October 21 & 22, 2008

Two Points of Emphasis of Bob’s presentation

1.       Honor and glorify Jesus Christ

2.       Have the audience (business owners, employees, etc.) consider small stewardship programs at their spheres of influence

Why Stewardship?

·         It is easy to get stuck in first or second gear when it comes to stewardship.  We may have good intentions but never follow through and open ourselves up to really understand why stewardship is so important.

·         Make myself available to God to go where He has called us to go and to do what He has called us to do.

·         The question Coca-Cola executives asked themselves and debated was, “Why should we use Coca-Cola Consolidated to be a vehicle to advance God’s kingdom?”

·         After prayer, study of the Word, and discussion, they came up with the following five reasons for stewardship:

   ·     Acts 1:8:  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

   ·     Matt 28:18-20:  Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

   ·    Commands vs. Gifts – some people say they can’t share their faith or walk in generosity as those are not their spiritual gifts.  That is a command and has nothing to do with gifts.

   ·    Accountability

-    We will stand before God individually to give an account for deeds, good or bad.

         2.  Crowns / Rewards

   ·    Some may think this is selfish, but it is Biblical

   ·    The right motive is that we want eternal crowns, versus worldly recognition

   ·    Opportunity to earn rewards/crowns (not earning salvation) at the judgment seat of Christ

         3.  Constrained by the love of Christ

   ·    We should be driven, ripped, pulled, and motivated by the love of God

   ·    God is love

   ·    He loved us enough to send His Son to die for us

   ·    If God is love and He lives in us, we should be walking in love also

         4.  Other people’s lives are impacted

   ·    The power of the gospel (good news) is contagious, multiplies itself

         5.  Don’t want to stand in front of the Lord ashamed

   ·    Mark 8:34-38:  Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

   ·    Luke 12:8-9:  "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.  But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.

Why Do it Today?

·         Why not do it today?

·         1 Thessalonians 4 – Jesus is coming.

·         We need to reach the lost and point them to Christ through our genuine care, love, concern

·         Need to have an outward focus – Jesus model was that he took 12 guys and went out to the people and ministered to physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

What does going out look like in terms of being witnesses?

1.       Be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

 a.       Jerusalem – represents families.

  ·      Billy Sunday analogy of his son dying an unbeliever

 b.       If you lose your family, you will lose your ministry.

2.       Judea – where you work (where you spend most of your time)

 a.       Workplace – 70-80% are unchurched

 b.       There is an element of godliness but folks have denied the truth of it all

3.       Samaria – could represent the city or state you live in

 a.       You can’t reach your city if you are not impacting your own family, your workplace, etc.

Advice on Witnessing on the Job from Bob Pettus

·         The first 9-12 months on the job – shut up, listen, and live out your faith without words.

·         Show and then tell.

·         After 9-12 months, assuming your faith walk has been established (excellence, integrity, kindness, selflessness) then you can go out and talk.

·         You can be overt and bold once you have lived it out.

·         Plant seeds by introducing Jesus through comments, etc. – let the Holy Spirit do the work (don’t need to be forceful or offensive)

·         Jesus model – never offensive

·         Jesus walked 40 miles out of his way to Samaria to minister to a bi-racial, hated, adulterous Samaritan woman

·         Pray and genuinely care for people

·         Selfishness is such an issue in our nation.  If we can move from selfishness to selflessness, amazing things can happen.

Coca-Cola Consolidated

·         Second largest bottler in the US

·         $1.5 billion in sales with 60 locations in the US

·         7,000-8,000 conversions have been documented through their Stewardship Programs and ministries over the past five years.

·         Holy Spirit did the work

·         Prayed and prayed and prayed before they launched anything

·         Focused on meeting the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of their own employees before launching ministries.

·         First program was geared toward single mothers, then to working women.

·         35 programs now encompass prison outreach, nursing homes, battered children and women, youth camps, etc.

·         These programs resulted in employees who were touched, impacted, loved going out and wanting to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the community.

·         Paid employees to spend six hours each month to go out and minister and serve

-        700-900 employees each week are going out to serve

·         Thirty-seven chaplains visit their employees throughout the country two times / week

·         What Executive Management of Coca-Cola found out:  the employees were more efficient and worked harder.

Practical Steps

·         Pray

·         Get a legal perspective to make sure program is set up properly and is non-discriminatory

-        People cannot have advantages for serving, and

-        Those who don’t serve can’t be at a disadvantage from an employment standpoint

·         Start small with one program and do it well

·         Do what is right vs. what is expedient

·         Hold employees accountable

-        Coca-Cola asks employees to commit to one year of service