Okay, let's pray and then we'll get started. Okay. Father, we just want to thank you, Lord, for this day. We thank you for this week, a new week that you've given us. This Lord, as your word declares, that this is the day that you've made and we will rejoice and we glad in it. Father God, we thank you for the opportunity that you've given us, the privileges that you give us, Lord. And we thank you, God, for every new day, every new beginning, Father God, we thank you for this week that lies ahead. And we thank you, God, that your word says that you've called us to walk circumspectly, redeeming the time. And so we will do that, Lord, each and every day and each and every week, Father God. Yes, Father God, we just want to thank you. We come at today, we come at this time into your mighty hands. We pray that you would speak, that you would speak to our hearts, that you would purify us, that you would renew, O God, things to our minds, Father God, we thank you. We give you all the praise. We give you all the glory at this time. In Jesus' precious name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay. Yeah. Last class, we looked at the ministry of the teacher and we were studying some of the practical things of doing the ministry of the teacher. Practical keys of doing the ministry of the teacher and we finished by saying that we ourselves, we need to do what we teach, practice what we teach, and also remain in that place of being teachable. That's what we saw. One section that we said we'll handle later was the restoration of the ministry of the teacher and one of the things that, so we look at that today and also look at a couple of, maybe go through a couple of videos if we have the time, which talks about the teachers, the early teachers and also have a look at the apostolic fathers whom we call as the apostolic fathers who were right after the apostles that they were there. Right up to, I think even 380, they were there and kind of reiterating, teaching the church, nurturing the church and writing down, recording and making some of these things practical, some of these teachings practical for the life of the church. We did a couple of videos also. But when we look at the restoration of the teaching ministry, we see that as we look at the, what we've studied in the Holy Spirit, the restorative moves of God. We see right from 1500 onwards, we see some specific moves of God and we have looked at it over and over again, I think starting from the Holy Spirit class and we looked at how God, after this, starting with the Reformation movement, we see that God restoring things, restoring the doctrines, the teachings of the church back to the body of Christ and we see that for doing or in doing so and for bringing that restoration, we see God raising up people who teach this, raising up people, raising up men and women who taught faithfully, irrespective of the consequences. Starting from Reformation, even before the Reformation, 200 years or 300 years before the Reformation, I'm sure you would have studied in the last class, Church history, we see that people, like Jan Hoos and Peter Waldo and all these people, John Wycliffe, they taught Salvation, which is only in the name of Jesus and it is not by works, but by faith, it is only through grace, only by grace and through faith in the name of the Lord Jesus. So we see that they taught even before what we actually recognize as the Reformation starting with Martin Luther nailing those 95 theses on the door of the Cathedral of Wittenberg and starting that spark and that fire of Reformation spreading and we see that 1500 and we see right from that time, we see the Puritan move, the separation of church from the state and we see the teaching of baptism, teaching of baptism being something that is as a sign after someone... Oh, I'm sorry, I think I kind of lost. Can you hear me now? Yes, first. Yeah, it's okay. Okay, I kind of lost the connection. I'm sorry, I'm in a different location and I think that's kind of caused that. Okay. Okay, so we were talking... Excuse me. So we're looking at the Anna Baptist who were literally re-baptizing the people and based on the genuineness of their belief and so on. So we see the Puritan move, we see the holiness move where we see the separation of the church from the world from the ways of the world, from the influence of the world, from the culture of the world. So we see that. So in all these moves, we see people being raised up who taught fearlessly, the divine healing movement and the Pentecostal or the Charismatic movement. We see people teaching. We see people teaching these important core doctrines of the church and it was in the face of a lot of persecution, a lot of challenges because everybody was not so inviting of these teachings even though they were scriptural and based on the word. So we see that people persecuted these teachers and people resisted these movements. And the sad thing is that these were people who were part of the earlier move like we see that they were part of an earlier restorative move but they persecuted the current move of God and right down to the move of the Holy Spirit restoring the truth of the 5-fold ministry and the movement of the saints that the believer is not to just come and attend church and just be there as an audience to just hear passively and go but really to the believers there to do the work of ministry like we read in Ephesians 4 and verses 11 and 12 that the saints are equipped for the work of ministry. Now they could be having a formal or a full-time work they might be involved in some vocation they might be in business they might be in a corporate setting but every believer is a saint who is to be equipped for the work of ministry which means that the ministry is for every believer so teachers played an important role that God would raise up these teachers and when the Holy Spirit brought about these moves the restorative moves the teachers taught fearlessly so we see that right through post the reformation we see that and even before that now when we look at the time after the apostles soon after the apostles in the early church itself we see that there were teachers there were men of God whom the church historians call as the apostolic fathers so they established certain things and even at those times even in those days the attack or in a constant threat of either people well people not receiving the truth that was one thing the other thing was people who were teaching heretical things there were all kinds of influences so there were a lot of heresies being taught as well that the truth was mixed with a lot of legends and folklore and we see all that also so here were these what we call as the apostolic fathers who were teaching the truth who were reiterating the truth and some of them interestingly we see that they had they had contact or they had been mentored or they knew personally the apostles who walked with Jesus Peter and John so for example we read about we read about someone called Clement of Rome who was actually who said that he knew Peter personally and he said to be prayed over and also consecrated for ministry by Peter himself and so on so we see people like that Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch who was called the bishop of the church at Antioch and who stood for the faith who were martyred for their faith but who also were learned people and they wrote letters and they established teaching in all these letters for example Ignatius of Antioch who said to have written at least seven of those two places like Ephesus and Philadelphia the church in Smyrna and so on so to establish these teachings and also some of the practical things and the earliest of these works which were actually which was actually a compilation of these practical teachings was called what was called didache it was spelt like this which was pronounced did or it is also pronounced didache so which was a compilation of teachings to the church and it was about various topics like one was about fasting about prayer about teachers, apostles, prophets the kind of support and also some of the things about communion and so on so which was read in the church, early church which was not part of the canon people knew that this was not inspired scripture but something that was going to help them because it had had a lot of references to scripture and people knew that it was but with regards to the authors probably it was like we don't know the author was unknown but it was a compilation and it was again used in the church in the early church and it was discovered in the 1800s so there were things like this there were writings like this which were used and which were very helpful for the church so let's I just want us to watch a couple of videos and which throw a lot of light on these apostolic fathers and also that time before the the Nicene Creed the what is called the pre-Nicene period and how these writings actually helped the church and how these teachers who were somewhere from secular backgrounds who had accepted the Lord some were very very intellectual, some were learned and a lot of them really wrote a lot of like Justin Marta and UCBS church historian Justin Marta was an apologist much like Apollos we see that he was an apologist defending the faith and so on so let's watch a couple of videos I will turn off the camera so that the bandwidth is ok now who were the apostolic fathers put simply the apostolic fathers were a group of figures who live roughly from 75 on up until about 150 to 200 AD now that last number obviously is a bit of a wide berth 50 years is a bit of a stretch in really going on up to the year 200 is a bit far to still be talking about the apostolic fathers but give or take this is roughly the time of the apostolic fathers age and all we mean by apostolic fathers is this history has accorded the earliest writers in the earliest figures and pastors of the earliest church with the name the fathers now it depends on how you ask if you ask a Roman Catholic the patristic age as it's called the age of the fathers go quite some time it can go all the way up until the 5th century or even beyond if you talk to others they don't really like this term at all certain Anabaptist groups tend not to prefer to give an honorific to one age of the church and those who see the early church is somewhat corrupt anyway tend not to glory in the writings from this period anyway but both Protestants and Catholics are agreed that there was this patristic age this age of the earliest centuries of the church the church fathers and so all kinds of folks in the first at least four or five centuries of the church can be called the fathers the fathers of orthodox you might say or the fathers of the church and so Augustine and Jerome and all of these earliest figures can be considered fathers when we refer to the apostolic fathers we're only referring to this earliest century of the church those who are the bridge