Inside the Rock Church, men and women in business attire greeted one another with a hand-shake, a smile, and friendly conversation. On Wednesday, October 28, the Work Ministry and Business Life Ministry joined forces to bring like-minded people together to network and hear a dynamic speaker.

After connecting with those in the business community, a biblical message was shared by native New Zealand entrepreneur, Craig Wormald. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Business Life Ministry at the Rock Church and Senior Partner of EquiGrowth.

To set the stage for his insightful teaching, "The Power of Positioning," Craig quoted Ian Grant, "Im no expert; only one beggar telling another beggar where the bread is."

Turning Point

With that said, Craig shared about circumstantial conditions that God allows in life to turn us a certain direction. Craig grew up in a tension filled home that landed him into a foster home with strong Christian parents. They challenged him to make Jesus his Savior and the Lord of his life as a teenager by reading the Bible daily. Craig admitted he was in "no-mans land" for seven years, living with one foot in the church and the other in the world. He eventually dedicated his personal and business life to honor and glorify God.

God molded Craigs entrepreneurial spirit at the early age.

God molded Craigs entrepreneurial spirit at the early age of eleven with his first lawn mowing business. He had ideas of franchising to the neighbor boys to make a profit before the concept was materialized in the marketplace years later. In his early teens, Craig began a door-to-door home delivery service of groceries, bottled milk, and newspapers. By the age of seventeen, he had bought, refurbished and sold forty-one cars for profit. His entrepreneurial ideas did not stop there. He developed a prototype for motorcycle helmets with windshield wipers and a hydraulic wheelchair. Craigs lack of financial resources at his young age and inexperience allowed his inventions to come to fruition by others. Craig owned a yacht brokerage and marine marketing business, and loved the challenge of start-up companies as well as turning businesses from the red to record profits.

Risk of Not Listening

Craigs business advice to men, "Listen to the Holy Spirit who will often speak through your wife and your mother." Craigs transparency revealed that a risky venture left him suffering the financial consequences of ignoring the advice from the two women in his life that know him best. God uses Craigs entrepreneurial experience to give back to the community as a life coach. He and other business entrepreneurs at the Rock Church are serving the Lord by training up business owners in the San Diego community to impact their world.

At the Business Life Networking meeting, Craig directed the attendees to 2 Kings chapter two. The story talks about how Elisha positioned himself to receive a double portion of Elijahs blessings from the Lord. In business, we must position ourselves around like-minded people, who are anointed like Elijah to be used and blessed by God. Elisha made a calculated decision to not let go of the goal, determined to receive the blessing. He pursued the anointed man of God and never stopped looking to his Master in heaven for the spiritual blessing.

Using Your Gifts

In business, we must evaluate our gifts and talents then measure the fruit of our success. The power of positioning commands results by being prepared and working hard for what you want. Craig suggested we evaluate our work ethics to align ourselves with godly principles. Often, our reward will not come if we are not respectful and responsible with our single portion. People want glamor and profits. However, they refuse to follow through on commitments. For God to bless us, we must work diligently with all our heart, with integrity as though working for the Lord, not for men (Colossians 3:23).

Ultimately, we need to bring glory to God by using our gifts and talents to make a difference in the marketplace for Christ and to further His Kingdom.

The vision of the Business Life Ministry and Work Ministry is to become a resource to develop skills through mentors, business classes, biblical teaching, networking and dedicating businesses to honor God. To find out more information about monthly meetings go to the Business Life Ministry at the Rock Church.

Or contact:

Work Ministry Leader, Paige Cohen at workministry@therocksandiego.org.
Business Life Ministry Leader, Cyrus Rapinan at business@therocksandiego.org.

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Kirsten Strawn in a volunteer writer with Rock the Word: The Rock Church Writers Ministry.