SPEAKER_00: This month uh our theme is Rooted and Courageous.
SPEAKER_00: And this week our title is called Rooted to Stand.
SPEAKER_00: And we are going to be going from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, verses 7 through 8, will be our starting scripture text.
SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to go there, or if not, you'll see it on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: When you're there, say amen.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Do you trust him?
SPEAKER_00: And whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall seize from yielding fruit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll be talking about rooted to stand.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: God bless you.
SPEAKER_00: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: After the 9-11 attacks, workers found a single tree buried under eight tons of rubble.
SPEAKER_00: A badly burned, snapped, and charred calorie pear tree.
SPEAKER_00: It looked dead.
SPEAKER_00: But when arborists examined it, they discovered something remarkable about this tree.
SPEAKER_00: Its roots were still alive.
SPEAKER_00: Because the roots survived, the tree could be rescued.
SPEAKER_00: They transported it to a nursery where it slowly recovered, new branches grew, and new leaves appeared.
SPEAKER_00: Can you show that picture, brother?
SPEAKER_00: This is where that tree stands.
SPEAKER_00: There have been other trees that have been donated and added to the surrounding area.
SPEAKER_00: But this tree became a symbol of resilience to what happened on that day on September 11th.
SPEAKER_00: Today, that same tree stands tall at the 9-11 Memorial, stronger, fuller, and more beautiful than it was before.
SPEAKER_00: And as you can tell, as long as the roots remain, a strong tree doesn't survive storms because it's tall, because it's deeply rooted.
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful picture.
SPEAKER_00: Beautiful picture.
SPEAKER_00: And as this tree is called, you'll actually look this up, and it's actually called the Survivor Tree at the World Trade Center.
SPEAKER_00: And there's many other stories, different stories of things like this where people use it as a symbol of stability and resilience and protection.
SPEAKER_00: There was actually another tree.
SPEAKER_00: I remember uh going to the going on a road trip for Ash and I's 10-year anniversary, and we went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.
SPEAKER_00: Very emotional, very moving.
SPEAKER_00: And they had a tree there, and it was on the far side away from the uh building, and it is still there today.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't uprooted, it wasn't moved, but it was a place that they sent all the uh victims that who were surviving or who they found underneath that tree to provide shade and protection.
SPEAKER_00: And there's also a tree there, and it still remains today as a as a memorial of what happened on that day.
SPEAKER_00: So, as we understand from this picture, it is a testimony that roots determine stability.
SPEAKER_00: Roots determine stability.
SPEAKER_00: So when we look at this in our own lives, a root system is very important.
SPEAKER_00: Root systems spiritually are built through many different things.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing that we understand that our time with God is very important.
SPEAKER_00: Our time with God begins to develop that root system.
SPEAKER_00: I recently praise God, was able to cover that nice brown patch of uh land in my backyard that y'all have heard me talk about.
SPEAKER_00: And it's green now.
SPEAKER_00: We put grass down and it has rooted, and now we have the promised land in our backyard, or at least half of it.
SPEAKER_00: We're getting there.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it took root and now it's stable and now it's beautiful and green, and we can but it took time.
SPEAKER_00: It took time to uh uh take care of it and water it and allow it to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And the same thing with God, it takes time, it takes time, a lot of time, and a lot of time from us.
SPEAKER_00: And Psalms 1, starting off, 1 verses 2 through 3, it says, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doeth he meditate day and night, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, and his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
SPEAKER_00: What a awesome promise that when we spend time with him and we grow in him and we get rooted in him, amen, we will grow closer to him, and no matter what we do, if it's his will, it will prosper.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because we are planted by the river, amen.
SPEAKER_00: The river of his spirit, amen, and we spend time with him and have a relationship with him, we will prosper because we are in his will and his favor.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience.
SPEAKER_00: This can be a tough one because our flesh doesn't want to be obedient.
SPEAKER_00: We want to do what we want to do, right?
