by Nick Savala

So the question is, what has God been teaching me? Or what have I been learning from God? Well, for me, the list is long and it keeps getting longer and longer. But what God has pressed on my heart lately isn't really new to me but it has been one problem that I tend to keep to myself and not share often with my wife, Kat. I would venture a very good guess that most men are probably not in the habit of sharing their weaknesses to their wives. But guess what? All of you are just as guilty of this particular problem as I am. And you don't even have to be a Christian to have this problem in your life.  So what is it? It's called worry! Yup, worry, and we all do it.  We can worry just about anything in our lives, our jobs, our health, our finances, school. Will I ever get married? Do I want to get married? And if you're a parent, we worry about our children or we've heard many stories about other peoples children. And speaking of children, we know those worrisome situations with children can come at unexpected times.

Now, I got permission from my youngest son to share this particular incident that happened nine years ago.  In fact, he is doing well with his walk with the Lord and will be turning 35 years old come this August. Oh, and by the way, he was married at the time. So anyways, Kat and I were at home asleep and it was about eleven o'clock at night and the phone rings. I pick up the phone and a recording begins with, "This is the Orange County Central Men's Jail. You have a phone call from inmate Jacob Savala."
Now you can imagine what went through my mind. Right away, my heart sinks.  I'm crushed and immediately worry begins to set in.  Now if you know anything about jails, these are limited timed calls so the callers only have so many seconds to get their message out.  So, after the the recording ends, Jacob's voice comes on and he says," Dad, Dad, I'm in jail. They know I'm a Christian and you know what they do to Christians in jail. Bail me out!"
Click.

Now obviously, that was devastating new at the time, but we can actually laugh and talk about that experience years later.  You all know that all kinds of bad situations and circumstances can occur where worry can immediately take over our thoughts and lives. This leads me into our scripture for today. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is with His disciples and continues with His teaching and discussion on how to live life in the Kingdom of God.  He talks about charity, how to pray, fasting and money. In verse 25, He gets to our topic about worry and concludes in verse 34.  He tells them what they are not to worry about and why they are not to worry.  But it's in verse 27, I believe, where Jesus covered it beautifully with these words, "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?"

Now Jesus knew that we were going to worry about the many things in our lives because He witnessed it among the people, His followers and He also experienced it Himself.  Now the takeaway from this verse is that being preoccupied about worrying takes away from our time from important things  in life and especially our relationship to God. Worry also has the potential of producing unhealthy and destructive behavior. The remedy for worry, of course, is found in God's Word.  the Bible has a lot to say about prayer and it is vital for us to develop a consistent prayer life where we can bring all our cares and concerns to God. Because we know those storms are going to come, and when they do, God will be right there, ready to hear from us. Our Bibles are full of scripture for instruction concerning the topic of worry and by us committing many of those verses to memory it will not only be an asset but a blessing to our lives.

     Inland Empire Christian Rods and Customs
                                                     Minutes of Meeting 
                                                      March 12, 2023
 
 
Members in Attendance 
Shawn (President) & Mouse! Saunders
Nick(Vice President) & Kat Savala
Doug Geer (Treasurer)
Robin Ellis
David, Yenabid, Ruby & Audrey Desmarais
 
 Shawn Saunders, President, called the meeting held at Magnolia Church in Riverside to order at 2:17 p.m. Robin led in opening prayer. 
 
The Minutes of the January 8th Meeting were available online. There were no corrections or additions. 
 
Doug gave the Treasurer’s Report and we have a bank balance of $978.70. plus $80 in dues turned in. Members we’re reminded to pay their dues: 
Couple - $45
Single - $35

Doug had fire 🔥 in kitchen that burned folder with treasury records. So making up where we left off. Shawn to get added on bank account.

 
Correspondence 
Hot Rod - prayer box in works, the lettering is done, just waiting on pin striping 
Mouse! met John at 412 Church and gave him a flyer to our BirthChoice Car Show. He has a 51 ford. She also heard from Rob Silva who would like to come to an upcoming meeting. 
Robin - heard back from insurance company $2400 premiums but won’t cover us. 

David and Mouse! have both been talking to Jose Lara - Pachuco Jose about joining club
David also spoke with friends, Donovan & Craig 
Nick talked to two couples from 412 Church. Rick & Leann and security Larry’s friends Wayne & Kim. 
CR&C address change fromLa Miranda to 
CR&C 
C/o DR Smith
620 Woodcrest ave
La Habra, CA

Main Event - Super Cruise on Saturday, April 15. Time and location to be announced. 
 
Local Events
Riverside Area - Cars & Coffee at Harvest Christian Fellowship on Saturday, March 18th, 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. (back parking lot) 
 
Hemet Area - Perris SkyDive at Perris Airport on April 2nd at 1pm-4pm

Ontario Area - Legends Burgers on Saturday, March 18th, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Address : 8775 Baseline Rd, Rancho Cucamonga
 
Nick led our meeting devotion entitled “Don't Worry, Be Happy”. Nick shared several Bible passages to lead us to the conclusion that we need the Bible and prayer to get rid of worry.
 
Old Business
Super Cruise - work in progress. Doug, Robin & Mouse! on planning committee
Birth Choice Car Show
Insurance is n/a. We are now under the church outreach program, partnering in ministry with Pastor Tony.  Due to potential problems in area, doors are to remain locked.  Text Shawn or Nick for entry.


Old/New Business 
Prayer Sign & printing - Robin to find sign and coordinate printing of cards and tracts.
 
Meeting changes – Our regularly scheduled April meeting falls on Easter Sunday.  The April meeting has been changed to Thursday, April 6th at 5pm at Abby's Cafe, 41855 E. Florida Ave, Hemet.
Our regularly scheduled meeting for May falls on Mother's Day.  The May meeting has been changed to Sunday, May 7th at 2pm. Location is tentatively Magnolia Church. 

 
Devotion for April Meeting - Mouse!

March Birthdays were recognized – Sheri, Patti, and Greg
                                  
Buy, Sale and Trade was held. Cheetoh Cubs
 
Prayer Requests and Praise were shared. Kat found a Homeless woman wandering the halls. Tracy - process of moving , needs a safe place. She’s been robbed. Restoration, wants to drive again. Mistaken/stolen identity to restored to whole and normal
Robin led in closing prayer and meeting was adjourned at 4:17 pm.
​Dinner to follow at Norm's