Finding God at Work

Chris Easley
  • 5.0 (71)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • SEMIWEEKLY SERIES

Join Chris Easley, founder of Mission Central, as he explores the often complicated relationship between faith and work in this engaging podcast. Drawing from his experiences in both ministry and the marketplace, Chris delves into how to integrate our life with God and our everyday work. When we not only believe in Jesus but also experience him with us on the job, he transforms our understanding of work. He moves us beyond the limiting stories about work that we often live inside of and moves us into his mission in the world. As God uses our work to form us into the people we deeply long to be, we can reclaim our work life for his kingdom. Whether you're feeling stuck or seeking deeper meaning in your career, this podcast offers real hope and practical guidance to live out your faith on Monday mornings and beyond. Join us in finding God at work! Original music by Joel Nash. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #SpiritualFormation #Mission #MissionCentral #LifeWithGod

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  1. EPISODE 1

    Making Work Meaningful

    We kick off a new series with this episode—Meaningful Work: Calling, Formation, Service, and Love.   Work often feels meaningless. So what can we do both to find the meaning that's already there, and to make the work as meaningful as it can be?   As disciples of Jesus, we mean something in the world; we communicate the reality of who God is when we live in love. "As he is so also are we in this world" (1 John 4:17 ESV). That high calling gives us a way in to find meaning in our work, too:   Calling: The call of God on our lives imbues our work with meaning. Formation: God uses our work to conform our character to Christ's. Service: Our work itself serves human needs and good human desires. Love: The way we do our work and relate to others at work demonstrates God's love.   When we step into work in this way, we find it forms part of the meaning of life, both for us and for the people around us. Sources: 1 John 4:16-19 (ESV) Michael Polanyi, The Tacit Dimension (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966). Bruce Barton, What Can a Man Believe? (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1927). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Polanyi #Michael Polanyi #TacitDimension #TacitKnowledge #Communication #Semantics #Grace #BruceBarton #ChristopherWren #Motivation #Engagement #WorkEngagement #HighEngagement #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

    16 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    Four Myths About Callings

    The language and idea of "calling" sometimes gets thrown around a lot in Christian circles. Not everything we tend to think or say about calling in our particular Christian subculture is necessarily rooted in the witness of Scripture. In this episode, Chris tackles four myths about calling that sometimes surface: Myth #1: You only have one, lifelong calling. Myth #2: Calling is first and foremost about what God wants you to do. Myth #3: Calling and passion are the same thing. Myth #4: Calling is about what God wants, not what I want. When we take a critical look at these myths in the light of Scripture, we see that God is inviting us—and calling us!—into something better. Sources: Nehemiah 6:15-16 (ESV) Luke 1:30-31 (NIV) Philippians 3:14 (ESV) Romans 1:7 (NIV, ESV) Ezekiel 4 (NIV) John 21:17-19 (NIV) Nehemiah 2:1-2,12 (NIV) Geoff Horton, "Joan of Arc: I Was Born to Do This?" Fauxtations, January 6, 2019.  Grace Thierfelder, "What Did Joan of Arc Mean When She Said, 'I am Not Afraid…I was Born to Do This'?" The Catholic Company, May 30, 2023. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #JoanOfArc #Nehemiah #Philippians #Romans #Ezekiel #Motivation #Engagement #WorkEngagement #HighEngagement #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

    18 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    3: You Have a Calling (Dr. Karen Swallow Prior)

    Chris interviews Dr. Karen Swallow Prior about her new book, You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful. Hear about how "follow your passion" is terrible career advice, how doing ordinary things well can deeply honor God, and how calling can transcend profession and pay. Regardless of what we do for a living, all of us are called to pursue truth, goodness, and beauty as we do it, and in the rest of life.   Karen Swallow Prior (PhD, SUNY Buffalo) is the author of The Evangelical Imagination and On Reading Well. She is a frequent speaker, a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, a contributing writer at The Dispatch, and a monthly columnist at Religion News Service. You can find Karen's writing at her website or on her Substack, The Priory.  Sources: Karen Swallow Prior, You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, 2025). Cal Newport, "On Passion and Its Discontents," CalNewport.com, June 30, 2018. Dorothy Sayers, "Why Work?" in The Mind of the Maker (London: Methuen, 1942), Villanova University. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #KarenSwallowPrior #YouHaveACalling #TrueGoodBeautiful #TheTranscendentals #DorothySayers #CalNewport #Passion #Motivation #Engagement #WorkEngagement #HighEngagement #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

    19 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    A Venn Diagram for Discerning Your Callings

    It can be helpful to think about what God calls you to as the intersection of three circles: What You Desire (Your Deep Gladness) What the World Needs (The World's Deep Hunger) An Economic Engine (God's Practical Provision) Sometimes, a single brilliant job hits all three areas. More often, we need a combination of jobs, responsibilities, and projects that help us hit all three. And that's okay! We can give that over to the Lord and say, "Lord, here's my combination. Here's my job and my side hustle and my service at my church." He'll meet us there, even when things are less than perfect. Sources: Proverbs 13:12 (NIV) Ezra 7:27 (NIV) 2 Corinthians 8:16-17 (NIV) John 3:16 (NIV) Proverbs 13:4 (NIV) Kevin Miller, "Called," Work That Pleases God (sermon, Church of the Resurrection, Wheaton, Illinois, April 4, 2014). Jim Collins, "The Hedgehog Concept," Concepts, JimCollins.com. Originally published in Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Others Don't (New York: Harper Business, 2001). Frederick Buechner, "Vocation," Quote of the Day, The Frederick Buechner Center, July 18, 2021. Originally published in Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (Harper San Francisco, 1973). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #KevinMiller #Called #Passion #Need #Provision #EconomicEngine #Grace #FrederickBuechner #JimCollins #HedgehogConcept #Passion #Motivation #Engagement #WorkEngagement #HighEngagement #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