SPEAKER_00: And we can all feel that.
SPEAKER_00: And there's times, you know, you're parenting or you're going to work or you're having to deal with things, and you're like, why does this have to be so difficult sometimes?
SPEAKER_00: And you want to react to your flesh and you want to do the things that's easy and the quick way, and but sometimes that's not the case.
SPEAKER_00: We have to be obedient to his voice and what he sees because he's the author and the finisher of it all.
SPEAKER_00: So he sees things that we can't see, so we have to obey his voice.
SPEAKER_00: And so in 2 John 1 through 6 says, and this is love, that we walk after his commandments.
SPEAKER_00: So if we love him, we'll do what he says.
SPEAKER_00: Plain and simple.
SPEAKER_00: Even if we don't understand it or not, we're on this journey learning to hear his voice and what he has called us to do.
SPEAKER_00: This is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not just a matter of listening to it or hearing the words, but we have to react and behave and put it into practice in our daily lives, obeying his voice and being still and listening to him.
SPEAKER_00: This is developing roots.
SPEAKER_00: This is developing our foundation as Christians, trusting in him.
SPEAKER_00: Because in that waiting, we trust.
SPEAKER_00: We heard this scripture earlier when we first started that we are blessed because we trust in him and our hope is in him and the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And for we will be like that tree planted by the water.
SPEAKER_00: Spread the roots by the river.
SPEAKER_00: Because when we're obeying and we're obedient and we allow the work of God to do its purpose, its work, our roots begin to grow.
SPEAKER_00: And they stretch out and they become strong.
SPEAKER_00: And we dig into that river.
SPEAKER_00: Because when the heat comes, we are sustained when the heat comes.
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk more about that later.
SPEAKER_00: But we are still connected to Him.
SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't matter what we face or what we are going through, we are connected to Him.
SPEAKER_00: And we will be green.
SPEAKER_00: We will not die, we will not wither away.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We will not have to worry about the year of drought because we will not cease from yielding the fruit and the work of God in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So that means that we have to be consistent in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to take time, it's going to take patience.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 15, 58 says, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what we should be doing.
SPEAKER_00: What's my purpose?
SPEAKER_00: What should we be doing?
SPEAKER_00: The work of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: What's the work of the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Read your word.
SPEAKER_00: Teach the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Show his love.
SPEAKER_00: Be patient.
SPEAKER_00: Be kind.
SPEAKER_00: For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, when you feel like that you're not making a difference, read this scripture.
SPEAKER_00: It's making a difference.
SPEAKER_00: You are building a root system spiritually in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And this system is not only going to affect you, but it's going to affect others around you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: These roots are so important.
SPEAKER_00: And this tree, this tree, can you show that tree again, brother?
SPEAKER_00: This tree, it didn't survive because it was tall.
SPEAKER_00: Although, if you've seen the sequoia trees, they are giant, huge.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't survive because it was strong on the outside.
SPEAKER_00: It survived because its roots were alive.
SPEAKER_00: Even when everything above ground looked destroyed.
SPEAKER_00: Many of us can feel that way.
SPEAKER_00: And there's always been that person, no matter what they have gone through, they had remained faithful.
SPEAKER_00: That's because the roots are still alive.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Hidden strength saved that tree.
SPEAKER_00: It's not the tree's alive and it has it's a god or anything like that, but it's because at a root system, it was healthy, it was strong.
SPEAKER_00: Hidden roots sustained that tree.
SPEAKER_00: That depth restored it.
SPEAKER_00: The more we grow deeper, the more we are spreading our roots out.
SPEAKER_00: That survivor tree at ground zero didn't make it because it was tall, but because its roots were alive and were strong.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Everything visible was broken.
SPEAKER_00: And we can feel that way.
SPEAKER_00: We can be broken.
SPEAKER_00: But what was hidden was still strong.
SPEAKER_00: That's what God wants for us.
SPEAKER_00: Life may shake what's above ground, but your roots are deep in Him.
