WEBVTT 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:07.040 Welcome to the Lone Start Church Podcast. 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:15.279 Pastor CF and Nicole Ray are here to share the Word of God with you each week, helping you grasp the fullness of God's plan for your life. 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:18.160 We hope you'll be blessed by this week's message. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:24.320 If you live in Northwest Missouri or southern Iowa, we invite you to join us in person on a Sunday morning. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:28.800 For more information about us, visit our website at Ostarchurch.org. 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:31.519 Or find us on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:35.679 Praise the Lord. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.840 We started talking about being planted last week, and we're going to finish that up today. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:41.759 So let's go to Psalm 92. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:44.880 Psalm 92, verses 12 through 14. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:48.719 Praise the Lord. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:50.399 Planted. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:57.200 I mentioned I received this from Pastor Caleb Moran. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:05.200 And it says here, Psalm 92, verse 12 through 14, it says, The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.680 He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:12.879 Those that be planted where in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:16.319 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age, right? 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:17.920 They shall be fresh and flourishing. 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.799 The King James says, they shall be fat and flourishing. 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:24.239 There's at least one Bible verse, King James, that I'm fulfilling. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.000 Fat and flourishing, right? 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:27.680 Praise the Lord. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:31.120 But it talks about being planted in the house of the Lord. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:35.040 It it mentions both palm trees and cedar trees. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:37.120 And so a palm tree, here's the amazing thing. 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:38.959 When you think of a palm tree, you think of what kind of soil? 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:40.480 You think of sand, right? 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:42.319 So what do we know about sandy soil? 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.000 It is not uh real firm. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.040 So palm trees have deep root systems. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:55.359 If you notice, uh many times hurricanes, right, and and and strong winds don't don't normally uproot palm trees. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:01.519 In fact, uh strong winds don't even usually break a palm tree in half like it would like an oak tree or something. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:02.000 Why? 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:04.799 Because there's some flexibility in it. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:08.240 I know God wants you to have some flexibility in your life. 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:08.960 Amen. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.680 God wants you to have some deep roots in your life. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:17.280 We mentioned last week that you can't flourish, you can't bear fruit until you're planted. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:20.719 You have to be planted before you could ever bear fruit in your life. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:22.479 And so you need to be planted where? 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:24.879 In the house of the Lord, right? 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:27.199 You've got to be planted in a local church. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:31.680 God has that set up for you to have success through a local church. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:34.000 You say, well, why can't I just have it on my own? 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:35.599 Well, go ask God about it. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:37.840 He set up a way for you to have success. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:40.159 And we talked about the palm tree, right? 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:42.000 Being flexible with deep roots. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:43.599 You think of the cedars, right? 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:44.960 What do we know about both those trees? 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:46.879 Both those trees are evergreen, right? 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:48.719 Meaning they don't just lose their leaves. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:50.800 They always have signs of life. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:53.520 And you look at those cedars in Lebanon, right? 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:54.479 They grow in a forest. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:59.439 There's protection when those trees aren't just by themselves, right? 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.039 They're protecting each other from what? 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:04.879 From the wind, from different things coming through, trying to destroy them. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:08.000 And so it's the same way being part of a flock, right? 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:09.039 There's protection. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:12.560 Having a shepherd, a pastor over your life brings protection. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:14.319 And so we need to be planted. 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:16.639 Psalm 27, verse 4. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:18.400 We read some of these last week. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:20.240 We're just going to kind of run through them here. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:30.719 Psalm 27, 4 says, One thing have I desired of the Lord that I that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:34.000 To behold the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in this temple. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.000 So the psalmist said, There's one thing. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.599 I want to dwell in God's house all the days of my life. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:41.680 I want to inquire in this temple. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:50.240 Psalm 23, 6 says, Surely in goodness goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, right? 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.240 To dwell, to be planted in, to put down roots somewhere. 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.919 How many know it's good to put roots down somewhere? 00:03:58.639 --> 00:03:59.039 Right? 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:00.800 Aren't you glad you could put roots down? 