between themselves and the patristic age and the figures that we're talking about are not all that numerous and the writings from these folks are not all that significant they're either short epistles or short little tracks and treatises but we can list them here just so that you're aware of them there's Clement of Rome who we already mentioned there's Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp and Papias there are a couple of books that are given the name of an author entirely sure of its authenticity in terms of the name of the person who wrote it and there are other books that simply have no author at all the Shabbat of Hermos for example has no author listed with it it's a prophetic utterance two of these texts in particular though we're going to separate and isolate and sort of study just briefly one is the Epistle of Diagnetus which we're actually going to look at in our next lecture on early heretics and Christian orthodoxy now we're going to look at the didache now the didache is a very important book from this earliest time and in fact it is actually the earliest surviving catechism from the early church the didache now the name the didache just simply means the teaching or sometimes the teaching of the twelve now this text had for a long time been lost to us in the west it was actually in 1873 that someone rediscovered the text even ever since then it's been studied as one of the earliest if not the earliest texts that we have from the first and second century dating it is next to impossible but it is certainly extraordinarily early either late first century or the early second century and this text is a catechism it's designed to instruct new Christians on the order and the structure of the faith and the way to live the Christian life in this period of time and for that reason alone it is extraordinary because it says so many things about the early church pattern of life that we're always interested in now the teaching of the didache is vital for understanding its impact in the earliest centuries and it actually brings together all we've talked about so far in this lecture which is the early Christian desire to distinguish itself as the culmination and the fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures while yet also saying that the Christian way is different and on the other hand distinguishing the Christian faith from the pagan world around it and so if you go into the didache and you read it the earliest move that the text makes is it lays out what it calls the two ways and it says that there is one way which is the way into death and the other way which is the way onto life and it opens in a very strikingly different way it opens with the Shema the call and Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Old Testament that hero Israel the Lord our God is one it opens with this and then it goes on to list the greatest commandment that we should love our neighbors ourselves and it goes on down a list of programmatic comments really about the ways that Christians are to live their lives and then next transitions to a number of prohibitions against activities or engagements with the world around it the Christians were supposed to take care and distance themselves from they were for example to avoid things like murder and adultery sexual promiscuity theft very sort of earthy ethical things then there were other things that were listed that are clearly coming from the Roman pagan world things like magic sorcery infanticide abortion perjury coveting all these things that are part and parcel to some of the Roman ethos it even speaks about not bearing false testimony about not holding grudges not being double minded acting as though our yes is our yes and our no is our no in other words the did I K is calling for Christians to be upstanding citizens in the context of the ancient world that they do not participate in the things they consider to be idolatrous but on the other hand they will not be vindictive oppressive back biting kinds of folks who are after their own gain and against that of their neighbors so the text lays out all of these things that the Christian is supposed to do as he conducts himself in the world the other half of the document though deals with the rituals and the formation of the church's worship and it's this section that always draws the attention of students and scholars and experts and novices and everyone in between because in this section the did I K actually lays out some instructions for baptism and the Eucharist and for fasting in the early church that are unrivaled in their explicit design baptism for example for all the debates that a lot of modern post reformational people have over baptism particularly in the mode of baptism do you sprinkle or do you dunk well very infallible enough the did I K doesn't really seem to care at all in fact it doesn't mention anything to do with sprinkling or dunking it does seem to have a preference for immersion some level however it makes the case that sometimes immersion is impossible because you don't have enough water the one thing that the did I K does care about though is that there is at least some pains taken to try to find what it calls living water which is to mean a running river that if possible that baptism was to be done in living water that is to say stream now the did I K does not cast anathemas on those who are unable to do this it just says if you're able to do this that's fine he also says that those who do the baptizing and those who are to be baptized should fast for at least a day or two beforehand to prepare their hearts and minds for what they're about to undertake he says if immersion is impossible in living water that's fine just pour the water three times over the head and I do believe once and for all that should put to rest the mode of baptism problem those who think that the practice is so clear one way the other should take a little bit of the pragmatism of this document into their hearts and realize that if you're into immersion that's fine but if you can't immerse pouring over the head three times is just as sufficient for the baptism secondly the did I K is very clear on some of the language used in the Eucharist in fact you might even say that this is liturgical language now I don't think that's formalistic liturgically but just simply that just as we see in the book of Corinthians where Paul is giving some comments about what is said during the Eucharistic service the dedicate repeats many of these lines almost verbatim though not entirely so it says that concerning the cup we say we thank thee our father for the holy vine of David thy servant which thou made us known to us through Jesus thy servant to thee be the glory forever and there is a similar refrain for the bread when it is offered as well clearly in other words the early church is Eucharistic so in other words if you are of the opinion that the Lord supper is a lot of gobbledygook that was sort of invented and a lot of liturgy that was sort of trumped up over three centuries the early part of the church you need to really wrestle with the dedicate from the beginning it is saying that the Eucharist matters and here is the form and the language and the vocabulary we use during this part of the service another thing that the dedicate cites as part of the practice of the early church is the practice of fasting very interesting enough this is one of the points when the early church does take a real sort of cultural stand against Judaism though not in practice it was the practice of the Jews to fast two days a week and the Jewish practice was to fast on Monday and Thursday that is to say from sun up to sun down on Monday and Thursday Jews would abstain from food they would perhaps give that money away that they would have bought food with maybe they would give the food itself away to the poor but on Mondays and on Thursdays the Jews would fast well the dedicate says in no uncertain terms that the Christians do not fast quote with the hypocrites but instead the Christians fast on Wednesdays and Fridays and so the practice is still the same they just chose two alternative days in the week they would fast he also says that the Christians pray the Lord's prayer three times a day and he says very explicitly that by this point Christians are increasingly choosing not to pray with their Jewish brethren that at some point their difference in their understanding of the Messiah was causing them to be unable to pray together because they were praying to different ends and for different means and frankly to different ways at least in terms of different understandings of what God had wrought in the person of Christ and he says that at this point the Christians and the Jews had begun to pray separately and that the Christians pray the Lord's prayer three times a day in the end what we know about the Apostolic Fathers is really only piecemeal we always wish we knew more we always wish we had smoking guns about early church worship literities that were still sort of left we wish that the practices of the early church were more obvious to us at times frankly one of the most important questions is how did this untethering of the Jewish and the Christian world go about because from the very beginning we see some movements away from Judaism very self-conscious movements away not just animosity either not just simply Christians rejecting Jews through anti-Semitism but real structural liturgical problems when one is worshiping Messiah as Lord and one is not and the church having to reckon with that and deal with its own identity as the followers of Christ we also wish we knew more about to simply day-to-day life in the early church unfortunately those pieces are hard to come by what we have though in the early church right in the dawn of the post-apostolic age is some real broad sketches of a faithful church that is following Christ that is attempting to distinguish itself from paganism on the one hand and having a bit of a difficult time understanding its relationship culturally in day-in-day-out life with the Jewish synagogue that was on the other side of the Christian church the Christians obviously knew where they stood Christ was Lord Christians also had to reckon with the fact that a number of them in the earliest decades were Jewish converts and they were so wrapped up in the traditions and the rituals of things not all of which were bad and pharisaical that they had to understand how is the Christian going to find its own way and its own pattern of life in this world and we see some of this in the did okay now the next thing to come up is as the world begins to take its eye and looks at the church and begins to say things about the church as the pagans look at the church and begin to cast dispersions and make fun of it for being sort of poor and weak and foolish and as the Jews begin to attack Christianity as being a porrent and a bastardization of the Jewish faith