12+1 Core Values: Ownership Promoting | Jason Martin

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What is value number eight? Okay, I hear.

Ownership promoting, ownership promoting, So that is value number eight

ownership promoting. Okay, my funds all I changed to changed

to funky fonts, but I'll make you okay.

So ownership promoting.

A lot of us when we look at this ownership

promoting and like what I've sad before as well, when

we are doing this twelve plus one values, it is

going beyond how these values just impact our church, it

also impacts our daily life when we think about it

ownership promoting or does that mean it just means that

I have to promote ex church? How many of us

say that we belong to AXT church? Right, So you

say you belong to AXT church. So does that mean that, hey,

I want to promote ownership of it? So what does

that actually mean? So there are four points that we

will be going through today as part of the notes. Right,

and the key verse for this ownership promoting is the

next line. Now, all who believed were together and had

all things in common, It seems like a verse that

is a fellows is a verse that's like in between something.

You know, most of us might just glanced through this

verse to the next verse. Okay, it seems like by

the way, but let me read this again. Now, all

who believed were together and had all things in common.

So when we look at this, all things in common.

Sometimes there's two definitions to the word common. One is

common is like it's not special, right that, hey, don't

treat this as common. That means, don't treat this as

don't you're not treating this as special. Another word of

common is that, hey, we have a common goal, we

have common purpose. And as the Church in the Book

of Acts they had all things in common, so all

things in common. That means their whole life was in common.

When when you put those two meanings together, it becomes community,

common unity. It is meant it does not mean not

special unity, but in fact it means single mindedness and

united in single mindedness. And that was the power that

was a secret of the first Church. The first Church

was bigger than just one man, was bigger than you know.

I shed during our leaders training yesterday that the first

Church did not have a key man.

Risk. You know what's a key man risk.

A key man risk is for example, if this company

has this founder and this founder died, then the whole

company will collapse. But the first church had no key

man risk. In fact, so many of your key men

were persecuted and killed.

But the church continued to grow and grow and grow.

And it seemed like nothing that the world did to

stop the church from growing worked. And it all lied

in this. They had all things in common, which started

off with their faith in Jesus.

That was the key.

Okay, so there are four points as what I mentioned,

So let me go into the first point. The church

is a community and not a crowd. The church is

a community and not a crowd. What does this mean.

Have y'all gone and watched football match in a stadium before, right,

Were you part of the community or were you part

of the crowd.

Crowd?

How many of you are a part of the community

or how many are you all are part of the crowd.

So when you go and watch a football match and

you are sitting in the stands, you're a spectator.

You are part of the crowd.

You can be a die hard fan, some people can

be a casual fan. Some people be just there because

they got free tickets, and if the team does.

Well, you're like, yes, I got my money's worth.

If the team doesn't go well, I think I better

leave earlier so that I can get out of parking,

you know. And for a crowd, you just you're going

there just to spectate. But the players on the field,

they have common unity. They need to work together as

a community to achieve the same goal. So that is

the difference between a crowd and a community. So in church,

are we a crowd or are we a community? Are

we here to spectate and see or evaluate? Or you

can be a church critique, you know, a church critic,

you know, like a food criticque you go to a restaurant,

evaluate everything and then give them marks. How good is

the presentation, how good is the food, how good is

the hospitality? Or are you part of the in the church?

Are you part of the community. And like what I mentioned,

I just wanted to encourage each and every one of

us that here I.

Don't see any crowd.

Every single one of your part of a community, every

single one. That's why I said this is probably the

easiest message I will be preaching, because y'all you were

already practicing it right. So I'm just here to do

a reminder every single one a part of the community,

and to.

Bring this across right.

There was an incident that happened a couple of years back.

Next night, do you all remember this incident. This incident

happened in twenty twenty one. It happened in twenty twenty one.

It happened in three Muda, three MdeR three Mda is

right opposite quote communing, So who you are the higher ground?

This one was on the lower ground and in December.

It was in December. I remember because I was traveling

back from JB on that day and the whole day.

It was raining. The whole day it was raining crazy heavy.

So by the time when we reached kl i Ah

that stretch we saw the gem and then but thank god,

we managed to find a small detour and made away home.

But after that whole day of rain, the whole of

Sree Muda was submerged. It was all underwater, single story houses,

the water was up to the roof.

It was crazy.