SPEAKER_00: You will rise again.
SPEAKER_00: You will continue to grow.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter where God may move you from one place to another.
SPEAKER_00: As long as your roots are healthy, God will sustain you.
SPEAKER_00: God will bless you.
SPEAKER_00: God will prosper you because you are deeply rooted in him.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you want to be deeply rooted in the stream of the Holy Ghost?
SPEAKER_00: I want to be rooted in Him.
SPEAKER_00: I want Him to be my foundation.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: Because as long as you plant yourself in Him and you live for Him, you will never cease in producing what God wants to do in your life.
SPEAKER_00: But we have to understand that even though we are living for God, at times it may seem like nothing is happening.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, because I understand that when I got the Holy Ghost and I was baptized in Jesus' name, begin living for God, and you're just on fire.
SPEAKER_00: But then life is still life and things still come, and then all those experiences aren't changed that you're dealing with now.
SPEAKER_00: Like maybe you're you're dealing with addiction or you're dealing with people or you're dealing with family stuff.
SPEAKER_00: All that's still there.
SPEAKER_00: But the only difference is now you have God and He's gonna bless you and protect you and give you wisdom and direction and help because He's gonna prosper you because you're rooted in Him.
SPEAKER_00: So He's gonna give you leadership and wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of times, all during that time, where's the fire, God?
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
SPEAKER_00: It takes time.
SPEAKER_00: It's the daily living for God that builds your roots.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing, and we'll talk about this later, but it seems like nothing is gonna happen, and sometimes what we what we do, we want to try to uproot ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Don't uproot yourself because you feel like nothing's happening.
SPEAKER_00: You're still growing roots.
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about that here a little bit later, but those hidden roots, the thing that's hidden, determines what stands.
SPEAKER_00: It's the life that's extending on the outside.
SPEAKER_00: Those roots are important because it's gonna help you grow spiritually and allow you to be grow strong.
SPEAKER_00: Roots grow in hidden places.
SPEAKER_00: God often strengthened us in seasons.
SPEAKER_00: Because we know the scripture says, for everything there is a season where nothing looks like it's happening, and that hidden growth, even though we can't see it, it's still growth.
SPEAKER_00: Those circumstances that come, why is this happening?
SPEAKER_00: You're growing roots.
SPEAKER_00: Why is this situation happened in my family, my life?
SPEAKER_00: You're growing roots.
SPEAKER_00: Because in those moments, that's where you grow.
SPEAKER_00: The hardship is where you grow.
SPEAKER_00: If we don't go through hardship, there's no reason for us to depend on God anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Because we think we can do it all upon ourselves, our own strength, our own abilities.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not where our strength comes from.
SPEAKER_00: Our strength comes from our weakness when we submit ourselves to God and humble ourselves to Him.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we we what we have to do is understand that just because you don't see the fruit yet doesn't mean God is not deepening your roots.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't mean God's not doing something.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times as a young, you know, teaching the young people, um, and even telling our kids, you know, we explain to them that just because you're not on the platform doesn't mean that you're not doing something for God.
SPEAKER_00: Because young people, what they do, like, oh, look at them up there.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, look, you can be up here, but you can be just as lost.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not just about what's up here, it's about your root system.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because what happens?
SPEAKER_00: Because our bodies eventually won't be able to do the things up here anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And so what?
SPEAKER_00: You feel like you're not worth anything because you're not up here anymore.
SPEAKER_00: You don't put your worth in the position.
SPEAKER_00: Your worth is in your root system and who you're connected to.
SPEAKER_00: That's where your worth is.
SPEAKER_00: That's what sustains you, that's what makes you grow, that's what makes you strong.
SPEAKER_00: God's deepening your roots.
SPEAKER_00: Psalms 9, 2, 12 through 13 says, The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree.
SPEAKER_00: He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
SPEAKER_00: Those shall be those that planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And as you know, as they built the temple, they used uh cedar to build the Solomon's temple.