the next step in the apostolic father's age is a transition from simply maintaining its own ethos and developing its own ministry internally to a new move of what we call apologetics and apologetics is the explanation and the defense of the Christian faith to the outside world and that transition is a vital one because what we begin to see with the rise of the apologists is a full scale defense of why the Christian faith is the truth and the life and why the scriptures are fulfilled in Christ and when we get to that age we will start researching of Christian writings and we will look at that subject in our next lecture okay so a little bit of what was there in the diddak the diddaki but we also need to understand that just want to apologize about the typos in that video somewhat in proofread but we also need to understand that some of the some of the practices of the church some of the things that which were not really helpful, not really scriptural so we need to understand that as well especially about some of these things about fasting and also about the baptism I think it was just a practical thing that if there was no water but we also know that the word baptism means to immerse completely so yeah just a couple of things that I thought we should clarify there but we see that this was so writings like these which were there which which were really helping the early church believer to and pointing the early believer back to scripture and if there was confusion because of the various teachings that were doing the rounds agnosticism and Arianism and all that these were keeping them grounded pointing them back to scripture so yeah there's another video probably I'll share the link maybe you can watch that so we see several other names like Clement of Rome Ignatius Irenaeus, Eusebius and also Thertullian Montanus who later it became a heresy heretical kind of teaching and extreme teaching and we also read about origin and so on these are the people who were there who were nailing down doctrine pointing to the truth but at the same time we also see that yes there were people who were fallible and maybe in practice and also in their in wanting to wanting to do certain things in their sincerity probably they laid down some legalistic things as well like what we heard about okay you need to fast and pray in order to prepare for baptism and also you need to fast on these days so that was also some of the things which had crept in so we need to understand that as we read about them and also read about their teachings okay any questions here or anything that you might have read or that you want to share none whatsoever okay okay then let's move on to the next chapter which is chapter 10 and we're looking at the ministry gift of the pastor right we looked at the evangelist and we studied about the teacher and now we move on to look at the ministry gift of the pastor now let's look at a few scripture which point to the fact that the Lord Jesus himself referred to himself as a pastor or in other words the word used there is a shepherd from which we get the English translation of pastor actually the shepherd so we know that the Lord Jesus referred to himself as the shepherd the good shepherd right so let's look at a few scriptures here okay Matthew 26 and verse 31 if you're following in the notes it's on page 25 Matthew 26 and verse 31 then Jesus said to them all of you would be made to stumble because of me this night so he's referring to the fact that he's going to the cross the disciples themselves will be persecuted so he's saying you will be made to stumble because of me for it is written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered so here it's a reference that he is referring to himself as the shepherd and because of what happens to the shepherd that the sheep will be scattered Hebrews 13 and verse 20 now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant and so on so again the writer of Hebrews referring to Jesus as the great shepherd of the sheep and we know that the Lord himself in John chapter 10 said I am so and so I am the good shepherd came first Peter chapter 2 and Peter says he's referring to the people he's referring to the believers and he says you were like sheep going astray but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls the verse before that refers to the Lord Jesus who himself bore sins in his own body on the tree and we having died to sins might live for righteousness so here is talking about us he's talking to the believer as a sheep going astray he says now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls obviously the Lord Jesus reference to the Lord Jesus first Peter 5 again he talks about the shepherd first Peter 5 and verse 2 in giving instructions to the leaders in places of positions of spiritual leadership first Peter 5 verse 2 shepherd the flock of God which is among you serving as overseers not by compulsion but willingly not for dishonest gain but eagerly nor as being lords over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd appears you will receive the crown of glory which does not fade away that does not fade away so here referring to the Lord Jesus as the chief shepherd when the chief shepherd appears you will receive the crown of glory several things that we learn about the shepherd here so he in verse 2 he says shepherd the flock of God which is among you serving as an overseer shepherd is an overseer and how does an overseer you know does the function of shepherding or overseeing not by compulsion but willingly not for dishonest gain but eagerly not as being lords over those entrusted to you so he lists down a few things here that a shepherd should not do which means the Lord Jesus as the chief shepherd does not do these things and so as the as the overseer is a shepherd the flock of God you know first thing that we see here just making a digression here but then we learn quite a bit about the relationship between the sheep and the shepherd the pastor and the flock so he says shepherd the flock of God so the first reference here I mean the first thing that we can learn here is that Peter saying that this flock are leading as the shepherd it is the flock of God okay so it's flock of God meaning this flock or the people whom he's referring to as flock and sheep and so on they belong to God so they belong to God he's saying this is the flock of God so it's not like the shepherd owns or shepherd is anyway entitled for certain things none of that right so we see it's the flock of God so something that is of God which God entrusts to the overseer in order to oversee, in order to shepherd but really the owner of God himself, the chief shepherd himself right so we see that shepherd the flock of God which is among you serving as an overseer serving as a steward as a manager as an overseer knowing that which again has several implications meaning that you will have to give you are accountable right you carry out your shepherding or you carry out your overseeing that you are accountable right you are an overseer you are a steward therefore you are accountable right serving as overseers and he also qualifies how should one serve okay so not by compulsion but willingly so not by compulsion this is anyway it's the call of God it's the invitation of God it is the flock of God so it is to be carried out willingly and not by compulsion not for this honest gain but eagerly okay so that's the thing if there's any intention that it is going to be something that is going to be of gain or in terms of fame in terms of however else that one might think says not for dishonest gain but eagerly you serve as an overseer willingly you serve as an overseer eagerly and again the third one is not as lords over those entrusted but as being examples to the flock not as lords not as people who are bossy not as ones who are dictating terms well we know that there is spiritual authority to whom you know the the leaders to whom the Lord gives that authority spiritual authority to carry out the task and like Paul writes it is for edification and not for destroying the person or the people it is for edification not as being lords over those entrusted but being examples so you shepherd or you do carry out the task of overseeing being an example yourself being examples to the flock and whatever you oversee and whatever you instruct example to the flock and when the chief shepherd appears you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away okay so the chief shepherd he is the one who is ultimately so which means that he is going to review things you are going to be accountable to him he is going to review certain things and the reward comes from him the reward is not something that I take for myself the reward comes from the chief shepherd so some very important things that we see listed here when Peter writes about the shepherd his reference to Jesus being the chief shepherd and and also about the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep overseer and the sheep another place where we all know is John chapter 10 where the Lord refers to himself as the good shepherd and he contrasts between the shepherd and the hireling someone who is there on hire and he contrasts between their intentions he contrasts between the the quality of their work and the motive of their heart their attitude with which they carry out the task etc so he talks about that as well so let's turn to John John chapter 10 and let's read through okay first 29 verses so let's read through and then we will we will review a few verses and talk about that okay John chapter 10 verse 1 most assuredly I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way the same is a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep to him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leaves them out and when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his name, his voice yet they will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers Jesus used this illustration but they did not understand the things to them so let's look at these first 6 verses he says I say to you he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way the same is a thief and a robber and he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep and we are going to read further when he says he refers to himself as the door and refers to himself as the shepherd also right so this is how he does the sheep hear his voice he calls the sheep by name leaves them out and when he brings his own sheep he goes before them and the sheep follow him and they know his voice let's read from verse 7 onwards then Jesus said to them again most assuredly I say to you I am the door of the sheep all who ever came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not hear them I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture verse 10 the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly I am the good shepherd good shepherd gives his life for the sheep but a higherling he who is not the shepherd one who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them so he talks about the good shepherd he talks about the higherling and he also refers to himself as a door through which the sheep enter the sheepfold but we are just going to focus on him being the shepherd so he says I am the good shepherd and he also says this is the opposite of what the thief does the thief comes to steal to kill to destroy but I have come that they may have life and they may have it more abundantly very reassuring that he comes as the shepherd that he is the good shepherd he has come that we might have life and life more abundantly so we will take a quick break and then we will come back after the break and continue