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:04.800 I think of the Vandraskas, uh, and I remember uh meeting them. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:12.800 So if you don't know uh Shauna's family, uh right, her her family from the Albany area, right? 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:18.959 Her great her grandma Pat, who who I knew worked for my dad, and then I knew obviously with Kent and Kevin and the Wilson side and everything. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:26.240 And so uh meeting uh Shauna really, at least as adults, I I may have met you at one point when we were younger, I don't know. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:48.560 But but as adults, uh when her grandma wasn't well and I went out to to pray with her grandma, and then I I spoke at her her grandma Pat's funeral, and uh then they decided they were living in the city, decided we're gonna get our girls out of the city, we're gonna go put down roots up in northwest Missouri. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:51.519 And they did that, and it's made a huge difference in their life. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.360 But they didn't just put down roots in Gentry County, they put down roots at Lone Star. 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:58.079 And that's made a huge difference in their life. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:06.000 And not because of me as pastor, but because they decided we're gonna put some roots down, we're we're gonna settle somewhere, we're we're gonna make someplace our home. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:16.639 We're not just gonna uh be blown by the wind anywhere, we're gonna put some roots down, we're gonna have some people uh to call our own people to call family and a church family. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:17.600 Amen. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.480 We're gonna be planted somewhere, we're gonna produce fruits somewhere, right? 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:25.199 If there are no roots, there is no fruit. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:25.759 Right? 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:30.879 You've you've you've got to have that root system to produce in your life. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:31.839 Right? 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:33.040 We mentioned it last week. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:37.360 Uh the writer Hebrews said, Don't neglect the assembling of yourselves together. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:40.879 The importance of not just having a church, but being part of a church, right? 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.040 Being an active part of a church. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:45.839 There's something about being in church, right? 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:47.360 Do you miss it when you're not in church? 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:49.439 Boy, I miss it when I'm not in church. 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:51.920 I miss it when I'm when I'm not. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:54.480 I've we miss you when you're not in church. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:06:02.639 Psalm 1.3 says, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in season. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:07.199 His leaf will also not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:10.720 Where you're planted makes a difference. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:12.399 Where you're planted, right? 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:15.279 He says, planted by the rivers of water. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.240 Bringing forth your fruit in season. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:20.800 We talked about last week, germination, right? 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:24.639 Before a seed can produce, it has to be planted. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:29.279 And before that seed can produce, uh, germination takes forth. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:33.439 And that germination really is a seed dying to itself. 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:35.120 How many know? 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.279 If you're going to be planted, you need to be unselfish. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:41.120 You need to say, God, wherever you want me, whatever you want me to do. 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:44.639 Uh, that's not an easy place to be. 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:46.240 Why? 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:49.759 Because you know what your flesh wants, what it wants. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.399 There have been times in my life God's spoken and told me to do things. 00:06:54.560 --> 00:07:03.199 One time he told me uh about a job, and it came through uh family, Kent and Kevin and my sister Ramona were all working in a company based in Tucson, Arizona. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:10.240 And uh Kent and Kevin especially had traveled really all over the world and uh great job doing environmental work, made a lot of money. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:15.680 And I thought uh summers in college, uh they said there was some availability, and I'm like, boy, I'll do that. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:16.720 That'll be great, right? 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.160 I'll get a travel, make some money. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:21.199 That sounds like fun for a 20-year-old, right? 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:22.160 20-year-old man. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:24.000 I'm like, yeah, that'll be all right. 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:30.800 And so I go to work out there, and the summer I'm supposed to travel, I get there and they had a guy quit that was in their shipping department. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:34.319 And they said, see if uh actually you're not gonna travel this summer, you're gonna stay here. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:35.439 Okay. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:36.720 Whatever. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:38.079 I'm like, okay, I can do this. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:39.600 I get to hang out with my brothers. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.040 I lived with Kent and Kevin. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:42.079 They had a house together. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:42.879 I lived with them. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:43.920 Uh Ramona was there. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.079 I'm like, okay, I'll live with my family, I'll be cool. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:47.920 Uh and they said, Oh, you get to do shipping. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.160 I'm like, oh, that's not the most exciting thing, but I'll do it. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:53.439 They said, Oh, and just so you know, uh, we bought some chemicals. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:08:01.600 So we were an environmental company, and some of our chemicals we use for testing uh came in these aerosol cans that look like a hairspray can about that size. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:08.160 And uh just like the shipping container we have out here in our parking lot, they had a shipping container full of those cans. