Today @ The Gathering we continued in our present series, “Chasing Balance” with installment number three, “Engage,” striking the right balance between trying and trusting.

It was David’s son Solomon who made this profound statement: “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. It is a gift of God.” God made us to work. And this weekend we talked about the importance of full engagement; of bringing our lives and our strengths into focus onto one compelling thing that defines not who we are, but what we contribute while we’re here.

We learned the 7 reasons why we work, and what each reason builds on top of the other to give us a work ethic that allows us to move out of our churches and homes into the marketplace of ideas and competition, to be salt and light in a world in desperate need of both. Jesus said that those of us who follow him are like a light on a hill. Salt and light; light on a hill: those give me the idea that what it means to be a Christian is very public.

Way too many people think that a relationship with God is personal but never public. It’s both.

Here are the 7 reasons we learned about why we work.

1. Working is God’s ideal.
2. Working supplies my need.
3. Working develops my character.
4. Working allows me to be generous.
5. Working shows who I am.
6. Working allows me to earn my self-respect.
7. Working honors God.

This would be worth going back and listening to several times, helping you to transform your view of work. Too often we think it’s the work and not the worker. The truth is, it’s both/and. You must do work that you feel like you must do. And you must do that work with as much excellence as you are able to bring to the table. We do this for the glory of God and for the good of mankind.

We also got an update on our Upgrade program. Go to g3church.com and click on “Upgrade” to know exactly what is going on and how you can be a part. This is a great time to get it done.

We were also encouraged this weekend to go to davidfoster.tv and sign up for his bi-weekly Dave Rave and also go to g3church.com to sign up for weekly updates to keep current activities and events @ The Gathering coming straight to your inbox so you won’t miss all the exciting things going on.