Hey everybody, Austin here gonna do another trade recap today But before I do I want to say I'm not licensed or registered I'm not a financial advisor and none of this should be taken as investment advice even if it sounds like it Okay, so the the trade I'm going to be going over today. It's kind of like a multifaceted Analysis of the like the three-day move that it had You know, I'm gonna go over all three days of the move because I traded it pretty much all three of the big days And so yeah, let's get to it. So day one we had it was the big mover, right? It was the it was the mover that ignited kind of like the excitement in long in longs again I got a nice long out of the open and then I kind of got caught in this short Yeah, I bought it over here sold it up here and then started shorting it up here and you know got caught in this grind It's been a while since I got caught in a short grind, but I got caught in it Then I tried to long it and failed and then I got a little recovery short over here and fast forward over here It we had a midday reclaim which is kind of like my favorite kind of setups Mid-morning midday reclaims of for longs. These are like the best, you know Then we had this other push right here this epic stuff and and I attempted it here, too But didn't that didn't come and then I kind of just gave up on it the rest of the day I came back and I saw it at nine and I was like no way no way. So anyway, this was my first trade on it Just oh Sorry, that was not it. What if that one it? Yeah, this one's it. Okay. So yeah, like you can see I bought it up here It's kind of messy actually bought it here sold it here You know buys and sells here then I tried to short it and got caught see the cover up here And then I put it back on and then eventually got caught just shorting it, right? Yeah, I think This was a long and these are all shorts These are all shorts and and I'm just covering Covering covering because I'm just getting caught in the grind and right what saved me here is that I Have a rule when I'm shorting frontside I don't allow myself to go more than half and that pretty much saved me here You know like I tried to recycle here got stopped out at the high of the day because maybe it was gonna rip It's it kind of stuff So I re-put the short back on and you can see now I'm giving it a little bit more patience trying to play off 350 idea And so you can see I tried to add here at 350 stock said we're not stopping so I you know I cut it again, and then I have a new idea I say well maybe 350 is not the top and four might be the top so I start scaling in a little under four Just in case four is gonna be the top and I try to go a little bit over four and just in case it's gonna stuff I just get you know, I just get you know blown out of the water by the strength. So I just cut it Nothing too bad nothing that keeps me from trading it throughout the rest of the day right that used to be my biggest mistake is I would fight a sock too early in the morning and then be just Wrecked P&L and emotional wise and I can't trade it It's a day the front side short rule saved me never go more than half on the front side That's my guess my golden rule Don't ever let myself be more than half until the trade starts to work And then I can put the rest of the my size on or maybe even decide it's worth more size With when I have a fixed set risk that I'm in love with All right when it's just surging there's no fixed risk. I'm in love with I'm just playing with 350 I'm playing with four, you know, so Then I decide wow this is really strong. Maybe it's gonna be the one right It's gonna be the one and good thing to note right CEI This is a recent reverse split and the PR on the next day This is a very classic setup normally not the next day Normally a stock over split in the course of the next week sometime they'll PR and then it'll go nuts Right a lot of times they try to go nuts on the first day and they normally fail Because there's no PR attached But you know a reverse split and then the PR comes a couple days later And that's when you normally see the excitement and so this was kind of one of that classic play the I call I call the reverse split and PR play But anyway, so I was like I started to get really excited like this might be the one the one that could just it already broke range Expectations, I don't think anyone expected this at 250 to go to five But it totally just expected broke the range broke my range expectations for sure And so I'm like it could do it again if it did it once it could do it again So it starts to get long by us on the trade, but I know I'm a little high up here So I ditch it willing to rebuy and right over here. I'm like, okay. I'm getting really excited actually to be honest I'm getting really excited right here. I'm thinking it's really gonna go over 450 I buy for the 450 break in 450 stuffs and I ditch the trade right away So I'm like that's not good right if when trade with something that should happen doesn't happen Well, it should have went up here. I felt and when it didn't I thought okay all the people like me that just bought are totally bailing So I need to bail fast. So I did bail and then I got a quick short out of it with some covers down here Just a little technical breakdown short. I wasn't swinging for the fences You know because I still eventually want to long it and then so I think I got one more trade on it on the On the first day in here. Oh No, yeah, so and then yeah as I said, yeah, so then I get The trade I want out of it, right? I get my favorite setup, right? I get the the reclaim setup So I notice that we're starting to base here at 350 which on the last chart You'll notice oops. That's the same one on the first chart You notice it's kind of like the highest consolidation here, right 350 is the high of the consolidation. So I Notice that we're holding 350. It's a hold. It's a whole and a half dollar number It happens to be the top of the morning. So I was kind of excited about this hold You know the strong perk and there's an entire low here, especially with this kind of big red candle But still a hold I really like that so I decided to put on a little bit just using my bias I have a long bias on the stock at this point and Using the pre-made channel just to get a nice quick scalp out of it I wasn't going to throw that money away. I saw an opportunity to make a scalp trade So I took it we make another higher low here, and we were holding VWAP. That's pretty cool. It's not you know I don't use VWAP as a you know God rule, but it's more of a guideline So I noticed that we're trying to tank VWAP here. It's concurrently making a higher low, right?  It's making a higher low from the morning So it's keeping trend and this is what I fall in love with the domino effect, right? I talked about this in a lot in my videos, right? So we break over here 390 we can get to four which in step can get us up to this 425 breakdown level You know like all this can bang bang bang and one candle two candles. That's kind of what happened So I bought here and added took some profit right over here at this resistance You know one can say that I could have added up here, but I had a nice average I wanted to protect it. I might I was considering adding more around four. I didn't get it So anyway, I just kept it the size I had I took some more off here And I tried to leave some room for hire But you know we're you know my idea for the trade was to get over these covers And I you know ideally these covers kind of in the same blow this Stop-loss area at five in the stop-loss area at around 460. I kind of wanted that to erupt so You know when I feel like I'm running out of covers to sell into that's the only reason why I'm in the trade, right? I end up selling it here, and this is actually this isn't a buy This is I oversold my long position and had a you know a small short position that I quickly had to cover because I didn't Want to be short anyway, but then we come back over and I'm like all well Maybe this is the time we're gonna break five, you know psychological whole number five, right? It's it's proving that it's strong everybody under here is now under water So I'm like why not just keep you know if it's working keep going so I put an ad on here, and this is very important I am very aware that this is a potential stuffing area So like I immediately have pro I immediately was able to take some off right above five As intended, but then you know I can't show this because it's not a live trade, but this was fast I don't know if you were watching this trade at CEI, but this push here on five was fast it was just so fast and I just you know the second it stuffed I was like I need to get out because that's not what I wanted Right, that's nowhere near what I wanted. I knew it could stuff, and I knew if it did stuff I had to get out I Hated that it stuffed, but I got out you know like and good thing I did because if not I would have been selling Down here in the 40s, right? So that was day one. I left it alone for the rest of the day and Because you know after that big stuff it kind of spooked me out from the long and And I had already recovered the day From the morning, and I was happy with just calling it quits and you know calling it you know You know fair trade CEI But anyway, then all that happened and so then I was really excited for day two right day two came along and now um day two came along and We're tapping down big time right and so this is a this is a I almost like day two is better than day one's because The setups for day twos are very defined right. You know what to do if it gaps down Then you know what to do If it gaps up I prefer day two so much better because there's you get it I've in my opinion. I get a better read on the sock. So we're gapping down. That's a big sign of weakness I feel like anybody all of the shorts potentially already got squeezed and there's definitely a lot of long snout under water All right people thinking that it's gonna gap up and and go and rip So like I noticed 650 here is the level that I'm 6 6 60 here was the level that um it kind of topped out on Pre-market so what I start to do is I start to think maybe this is the top right we