing. We are to give our lives to the work of reconciling men to Christ. This means our time, talent and treasure is now focused upon bearing eternal fruit, changing the eternal destiny of men all over the world. We gain credibility with men when we serve men. We are no longer selfish, but servants, servants of men for their movement toward God, and servants of God in His work of reconciling men to Christ.

This work is accomplished through the proclamation of the gospel which we share with men. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We must not, and cannot, be ashamed of Jesus Christ. Instead, we must encourage men to follow Jesus as Savior even as we model that following in our own lives. Doing these things will keep us busy in the work of God and will keep us from neglecting our salvation so dearly purchased and given by God Himself.

Our Opportunities

1.     A mission opportunity is available to you every third Wednesday of the month at the new Rescue Mission Drop-in center. We are looking for one or two men a month to share their story of God’s work in their lives for about 20 minutes from 10-10.20ish. Interested in encouraging the homeless by sharing what God has done in your life? Next opening, January 15. Email Mike to sign up.

2.     Grow in your love for God. Attend the “maintaining and sustaining a meaningful devotional life” seminar on December 17th at the CBMC office from 11.45-1pm. Lunch included. Cost $15. Register here

3. Invest in CBMC today at https://give.idonate.com/cbmc-inc/lansing

CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917  / 517 481 5996 www.lansing.cbmc.com

 MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

November 11, 2019 

Giving Your Best For Your Worst Job

by Robert J. Tamasy 

What is the worst job you ever had? I understand that “worst” can mean different things to different people, but all of us can probably think of one particular job – or two – that we absolutely hated. For me, it was commissioned sales jobs that I attempted briefly. Very briefly, like for about two or three days each. The first one was selling vacuum cleaners to people by appointment; the other was going door-to-door selling encyclopedias. 

You can tell both of these were many years ago, because I think door-to-door selling is virtually obsolete for security reasons, as well as the accessibility of being able to buy things via the Internet. And does anyone buy encyclopedias anymore? With Google and other online search engines, information we need is literally at our fingertips. Why clutter our homes with multiple volumes of costly, heavy reference books? 

The point is, I detested both jobs, primarily because I am not a salesperson. Being basically introverted, for me the idea of having to earn a living by trying to sell to strangers things they likely do not want or need had zero appeal. Outgoing, sales-oriented individuals, however, especially those who thrive on the opportunity to earn a substantial income if they can sell enough products, might have loved the jobs I hated. 

But what about having to do work without any beauty or excitement? I heard about a man whose full-time job was cleaning portable outdoor toilets. I guarantee, no one grows up or goes to college with the goal of attaining that job. But this man stated although he would not describe his work as “enjoyable,” he found joy in it because he started each day with the heartfelt desire to bring honor to God by how he approached his assignments. 

When I heard this story I thought about followers of Jesus Christ in the ancient city of Colossae. Many of them had jobs that were mundane at best. For some, this meant cleaning horse stables. Can you imagine spending all day, every day, shoveling manure and replacing soiled hay and straw? And yet, when the apostle Paul wrote a letter of exhortation to these believers, he said: 

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him…. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:17,22-24). 

This is humbling to consider, especially if we have jobs that we do like, but grumble about them anyway. How can we do what Paul urged every Christ follower to do? The passage above gives some hints: 

We should strive to reflect Christ’s character.“In the name of the Lord Jesus” means to perform our work in ways that reflect godly character and qualities – as if Jesus Himself were doing the job. Years ago the saying, “What would Jesus do?” was often repeated, and as we approach our work, that is a good question to ask.

Our hearts need to be right. It is one thing to put on good appearances when we know someone is watching what we are doing. But how do we conduct ourselves when we think no one is looking? Even when our human bosses are not present, we can trust the omniscient God is there, wanting us to bring honor to Him.

We will be rewarded. We have no assurances that people will notice the excellence of our work, but we have God’s promise that He does notice and will reward our diligence and faithfulness. 

© 2019. Robert J. Tamasy has written Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies;coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring, and edited numerous other books, including Advancing Through Adversityby Mike Landry. Bob’s biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.

CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996  lansing.cbmc.com

 MONDAY MANNA

A service to the business community

A Publication of CBMC International

November 11, 2019 

Reflection/Discussion Questions

1.  What is the worst job you ever had? Why did it seem so bad for you?

2.  How can it be that some people find certain kinds of work enjoyable and rewarding, while others detest them and would choose to do almost anything but what their current jobs demand?

3. What do you think of people who appear to be working wholeheartedly and with zeal when they know they are being watched, but lower their productivity or do virtually no work at all when they feel they are not being seen and evaluated?

4. How would you explain what it means to “work as for the Lord rather than for men”? Does this mean we should not care what our earthly supervisors and “masters” think? Do you think that working for the Lord means we can lower our standards – or does that mean setting a standard even higher than what our job descriptions require? Explain your answer.

 NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to read more, consider the following passages: Proverbs 12:24, 18:9; 22:29; 1 Corinthians 15:58; Galatians 6:9-10; Ephesians 6:5-9

 CBMC Central Michigan 4407 W. St. Joe Hwy. Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996  lansing.cbmc.com