Colossians 2: 6-7 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Rooted

Application

  • Rooted in the Word
  • Growth always comes from past truths

Action

  • Rooted in prayer
  • As we pray, we come to know God personally

Attendance

  • Rooted in fellowship
  • Growth in relationships comes from spending time together
  • Example: Karl gave the example of his relationship with his wife.  As with one’s spouse, we begin relationships with an attitude of giving.  So why should we depart from that attitude?

The word “rooted” conjures pictures of plants and trees in our minds.  In the Bible, the tree of life is one example of a fruit-bearing tree.

Tree of Life

  • Genesis 2:9–The tree of life was in the garden of Eden in the beginning.
  • Revelation 22:2–The tree of life is with God in paradise, yielding fruit every month.
  • Revelation 22:13–Jesus blesses those who have access to the tree of life

Just as trees are rooted in the ground and bear fruit, we are to be rooted in God and bearing spiritual fruit.

  • Psalm 1:1-3 The man who delights in the law of the Lord is “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”
  • Romans 8: 38-39 Nothing can separate us from God’s love through Christ.  In other words, nothing can uproot us when we’re in Christ!

Earthly Tree Examples

Yucca trees

  • Yucca trees are impossible to kill, but they only grow to the capacity of their pot.
  • Sometimes God could do more with us if we were in a larger pot!

Bamboo trees

  • Once bamboo trees are establishes, they don’t stop growing.  Bamboo trees can grow up to 90 feet in one year, but it takes about five years to see any sort of visible growth.
  • Sometimes it appears as if nothing is happening in our lives, as if there is no growth, but later we will see the growth God has been doing in our lives.

The Story of the Three Trees

  • Moral: God sees the big picture.  He knows how to glorify himself and use our lives better than we do.  http://www.word4life.com/threetrees.html

Isn’t it great to know we have a God who loves us too much to let us fall?  Or to let us live a fruitless life?