double top here And I'm thinking I this I can easily see this gapping and crapping right or gap down and just total fail So that's what I that's what I trade for my idea is based off the 650 to 660 level But I'm willing to start early when when we start failing I'm willing to start sizing in early when we start failing up here So this was my day two trade on it You can see I started I started in pre-market thinking if it's gonna fail. I want to be a part of it at least small Nothing. I'm convicted to obviously but like pre-market's pretty illiquid. So I'm trying to I guess anticipate a little bit, but it's not something. I'm super Super convicted in as far as size is concerned. So, you know, I try over here I stop out, you know, I get back in when we start to top out here We're going to the open and I'm not stoked that we're not tanking but I Decide to put a little bit more risk on because the tape seems pretty Pretty erratic, but you know, like stuff it's stuffing but not going anywhere So I decided to that like maybe maybe this maybe this range of 650 range 650 660 is gonna work So I put on a little bit more. I'm still half size at this time And then this this big push kind of scares me But I'm willing to stick to my 650 660 risk on the trade I'm willing to put on an ad up here one last ad at like 650 or 60 And that's gonna be like the rest of my trade I'm gonna call it quits if it just like a you know a quick ad right near the resistance and if the resistance breaks I'm totally cutting it. So I let this I let this rip happen and when it starts to stall I Attack, you know when it starts to stall and like when we break over the prior high a day here And we don't keep going I see that as kind of a big sign that the stock's heavy the stock's tired It's time like we can definitely roll So I I decided to move the orders down and now fix my risk to this high a day now That's basically what I do is I had a 650 60 area risk But the second we stall and and and short out here I kind of just decide to move the orders down and I and I changed my risk to the new high of day So that's what I did. I decided to take a little bit of profit right here Just in case low a day and pre-market lows wanted to hold It didn't thank God it didn't I was able to get some nice covers Recycled it back and Covered here and I left a small piece on as I am trying to do a lot better on I'm trying to leave a small piece on I didn't get like the 75 covers that I wanted Or the 50 covers that I wanted So I'm holding out for lower. I want to cover it like 450 or 40 But we we grind up we're starting to get past the first hour We get this huge slam and the huge slam is enough for me to take the rest off So this is where I end my trade on day two It did end up going lower You know if I would have been a little bit more patient with it I could have got better covers I'm happy with taking the trade off here though, you know, I was happy with that like this is this is the trade I wanted this was the meat of the move. This is the part that I could anticipate what happens later One I don't have the pit I don't have the you know that much patience for this and two I don't think it's as Probable as this I think this is the probable This is the the meat move that I want and this is the kind of the bones where maybe you can leave a portion on for this But like for me this can come back, you know, like what if this catches a bit, you know, it's middle of the day I want to be out So that was day two and today I had a trade on it. Oh Sorry day three day three. It was kind of dead. So I didn't even touch it but day four Day four, I guess we got a nice pop today and I took advantage of today. So Today we were really spiking hard today, right? Like this just came out of nowhere and just accelerated and huge and so what I did isn't I guess the proudest move But I'm not too ashamed of it just because I was kind of buying on momentum So basically what I did was the sock was just grinding grinding and it was holding a trend It was holding a steep trend and I was very aware I had a tight risk on the trade the whole time But I decided to buy once this didn't break down and it looked like it was holding trend again I thought maybe we could break through five and keep going and we did but it just didn't we didn't I wanted it higher I was hoping we were gonna go all the way to six I was wrong and like I was able to take some off here And I you know I bailed on the rest of the position when it failed and so here I actually get short Here is when I actually get short and this sucks right this totally sucks because I Get short and then I end up covering right here right before the tank And then the cover that I had the stupid cover that I had like I didn't clean house Right, so I had a cover down here that I had to quickly sell but then I decided to rebuy it Right. I decided to rebuy it because I'm like this is such a drastic tank I'm figuring that this could maybe trap because of what sgbx did today Sgbx kind of did a similar stuff move and totally failed and I'm like well Maybe people see that and think the same thing's gonna happen See I was easy to borrow so that was going through my mind So I'm like maybe this can totally squeeze back and I'm and so here I start building a long position here And I said I sell a little bit here, but I'm like no this is going higher So I rebuy it here. I start selling somewhere here around the view up area I'm still holding at you know more than half of the position, and I'm really waiting for the big homerun trade, right? Kind of a maybe a little break of discipline where I should have taken off like a third. Well, I did take off a third. I Like you know, I guess in hindsight, maybe I'm only letting hindsight dictate my analysis But in hindsight, I should have taken another third off But I wanted like another third up here and then saving another third for above higher day Like I was really going for the guts of trade and it didn't work. So I had to sell and One thing I noticed was that right over here When this trend broke is when the the nice short play came and this is a very classic setup I called the overextended trend break, which is why I got short and So when I saw this trend break and that was so nice I was like, okay. Well, maybe it's gonna happen the same thing I saw this trend and when I saw this trend break I loaded up short here and I was able to get a nice end-of-day profit and end of day to you know, 2 30 p.m Over, you know overextended trend break kind of crack, right? So That was my trade on it today. The SSR made this trade kind of different That's why you see a whole bunch of arrows over here. No, but there's only a couple I guess like But yeah, SSR made it really tough to fill here. So that's what that's all about But yeah, that was the That was my trades on CEI over the last week. I Don't think I have anything else to go over except, you know, like I Guess maybe the key element is just the trend break right trend breaks trend breaks make it so simple Like if you can just like stocks will always follow the trend like most of the time And we always try to make things more complicated if you just stick to the trend You know stick to the trend like this is a steeper trend than this But when the trend breaks, it's over when the trend breaks. It's over right like Maybe like I almost want to just only do this setup from from now on It's a lot easier even though we don't get them as often But anyway, that was my trades on CEI if you have any questions on my mentality or thought process Please feel free to to question. Have a great day. Aloha


Okay, so any further questions or Maybe something that you want to share about servant leadership See one one one challenge, I think that what we are shared was like what if people take advantage, you know that that is always there any other Challenges that you foresee your questions You might have okay Okay, if there's if there's anything you can bring it up in a later time as well, right? Let's let's continue No, there's a there is a Workshop or a ministry called lead like Jesus and I mean if there is one in your city Maybe you can you know you can attend that it's I've attended one like a weekend kind of a workshop I found it really you know of value talking about How we make decisions? the vision Also, you know everything I with the Lord Jesus as our example so we can you know discuss some very practical things Like okay, it's it's not just out there or in there in the world But it's something to be followed by people from all walks of life and especially if you know you are in business. You are a Formal leader carrying a formal leadership title and role, you know Well the the fact that it it can be lived out, right, so it is It's very very encouraging so you know you can if you have an opportunity you could attend one of those seminars or We can schools. I mean we can workshops Okay, okay, so now we just move on to something which is slightly different So we've looked at what leadership is we looked at the Lord Jesus being our being our leader the example that he said and The example that he said in various fronts, right? So we looked at all that and it'll do us good to go back to it or you know remind ourselves about it Because many times we get caught up in the responsibility. We get caught up in the work at hand and And then we forget. Okay, the big picture is the big picture, right? It's good to revisit these things. Okay. So now talking about the big picture Okay, now, that's the thing that we're going to look at next which is Just a very important aspect of Leadership and also You know, especially when you're leading an organization the ministry or a team It's it's a very important aspect of it that we should be strong in and also the rest Who are part of the organizational team should be should be really strong in it. Okay, so what is this? Now we are obviously talking about this thing called vision right Vision simply means in in normal terms. It just means stability to see right vision To see if you have a clear vision you see clearly If not, it's a blurred vision Right, you're not able to see clearly So vision is just the ability to see so it but when you look at vision we see, you know In in the word of God we see that the Lord You know, the kids in the Holy Spirit Supernaturally he gives us visions. He communicates to us God communicates to us in visions and dreams now, you know, that's that is also something that we see But it's a message that is that is communicated to us. That's that's again Referred to as vision But what we're looking at today is something that Something that that is That captures what our life purpose is or what is the purpose of The organization or ministry or team right a few words maybe a few sentences that that capture what it is So that it becomes clear to us That this is why and this is what we are called to do Okay, so when you talk about a vision statement, that is what