6/23/2019 Roots

I'm going to introduce our second in our summer of lay speakers instead of Summer concert tours. We had to have a summer of lay speakers and this morning we are blessed with the second dinner series Cheryl Brandenburg, who is it? And we last week, we honor our fathers fathers knows best Father's. I don't even think I guess we shouldn't even look at his church fathers and mothers just church leaders. Cheryl's been a leader in our schools a leader in our community and certainly a leader in our church, and we are so blessed to have her with us and leading us this morning. So please welcome her. Well, as I said, my name is Cheryl Brandenburg. I'm very happy not to be assigned to Aetna Grace and Toledo churches free chick that was never a call to God never called me to preach my mom took my speaking classes some of you may remember my mother and she spoke a few times, you know, my brother, you know, what a fantastic preacher he is. That isn't me so Rob called and said would you fill in the head preach? And I said no. So shocked that.

So I thought about it. I said well, okay, I will do it but I I won't preach so I'm not going to preach about that will share the scripture with you this morning. The first scripture is from Colossians. It's chapter 2 verses 6 and 7. So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord continue to live your lives in him rooted and built up in him. Strengthen in the face as you were taught overflowing with thankfulness. And from Ephesians chapter 3 verses 16 through 19. I pray that out of his glorious riches. He may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ May dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the Lord's holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God and tell you I have to tell you what hat Aetna read the scripture did the guild ball bat bat. There's a Sunday school class that meets before church and she said our scripture today was Ephesians 3 and 1/2 the scripture. So, you know, God does work. Holy spirit does strange things amazing things and sometimes they're not huge big fantastic things are just the small things. You can find God in a lot of places. You can find the working of the holy spirit in a lot of places. So that was that was interesting this morning. By Carol for her children's sermon, that was great and thank you for the plant. That was very sweet. I'm okay. As I said, I Don't Preach. I can however read stories. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to read a story is not my story is Phillips Philip goalies story and it's from his book French front porch tales and the title of the story is growing roots. Had no neighbor when I was growing up named. Dr. Gibbs and look like any doctor. I'd ever know every time I saw him. He was wearing denim overalls a straw hat the front brim of which was green sunglasses plastic. He smiled a lot smile that matches fat old crinkly and well-worn. You never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than circumstances warranted. When dr. Gibbs wasn't saving lives he was planning trees. This house sat on 10 acres and his life goal was to make it a forest. The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant husbandry. He came from the no pain no gain School of horticulture. You never watered his new trees. Which blue in the face of conventional wisdom? once I asked why he said watering plants spoil them. And I asked you water them. Each successive tree generation will get weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out the weenie trees early on. He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots. And how trees that weren't watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured. So he never water trees and plants and Oak and instead of watering it every morning. He beat it with a rolled-up newspaper smack slap pal. I asked him why he did that. He said it was to get the trees attention. Dr. Gibbs went to Glory a couple years after I left home. Every now and again I walk by his house. Look at the trees that I'd watched him plant some 25 years ago. They're Granite strong now big and robust. Those trees wake up in the morning beat their chests and drink their coffee black.

I planted a couple of trees few years back. Carried water to them for a solid summer sprayed them prayed over them whole nine yards 2 years of coddling has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a Cold Wind Blows and they tremble and chatter their branches sissy trees. About those trees of dr. Gibbs adversity deprivation seem to benefit them and waste comfort and he's never could. Every night before I go to bed I go check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch Their little bodies and the rising and falling of life within. Open pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy Lord spare them from hardship. But lately I've been thinking that it's time to change my prayer. Has to do with the inevitability of cold winds that hit us at the core. I know my children are going to encounter hardship and my praying they won't is naive. There's always a cold wind blowing somewhere. So I'm changing my Eventide prayer because life is tough whether we want it to be or not. Instead. I'm going to pray that my son's Roots grow deep so they can draw strength from the hidden sources of the Eternal God. Too many times we pray for ease. But that's a prayer seldom it. What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into the Eternal. So when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won't be swept under. And that is the reason for church strengthen your roots. Send them deep into the Eternal God. So that adversities grief heartaches disappointments hardships. They won't operate us. We'll still be standing when all these things have blown away stand-up beat our chests and ask for our black coffee.

Cuz I can.

God of Grace and God of Glory