SPEAKER_00: So they were very strong.
SPEAKER_00: It was something that was very prominent in that area, and they actually grew a giant field of these trees, and they would use that to build.
SPEAKER_00: And then if you notice, I don't have the picture here, but uh, there's a palm tree, and it shows the root system how it's formed and how it's built, and it takes a while for you to see the results from a palm tree, but the roots are still growing.
SPEAKER_00: That's why they mentioned it here.
SPEAKER_00: Palm trees grow deep and they have fibrous root systems that spread wide underground before they even grow tall.
SPEAKER_00: So the strength of their growth is not coming on the outside, it's widening and deepening underneath the ground before it even gets to the height that it needs to be.
SPEAKER_00: And many times uh I actually had a palm tree in my backyard, um, which was so nice, but then it froze like it did a few times here, and then eventually, praise God, it broke uh during a bad storm.
SPEAKER_00: It actually broke where I wanted it to fall in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: So God had favor upon me there because it didn't go in our bathroom and it didn't go in our neighbor's house, but it fell exactly where it needed to fall.
SPEAKER_00: But the roots were still there, and it bit right in half where it was dead, just split right in half and fell into the ground.
SPEAKER_00: But the root system remains, so your strength is not what's on the outside, it's how deep your roots are.
SPEAKER_00: So flourishing is the result of planting, not performing.
SPEAKER_00: It's not the performance, it's how you plant yourself, it's how you root yourself, it's how you take care of yourself spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: That's how we grow, that's how we become strong.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 37, 31 says, Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.
SPEAKER_00: Again, understanding that the root system is important to bear good fruit above.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of the clearest biblical pictures of hidden roots.
SPEAKER_00: That visible fruit will eventually come from the root system.
SPEAKER_00: God literally says the growth below, unseen, comes from the growth above what we see.
SPEAKER_00: God always works underground before he works in public.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So it matters not just what you do here, because this is great.
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of like fertilizer.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: But you gotta go back home and you still gotta water, you still gotta read your word, you still gotta be in the presence of God, you still have to live for Him.
SPEAKER_00: You have you still have to put the right things in front of your eyes and remove the things that are not good for you.
SPEAKER_00: You still gotta listen to the right things, not to earn salvation, but to deepen the root system, to grow spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because people need to see Christ in us, so it takes time, it takes us, a personal growth towards God, and he will reward us.
SPEAKER_00: Not because we want to gain anything or you know we're trying to earn anything from it, but God has a way of what you do in secret, he will reward you openly.
SPEAKER_00: And when you're faithful with the little things, he will give you greater things.
SPEAKER_00: It's those small moments with God, it's those times where you're in private with God and you're teaching a Bible study, or you're reacting in such a way that other people would say, you know, you're justified to cuss, or you're justified to think negatively or not have faith.
SPEAKER_00: But we choose to have faith anyway, and we choose to use the right words and have self-control anyway and show love and kindness, mercy and grace versus hatred and having a vengeful attitude and being angry and being hateful or gossiping about somebody.
SPEAKER_00: We gotta deepen our root system.
SPEAKER_00: Our reward is that we are living for God and in his favor.
SPEAKER_00: That's why money amounts don't matter, locations don't matter, countries don't matter.
SPEAKER_00: As long as you're living for God and you're rooted in him, you're gonna have the joy of the Lord in your life.
SPEAKER_00: That's why you can have joy in Africa somewhere with a dirt floor, and you can have joy here.
SPEAKER_00: You can have joy in your house, you can join, you can have the joy of the Lord if you're homeless.
SPEAKER_00: As long as you're deeply rooted in him, you are in his favor and you will bear fruit in this life.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you agree with me on that?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Out of his kindness and grace, he flourishes us so that others may see God in us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: It's about him.
SPEAKER_00: Not for us to gain anything, but that he receives the glory and bring others to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Like John says in 330, he must increase, I must decrease.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about me, it's about him and to bring him glory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because hidden growth is still growth.