a vision statement does describes What I'm going to do or what we as an organization will do or will become and And and therefore it talks about what is our purpose? What are we be going to focusing on where we are headed, right? Etc. So it's an important statement. No, why is it? Before we go there, let me just share the Definition and the description. Okay, so it's a it's a description a vision is a description of What church or ministry? It will do or it'll become and it communicates purpose communicates what we're going to be focusing on in future and And it is a It should be a call to action So if we can ask three important questions about vision, right if you say what? It describes Three important questions that we need to know as leaders About our purpose What is it? What is it that you want to do or what is it one that you want to become? That describes our vision The next question why Why am I doing this? Describes our mission our values our principles. Why do we do what we do and How we go about doing it again our goals and objectives and the activities That we do in order to reach our goals Right in order to reach or fulfill the vision how What are those things that we so we're going to look at each of these So if you look at vision We see that it's a What a vision does and we're going to look at a few things there clear vision From God provides direction and guidance a clear vision from God provides direction and guidance So in the context of church ministry it was it is true in the context of even you know for us individuals like For a person it is true in the context of an organization or a tea okay, a clear vision something that is very clear and Of course, we're saying that now we rely on God we on the Lord We receive that call and purpose and vision from him, right? So in you know in other words, we are saying okay God. What is what is a big picture? What is the purpose? Why am I here? What do I do what I do and we're asking the same question For the for the ministry like for the church for the team like God so when when when the Lord and the purpose in the vision he's a source of right and When the Lord communicates that and we capture it and put it together this vision Provides direction and guidance So it's very important. Okay Prouds 29 and verse 18 where there is no revelation or where there is no vision the people cast off the stream There's no boundary Okay, but happy is he who keeps the law so when the vision has a Has the ability to give the direction and the focus and the guidance that people need Which means that they say, okay, this is the vision so therefore I need to do this and not do this As long as I'm doing this I'm headed in the right direction If I'm not doing it or if I'm doing something else, then I'll be going some in there in a direction Which is not the purpose which is not in line with the vision Okay, so this vision is very very clear. I mean if it's if it's clear It's very very it's important and it's important that it needs to be Clear not only for us as leaders, but also for everybody in the team everybody in the organization Right, so it is it can be as simple as if you look at it It can be as simple as okay here is this group of people and we are going out for lunch and It should be clear where we are going Right, it should be communicated and we're gonna look at that You know, so it gives a sense of direction. Okay, this is the place No, if it's You know, you name the place and this is where it's located the name the restaurant and this where it's located It gives a sense of you know where you are headed. You know, this is the direction. It gives guidance Okay, this is what I need to do in order to reach there Right as simple as that so If the task might be huge The task might be, you know, it's about changing the world. It could be it's about saving the lost You know for a church, but if we capture that in a few words the vision statement if we actually bring focus or It could be based on the things that the burden that the Lord has given To you as a leader to you as a church and we put that together It becomes clear So those who come and be part of that vision also get that clarity, okay, this is what we can do this is Where we are going so it brings so much of clarity in whatever we want to do So when there's clarity Then our action our steps that we need to take is also clear Right Otherwise it can be very misleading I just imagine, you know, if you know, if it's just one or two people, it's fine But if it's many Then if there is no clarity, then we will end up in a place or end up going Away from where we are supposed to be going right if it's this restaurant that we need to go and if there's no clarity and if that That, you know, if that direction and clarity is not communicated Then we will end up in a in a different place in a different restaurant and not in this place It's as simple as that so a vision from God provides direction and guidance so a vision is important right and I remember that As a when we are overseeing the worship ministry, so many years ago this happened that Though there was, you know, we had actually had a vision statement and so on there was There was a kind of misunderstanding about the vision lack of clarity about the vision and That resulted in a lot of Confusion there's a lot resulted in a lot of You know confused action So for example the the vision right now is the vision of the worship ministry is to please God's heart in Understand worship to please God's heart. That's the first thing. There are three things to it But the first thing is this to please God's heart So which means that I as a worshipper or Even a worship leader of the worship minister or worship team. I personally Need to please God's heart in understand worship right and second part of it is to is to experience or to you know Be in the Manifest presence of God to experience his manifest presence to encounter his manifest presence And to lead others to it. So three parts to encounter his manifest presence second part so the thing is, you know In the statement that we had earlier there was I mean as leaders we had the clarity, but then as a team Now there was lack of clarity. So it resulted in confused action in the sense. Okay. Some people were saying, okay I'm here to lead others in worship That's the important thing So it doesn't matter even if I do not You know, leave myself into it doesn't matter. But my primary goal is lead the people into worship So there was a you know mismatch and we had to clarify it. We had to stop clarify and say hey This is what it is. Yeah. Okay. Isaac you have a you raised a question. You raised your hand. You have a question Sidenst Sorry It's it's my coincidence. Oh I say okay by mistake. Okay fine, right? Okay, so Divya's question is a Vision can evolve over a period of time Is that right or is that wrong? Okay? So yeah, say yes, definitely Divya vision especially when you're talking about let's say That's something that we're going to look at you know, the nature of the vision. Well, there is a big picture, but there is there could be An addition or increase in scope. There could be a refinement refining of division over a period of time But the general direction, you know and focus That is that is something that is there, you know So when we're talking about when you're asking the question, okay can a vision evolve over a period of time? Well let's say Individually, you know, you apply it into individually and say, okay This is where I was going and this is I mean this is the basic idea of what I have. Okay. I'm called to I'm called to minister say let's take it that way. I'm called to minister and In in this kind of a setting with these kind of people. Okay now That is that is the big picture But over the period of time There could be a change in the sense. I'm minister. I'm called to minister to yeah With the Lord expands the scope of ministry and called to minister to People X Y and Z as well right The orders expanding the realm of influence may be and he's saying okay geographically Expanding the territory and saying X Y and Z. So it's no more X It's Y and Z and where X Y and Z are so different like ethnically maybe So all that so there is a refining Which is coming along with the vision But the gen the big picture of the general. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Yeah Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you first. I just know upon that. That's so Yeah, if at all, okay God wants you to lead You know in a wider scope Certain section of people but over a period of time you get to see that there is need in this area so the The beginning, you know the the vision when started it was focused on a certain section But later on when you interact with people and you're seeing that okay That is smaller like a smaller need But what I'm seeing is a bigger need So Is it okay to do that? Otherwise, you know, there'll be a lot of confusion as you said. Yeah It's absolutely fine. You know, it's because the need is an opportunity but as long as You know, the Lord is there's some things to it No, like, okay, is it something that you need to personally take on or is it something that can be?  Is it just a need which is there which needs to be fulfilled? You know, but are you called to fulfill that deep? So that thing, you know, if there is a stirring within and you see that, okay, God, you know, I need to do that because It's going to take time It's going to take resources and you're going to put all that behind it. And is that what God wants you to be doing? So Yeah, so as long as you're clear on that perfectly, you know You can say, okay, this is something that God is expanding and it's And yeah, you know, there's a refocus in the vision Yeah, okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay Okay, so uh, so we look at we see the importance of how the vision can provide directional guidance So like this, you know, worship the ministry example so Just completely changed the whole outlook. So where there was a lot of confusion I won't say confusion, but it was a lot lack of clarity In that particular statement, right? So we had to kind of I mean we rewrote it And said, okay, let's put it in simple language. Let's put it in simple terms and it brought a lot of Change to the direction in which we're heading. So we see that. Okay. It's no more. First of all, it's about me personally, you know, this is basic thing but then then the vision captured it and Communicated it it became so much easier right, it's like how to change you know, your glasses and the power And then it becomes very clear. You're sitting there and You know and the doctor's clinic and then puts these Lens and then lenses and different lens and then I think wow This is fine. Perfect. Everything has become clear now. You know, it's like like that moment, right? So vision actually brings that Hey, uh, clear vision second thing brings a light meaning that there is