By Joseph Smith

What would Jesus say to David Beckham? “People think David Beckham has most likely found happiness,” said Jonathan Dykes in a recent Bible Means Business (BMB) lunchtime talk at the Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney.
“He earns $230,000 a week. Women think he is gorgeous. He has a pop star wife. We are convinced that if we achieved what celebrities achieve, that would bring us happiness. But what would Jesus say about David Beckham, about celebrity and our pursuit of happiness?”
This provocative question was the theme of the latest series of talks run by BMB, part of the City Bible Forum (CBF) network of Ecom, established in 1991. Now founder Craig Josling aims to spread Ecom’s ministry to all Australian capital cities. There are currently CBF talks in seven locations throughout Sydney and one in Perth. CBF Chatswood started a month ago with author John Dickson presenting an evangelistic series. CBF Legal presented by Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen has started at the Supreme Court.
Establishing Evangelism Prayer Teams (EPT’s) are also a primary concern of Mr Josling. “There’s not much point having a weekly Bible teaching event and evangelistic opportunity if people aren’t inviting their friends along. Given how much time Christians spend in the workplace, the EPTs encourage Christians to be thinking of people around their office who they could invite,” he says.
“We have 150 people involved based in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. The Melbourne ones have been started by St Hilary’s, Kew, to help them work amongst the city workers there.” In Sydney, the Australian Tax Office and Ernst & Young both have prayer teams.
Ecom has continued its growth in evangelism to women and now has four women’s workers. “Ecom’s women’s ministry has expanded in the past few years as more women have recognised the opportunities to reach out to women city workers with the gospel,” staff member Denise Chee said. “I have encouraged women to evangelise their work colleagues by organising EPT’s and training women in evangelism.”
Along with Jonathan Dykes, other CBF speakers include Anglican Youthworks CEO, the Rev Alan Stewart and Rector of St Aidan’s, Annandale, the Rev Dominic Steele.
Advertising executive Bruce Haddon is a member of St Thomas’s, North Sydney, and has been attending the CBF talks at the Greenwood for two years. He believes the talks reach those who “would like to dip their toe into the Christian faith, but don’t feel comfortable in the church context. They can do it in a pub and drink their beer at the same time,” he says.
“In advertising, you often find yourself in compromising situations. By keeping my faith relevant and easily applicable,  I’m better able to make connections between work and my faith.”