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:15.920 And they said, we ordered the shipping container full of these cans, but the manufacturer they did label the boxes, but they didn't label each individual can. 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:20.240 And we need those cans labeled, so we have a bunch of stickers we have printed up. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:27.680 We need you to go when you're not doing shipping, go set out in that shipping container in the parking lot in Tucson, Arizona, in the summer. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:41.039 And we need you to set on a metal chair and uh pull each one of those cans out, six per box, label each one, put them back in the box, close the box up, fasten it, set it over here so we know which ones are labeled. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:49.279 I don't know if you've ever walked into a shipping container full of boxes, uh, but there were a lot of them from the floor to the ceiling. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:53.919 And I don't know if you've ever been in Tucson, Arizona, but it is in the southernmost part of Arizona. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.639 And I don't know if you've ever been to Tucson, Arizona in the summer, but it is not cool. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.120 And so that's what I did. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.559 I'd go sit out there and sweat and do that. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:10.240 And then one day they they decided during the summer, they said, uh, hey Steph, we'd like to break up your time out here. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:19.200 We actually did some third-party testing out at our boss's house out in the desert, and we buried three 50-gallon drums to do some third-party testing. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:24.799 We used a backhoe to bury those, but the boss would rather not spend money to bring a backhoe back to dig them up. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.840 So here is a pickup truck, a shovel, and a pickaxe. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:31.519 We'd like you to go out into the desert and dig those 50-gallon drums up. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:35.600 Okay. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:37.120 Can I tell you something? 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.360 My flesh did not want to do any of those things. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.080 But I knew I was supposed to be there and that was the place I was supposed to work at. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:47.679 And so I decided I would just be planted here this summer. 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:52.879 Well, that was not the most fun of summers, even though I did spend some time with my family. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:54.480 But what I did, I hated. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:55.279 I didn't like it. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:59.120 I didn't like sitting out in that hot old storage container. 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:03.679 I didn't like going out with a pickaxe, and I don't know if you know the soil, they call it caliche, right? 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:07.679 It's it's like concrete and you're breaking it with pickaxe, digging those drums up. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:09.440 But I decided I was gonna be playing. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:12.320 You know what a lot of people do when they get to a place where they don't like something? 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:13.919 They quit, they leave. 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:16.000 I'm not saying that to toot my own horn. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:19.360 I'm just saying that's kind of the way my parents had raised me. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:22.960 Oh, you'll do it, and you'll be happy about it. 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:27.120 Anyone ever have parents told them that you'll do it and you will be happy. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:29.840 That's not a bad thing. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:32.960 Teach your kids what staying power, teach your kids faithfulness. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:33.840 Guess what? 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:34.879 The next summer, you know what? 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:37.840 They put me on the road and I made a lot of money and solved a lot of the country. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.000 I never get that job if I didn't stick with the one that I had before. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.600 A lot of people never see the blessing of what they can receive from a church. 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:45.919 Why? 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:51.039 Because they get offended at one point, leave that church, and they're church hopping all the time. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:59.360 They stay to church until someone offends them, someone sets in their pew, someone says something they wish they hadn't said, someone takes their parking spot, someone, right? 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:03.519 Well, they didn't say this to me, and they pastor didn't recognize me. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.399 And I saw he liked so-and-so's post on Facebook. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:08.320 He never likes my post on Facebook. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:09.440 I'm gonna be real honest. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:11.759 I usually don't like anyone's post on Facebook. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:14.480 Number one, I'm just not on there a lot. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:19.120 Number two, if I like one, then I gotta like the other, and it just, I don't want to get into that. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:24.639 But a lot of people never get planted by rivers of water because they never allowed themselves to put down roots. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:29.759 And so, because they never get planted by the rivers of water they're called to be planted by, guess what? 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.840 They do wither, they don't produce fruit. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:35.120 And they wonder why. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:35.840 Well, guess what? 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:41.679 If you just keep ripping up that tree and putting it here and ripping up that tree and putting it here, it's never going to produce what it could produce. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:44.080 You've got to choose to be planted. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:44.639 Where? 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:45.919 In the house of God. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:46.559 Amen. 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.080 One way you're planted, and we talked about it, and we won't go back over it. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:51.679 Uh, but in your resources. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.720 And we talked about giving when we talked read there in Matthew 6. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:12:00.080 The Bible in Malachi 3 and in the Proverbs talks about sowing and reaping. