Write the Word OBS Video Week 2 K=Kendra Schwarz
L=Lara Casey K: Hey everyone, and welcome to week two
of our “Write the Word, Cultivate Worship” Online Bible Study. I know, I have had a ball going
through this all last week. And so now we get to enter into a new week and do the same thing
over again, but it's going to be just as fun and just as meaningful. My name is Kendra, and I'm on
the Online Bible Studies team here at Proverbs 31. And this is my friend, who you guys met last week,
Lara, and her and her team came up with the “Write the Word” journal and so we are just so honored to
go through it Lara, and I loved what you said last week all about why you started this and
why it means so much to you. And everyone, we're going to get to know Lara a little bit better
this week. And so Lara, I have some rapid fire questions. Do you care if we have a
rapid-fire game? Is that okay? L: Perfect. I'm here for it.
K: All right. I'm gonna say two things and you're going to pick one of the options. Okay.
All right. So, first one beach or mountains? L: Mountains.
K: Okay. Color or neutrals? L: Color.
K: She had this beautiful red top and I had a feeling she was going to say that. Earrings
or bracelets? L: This is a toss up,
but I'm gonna say earrings. K: Earrings. Okay, I love that.
Fruits or vegetables? L: Vegetables.
K: Okay, is that what you grow in your garden? L: Oh, yes. See? You know me. That's exactly
right! K:
Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? L: I know that this is a very like hot topic
question. But I'm gonna have to say cats. We don't have either in my house.
L: Okay! Cats! Love that. K: Sunshine or rain?
L: I need both in my garden, but I'm gonna go with sunshine.
K: So true. And then last but not least, sweet or savory?
L: Savory. K: A favorite snack? A
favorite Bible study snack that you like? L: Oh, any type of salty things? Nuts,
chips, guacamole, salsa. My list is long. K: I love that you have a little dip spread?
L: Oh, yeah. Yeah, no I’m more just pull it straight out of the refrigerator.
K: Let's just do it out. That's great. I love it! That was really fun. Lara, thank you for playing
that little fun game. And so now we're going to go into the teaching portion of this, of this
video. So last week, we heard from you all about why is worship important and the importance of it.
And so this week, I would love if you could touch on how do we worship? Because for me, sometimes I
like to make sure I get things right. And I like to do things correctly. And so how can we worship?
And how do we know if we're doing it right? L: First of all, I love this question. Because
I think when we start to ask ourselves this question, that means that we're knocking on
God's door, we're trying to find answers, and you will always find an answer when you knock on that
door. There are millions of ways to worship. So let's just call that one out first, is that
most of us think that worship is just something we do on Sunday morning, that the term of singing
in church is interchangeable with worship time, right, or a church service time. But when we look
at Scripture, and I just looked at a few different examples, we see so many different ways to worship
and some interesting things about those. I used to think that worship was just about praising God for
the things He's given you or the circumstances that you're in. But when we look at Scripture,
we see that actually those things are good. That's part of it, we want to thank God for,
you know, the roof over our heads, or our family or whatever it may be. But those
things are actually just a pathway to praise. They're a pathway to unlock an even better door,
which is God Himself. True worship is really all about Him. So okay, a couple examples here.
K: Okay! L: I'm gonna say that this is my favorite example,
because it's the most extreme and it just amazes me every single time I read it, Job, he finds out
that he loses literally everything in his life. It's wild. It's wild. It's absolutely wild.
And every time I read the words, Job worshiped, right after he finds that out, I am amazed. I'm
truly amazed. But here's what happens with Job’s story is eventually through a lot of complaining,
which I've done a lot of that too. Job does come to a point where he says, I'm not just thanking
Him for the things that I have, because they were all taken away from me. I am praising the Lord for
who He is. We see the same thing with the woman who brought the alabaster box of oil to Jesus.