SPEAKER_00: Silence is not absence, waiting is not wasting.
SPEAKER_00: God has growing you.
SPEAKER_00: God develops us privately before he displays us publicly.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna use us in those quiet moments.
SPEAKER_00: And when his will is ready, he'll put you out on display for his glory and honor.
SPEAKER_00: But only for that, and not to bring glory upon ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Number three, deep roots produce unshakable lives.
SPEAKER_00: This part's gonna go a little bit longer.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 6, 46 through 48 says, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty strong right there.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you call me Lord, but you're not willing to be obedient to me, not be obedient to my voice?
SPEAKER_00: My kids love me, but sometimes I'm like, do ya?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know they do, right?
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes you're like, your actions just don't.
SPEAKER_00: And I understand they're young and you know.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm like, but then I'm patient because then I do things and God's like, do ya?
SPEAKER_00: Do you really love me?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, God, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?
SPEAKER_00: Whosoever cometh to me and hear my sayings and do with him.
SPEAKER_00: That's the key.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's the key right there.
SPEAKER_00: We went to church, I heard what he had to say, but did you do what he had to say?
SPEAKER_00: Well, that takes work, that takes effort.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the Bible says we shouldn't be slothful, right, Ashley?
SPEAKER_00: We used to tell that to the youth all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be slothful, don't be lazy.
SPEAKER_00: And do with them, I will show you whom to you are like, to whom he is like.
SPEAKER_00: He is like a man which built a house and And dig deep.
SPEAKER_00: Dig deep.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you?
SPEAKER_00: I've never built a house, but I've dug a hole, and there's junk and roots and rocks and bricks.
SPEAKER_00: And I was at Brother Ryan's yesterday helping out with his yard with Cohen.
SPEAKER_00: And I found a crematorium badge in his yard.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Ryan, can you look this up?
SPEAKER_00: And he said, That belongs to a human.
SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, I don't think you have someone passed away thrown into your yard.
SPEAKER_00: But it's interesting what you find when you start digging deep, when you start cleaning out things.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, that kind of went, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But he said, Do you want it?
SPEAKER_00: I said, No, I'm okay.
SPEAKER_00: I'm okay.
SPEAKER_00: But he dig deep.
SPEAKER_00: He had to pave away all that stuff to get to the rock.
SPEAKER_00: Laid the foundation on the rock.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a whole nother lesson there, but sometimes you gotta repent.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta repent every day.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta get all that stuff out.
SPEAKER_00: It takes time.
SPEAKER_00: You're digging roots.
SPEAKER_00: And when the flood arose and the stream beat vehemently upon the house, vehemently.
SPEAKER_00: It's been like that the past few weeks, and could not shake it.
SPEAKER_00: Could not shake the house.
SPEAKER_00: When you're going through it and you're rooted yourself in God, it doesn't matter what may come, you will stand.
SPEAKER_00: You will stand.
SPEAKER_00: The storm can't overcome you.
SPEAKER_00: It may sound scary, it may sound like the winds are coming and things are happening to your house, but you will stand.
SPEAKER_00: Your life will stand, your family will stand, you will be blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: The foundation will stand.
SPEAKER_00: Could not shake it, for it was founded upon the rock.
SPEAKER_00: It's important that deep roots produce unshakable lives.
SPEAKER_00: We must remain deeply rooted and unshakable.
SPEAKER_00: Because we know things are gonna happen in this world.
SPEAKER_00: Revelation talks about it throughout the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: We know things may come against us because we live in the flesh, so we know we're gonna get sick and we're gonna have to deal with things.
SPEAKER_00: But I believe God blesses us and has favor more than because when you have favor, sometimes maybe you should have gotten sick and you didn't.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe your car is working a lot longer than it should.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe God has blessed you and have favor upon a new job, brother.
SPEAKER_00: God has ways of blessing us regardless of our circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: God has favor upon us because we are deeply rooted and connected to Him.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing.
