Roots of Renewal

INTRODUCTION

RECITE PASSAGE TOGETHER

REVIEW

Prayer of Renewal - Prayer and Repentance

Soil of Renewal - Planting the seed of hope for renewal in the soil of God’s glorious, unlimited resources

Hope of Renewal - God’s strength at work in us by his power in our inner being through his spirit.

Today - Roots of Renewal - UNDERSTANDING THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S STRENGTH (last week’s message)

This strength is not just general but for a specific purpose.

It is preparation and ability for a journey that is beyond our ability

We need a supernatural power for the road challenge that lay ahead.

CONNECTION

Have you ever found yourself in a situation that you couldn’t escape? You got yourself into something and now you are standing at the edge - you HAVE to jump but you are scared to death

It’s amazing but as I thought about this I immediately thoughts of a half-dozen illustrations from my life.

Here’s two

Before Kirsten and I were officially dating we went to this fairground together with a bunch of friends. As we were walking she took my hand and my heart stopped, then raced, then stopped again. I don’t know if my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen because soon we were standing before a large crane for bungy jumping looking up and she said - Oh, come on be a man....

What am I suppose to do - I sign all the paperwork without reading a word - because who really needs to see all the possible ways you can die before impressing a beautiful girl.

I make the long walk up the crane to my death and find myself standing on the edge.

Looking all the down at the ground I began to question my decision. From my short quick breaths oxygen return to my brain and I remembered that I really don’t like heights.

Thankfully, I lived, impressed the girl and called her my wife 2 years later.

If that wasn’t enough, a few years later a friend convinces me to go skydiving. I guess my thoughts was that if a crane a few hundred feet in the air didn’t kill me then why should I worry about jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet. It all made sense until you’re standing at the back of the plane with the door openned - which is just wrong that high up. Then they tell you to scout to the edge and jump out. Flying in a metal object isn’t natural. Jumping out of a metal object that high up most definitely is not natural.

So I jumped - love it - would do it again - AND probably question my decision making skills one again while standing at the edge.

TRANSITION

WHY do I share this?

Today, I want you to follow me to the edge?

I want you to feel your heart skip a beat, your stomach launch itself into your throat. I want you to feel the panic, the exhilaration, the joy and laugh from pure terror.

We are going to walk to the edge together, I want you to pier over the edge with me - THEN I WANT YOU TO JUMP.

Let’s begin the walk - to the top of the crane, or boarding the plane as it climbs in altitude

PLATFORM FROM WHICH WE JUMP

I want you to understand what is beneath your feet before we jump - BECAUSE - we’ve been given strength for this very moment.

Paul’s First Petition - STRENGTH

Now we begin to see the purpose of this supernatural strength

“YOUR ROOTS GROW DOWN DEEP INTO GOD’S LOVE AND KEEP YOU STRONG, MAY HAVE THE POWER TO UNDERSTAND” (NLT)

“BEING ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE, MAY HAVE STRENGTH TO COMPREHEND...” (ESV)

2 DESCRIPTIONS HERE

ROOTED - Agricultural

Like trees plants by a stream, our roots drive down through the soil to drink from the deep waters

Through hard challenges and dry seasons of life - we don’t give up - we continue to rest in God’s love.

GROUNDED - Architectural

Upon what will you lay the foundation of your home - the rock or the sand.

We resist the temptation for ease and fast finishes.

We take the time to dig beneath the sand and establish our hope, not on our circumstances but on the glorious and unlimited nature of God.

"INTO GOD’S LOVE”

HESSED

Used 240 times in the Old Testament

3 Unified Elements

Strength (Strength /Power)

Steadfastness (Glorious & Unlimited)

Love (Love)

Numbers 14:18 ESV

‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’

1 Chronicles 16:34 ESV

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalm 5:7 ESV

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

Psalm 6:4 ESV

Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

Psalm 17:7 ESV

Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.

Psalm 31:7 ESV

I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul,

KEEP YOU STRONG

“STRONG/ STRENGTH”

From Jesus glorious and unlimited resources

Strengthened with with power, in our inner being, through the Holy.

