This week, we launch a new sermon series and ministry - Faith in the Marketplace. I am excited that we will be talking about how our faith intersects with our work. I am excited by the team - Andrew Lo, Alexander Mak, Joshua Ng, Vivien Teu and Walter Wu - and their passion to care for those in the marketplace. In the words of Eugene Peterson, “the primary location for spiritual formation is the workplace.”
This week, I read about Jeremiah Lanphie, the businessman who started the first prayer meeting in the marketplace. It was the fall of 1857, during a time of despair and economic hardship in New York City. The meetings started slow, but within months there were many meetings held daily throughout the city. In fact, the New York Tribune and the New York Herald carried the story and called it a revival. The spiritual fervour blew across the nation and a year later meetings were held in Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Cincinnati, Chicago, and New Orleans. Remarkable. Lives were changed, and thousands met to pray because one man stepped out in faith on Wall Street.
God has given each of us a sphere of influence. We all have a role to play in building up the kingdom and we have no idea what the results will be.
"When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:36-38
Blessings, Pastor Michele