SPEAKER_00: We talked about being uprooted, and I kind of wanted to touch on this.
SPEAKER_00: This is more of a pastoral thing, but I wanted to talk about it.
SPEAKER_00: There are a few times that it may be appropriate to uproot.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Depends on the the height of the tree.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're transplanting one tree to another, it has to be a certain height, and the root system has to be a certain width.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you cut too much of the roots off, it will not sustain and it will die.
SPEAKER_00: But only under certain certain conditions is it early enough, with the right help, spiritually speaking, the pastor.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, uprooting or severe root disruption primarily endangers tree stability and survival by destroying the anchor system and the ability to absorb nutrients, often leading to rapid decline or death in hot, dry conditions.
SPEAKER_00: So when you are uprooted, you sever the link or the accessibility to the source of nutrients around the plant or the tree.
SPEAKER_00: You're completely disconnected.
SPEAKER_00: When we are firmly planted in truth, there is no reason to move.
SPEAKER_00: Unless we feel that it's not biblical, or we must move with instruction or guidance by a pastor or a leader that's in the will of God.
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes there may be circumstances in our lives where we need spiritual guidance and we don't, and it can cause us a spiritual decline because our system, our root system, has been uprooted and we have moved ourselves out of the will of God.
SPEAKER_00: When we go place to place spiritually, and you are never stable in the word of God, we continue to sever the foundation and it makes it more difficult for us to trust God.
SPEAKER_00: Because when situations may come, instead of you trusting in Him and His Word, you trusted the world, or you trusted in a drug, or you trusted in a dividual that's not in the will of God, or what seems right to you, or of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to get some scriptures here and some examples of people that were able to be unshakable in those environments, to trust people.
SPEAKER_00: We have to learn to trust him and his word and not allow ourselves to be continually moving or resettling all in all these different places, whatever the season, because that just doesn't fit right at the moment.
SPEAKER_00: So we just begin to boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
SPEAKER_00: And we just go everywhere, trying all the different things because we're trying to fill the void that we can't do on our own.
SPEAKER_00: We're trying to do it based on our own feelings and our own flesh and our own ideas, and we have to be anchored in his word based on what we have just talked about already.
SPEAKER_00: So when storms come, deeply rooted believers bend, but they don't break.
SPEAKER_00: When culture shifts, rooted people stay grounded.
SPEAKER_00: When emotions fluctuate, rooted people remain steady and in control.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because we know in the culture that we live in today, in so many beliefs that are in the world today, I choose to remain faithful to his word.
SPEAKER_00: I choose to anchor myself in his word, root myself in him, connect my life and the stream of the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because I want to be connected to him.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how it fluctuates, it doesn't matter what I may face at my job or my family or whatever.
SPEAKER_00: I have to can I have to completely trust in him because I did it the other way and then nothing worked.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing worked.
SPEAKER_00: I had a void in my life.
SPEAKER_00: Never could fill it.
SPEAKER_00: But when I was filled with the Holy Ghost, he filled the void.
SPEAKER_00: He filled this temple up.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And it's never run dry.
SPEAKER_00: It's been times where I've been tested, but I chose to anchor myself in him and go back to him and ask for repentance and ask for forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: And God help me, make me, mold me, shape me.
SPEAKER_00: Root me into you, God.
SPEAKER_00: And there's several biblical examples.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel, this is, I made this more detailed so that way you can actually go back and study this on your own, too.
SPEAKER_00: But Daniel was rooted in conviction in Daniel 6, in the whole chapter.
SPEAKER_00: We won't read the whole chapter.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel facing this man who wanted to build this giant idol and to build this statue, and you're gonna have to worship this statue.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel and those three Hebrew boys, they chose not to succumb to what the world was telling them they should be doing or who they should worship.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the culture is doing today.
SPEAKER_00: This decree if you pray, you're gonna die.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't worship this, you'll die.
SPEAKER_00: It was designed to destroy him.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted compromise.