a clarity and thought and action I think that is direction guidance, but it here there is the cause of the the way it's it's clear because of the what it is and What it communicates there's clarity and thought there is clarity in action the Lord Jesus said right, Matthew 6 The lamp of the body is the eye if therefore your eye is good Your body will be full of light if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of darkness If therefore the light that is in you is darkness. How great is that? darkness because he's talking about you know spiritual darkness he's talking about um while he's talking about the The natural functioning of the eye He's talking about, you know, spiritual darkness But if you look at the natural functioning, how Our eye actually gives light and enables us to see Clearly so you can see where you want to go and you're clear Uh about where you want to go same thing a vision Statement or vision from God does that brings light? Okay Um, the third thing that we need to do with the vision is we need to state it Okay, maybe it's in our heart right like a burden like a need Something that is just weighing on us And uh, we need to actually state it. We need to capture it stated Okay, you know Habakkuk 2 uh the Lord gives Habakkuk what he needs to do And uh Habakkuk writes it down. Well, this is what the Lord says The Lord answered me and said Habakkuk 2 was to write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run Who needs it? Okay, the the cv come to contemporary English version says this then the Lord told me I will give you my message in the form of a vision Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance Right, which means it's uh, this is it should be simplified No ambiguity in it, right could it mean this could it mean that? No, it's clear plain So that the one who reads it Uh is moved to act Okay, that he may run who reads it meaning It moves that person once you receive it when you read it and you receive it You're moved to act you move to action Right, so that's uh should be uh You should be stated you should be explained and like I shared another worship ministry's vision to First of all to please God's heart in unrestrained worship to encounter his manifest presence and To establish the church establish others In it. So that is the vision If you look at the the vision of all people's church, you know, for example vision statement A vision at all people's church is to be the salt and light in the city of Bangalore A voice to the nation and to the nation. So it's a description of what we should be It is a description of Where we need to go A voice to the nation if you're not there already And to the nations it's it's giving you know clear direction a sense of direction Um a big picture of this is what is who we are identity as salt and light as a lot called All of us as disciples that we are called to be this salt Influence light impact so In influence and impact For the sake of the kingdom Bringing the good news of the kingdom people getting saved gone again Um influence and impact in the city That is where the church originated started was founded. That is where we are and As the lord expands a voice to the nation as the lord gives the grace to the nations Right, so that's the that's been the That's been the vision from day one Right from the time when it was eight people right and so What it has done in all these years Has really enabled Uh apart from what we whatever we said, you know direction and guidance enabled We put concentrated effort resources time In order to fulfill and what it has also done is um that others Who with whom this resonated when a goddess might probably put the same thing in their hearts To be salt and light and so to be part of this Big vision corporately right others whom felt the same stirring Come and be part of it and saying hey, I I want to be part of this I want to fulfill this In this manner Maybe consciously they didn't think about it or maybe they did You know, but it's it produced a stirring and saying okay now since we are part of it. This is where we are going Like this is what we're going after So it it helps to capture it. It helps to write down. It helps to do it in a very clear simple manner right the other thing Hopefully is that this needs to be communicated So, you know, it's probably in the heart in your heart Okay, you put it down You write it down. You capture it in so many statements write it down But this has to be communicated to whom it is coming it is communicated It needs to be communicated to whoever's part of it as part of the body. Maybe it's a small team Maybe it's a family. Maybe it's uh, you know your business. It's the it's the Organization church whatever we're talking about the mission. I'm sorry the vision So I'm sure you've seen it right in the organizations that Maybe you visited some organizations office And you see it in the in the receptionist desk or you know, just behind that on the wall Some of these companies have that vision statement very boldly written there This is the vision. This is what we want to do. This is where we want to be We want to be pioneers. We want to be innovators. We want to be leaders right in technology you want to be pioneers we want to you know bring solutions To to mankind healthcare solutions and so on, you know, you've seen So why do they have that so that it it communicates? It is you know, this vision needs to be communicated to others um, and can be So that people can be part of it They can know it first of all. They can be part of it Um, and it can become this Right, it says, okay. It's it's like, okay. It's no more out there. It's no more their vision, but it's it's mine I begin to own it. It's my vision now And I want to be part of this and I want to do it and I want to live my life Again fulfilling this so I own it and every time We hear it you are you are enthused by it you are again, um The revitalized. Hey, this is the task at that time. This is what the lord is You know, I've discovered the calling god of god. This is how Um, this is what the lord has called me to do. This is what he has graced me gifted me to do And so you are you know, enthused by it very excited Saying, okay, let me let me go after this now right So, uh, look at Nehemiah chapter two Verse 17 and 18 we see something that is, uh Yeah That is mentioned here Which will help us Right 17 then I said to them you see the distress that we are in how Jerusalem lies waste and its gates start gates are burned with fire Calm and let us build the wall of Jerusalem That we may no longer be a reproach And I told them of the hand of my god which had been good upon me and also of the king's words That he had spoken to me So they said Let us rise up and build then they set their hands to this good work so Nehemiah talks to the people about uh, You know the task at hand the fact that the walls are broken down in Jerusalem and uh, and so he tells them let's Build the wall come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem That we may no longer be a reproach And he also talks to them about what happened how God's grace our favor has been there and how the king Uh, you know king's words yet spoken and which means that the permission the resources all that the king actually Made available for this particular thing So they also echoed you know the people and they heard it They echoed the same thing. They said it resonated with them. They said let us rise up and build Okay, so they understood this is this is the task Then they set their hands to this good work, which means that not only did they agree not only did they say, okay Let us rise and build But they followed through with action Okay, so the vision needs to be communicated to whoever Needs to be part of it and so so which is why you know in church we always have that as something Uh during the announcement Right the church news announcement Every sunday people get to hear it. Um, so even in our worship team Meetings and retreats and so on We do it in creative ways. We may be like a puzzle You know we all the pieces of it or the different phrases of it we put it and then people need to You know put it together and And then stand in this correct order, you know each one having a word of that vision Statement and putting it together in the right order and whichever team does it first So do it in doing it in creative ways doing it in fun ways so that You know it's reiterated over and over again. So there are people who come, you know who join newly Um who come to church and then for them also it's a It's reiterated. So vision needs to be communicated um Yeah, so this this part of vision, uh, this aspect of it is that the vision needs to be repeated Okay, the vision statement needs to be repeated reiterated repeated Um, like I said, you know every time the worship team needs we used to You know we reiterated we repeated Every time the church meets The vision of the church vision statement of the church is repeated. Why because As human beings we tend to forget Like we get so engrossed in the daily things in the weekly things and things that we need to do We get so engrossed in the work of ministry That we forget we get so engrossed in the details, right? Um, like if it's a worship team we get so engrossed in okay, what is the song list? Uh, you know, how do I sing this song? What are the you know, what is the music? What are the chords? What is the tune the melody? Um, you know, what is the dynamic of it? You get so engrossed getting into the details of it I mean, it's good. We need to get into the details But without forgetting the big picture Because if you if you get into the details of this and we forget the big picture then we might Do certain things In a way Well, forget for example, it could be to well, I'm here to lead the congregation Oh, this is fun song. There's an exciting song. Uh, let's do it forgetting that The first thing is to please God's heart in Understand worship. So am I doing that? Or is it leading us somewhere? You know, not there but somewhere else right so It enables us To just brings us back in alignment. Okay, this is what it is. Okay, so in a sense. Yeah, it is Like we saw in probes 29. Let me let's look at that was Um probes 29 verse 18 That tendency to cast off that restraint Is Is always there when we get into the details of it but The vision statement the vision brings us back Okay, so it's like we can say, okay, maybe it's it's restraining Okay, it's it's helping us not to cast off our restraining. It's restraining But it's a good way in a good way It's it's not to You know, it's not to constrain us and restrict us But if there is any restriction or constraining, it's in a good way Right Uh, it is so that we might have focus It's not to restrict any freedom in the spirit Not to curtail our liberty But really to bring focus So that In the long run, right? We are fulfilling what we are supposed to fulfill. So you see the importance of this, you