People were trapped in their houses for weeks. For at

least a week. Some people had no food. There were people.

How I know this is because some of our neighbors

that just moved into our our area were from Sree Muder.

They actually abandoned their houses there and they went through

PTSD trauma because of the flood and they moved to

Quota Communing. So they were saying that some of the

elderly people were trapped on the second floor and they

couldn't get out because the windows were all grilled.

And they were stuck. It was stuck.

It was one of the worst flooding incidents. But that

was also when Malaysia came together as a community. I'm

not sure whether you all were part of it, but

they all remember the hashtag Kita jugger Kita, Kita jugger kita.

So when this happened, right like immediately, a few of

my WhatsApp groups especially remember during that time you only

can go ten km radius, so ten km radius. Suddenly

I got to know a lot of my neighbors and

friends who now become my cycling Kaki and my running khaki.

They're like, hey, coming, all these groups came alive and say, guys,

we have to do something. And what happened is everybody

came together. They started pulling money together. Those who had

pickup trucks went to buy food. Those who had contributed

money came went and contributed. Those who could go to

the rescue work they went and I remember we went.

We bought all the stuff.

We went to the Hindu temple and dropped it all

off there because that was the collection point. And from

the collection point, that is when those who needed the

help came and collected. And people no matter race, no

matter religion, no matter skin color, all had everything in

at that time, everything in common.

The thing is, we.

Need to help each other. And there was no crowd,

you know, there was no crowd. Everyone came together, Everyone

was working together for the common good. And that was

how the First Church was. Those who had gave to

those who didn't have. If you want to have ownership,

it doesn't mean you. When you have ownership, you can

only give of what you have, right, you can only

give of what you have. So as owners you have plenty,

you see the need and then you give. And that's

what the first Church did. They had and they gave

to those who did not have. They have time, they

have talent, they have treasure, and they gave to those

who could not. And because of that, their common goal

was that everyone. We need to help everyone, and for Malaysia,

that was one of the times where it was very,

very apparent. Everyone came together and those who had more

gave more. Nobody was calculative, Hey, why do.

I have to give more? Why do I have to

give less?

Some people couldn't give of their treasure, they gave of

their time. Some people couldn't give of their time, they

gave off their talent. But every single one gave and

nobody was calculative, and because of that, the common goal

was achieved.

So you can see that in church it's the same.

We have a common goal.

Our vision again is what to that the whole earth

be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God

as the waters covers the sea.

That's the vision. Our mission is to make disciples. So

all of.

Us, as I said here in excellent, I think we

have got it that we are pulling everything that we

have together because we have a common goal that God

has put us in this place to achieve that common goal.

And none of us are part of the crowd. Okay,

So that is the first point. The church is a

community and not a crowd. So let's move on to

the second point. Right now, next, like, oh okay, before

second point, I remember because I'm not. I'm looking at

my notes and there it's like, so there is a

difference between community and a crowd. So I put it

into three into acronym. A crowd is far, A crowd

is far, A crowd is distant. You may have the volume,

but a crowd is actually very distant. And what does

far stand for? Fragmented? Fragmented? A football crowd is fragmented.

Different ones are there for different reasons. And some people

put money on this game. I put money on this

game that this team will lose. You know, they might

have different motives, different things. Fragmented, there's no shared identity.

They're just there to watch that game. Second one is anonymous.

In a crowd, you may not know the person next

to you. You may not know their needs, You don't

care about their needs, and they will not do the

same to you as well.

So it's anonymous. And R is ruthless, ruthless, not ruthless

as in a cruel but rutless as in there's no roots.

There is no after the crowd. After the game is over,

the crowd dispersed. You may never see them again in

your life.

That is rutless.

But a community is tied together, so tie t is together.

It's not just I, but it's we. Yeah, what can

we do? What can we do? Instead of what can

I do? Or what's in it for me? I invested,

so here, I think all of us have invested.

I think you know.

I just mentioned expresso. So we have a fantastic espresso team.

In x Clang. How we're all blessed.

You're you're already thinking of what's for expresso?

Do you know?

Do you know Espresso right is actually non compliant? You

know why I mean that because the espresso team actually

only supposed to serve the newcomers. But in Klang they

are non compliant. They're serving everybody. They're serving everybody, and

not only that, do you know they do not claim

a single scent. They are doing it out of the

goodness of their heart. They're doing this because they believe

in the community, they believe in a common goal, and

they're using their talents and their treasure and their time

to bless the body of Christ in however way that

God has enabled them to do, and that is invested.