SPEAKER_00: The world's always gonna want compromise.
SPEAKER_00: There is fear, isolation, political attack, and we see that all over the place.
SPEAKER_00: But you also see a rise in people seeking God because they understand that what they were seeking and what they were looking for and what they were trying to worship or trying to fill just hasn't filled the void like God can.
SPEAKER_00: That's why you see all these baptisms happening, a revival happening in churches and college campuses, because these young people are hungry and thirsty for something real, something genuine.
SPEAKER_00: And only God can do that.
SPEAKER_00: Only God can fill that void.
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel, why he didn't break because he had a rooted prayer life.
SPEAKER_00: He prayed, don't pray during this time.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm gonna open my windows and I'm gonna pray anyway.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna pray anyway, three times a day, every day, for decades, forever.
SPEAKER_00: He was faithful to it because he loved God and he wanted to please him.
SPEAKER_00: His consistency underground, his private devotion, like we were talking about, produced stability above ground.
SPEAKER_00: That public courage.
SPEAKER_00: He was planning himself in those moments, and then eventually God uses him to reach to Nebuchadnezzar, who eventually converted his life to him.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel didn't stand in the lion's den because he was brave, he stood because he was rooted.
SPEAKER_00: He stood there because he knew that his trust was in God.
SPEAKER_00: And the king that was overseeing Daniel, who had a close connection with him, prayed that God would have favor upon him.
SPEAKER_00: And he did.
SPEAKER_00: He was rooted, he was rooted.
SPEAKER_00: Joseph was rooted in identity in Genesis 37 through 50, his story.
SPEAKER_00: So his storm, as you see in your paper, he was betrayed by his brothers, his own family.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says that even your own family can become your enemy because of what you believe.
SPEAKER_00: Sold into slavery, falsely accused, by Potiphar's wife, thrown into prison.
SPEAKER_00: All during that time refused to change who he was.
SPEAKER_00: Went from a shepherd to an Egyptian official because of the favor of God and his faithfulness to him.
SPEAKER_00: He faced rejection, injustice, loneliness.
SPEAKER_00: He chose to stay rooted in who God said he was and not what circumstances said he was.
SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
SPEAKER_00: If any of you need any kind of boost of confidence, read his word.
SPEAKER_00: Read the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Read these stories because they help build your faith.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of times, you know, we you know we'll look at some modern-day hero or some someone in our own lives that we may know, or and that's good.
SPEAKER_00: You want to hear those stories of testimony just like this.
SPEAKER_00: But read his word.
SPEAKER_00: Read his word so that way you can understand that you're not alone and that everybody struggles and everyone faces things.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're rooted in him, God will keep his hand upon you.
SPEAKER_00: God elevated Joseph even through years of storms in his life.
SPEAKER_00: God elevated Joseph because he was deeply rooted in him.
SPEAKER_00: And Job, my goodness, how many of us can, well, kind of, sort of, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe close, probably not.
SPEAKER_00: He lost a lot.
SPEAKER_00: Job lost a lot.
SPEAKER_00: Lost his family, lost his home, finances, faced health.
SPEAKER_00: And we know the story that, you know, when the Satan went up there and was talking with God about, you know, oh, have you have you considered my my servant Job?
SPEAKER_00: He's like, oh, oh, but he's he's close to you.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Satan was like, oh, I know who he is.
SPEAKER_00: He knows who he is because of what kind of reputation he had.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, but test him and see what he'll do.
SPEAKER_00: But he remained faithful.
SPEAKER_00: His friends, they weren't really his friends.
SPEAKER_00: I telling him to curse God, do you feel like they would really be his friends?
SPEAKER_00: Truly.
SPEAKER_00: Their root system was not deep.
SPEAKER_00: If you have friends and if you have acquaintances at work and you have influences in your life that tell you to do something or tell you to compromise from what this word says, they're not your friends.
SPEAKER_00: Or if you want them to be your friends, you need to teach them a Bible study.