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:00.960 Uh, right? 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:05.840 God, God talks about if you'll take care of my house, I'll take care of your house. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:06.399 Right? 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:08.559 Uh 1 Chronicles 29. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:09.440 I will read this. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:11.759 1 Chronicles 29, verse 2. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:16.799 David said, Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:21.679 He says, I've set my affection in verse 2 to the house of my God. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:26.000 I I've he talks about this is what I prepared for the temple. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:27.519 What's he saying? 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:33.519 I'm putting down my roots, I'm putting my resources into the things of God. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:34.480 Amen. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:36.240 How many know there's a blessing there? 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:42.480 Another thing you need to bring when you get planted into the house of God is your talents, your gifts. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.440 We're gonna read just a couple more scriptures here. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:48.240 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:51.200 1 Peter 4, 10 and 11. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:53.840 We'll put those up on the screen so you can see it. 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:58.240 Praise the Lord. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:00.720 Listen, listen to what God says here. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:02.320 1 Peter 4 10. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:09.279 He says, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:10.480 Verse 11. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.159 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:17.279 If anyone ministers, do it as with the ability which God supplies. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:19.679 How many of God has given you talents and gifts? 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:24.240 That in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and dominion. 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:24.559 Right? 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:25.200 What's it say? 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:26.799 Everyone has gifts. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:30.960 Everyone in here, you have natural giftings. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:32.799 You just do. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:40.080 My wife Nicole is so good at finding people's gifts and helping to draw them out. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:46.799 She'll go up to someone and she'll be like, Hey, uh, we we really need you to do this, and they'll be like, I don't want to do that. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:52.399 She'll be like, No, I really believe that God has that gift on the inside of you if you'll just if you'll just step into it. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:14:05.120 We we were talking first service, and uh you you know what she she walked up to to Gracie when Gracie was 12 years old, and said, Gracie, you're supposed to be up on that stage with worship. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:10.159 Do you think little 12-year-old Gracie wanted to do that? 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:16.960 But her Aunt Nicole and her mama said, You will do that. 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:20.159 And look at her now. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:21.039 Right? 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:25.039 I I was talking about like with with Kate, young. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:32.559 Right, some of you all there there have been things, and you know when I say that, my wife has come up to you and be like, Hey, I need you to do this for us. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:34.000 And you'd be like, I don't want to. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:40.799 Well, be planted where she's where where God's planted you and allow that pastor to draw those things out of you. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:48.240 Because here's the thing some of the gifts that if you'll allow Nicole and I as your pastors to draw out of you, aren't just going to bless the church, they're gonna bless your family. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:53.840 It's it's gonna come back not just because you're a blessing in church, but there are natural gifts that are in you. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:15:00.159 If you'll allow God to uncover them, they'll bless you in business, they'll bless you in all other areas of your life. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:02.960 Plus, you'll get the blessing of obedience. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:05.519 You're gifted. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.000 Can I tell you something else about you? 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:10.320 You are designed with a purpose. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:14.159 You know, a lot of people struggle in life, they think they have no purpose. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:16.080 Well, I don't even know what my purpose is. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:17.120 What is my purpose in life? 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:18.559 What am I called to do? 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:24.799 That's why you need to be in a church where those giftings, where those purposes can be uncovered. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:25.679 Amen. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.759 No, that's what being planted is all about. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:30.720 Amen. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.120 So so so think about this. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:35.360 Uh Acts chapter 9. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:36.799 We're gonna look at this story real quick. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:39.919 Acts chapter 9, verse 36. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.519 So we see this woman here in the early church. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:46.559 Acts 9, 36. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:49.360 And and it's interesting. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:55.840 If you allow yourself to be planted, what God can do for you and with you. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:57.600 And listen what it says. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:03.120 It says at Joppa, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which name is translated Dorcas. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:06.000 I would probably go by Tabitha too. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:13.120 She's like, hey, Dorcas, it's Tabitha. 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:14.799 Okay. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:22.480 This woman, this one says, she says she was full of good works, charitable deeds, which she did. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:23.440 So what was she did? 