Planted - Week 1

Intro

Opening Story/Illustration: One of the coolest things to me about living in Florida are the citrus trees. Where I grew up we didn’t have orange trees. Right now I’ve got a few in my yard. We didn’t have citrus trees where I grew up because the environment wasn’t right for them. The temperature gets too low and it will eventually kill the plant.

Over the next few weeks, I want to talk about being planted. The idea I want us to think about is this - Where we plant our life matters. Just as you can’t plant an orange tree in the frozen tundra of Alaska and expect it to survive, If you want your life to be fruitful you must plant it or root it in the right place.

God wants us to live fruitful lives. Fruit doesn’t just happen. The farmer can’t produce it, but he can create the right environment for fruit to grow.

Plant in the right climate

Plant in the right soil

Get the right amount of water and sunlight.

If we want our lives to produce fruit, we must create the right environment in our lives so that God can work and produce the fruit.

But here’s the problem we want to tackle tonight - Many of us have rooted or planted our lives in toxic environments. We’ve planted ourselves in places and in things that are stifling the growth that God wants for us.

Bridge to Text: In the book of Jeremiah, the Prophet Jeremiah has something to say to the people of Judah about where they plant themselves or, as he puts it, where they place their trust. Let’s Check out

Jeremiah 17:5–10 NLT

5 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land. 7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. 9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? 10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Text:

Bridge to Points: I want to talk tonight for a little while about a life mis-planted.

Body

A Life Mis-planted

Misplaced Trust: A Life Planted in Lies

Lack of Trust: A Life Planted In Fear & Worry

Lack of Trust: Fear

Jeremiah’s country here has misplaced their trust.

God wants to be their source. He wants to be where they plant themselves.

instead, they have decided that they can go it alone. That they can make it themselves.

Jeremiah’s warning here is that, if they forget God, their lives will dry up. He’s warning them that the right environment for their lives to grow is an environment where they trust in and are connected to God.

But this country, this people, believed a lie - That they didn’t need God’s help and that they could do things on their own.

This is a life planted in lies. The lie that I can make it on my own without any help from God.

If we are not careful, we can do this as well.

We trust our money

We trust our effort and intelligence

We trust our relationships

We trust our hearts and feelings

Our hearts can deceive us!

Illustration: In the Song Pluto, the Artist, Sleeping at Last explores the issue of trust and fear. He says this, “Still I’m pinned under the weight of what I believed would keep me safe.”

I think this sums up what happens when we misplace our trust. Eventually we end up pinned under the weight of what e believed would keep us safe.

Discuss: Where are you most tempted to misplace your trust?

Misplaced Trust often leads to a lack of trust. When we’ve trusted in something flimsy and it lets us down, we become fearful about trusting again.

Illustration: The other day I was outside with Bailey playing on the monkey bars. She’s small so I have to hold her up. She enjoys doing it and she knows that I won’t let her fall - But imagine what happens if I let her fall. She would be afraid of it and not trust me any longer.

When we misplace our trust it begins to breed fear.

Lack of Trust: A Life Planted In Fear & Worry

We live in a culture controlled by and driven by fear.

You see this politically - every side works their group over, getting them afraid of the other side.

We’re marketed and sold things using fear.

We live our lives afraid

We live our lives afraid

We’re afraid to step out and make the decision we know we need to make

We’re afraid to be honest with ourselves.

We’re afraid to be honest and open with others because we’ve been hurt.

We Don’t Trust God, We Don’t Trust Others, We Don’t Trust Ourselves.

One of the most frequent commands in Scripture - FEAR NOT!

We often plant our lives in

One of the most frequent commands in Scripture - FEAR NOT!

Discuss: What fear might be keeping you from being all that God wants you to be? What would happen if you move past this fear?

One of the things I notice about the “Fear Not!” Command - It almost always comes during or before God is about to do something big.

It’s like God knows that Fear has a tendency to paralyze you and keep us from accomplishing what God wants us to accomplish.

Fear will paralyze you and keep you from growing into who God wants you to be.

We surround ourselves with people who pull us down

Fear will paralyze you and keep you from growing into who God wants you to be.

He wants to remind us: Don’t be afraid!

Fear will cause you to make decisions only thinking about the here and now.

Fear will cause you to make decisions only thinking about the here and now.

Discuss: What fear might be keeping you from being all that God wants you to be? What would happen if you move past this fear?

Illustration:

We often plant our lives in our own strength

Jeremiah’s country here has misplaced their trust.

God wants to be their source. He wants to be where they plant themselves.

instead, they have decided that they can go it alone. That they can make it themselves.

We trust our money

We trust our effort and intelligence

We trust our relationships

Our hearts can deceive us!

Discuss: Where are you most tempted to misplace your trust?

A Life Planted in God

God can always be trusted! This brings:

Blessed

Blessing

Hope

Confidence

Fruit

Your life was meant to be planted in God!

There is a confidence that comes when you’re planted and rooted in God - No matter what’s going on outside of you or around you!

Conclusion

Restate the MI: Your life was meant to be planted in God!

So what? As you go throughout this week and you see a fruit tree, I want it to remind you and I want you to take a moment to think about where your life is planted. Take moments throughout this week and remind yourself to stay planted in God.

Now What? Tonight we want to spend just few minutes in prayer. If you’ve been trusting in the wrong things - repent. If you’ve been living afraid and anxious - Give it to Jesus.

Prayer