Good morning folks. I am fervently praying for all you folks today. I especially pray for those of you who may have lost a love one recently. I pray for all the sick, the needy, and the afflicted, where ever they may be. May Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and Creator of the heavens and the earth bless you and comfort you this day.

I remember someone, a long time ago saying to me, "Why waste your time with your nose in a book? Get out there and do something for God!" May I say this morning that there's an inseparable connection between faith and God's Word. We see this emphasized for us in (Romans 10:17) “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Now we need to be reminded that God is indeed the ultimate source behind our ability to believe. Notice with me in (Romans 12:3) “ For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” So we see that God has measured to each one of us faith. So the faith which Christians have is traced to God as its Giver. But even though God is how we believe. We can't overlook the fact that He uses His Word, the Bible, to show us what to believe.

I am convinced that without the Bible, our faith would be very unfocused. Our belief in God and spiritual matters would be random and would vary from opinion to opinion. In fact, if you want to see an example of this, all you have to do is spend some time with someone who claims to be "spiritual," but who doesn't have a firm grasp of God's Word. They may have faith, but much of their faith is going to be a false faith because it's founded on ideas and beliefs that just aren't true. As sincere as they might be, they're sincerely wrong, and what they believe isn't going to stand the test of time.

That's why it's absolutely critical for our faith to be grounded in the Word of God. If we turn from what God has written down for us, it won't take very long before we find ourselves bogged down in error. Please, please, please understand that our opinions and traditions will determine what we believe. But in the end we'll come to discover that the only things worth putting our faith in are the truths that come to us by God's Word.

Sometimes, our desire to study the Bible may be criticized by friends, and family. But

in fact, it's the study of Scripture that focuses our faith onto something that's genuine and has impact for God's Kingdom.

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17)
Have you had your nose in the book today?

Loving You In Jesus Christ,

Pastor David McGee