    17 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    How Friends Can Help Discern Your Callings

    When you're at a significant career juncture, how do you involve other people in your decision-making process?   It can get dicey. On the one hand, we want helpful counsel. On the other hand, we risk being judged or getting unhelpful advice. Parker J. Palmer writes about this tension that "we often privatize these vital questions in our lives: at the very moment when we need all the help we can get, we find ourselves cut off from both our inner resources and the support of a community."   We can't assign the responsibility for our decisions to a committee. But what about gathering a committee to help us unearth what's going on inside of us as we're deciding? Sources: Acts 21:3-14 (ESV) Parker J. Palmer, "The Clearness Committee: A Communal Approach To Discernment," Library, The Center for Courage & Renewal, June 2022. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #ParkerPalmer #Decisions #DecisionMaking #Discernment #CenterForCourageAndRenewal #ClearnessCommittee #Called #Passion #Need #Provision #Grace #Motivation #Engagement #WorkEngagement #HighEngagement #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

    16 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Loving Your City (Zack Wilson of LINK Kalamazoo)

    Chris interviews Zack Wilson about his experience helping start LINK Kalamazoo. On a few prayer walks during the pandemic, Zack started asking, "Why couldn't something great happen here?" An initial idea for networking events evolved into a group that's helping make Kalamazoo a more vibrant place, from business partnerships to influencing the city's ten-year master plan.   LINK Kalamazoo is helping answer the questions young professionals are asking: Where is my future? Where are my people? How can I make an impact in the community? Zack shares, "Christians should be the most passionate people on earth about transforming their communities, because we believe people are inherently valuable and created by God, and we have purpose and meaning when we get to participate in God's redemptive plan." Zack Wilson works in IT for the healthcare industry and lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Find him on LinkedIn. Sources: Colossians 3:23 (NIV) #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #City #Urban #YoungProfessionals #YoungUrbanProfessionals #Kalamazoo #Michigan #StrategicPlan #CivicEngagement #CityPlanning #Called #Passion #Need #Provision #Grace #Motivation #Engagement #WorkEngagement #HighEngagement #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

    19 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Where Is God Calling You to Go?

    When we think about callings, we often ask, "What is God calling me to do?" But some other questions are just as important: "Where is God calling me to go?" "Is God calling me to stay?" In Scripture, we see examples of God sending people to specific places, sometimes with no substantive change in what they were doing. Sometimes, the *where* matters more than the *what* to God's purposes. We also see examples of God telling people to work for the good of the city where they find themselves, even when it's not home. Sometimes the place God "sends" us is the place we already are. Sources: Genesis 12:1 (NIV) Acts 13:2-3 (NIV) Jeremiah 29:4-7 (NIV) St. Benedict of Nursia, St. Benedict's Rule for Monasteries, trans. Leonard J. Doyle (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1948). #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Place #Geography #StBenedict #RuleOfStBenedict #VirtueOfStability #Stability #Abraham #Sarah #AbrahamAndSarah #Paul #Barnabus #PaulAndBarnabus #Jeremiah #Exile #Called #Passion #Need #Provision #Grace #Motivation #Engagement #WorkEngagement #HighEngagement #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

    16 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Who Is God Calling You to Love?

    Think about making career decisions like preparing a soup. The questions you ask while discerning what's next are like the different ingredients that mix together to form the final product.   One key ingredient that we sometimes leave out is this question: Who is God calling me to love?   Sometimes God gives us a "who" that's even more important than the "what" of our career. Sometimes it's a family member, but sometimes it's someone else that we're called to stick with. Sources: Ruth 1:15-17 (NIV) 1 Timothy 5:8 (NIV) Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, "Died: Robertson McQuilkin, College President Praised for Alzheimer's Resignation," Gleanings, Christianity Today, June 2, 2016. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #Meaning #Vocation #Ruth #Naomi #PheTomenon #Love #Family #Relatives #Sacrifice #Loyalty #Faithfulness #Household #Called #Passion #Need #Provision #Grace #Motivation #Engagement #WorkEngagement #HighEngagement #Calling #Formation #Service #Love #Vocation #Boredom #Mission #CommonGood #Character #DifficultWork #HardWork #EasyYoke #MeaningfulWork

    18 min
See All Season 7 (29)

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About

Join Chris Easley, founder of Mission Central, as he explores the often complicated relationship between faith and work in this engaging podcast. Drawing from his experiences in both ministry and the marketplace, Chris delves into how to integrate our life with God and our everyday work. When we not only believe in Jesus but also experience him with us on the job, he transforms our understanding of work. He moves us beyond the limiting stories about work that we often live inside of and moves us into his mission in the world. As God uses our work to form us into the people we deeply long to be, we can reclaim our work life for his kingdom. Whether you're feeling stuck or seeking deeper meaning in your career, this podcast offers real hope and practical guidance to live out your faith on Monday mornings and beyond. Join us in finding God at work! Original music by Joel Nash. #FindingGodAtWork #FaithAndWork #SpiritualFormation #Mission #MissionCentral #LifeWithGod

Information

  • Creator
    Chris Easley
  • Episodes
    139
  • Seasons
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Show Website
    Finding God at Work

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