SPEAKER_00: And you need to get that relationship right, and they choose not to believe you anyway, and I would say disown you, walk away from you, they're not your friends.
SPEAKER_00: Because you can have friends that may not believe the same as you, they respect your decision.
SPEAKER_00: There's some people who may not believe in God, but they won't tell you to curse God.
SPEAKER_00: Our culture tells us to do that.
SPEAKER_00: Emotional pressure, grief, confusion.
SPEAKER_00: We've all experienced that.
SPEAKER_00: Despair on why he didn't break.
SPEAKER_00: Why am I going through this and yet I still trust you, God?
SPEAKER_00: And we all know that nice conversation that he had with God, how God had to remind him who he was and how he created the world.
SPEAKER_00: Job's roots were in God's character, not in God's blessings.
SPEAKER_00: Again, we don't match the blessings of God in our life with, oh, I must be super spiritual because I have all these things.
SPEAKER_00: We have all these things because God loves us and he chooses to bless us.
SPEAKER_00: Not anything we did, not anything that we deserve to do it, but God chooses to bless us because of his mercy and grace to us.
SPEAKER_00: I want to stay deeply rooted in him.
SPEAKER_00: Not to continue to do those blessings or receive those, although I like them, but because I love him and I want to stay connected to him.
SPEAKER_00: And again, we don't prep for the storm as the storm is over our house.
SPEAKER_00: We plan, we be proactive.
SPEAKER_00: If we do all these things, if we read and see God and plant ourselves daily, teach a Bible study, if we live for Him daily, when the storm comes, we're not gonna worry about it.
SPEAKER_00: Because we know what His Word says that He is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: We know His Word says that we're founded on the rock when the storms come, we're gonna stand, but we're not gonna procrastinate to the last minute and expect, well, why did all these things happen?
SPEAKER_00: What have you done to prepare?
SPEAKER_00: What have you done to stabilize yourself?
SPEAKER_00: What have you done to root yourself in him?
SPEAKER_00: Job bent under the weight of that sorrow, but he never broke because his trust was deep.
SPEAKER_00: And you can stand because your roots are deep.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have to self-examine ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: These are questions that I hope that you will look at this week.
SPEAKER_00: Where is God strengthening me right now?
SPEAKER_00: Where is he strengthening me?
SPEAKER_00: Strength me in his word, strength me in relationship, maybe it's circumstances that's in your life that he wants you to grow from, that he can cause you to be strong from?
SPEAKER_00: What spiritual habits need consistency?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I need to pray more, maybe I need to read more, maybe I need to get it up a little bit earlier, maybe I need to remove distractions from my life to make time.
SPEAKER_00: We pastors talked about that many times.
SPEAKER_00: Which bleeds into what distraction is weakening my roots?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: I can take care of my yarn all day long, but if I don't water it like I should, if I don't pay attention to it, if I don't see indicators, well, that needs some water, I don't really don't care about it.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have value in it anyway.
SPEAKER_00: And then it's gonna die, and then all my effort is in vain, it's gone.
SPEAKER_00: But when you see things in your life, you see indicators that you're struggling, and or or maybe your character is off, or your attitude's off, and like, okay, maybe I have not been reading like I should.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't been in his presence like I should.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not connected to him like I should be.
SPEAKER_00: What truth do I need to stand on this week?
SPEAKER_00: It could be all of them, it could be two of them, but we all have places in our lives where we need to grow and to continue to grow.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We stand this morning, and I hope that I've shared some common experiences, illustrations to help you understand why it's important that we have to stay rooted in Him.
SPEAKER_00: And it's reminds us of this one simple truth.
SPEAKER_00: What's happening beneath the surface matters most.
SPEAKER_00: Storms don't decide our strength, roots do.
SPEAKER_00: God is growing us in places no one sees, strengthening what's hidden so we can stand in what's ahead.
SPEAKER_00: Strength doesn't come from trying harder, it comes from being deeply rooted in Christ.