Are good at least say thank you, like like ah,

that's all I do because and that is just expresso.

You know you have Exound Extreme XTV that comes very early.

They come very early to set up to Tarhound to practice.

We have the whole team that is always greeting all

of us, making sure you know. Host team also does security.

You know, Kenny is our bouncer. That's why you're safe here.

So there is every single one is contributing. Recently, we

had our teens gathering where we had about twenty five teens,

close to twenty five teens, I think it was two

weeks ago, and all the funding for the teens gathering

was invested by different ones. Same the children's conference that

is happening in August, a bulk of the investment came

from people here in ex Clang.

Yeah.

And the thing is it is because why it is

an investment. You believe in the cause, you're contributing towards it,

and it's no longer about what's in it for me,

but hey, we can do this, what can we contribute?

So that's why I said I'm preaching to the choir.

They all have got this.

But there are three other points which we want to

bring across as well.

And the last one is e enduring. What makes this

work is because we build relationships. We are there when

things are good, we are there when things are not

so good. If you need help, if you need encouragement,

you need prayer, you need spot. We believe and we

hope that we can be that community for each and

every one of us here.

Okay, so that is the first point. Second point is

this owners not renters. A home not a hotel. A

home not a hotel. So what does this mean any

of y'all are renting out your house to someone. You

have a house, you're renting it out to someone. You know,

when you rent out a house to someone, you will

obviously go and interview the tenants that will be renting

your house. You want to make sure that these tenants

are good tenants. They will take care of your unique.

So we have a unit and we were renting it out.

We were renting it out.

So we got this tenant to an agent. We met

this tenant and this tenant.

Usually when you go to the forums, they will say,

don't rent to this group of people because they won't

take care of your unit. No, but we prayed about it,

went through the agent, felt piece.

We rented it up, so rented it.

Rented out this unit for about five to six years

and then all the way until after the pandemic. Then

after the pandemic, the tenant I think lost the job

and stuff like that. Right then was asking a can

reduce the rental, So we reduced it and then subsequently

asked for more than said he can't budge any further.

So he said, okay, then I will have to let

go of the unit. So we went to collect the keys,

you know, from the unit. When I went to collect

the keys, guess what I found. I was like, what

in the world you guys taking care of the unit

better than me.

It was so pristine. It was so pristine.

They were staying there with their kids and extended family.

It was like I don't know how many people staying

there and it was spotless. Yeah, they really took care

of the unit. I was like, hey, can you run longer?

And they took care of the unit as though they

were owners. And but for us, when we ran something,

do we have that kind of men men mentality? This

is the but this is a special case because not

everyone who rents has the ownership mentality. When we ran

an ABBNB, what do we do when we check out

bare minimum, so there we can get back out deposit

bare minimum. When you ran a car, you know you

have to probably, they would say, or your field tang

up to exactly where.

It was when you got it.

So we will do the bare minimum so that we

can get away with it. But ownership promoting is that

we regardless of whether we are renting or we are owning,

we act as owners.

So what how does that look like? Next?

Efficients for verse sixteen, he makes the whole body fit

together perfectly. As each part does its own special work,

it helps the other parts grow so that the whole

body is healthy.

And growing and full of love.

So the key part here is each part does its

own special work. It helps the other parts grow. So

each of us, when we are called to do our task,

we do it to the best of our ability so

that others will benefit as well. You don't do the

bare minimum, but you do what God has called us

to do. And that's what the church did. You know

the difference between Anonius and Severera. You all know the

story of Anonius and Sofia. They were part of the

first Church. They were also very rich. They also gave

back to the church. But the difference is they did

it because they wanted to be famous, and they tried

to deceive people. So when they sold their property, instead

of giving everything, they gave partial. Then you said, okay,

well give partial. It's okay if you give partial, if

you tell everyone that, hey, this is a partial amount

and I'm giving this to you. But what they did

is they told everyone this is the whole amount. So

they wanted the fame without wanting to pay the price.

So they just wanted what's in it for them instead

of blessing the community. And that's a rentous mindset. You

do the bad minimum because everything is what's in it

for me. Next slide. So a renter's mindset is it's

not mine. So because it's not mine, I just do

the bare minimum. Any issues not my problem, and because

there's issues, I will just leave. I will go somewhere

else that can meet my needs.