And she also says in that gift, she's essentially saying, God, You are King. You are King. She
doesn't say hey, Jesus, thanks for providing me for this nice oil. I'm gonna put it all over You
right now. No, she's in that act of worship. In that gift. She's saying God, You are King. You're
my king. It's an intimate act of worship. And then the other one that comes to mind, there's so many,
but is Abraham who is willingly about to offer his son to sacrifice, again. All right, thanks Bible.
But again, he is in essence in bringing his son up that mountain and preparing him for
this unimaginable thing, he's saying, God, You are God. So, there are so many ways to worship.
I can worship as I'm taking out the trash. I can worship as I'm doing laundry, I can worship as I'm
in the garden. And here's how, we just follow the same example of those that have come before us. We
can do those things and proclaim at the same time, God you are… and you can fill in the blank on that.
And I asked everyone to do that right where you are right now. Maybe you're you know,
hanging out in your living room or you know, watching us while you're folding laundry,
or whatever it may be. Let's just take the laundry to close out these examples. The laundry,
I can actually worship as I'm doing the laundry and folding all the little boy undies.
K: Piles! L: Because piles, oh, yeah, all the piles,
all the piles, I can worship. And here's how it's not that I need to sing while I do it.
Not that I need to just, you know, have a dance party right there. But I can say in my heart, God,
you are God, You are my King. And the reason why this is so important in a year like this
is we can come to these mundane things that end up becoming meaningful when we just have a mind
set on God as our King, God being in control. And whatever we do, we can say to ourselves, God,
this is really hard. This thing you've brought me to is really hard. And You are God. And to me,
that's how we snap ourselves out of a year like this. And the mindset that
has been so crushing for so many of us is we come up to these things like taking out the trash or
thinking about all the hard things that have happened in the world, or whatever it may be.
And we get to pause and say no, these things are hard. And this is really difficult. And
you are God, you are in control helps us to remember who we are in his eyes, too.
K:That's so good. I like how you get through examples. So, there was Job, who worshiped with
his words, right? L: Yes.
K: Then there was the woman with the oil, who worshiped with a gift.
She came to Him with a gift. And then there was Abraham, who worshiped through an act. And so I
think right there, we see different examples and different ways that we can worship. So
like you said, whether you're folding laundry, and you just want to stop and maybe in your heart,
say who God is, or maybe you want to sing and shout with praise, whatever that looks like
just being in that presence, being in the presence of God and just reminding him who He is. And what
he has done for you is, is how you worship. So, there's no right or wrong way to do it.
There's all different examples that you brought attention. And so I think that is just a beautiful
reminder for us as we go into our second week of study. So that was a
thank you so much for preparing that for us. L: Yeah, I love that. And you know, He doesn't
want us to be perfect. Like you said, He doesn't say to us, you need to have this perfect ordered,
you know, way that you worship every single time. He just wants our willing hearts. He just wants
our willing hearts. And it helps us to remember again the truth that we are enough in Him.
And we don't have to strive to be perfect. And we can use these, you know,
seemingly mundane things every day and turn them into a time where we're proclaiming His
goodness through the way that we do them. K: That's wonderful, and how sweet that you've
provided us with something that we can really get our hearts, right by writing the word and getting
ready to worship each and every day, whether you do this in the morning and write the scripture,
or at night. That's just another opportunity. We have to cultivate worship and just remember who
God is. So that is wonderful, we're headed into week two of our three-week study. So, look at
that you guys are already almost halfway done. A three-week study that has a nice ring to it,
it’s like a breath of fresh air, especially in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the season. So,
Lara, we're very excited for week two. Thank you for another wonderful teaching today. So,
something we know that's very important here at Proverbs 31 ministries and as you know
as well is when you know the truth and live the truth, it changes everything. And so,
we love that we get to use the right word journal to do just that. So, Lara,
I hope you have a wonderful week OBSers, we hope you have a wonderful week and we'll see you
next week. Bye everyone. 0