So that - roots go deep

TO MAINTAIN THE STRENGTH ALREADY GIVEN TO US

to “Keep” us strong.

“KEEP”

Strengthen your knees as you walk to the edge

Encourage your faint spirit

To give hope in the midst of dispair

To speak truth to your heart in a world of lies.

God is taking you hand and leading you to the edge.

ONGOING - ABIDING - SUSTAINING...

LOOKING OVER THE EDGE

WHY DO YOU NEED THIS STRENGTH/POWER?

THE POWER TO UNDERSTAND (NLT) … COMPREHEND (ESV)

Imagine, your there with me in the plane, looking out the door at the surface of the earth some 15,000 feet us.

The only problem is that you are blind.

You feel the floor beneath you as if you were standing on the ground. You have no idea the of the great height, the expanse of the earth. Your knees don’t weaken, your stomach is calm because you can’t not even comprehend the true reality of your predicament.

NOW - imagine your eyes are instantly opened and able to see.

What you once perceived as the ground is actually a ledge.

What is your response? Your heart skips a beat.

THIS IS WHAT GOD DOES FOR US is GIVING US THE ABILITY TO SEE THE MAGNITUDE AND BEAUTY OF HIS GLORY

He gives us the ability to see

He gives us the ability to feel

I was recently talking with a young man who described trying to read the Bible before he trusted in Jesus. Nothing made sense to him. His eyes were blinded to truth in God’s word. But after trusting in Jesus he picked up that same Bible and began to read and everything came alive like fireworks on the page. Colors and connections being made that he could not see or understand previously.

It wasn’t until God gave him the ability to understand to comprehend.

Jesus leads us to edge and opens our eyes...

To see...

WIDTH, LENGTH, HEIGHT, & DEPTH

It is now that we behold the great expanse of God.

A.W. TOZER

… because God is self-existent, His love had no beginning, because he is eternal, his love can have no end, because he is infinite it has no limit, because he is holy it is the quintessence of all spotless purity, because he is immense, his love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea.…   

THE WIDTH, LENGTH, HEIGHT, & DEPTH OF HIS LOVE

WIDTH OF THE HORIZON - Stretching across your entire field of view

Standing on the ledge, you are reminded of just how great the merciful hands of God were stretched to embrace the world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

YOUR EYES CAN SEE FURTHER THAN EVER BEFORE - Oh how long the love of God truly is that lasts forever, truly a love that never ends.

C.H. Spurgeon said, “It is so long that your old age cannot wear it out, so long your continual tribulation cannot exhaust it, your successive temptations will not drain it dry, like eternity itself, it knows no bounds.”

In AWE you try to take in all in but your eyes can’t see it all at once. Whenever you focus on one place you realize there is so much more that you are missing.

YOU LOOK UP AND SEE SO MUCH SKY STILL ABOVE

Clouds are far beneath your feet but so much expanse of sky is still above your head

How great is our God - Who holds all of this in his hand

God - who spoke all this into existence by the power of his words.

THEN YOU LOOK DOWN - The earth, so far beneath your feet. There goes your stomach. Knees buckle. Breadth catches in your throat because your stomach now occupies that space.

Oh the depths, the distance

Oh that the eternally existent Jesus would come to earth, live die and be buried in the ground.

That God would humble himself , the Creator, suffering and serving his creation - oh the deep deep love

CHALLENGE

ARROGANCE - Stand on the edge and assume we understand everything we see or we say we’ve seen it all before. Nothing new to see here.

You stand on the ledge beholding God unmoved, unaffected as if it is no big deal

REPENT - FALL ON YOUR KNEES AND PRAY

ASLEEP - Some of you have fallen asleep, spiritually speaking. You’ve lost your joy in God, your passion for his glory.

Maybe you are tired and roots have stopped growing down into God

Maybe your are distracted by ease and distractions of life. You foundation is sand and you’ve rocked yourself to sleep.

AWAKE O SLEEPER AND BEHOLD YOUR GOD

Ephesians 5:14 ESV

for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

This verse was written to the church, not unbelievers

Morally good but unenlightened

Religious but unannointed

Participants but asleep

Poem by unknown author

Awake O sleeper, in the valley of bones 

born dead in sin, wandering alone.

