Harvest Fire Worship Center
Bible Study Series 2009
Ministry in the Marketplace
“Taking The Message To Our Everyday Relationships”

What is meant by marketplace ministry?

The marketplace is where most believers spend over 50% of their awake time. If you think about it, if we divide the day into 24 hours and then let’s assume that we sleep 8 hours, work 8 hours and spend the last 8 hours with family and friend, then we are awake for 16 hours, 8 or 50% of which we spend in the marketplace (“MP”).

If you look further at how much time we spend in church versus the MP, then most of us spend 2-3 hours a week in church and the remaining 53 hours in the MP & weekend or 94.6% (53/56) versus 5.4% ( 3/56) in church.

How is it then, reasonable, that 95% of our soul winning effort focused on the 5.4% of the time we spend in church?

Jesus, our model example spent the same amount of time as we did in the MP and utilized every opportunity to witness and do miracles thus attracting folks to His movement. Very few of His miracles occurred within the confines of the temples that He visited on the Sabbath.

The MP for this study series refers to two distinct things: 

1. It is our place of employment, learning or otherwise where we spend approximately 50% of our awake hours or 94.6% of our time dedicated to these activities.
2. The MP is also the place where fierce competition occurs between the forces of Good and evil for the souls and attention of the lost.

The MP encounters are classified in the following areas:

1. Planned encounters
2. Chance encounters 
3. Daily shared environmental encounters

This study series will look closely at how Jesus used all three encounters to reach people and recruit them into the Kingdom.

Footnote: MP is your workplace or an environment not including church

Reference Scriptures:  Go Ye therefore - Noun (People)

Matthew 28:19-20
Mark 16:15
Act 1:8
Luke 14:23

Common words are Go & World (We are all called to witness to the world )

The “Word” became flesh as referred to Jesus in St. John 1:15 is now transferred to us. (People will see your good work by your lifestyle)

We are living “Word”, we are changed by the “Word” of God

When was the last time a co-worker got saved? – (on the job, a friend or at school)

We need to establish who we are when you go on new ground; there should be something different about us.

Are we salt of the Earth? Are we light? ( Salt and Light alter their surroundings)

John 4:3-29 - Women at the Well (planned)
Mark 10:46 - A blind man, Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging (chance)
Matthew 9:9 - Matthew’s encounter with Jesus (planned)
Luke 19: 1-4 -Zacchaeus’s ecounter with Jesus (chance)
St. John 2: - Water turned into wine (chance)
Matthew 9:20 - Woman with the Issue of blood (chance)


Jesus never left a person worse off than he found them.