And what can I.

Get out of it. That's what a rent's mindset is.

But an owner is like, Okay, I am placed here,

so this is mine and I will do whatever it

takes as long as I'm here. If there's a problem,

let me fix it, and I will stay through the storm.

When things go hard, I will stay. And what the

motivation is? What can I give? What else can I give?

So to summarize it, it's this quote. Next night, a

renter asks what am I getting out of this church?

An owner asked, what is the church getting out of me?

Because if everyone gives, everyone gets. If nobody gives, nobody gets.

So instead of is the church meeting my needs? Am

I doing everything that I can to help the church

meet its needs? And it's not only just because X church,

but it's because you believe that God placed you in

this church and you are here by God's design.

So because of that, you have a part to play

in growing this church.

Got that, So now let's go to the third point.

Ownership must be promoted and not assumed. So this is

the third point. Earlier on I said that in ex

clang ownership is is second nature to everyone. But it

didn't happen overnight. It happened because it was modeled out.

Different ones of us saw, Wow, these people are willing

to pay the price. Let me do it as well. Right,

you saw some people serving? Right now, I see Kevin

serving on XTV because he sees Richard every time. Richard

really on XTV. So Kevin said, hey, you need help,

can I do something? And he just did it. He

didn't go and say, let me pray about it, right

because he sees what is everyone doing. Everyone here is

putting our hands to the plow and doing everything that

we can to make it work.

So why not me.

One of this, one of the examples saw is this next.

Have you all seen this scene? Have you all seen

this scene? If you watch football, you would have seen

this scene. These are Japanese football fans. So Japanese football

fans they follow their Japanese team around the world when

they go for World Cup. That is okay, most fans

do that. But what the Japanese fans does that is

different is after the game is over, they bring their

own trash bags and they clean up their whole part

of the stadium.

Every single thing. Whether the team wins or losers, they

cleaned up the whole stadium. If you don't believe, you

just gon and google it. You'll see it.

They went to us, they cleaned up the Dallas stadium

after the game. And you know they did reach the finals, right,

but regardless whether they won or lost, they did it.

But what brought them to this place where they took

ownership and say that, hey, I'm accountable for this area,

let me clean it up. It started off from young.

It started off from young, as kids they were taught.

I think I haven't been to Japan yet, but everyone

is telling me that it's very difficult to find that

trash can in Japan, so you have to bring your

own trash bag with you and carry your trash bag

until you reach your airbnb or whatever and then dispose

of it. So it's a culture that has been cultivated

since young. It says that hey, I am responsible for

this area which I'm living in, and I'm going to

keep it clean. And they cultivate that ownership regardless how

they feel that they regardless whether the team is doing

well or not. And what's incredible is that this is

supposed to be the way the church lives.

But this picture still amazes us because it shows us that, hey,

as a church, there is so much more that we

need to do so that God's name will be glorified.

You know now that Japanese culture is glorified because people

are taught this way and that's how they bring up

their kids. But as a church, we need to cultivate

ownership as well.

And this is how we train the younger ones to

say that in whatever we do, let's give our best,

Let's take care and be good stewards of what God

has given to us. Right.

So now the last point is this, Everyone a partner,

not just a member. Everyone a partner, not just a member.

Are you part of any club membership? You're part of

a club membership. Are you a partner of any company?

Any of you all are partners of a company. I

know Julian is partner of a company. There is a

difference between being a member and being a partner. We

are part of a clubhouse membership in Gotta commun where

we go through swimming, badminton and stuff like that. So

as part as a member there, every time they increase

the fee as a member, you'll be like what, you know,

why you simply increasing fee? And then start complaining like, hey,

what are you doing with our money? You know, because

it's like you're a member, so you're paying and I

don't know you're I'm paying, so I expect, I demand.

It's my expectation that I pay minimal, I get maximum.

True, you're not orders. You'll love what's in it.

For me, that's a membership mentality. How do I pay

minimal but get maximum?

Right.

But when you're a partner and you're building a company

like like for example, Julian building a company to get

away with Nick another partner, three partners, when the company

is going through a tough time, instead of pointing figures,

they have to look at each other and like, guys, okay,

what do we need to do to build this company?

