Ephesians #5 "Grow Your Roots"
October 8, 2023Pastor Patrick presented this morning's message, "Grow Your Roots." It was the 5th message in a series studying the book of Ephesians. A video of the message is here. Our Conversation Starter for this week is here.
Today I thought I'd concentrate on the quick reference Patrick made to the source of our church's name, TimberCreek. Patrick mentioned Psalm 1:3; here it is: "And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf doth not wither; and in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper."As you might imagine, there are many references in both Testaments to roots and water. Here's another. Jeremiah 17:8. "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 cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."
The mention of "when heat cometh" can be literal as well as metaphorical, the latter suggesting when any kind of trouble comes to you it's best to be well rooted and have plenty of water available..
Psalm 92:12-15 speaks similarly, "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, 'The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him,’"
One commentator suggested that what one should be rooted in is the Word of God.
Click here for a more complete list of verses that refer to "root" and here for "water."
It shouldn't surprise anyone that an agragrian society would make many references to roots and water. When I picture roots reaching to water, I think of myself reaching to God for all that He provides.
Have you been wondering why that tree is pictured here? I'm big on trees, timber, as it were. Shown is a bristlecone pine, a favorite, in my "happy place" at the house where I can often be found reading, watching videos, or whatever. Bristlecone pines are readily identified by little white dots on the needles and the bottlebrush-like drooping branches. It's a very long-lived species of tree; the oldest known being over 4,800 years old! That predates the Exodus. Check out the Wikipedia entry.
Bonus
Oracles of God: The Story of The Old Testament
I stumbled onto another movie titled above. I have watched it and think it's worth our while. So, the plan is to watch the movie in our theater room Wednesday evening. It's 2 hours and 12 minutes or so, so we may not make it all the way, in which case, we'll pick up again the following week. Of course, with movies, come snacks: popcorn, cheese(s) and apple slices.
The "Oracles" in the title are mainly the folks who made sure the sacred texts were preserved and protected down through the centuries. The term can also refer to parts of the temple, words or messages from God, a person or medium through whom God speaks, and a place where divine messages are received,
Romans 3:1-2, "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."
The movie is on YouTube, here. If you can't come this week, you can watch it at your leisure at your computer.
The production company is CBN Films.
One interesting tidbit from the movie is that the Old Testamanet books were chosen as scripture, or canonized, not by a committee or some select group of people. It was simply the set of books most accepted by the people and therefore passed down through the ages.
Bonus 2
Les Miserables
AJ played Feuilly in Rise Christian Art's production of Les Miserables which ran this past weekend. It was a remarkable production (some photos are here), but I don't bring this up because of the show.
At the end of the show following the curtain call, Rise has a tradition of singing a Christian song, and this time they sang "Lord Bless You and Keep You" in honor of a young girl who played Peter Pan in an earlier production and very recently passed away. It's amazing how often that doxology, or benediction, or blessing is referenced. I wrote about it here.
Interestingly, this also relates to Lanitha's talk about making it "my" God, or "my" prayer, etc. (during the huddle up before the service). In other words, personalizing it. Making it yours. I mentioned afterward to her that this reminded me of realizing that all the verbs in the Ten Commandments are in the singular, second person, "you" (part of the verb conjugation), as if to say, "You, Jamie. You, Lynn. Don't murder." It is personal. The same is true in this doxology, the verbs are all singular second person.