Two years ago our new senior pastor Frank Chiapperino arrived. Before he came he assigned Todd and I to make a nice Mother’s Day video. It didn’t quite turn out the way he wanted. Communication is of utmost importance between the worship guy and senior guy…just sayin…

It was a great weekend of worship with our acoustic set. The team did an amazing job! Take a listen to some great songs.

Did the worship guy really say “too many Bible studies”?….yes I did…and here is what I meant…

I had the tremendous privilege to preach this past weekend. We just started a new series called “STUCK” and my topic was stress…go figure! I am the poster child of what an “internal-izer” looks like. I was one of those guys that said “nah I don’t sweat that small stuff” and keep it all inside until those little mini explosions and lots of unnecessary casualties. If I would have learned to take care of some of these stresses the moment they happened then a lot of files labeled “Time Wasted” would not be in my hard drive of my life.
We looked at Proverbs 3:1-8. Proverbs 3:5-6 is one of my favorite passages. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and He will direct your paths and keep them straight” We learned that there are two things this passage asks us to do before we trust God to direct our paths. Believe and be in the Word (Breathe) …Obey and live out your love and faith (Move)….then Trust in the Lord for direction (Let Go) There are some instructions given to us before we turn all our plans over to God.

1. We must be in God’s word…personal study time…we need to know what God’s word says and even doesn’t say! Psalms says God’s word is like a “lamp to our feet and a light for our path.” Psalm 119
2. We must do something with our beliefs…we must demonstrate our love and faith. The book of James says we must put our faith in to action to make it complete. James 2 The demons know the Word of God like the back of their hands (or claws or whatever they have) ….and they shudder with what awaits them
3. Trusting God to direct our lives after following these steps keeps us from stressing the little stuff. It also prepares us for the Dis-stressing times that may will come

OK…here is where the worship guy may have been misunderstood…OK OK OK to be honest I have been stressing that I was misunderstood. I shared on Sunday that I was in discussion with someone who said they were stressing that they felt like they weren’t growing, didn’t have enough time to make a difference, and they didn’t trust God enough and felt guilty about it. I asked if they were in a Bible study or small group or personal study of some sort. They said they were in three Bible studies! I gently asked them how many studies do they need to make a difference? What? Yes…How many studies do you need before you see you should be doing something with your knowledge and faith that you have attained by these studies? My point was knowledge of Scripture doesn’t mean a thing unless it lived out some way. Is 3 Bible Studies to many?….absolutely not! If not one of those studies motivates you to live out your faith….then you are in 3 too many! That was my point. We can never study the Bible too much and we must never stop. I am still amazed how I can read a passage that I have read over and over and still learn something new and fresh the next time.

Jesus encountered extreme Bible study majors in His day. They were called Pharicees. They did absolutely nothing with their knowledge of Scripture other than try to trap Jesus and others with their systems and interpretations of the Law. Jesus called them a brood of vipers.

In the context of stress and my sermon I was trying to encourage people to remove the clutter of their lives so they can focus on the three points of the message Breathing, Moving and Trusting….Be in the Word….Live out the Word … Trust the Word

Did the worship guy really say “too many Bible studies”?….yes I did…and that is what I meant

until we meet again

-the worship guy-Ric

I would welcome your comments especially your stories of how you have learned to put your faith in action.