know Of the vision statement All right, so, you know as leaders We need to get it in us. Okay. We need to make sure That the vision statement that everybody In the organization in the team understands Understands clearly What we are doing or who we are And why are we doing what we are doing? Right and where do we need to be? So that everybody gets a strong grip of that. I don't know when I used to work in Um, now this is okay more to do with the you know the mission state mission statement Or you know what it's more to do with the details But then I was I was working in this organization I was in sales and and I remember every morning we would have A sales meeting right a meeting with the manager every morning and every morning Every day, right? This would be made clear What is our target? Where are we right now and what do we need to do in order to reach our target and how much time do we have Every day for every person in the sales team Right, so this would be made clear What is what is the target? Where are we where have you achieved now? Where are we? with regard to the target Um, what is the distance yet to be covered and how long do we have how much time do we have? To cover that so it's clear at each and every day Okay, so we move on to the mission statement, right? What is the? Ministry activity what do we do? right And for whom do we do it the people group the target? audience And how are we going to do it? right for example Our people search exists to disciple And equip believers in the word and the spirit to mature them into christ Christlikeness Fulfill god's purpose for their lives and to have influence and impact for gods kingdom. So this is slightly different from the vision It's getting into the details of how and what do we need to do in order to fulfill that right discipling equipping in the word and spirit Matureing into christlikeness Fulfill so that they fulfill god's purpose for their life and in turn have influence and have impact in In turn they become the salt and light For gods kingdom. So you see that it's broken down a little more details, right? So it's about the mission It's about the activity. It's about the daily things. It's about the weekly things It's about what we need to do in order to reach there Okay, so the answer to these questions. Okay, why does your church or ministry exist? What does your church or ministry do? um now Those answers Although I think we need to ask ourselves that question ask our church our team that question Otherwise, it will be, you know, like, okay, I prepare a message.  We have the time we have some fellowship dinner You know, these all will be random things or disconnected activities because that is what a church is supposed to be doing We are comparing ourselves with other churches and other Uh, you know ministries and okay, we're trying to replicate. Okay, this is what a church is supposed to be doing Hey monthly ones Do we have to the men's group? We have we need to have this women's group We need to have this children's ministry and all that but it's not coming from that big picture or that big vision Why we are doing what we do? Oh that church is having something for you know a social Cause or they're doing something To feed the poor or something. So we also need to do that They're doing something for working provisions. We also need to do so, you know all that the doing part Becomes very disconnected and random things Randomly done, but if it flows from the mission vision statement And if it flows from okay, this is what our mission is That's further broken down. Then we would have What we would call as goals and action plans like clear goals And action plans which follow from the mission statement. So let's look at the mission statement again, right? So we saw what the big picture was to be salt and light to be influenced in impact To be a voice to the nation to the nations. Okay, so it talks about okay This is what we need to be or this is who we are And to these people, you know to the to the city to the nation case bigger group And to the nations. Oh a very big group Okay, so this is what it is. So this is the direction How do we do that and how do we do that and how do we get there? Well, this is what what we do we equip disciple mature people they will So that they discover God's call God's purpose for their lives and they in turn be The voice be the salt be the light So in order to do that, so how do we mature? How do we equip? Right, how do we disciple? Now that's further going into the details How do they discover God? It's good to say They need to discover. Can I do it on a Sunday service? Is that enough? if I preach and teach and About how to discover So what what are some other things that I need to have in order to really achieve that right? So then we get into the details of goals So before we go into you know goals any any questions or anything that you want to clarify Based on what we discussed so far um I guess it's it's fairly simple. It's basic right right from the big picture. We're just going into some of the details And uh, and it's an exciting journey Right. Um, yeah, uh, Divya go ahead please Yeah, one one thing is I think it's a Very straightforward question like uh, it's Whatever you you were telling about vision mission This can be done in a personal level as well, right? Hmm Yeah, yeah very true very true So, uh, yeah, it can be done at a personal level. It can be done at a corporate level Yeah Yeah within a family Go for a family. Yes Very true Yeah, so so it's uh, so that's the thing, you know many times we see the app. We think the application is only uh Like if it's a formal organization But it's not it's it's applicable at a personal level for our own lives And also, you know, even if it's a small unit like a family It is applicable Yeah One more thing is I I was just thinking about Jesus's leadership If we go by You know, what was the vision mission, you know to define those Then I was thinking, okay, maybe uh, he had a big picture, of course but um Every day morning. He had this Uh, you know the time with her father, right?  To go what we'll do All yeah all these so there is an element of Uh element of the working of the Holy Spirit here Right, right. So in that scenario, um Yeah Where does that fit in with Jesus's ministry like the vision mission? Yeah, so the no in uh, Luke chapter four and verse 18, right? They can kind of describes the big picture um, the purpose for his uh being here and he Puts it very he actually read from the from Isaiah uh, and then he He this buddy. No, let me just read it Look chapter four and was 18 and 19 The spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me Right and then he goes on to say to preach the gospel to the poor He sent me to heal the broken hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind to set that liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the lord And then he said today the scripture is fulfilling your hearing saying that okay, this is this is the reason i'm here This is why this is what is going to happen right and and also Uh with regard to the details of the everyday thing. He also made it very clear. I said that Uh, whatever I see the father do that I do so he would Isolate himself From everyone right and very early in the morning or sometimes the whole night to see What the father was doing in the sense to get To hear from him and to work out all the All the details right so he was and also constantly he would hear He would be led by his spirit Led by the holy spirit in order to do what he needed to do so So we see all that we see both right the epic and then he says you know for this purpose I have come So the whole thing of redemption was very very clear For this purpose that I've become I've come here and uh, so even in this Like we see it in mark chapter 10 and verse 45 Mark chapter 10 verse 45 Okay, for for even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for Many, okay, so he said that and also when he spoke to peter. We know that Saying that okay. This is this is the reason I have come uh, and then That I will be you know, I'm to give my life as a ransom. So I will be killed. I will be But I'll raise again or I'll be raised again out 30 So peter actually, you know in that conversation. He said, you know, it cannot be This cannot be your vision. You cannot do this and then he says, you know This this is the things of you're not mindful of the things of God, but you're mindful about things of man. So he was very clear About the big picture and he communicated that also to the you know to the disciples. It's just the reason I've come And in the daily things in what he did he got a Blueprint of what he's supposed to do. So in that he left us a great example right As believers what we need to do Okay, okay. Thank you. Thank you. All right Okay, so um So let's look at I think we have a couple of minutes. Let's just look at goals So goals are specific things specific objectives Uh in order to carry out the mission specific objectives that we need to do. Okay, so Taking that example of all people's church vision and mission statements. So we say, okay I need to equip the believer so that they can be salt and light So how do we equip the people? How do we equip the believers? Um, you know certain things. Okay. These are the objectives. We need to equip the believer. We need to mature them We need to you know, reach out The people we need to teach the people to be followers of Christ. No, these are all objectives goals And in order to do that there needs to be specific uh specific activities or specific tasks Which we call as a Action plan. So from vision From the mission statement from the goals We actually work out the action plan. Okay.  Yes Right. So there's uh, there's nothing wrong in In talking about this and having this In fact, it is uh, it is scriptural, but it becomes a problem when god is not involved in this Or we are not involving god in this if we shut the door on god And then we plan out everything on our own and then with our human understanding and intellect and everything And then go to god and say lord, uh, we need your approval Right, but the thing is to involve him open the door and say god, you know, uh Right from day one right from the vision to involve him and say, okay, god, you know, you give the vision Okay, this is what we we believe is a vision, but please clarify No, please renew it clarify it to find it so that we can go forward with other mission go forward with what we need to do go forward with the objectives and then the actual action plan action plan would be specific Tasks, right? So we look at that we look at the action plan the work plan In our next class, um, but I would say, you know, just go through the notes Put that again and see if you have anything any other thoughts any other Um, maybe questions and doubts and we'll address it in our next class, right? Okay, right. Thank you God bless. We'll meet again