Awake O Sleeper, you go your own way 

thinking pleasurous freedom,

but covered in chains.

Awake O Sleeper, from dust you were made 

this life is a vapor and it quickly fades.

Awake O Sleeper, you try to live right 

but darkness prevails

overcomes all your might.

Awake O Sleeper, before all is lost

trust not in your self but blood on a cross.

Awake O Sleeper, and turn to the one 

who love so amazing

He surrendered his son.

Awake O Sleeper, in the valley of bones 

rescued from sin

NO LONGER ALONE!

AS ALL GOD’S PEOPLE SHOULD

JUMP

“MAY YOU EXPERIENCE THE LOVE OF CHRIST… TOO GREAT TO FULLY UNDERSTAND”

STRENGTH TO UNDERSTAND & EXPERIENCE

It is one thing to stand on the of plane and see the great height and immensity of the earth. But that it very different than jumping. Descending to the earth at 120 miles per hour in free fall. Feel the wind rushing over your body as it feels like you hover above the earth.

In the end, you don’t really know what 15,000 feet feels like until you leave the plane.

This is verse 19. “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.”

See, God gives us the ability to see to understand but the immensity of God is greater than our minds can contain.

In the end, we are called to jump into the loving arms of Christ and experience his love.

To NOT only intellectually understand God’s love - But to feel the warmth of his embrace,

NOT only know the definition of sin - But to feel the pain or brokenness for our wrongdoing against a holy holy

Not only recite confessions a faith - But to know the hope in the hands of jesus that lifts us out of the ashes of despair.

Where Jesus is not just a academic study - but our tangible savior

Heaven is not just an abstract destination after we die - But it is a real hope that helps endure daily challenges.

CULTURAL CHRISTIAN

They like to talk about God

Many simply repeat what they’ve heard others say about him - after all - those people describe some amazing things.

These people repeat what they’ve heard other say - they talk like someone who has jumped - but they’ve never jumped. They’ve never truly placed their faith and trust in Jesus. They just talk as if they have.

THIS IS CULTURAL CHRISTIAN - you’ve grown up around it, the language, the activities, the culture. You are like a parrot repeating what you’ve heard from others.

Do not mistake this for true faith

How do you know? Result is FAITH, NOT FEAR.

BIBLICAL CHRISTAN

This is very different than the Biblical Christian.

Jesus calls us to Repent & Believe

REPENT - ACKNOWLEDGE SIN BEFORE A PERFECT GOD

BELIEVE - TRUSTING ON JESUS BY FAITH

CONCLUSION

PERSONAL

REPENT & PRAY

ARE YOU GROWING IN GOD’S LOVE? Roots digging deep?

Only as we are drinking from the pools of living water will we be able to experience and express the Love of God

Years ago Dr. Barnhouse pointed out that love is intrinsic to all the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22. He said, “Love is the key. Joy is love singing. Peace is love resting. Long-suffering is love enduring. Kindness is love’s touch. Goodness is love’s character. Faithfulness is love’s habit. Gentleness is love’s self-forgetfulness. Self-control is love holding the reins.” There are no fruits of the Spirit without love! We must be rooted and founded in love with all the depth and expanse of these metaphors.

COMMUNAL

“AS ALL GOD’S PEOPLE SHOULD...”

Daily, Weekly, and Monthly

We can’t explore the broad expanse of God’s love as a solo mission - we are called to grow in Christ together with others. You have an indidivuals and a communal responsibility.

GENERATIONAL

“GLORY TO JESUS THROUGH ALL GENERATIONS...”

The hope and prayer of every Christian parents is that their kids would know and experience Jesus as their personal Lord & Savior.

How will you train them up?

How will you pray for your child?

How will you seek to disciple those whom God has gifted and entrusted to your care?

As a church family, we want to equip and resource you for this work. We want to have a community where parents can feel safe to share victories and challenges.

If you have a child who is in 5th grade or below

We want to invite you to join us online this Thursday

Our Children’s Director and her team have worked and prayed hard for how they can continue to equip and resource you for this task.

ONLINE:

EMAIL: [e-mail]