And some companies, when the company is going through a

tough time, right, the partners are the first ones to

take a pay cut because they are owning the company

and they have so much instake that they want the

company to drive, and they take care of the staff

under them as well. During the pandemic, it would have

heard a lot of stories like that where partners took

the first hit because of tough times, but members, when

the times are tough, let's jump. Let's jump to the

next loocreative thing. And in church we have to be

hardners and not members. So there is one clear story

in the Bible of ownership. And this guy he had

was not a partner at all. He was not a

partner at all, but he had clear ownership from the

beginning all the way to the end.

You know who is he?

More more hints he had every reason not to do

any ownership. He had every reason not to have any ownership.

He was wronged, he was betrayed. So Jesus is one.

Now this is the Old Testament, Old Testament. He was betrayed.

He was Joseph. So it was Joseph. Joseph's story is

a story of clear is a clear picture of ownership,

even when he was in a position.

Of the lowest of lowest. In partifast House, Joseph was

a slave who acted like an owner. Because he was

a slave that acted like the owner. Everything in partifast

House did well. His harvest was plentiful. Partifi didn't even

have to care about his harvest because Joseph was so good.

But Joseph was a slave. But he took it upon

himself that, okay, Partifi put me here, I'm going to

give my best.

I'm going to take ownership and grow this.

And he grew it and became a potified didn't.

Have to worry at all. But after that, you know.

He was betrayed and he was thrown into prison. Even

in prison, Why did the jailers. Give Joseph authority over

the other prisoners. You're a prisoner. Even in prison, Joseph

took ownership. With nothing to gain. He was falsely thrown

into prison, but whatever needed to be done, he was

there and he did it. He didn't wait for freedom

to start contributing. He didn't complain about the circumstances. But

he took ownership of his situation.

And he did it. And in prison he.

Met the cup bearer and the baker, other prisoners. When

you see other prisoners there, he took ownership and he

went and found out how are they doing? Are they

doing okay? They told them about his dreams. He could

have said, I don't care. But what he did is

he interpreted the dreams and told them exactly. He took

ownership of the relationships that he had. And because of that,

when Pharaoh needed someone to interpret his dreams, that was

where Joseph was in Pharaoh's courts. When Pharaoh asked Joseph

to interpret his dreams. Joseph interpreted his dreams because he

was told to, but because he told ownership, he didn't

stop there. After interpreting the dreams, Pharaoh asked, what then

must we do.

Some of us, my mill I don't know. That's your problem.

That's your problem.

But what Joseph did is he took ownership. This is

a problem, This is what I would do, and this

is what we should do. He took ownership. He took ownership,

and that's how he became the prime minister. When he

became the prime minister, he took ownership over a foreign

land where he was a prisoner, and it caused that

whole land to thrive. And that is the power of ownership.

And last, but not least, Joseph took ownership of the

reconciliation with his brothers. Instead of putting the blame on

those who hurt him, he took ownership of the relationships

with the brother and the family. And he took ownership,

and he reconsulted each and every one of them. So

in summary, next, Joseph was never given a title. He

practiced ownership anyway, in a house that wasn't his, a prison,

he didn't deserve a nation that wasn't his own. That's

not position, that's posture. That's ownership. That's ownership promoting. It

doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter the position

you are given. But the posture of ownership is a

value that when we live by we will with God,

we will succeed in whatever He has called us to do. So,

even as I draw to as a clothes, let's get

the band up right now as well? So looking at this,

do you think ownership is important? You would want to

hire somebody who has ownership? You look at when you

hire somebody, you will ask, oh, is this person proactive?

Another word for ownership is proactive. Is this person proactive?

Proactive means this person doesn't wait to be told. This

person sees the need and meets the need, goes above

and beyond. Dot's not ask what's in it for me?

But instead what can I do to make this a

better place? And that's what the value that we have

here in at church. And again, like when I mentioned,

all these values can be applied in our personal life

as well. Let's take ownership in our marriages. Let's take

ownership in our parenting. Let's take ownership in our church.

Let's take ownership in our careers. Let's take ownership in

our relationships. Let's take ownership in our finances, in our studies,

in everything, in every area of influence, that we are at.

God makes no mistakes. We are in every area because

He has placed us there and right now we have

to take ownership on it and with him to our best.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit aschurch dot org. We

are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that

this week is going to be a good week.

I hit for you. God bless