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:25.200 She allowed herself to be planted. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.360 She let her giftings come out. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:30.320 But it happened in those days, she became sick and died. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:35.759 When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room, and since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples heard Peter was there. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:39.519 They sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:41.279 Then Peter arose, went with them. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:49.840 When he had come, they brought him to the upper room, and all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics, the garments which Tabitha had made while she was with him. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:55.279 Peter put them all out, knelt down, and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:58.960 She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she set up. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:02.559 He gave her his hand and lifted her up. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:06.319 When he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:08.240 So think about this. 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:12.480 She allowed her gifts to come forth in her church. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:15.599 And because of her gifts, they're like, Look at all this stuff she sows. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:18.160 Look at what she's done for all these people. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:23.920 And because of her giftings, being in the church, when she died, the church is like, We need to send for Peter. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:27.440 Because this woman has been such a blessing to this church. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:29.119 We need him to come to pray. 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:31.839 And because she'd been such a blessing to the church, what happened? 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:33.359 She got raised from the dead. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:35.359 Why? 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:39.039 She wasn't hiding her talents, she wasn't keeping her gifts to herself. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:42.400 She allowed her giftings and her talents to go forth in that place. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:45.839 And it raised her from the dead. 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:46.799 Amen. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:54.400 I know you'll reap what you sow, and you'll receive life and nutrients from the place in which you're planted. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:56.960 The thing I want to leave you with is this. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:58.559 And the Bible talks about it. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:00.720 Don't grow weary in well-doing. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:01.920 Right? 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:09.839 Determine that you're going to use the gifts that God has given you, the talents that God has given you to be a blessing to him, to your local church. 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:10.480 Amen. 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.640 And the other thing is, a lot of times some people are like, I don't even think I have any talents. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:21.200 A lot of times you won't see those talents revealed until you step out in faith, allow yourself to be planted. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:25.519 I'm looking at uh Daniel and Lacey back here. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:31.839 And so uh they were just faithful, just in in areas of church. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:34.799 And and uh one day Nicole looked at me and she said, you know what? 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:38.720 Uh I think you guys should take care of our stage design stuff. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:40.559 They're like, we don't really know what to do. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:46.559 She she I think they started with like women's conference stuff, and then we just went to throughout the year. 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:52.640 And when they stepped out by faith to do that, you know what happened? 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:55.680 Things started coming out of them that weren't weren't there before. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:57.920 Things that were maybe dormant started to come out of them. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:18:59.519 And can I tell you something? 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.559 I've had pastors from all over the country send me, be like, who does your stage time? 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:05.440 Where'd you get that? 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:12.079 We we've had it put on uh church design uh web pages and stuff, and people are like, How did you guys do that? 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:13.599 Where where did that come from? 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:33.039 And can I tell you, they're not operating with a budget of tens of thousands of dollars, they're figuring out ways to take things that you can buy at that Walmart or at Hobby Lobby or somewhere else, and God what gives them an idea and pulls that talent that was already in them out, and it's been a blessing to this church. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:35.599 People show up and they're like, Man, that looks really good. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:40.240 That looks really cool, what you did for Easter, what you did for Christmas, or what you did for this. 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:43.119 But where does it start? 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:44.720 I'm going to be planted. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.319 I'm going to plant myself. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:50.960 God will tell you where to be planted, but you have to make the decision to plant yourself. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:51.920 Amen. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:56.480 Be planted in every area, right? 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:01.599 With my talents, with my gifts, with my money, with my time, with everything. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:02.079 Right? 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:06.079 There are times when you when you're going to be planted, you've got to decide I'm all in. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:08.799 I'm not just going to play church. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:10.240 I'm all in. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:16.319 Thank you for tuning in to the Lone Star Church Podcast. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.759 We hope this week's message strengthened your faith in God's word. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:26.400 Remember, if you live in northwest Missouri or southern Iowa, we invite you to join us in person on a Sunday morning. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:33.519 For more information about us, visit our website at Lonestarchurch.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.