Do you have a desire to win your city , your region , your state , or even the world ? I believe this is the desire of every pastor to win their city and impact their region for Jesus Christ . As a business leader and a marketplace pastor , I know if we win the marketplace , or workplace , we will win the city because the marketplace is the center of the city .
What is the marketplace ? It ’ s the business community . The place where people work . The place where we spend most of our time . The place where we have a significant sphere of influence . The place where a large part of the population doesn ’ t know Jesus . That tells us it ’ s the place where the greatest potential for Kingdom Harvest exists – it ’ s the final frontier . The marketplace is where 98 % of the people in the church go every day , and the other 2 % of the church are in ministry as a vocation . Almost every church has a ministry geared towards kids , youth , women , and men but most churches do not have a ministry designed to equip and meet the needs of those in the workplace or marketplace . Marketplace ministry within the church is designed to thrive under a local church to equip , train , and add value to business owners , managers , executives , and members of the workforce . It encourages them to be an example of Christ , positioning them to win their sphere of influence for Jesus . This is where we believe the next great revival will take place – in the marketplace .
How can the marketplace benefit the church ? It will fill specific needs of members in the church by creating a space to live out their faith where they are comfortable and credible . It will grow the faith of businesspeople as they experience tangible results from prayer resulting in business success . It will keep businesspeople connected to and nurtured by the church . It will bring giftings , abilities , and services into the church from people with great leadership skills , raising up dynamic and proven leaders . As businesspeople are equipped and encourage to live out the scriptures in their business and careers , they will begin to experience the supernatural of God in their job . This will give them the resources to help support the vision of their pastor and their church . It will connect Kings ( businesspeople in authority ) to the Priests ( those called to teach Bible principles ), which is mutually beneficial .
I want to share with you my journey of how the marketplace became the passion and ministry God called my wife and I too . Like most , I became a Christian , fell in love with Jesus , and wanted to build God ’ s kingdom . One significant leader in my life said early on , “ Mike , God has anointed you ; maybe you should quit your job and go into ministry as a vocation .” After praying about it I felt like my calling was to the workplace . I didn ’ t have any idea or direction of how to make that work in terms of ministry , especially since there had not been a lot of people that have paved a way for marketplace ministries within the church .
I was then exposed to the Bob Harrison Increase Ministry , which had yearly events for business leaders and pastors . This was the first time I had seen a ministry that
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