Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
Where Are Your Roots?
Jeremiah 17:5-10 February 11, 2007
Psalm 1:1-6
Alex Haley caused a social revolution with his Pulitzer Prize winning book, Roots, in the late 1970’
s. When it aired on television in an eight day mini series in January of 1977, it set records on the
ratings charts that stood for years. In Roots, Haley chronicled the generational story of Kunta
Kinte, a west African slave and his family, in a way it hadn’t been done before. All of a sudden
everyone was looking at their family histories and trying to discover where they came from and
whom they were connected to.
That sense of being connected is important. When we look at our family histories, we can see
where we came from and what has been important in our lives. It helps us answer questions
about why we believe certain things and even why we act the way we do. That sense of
“rootedness” also helps us stay connected to the important things in life.
In our churches, we look back at our history to get a sense of what our mission is, don’t we?
In the late 18th century, a group of dissenters broke free from Rev. Benjamin Lord’s church in
Norwichtown. This group wanted to have more authentic worship and develop a greater sense of
the divine in their lives. They championed the idea of “believer’s baptism” and a real personal
relationship with our Lord. This group became the core of what would become the First Baptist
Church of Norwich in 1800.
Forty years later a group emerged out of the First Baptist Church that was sensitive to the
growing number of people meeting, working, and living in the Chelsea district of Norwich. Some
thought that we should be in the center of the action. This group left and took up residence in the
heart of the changing city and became the Central Baptist Church.
Forty years later, the group on the West side began to feel isolated up on High Street Hill and a
decision was made to move closer to the action and establish a church on the main road. And we
moved down here to Main Street, purchasing land from the sister/daughter church in the center
city.
For the last two centuries, we Baptists have been ministering to our city. If you look at who we
are today as the Central Baptist and First Baptist Churches, you can still see the influence of our
roots. That doesn’t mean that we cannot boldly move forward and consider things like working
together. We are not tied to the past. But it does help direct us when we are considering what the
future holds for us. The roots remind us us that no matter where life brings us, we need to be
faithful to that which has supplied our sustenance over the years.
I say this because this morning I want to talk about our roots and how they affect the way we live
our lives. If it is true in institutions, like our churches, then it is most certainly true in individuals.
But I am not talking about who your grandmother was. I am not going to get into who married
who and where you lived when you were three. That is a topic for another day. Today I want to
talk a little bit about our faith and being connected to the right source.
The book of Psalms is perhaps the best-known and best loved book in all the Bible. The various
psalms describe so many emotions from joy and enthusiasm to depression and discouragement.
The very first Psalm expresses a theme that runs throughout the book and really, for that matter,
throughout the Bible. It is simply this: That all of us have a choice to make between two ways of
life, and only two. These two ways lead to two different destinies. And every one of us finds
ourselves on one or the other of those two paths. Either we are accepting the counsel of the world
or we are meditating on God and his law.
Jesus talked about the two ways -- he called them the broad way and the narrow way. John wrote
in his first epistle about those who walk in the light and those who walk in darkness.
Psalm 1 gives us a beautiful image of the godly person. Those who love the Lord are like a tree
planted by streams of water. Their roots find all the nutrients they need to yield beautiful fruit.
They stand up to storms and last forever.
So my question today is where are your roots? Are you rooted in the God or are you rooted in the
world. You might say that since you are here in church it is obvious. But sometimes the most
obvious answer is not always the truthful answer.
In the book of Jeremiah, the seventeenth chapter, the Prophet talks about the two ways in terms
of trust. He says, “Who do you put your faith in?” He implies that some put their trust in
humanity, in other people and even themselves. While others trust in God.
Not let me say this straight out: We depend on other people. Our families nurture and love us.
Our friends encourage and support us. The people in our churches pray for us and help us when
we are down. When Jeremiah says “cursed is the one who trusts in man,” he is not talking about
these helpful, blessed relationships. He is talking about people who believe that they can work it
out themselves. Jeremiah is speaking about people who say I don’t need God. I have got my
scientific explanation of the way the world works. There are those people who say I don’t need
the church and all that God teaches because I believe in humanity. We are smart enough and
capable enough to solve our own problems.
I’ve told this story before, but I will tell it again for those from Central Baptist who haven’t
enjoyed it yet.
Back in 1994 I was struggling terribly with my weight. I was at my heaviest and I finally bit the
bullet and decided to do something about it. I hooked up with Amy Rezendes and my brother in
law Bobby Duntz and we went to Weight Watchers. We all did great. Bobby and I lost sixty
pounds and Amy, who had far less to lose, lost about thirty pounds. Well during this time one of
my best friends, was watching the weight melt away and he asked me how I was doing it. He
was extremely overweight and he yearned for a secret to lose the pounds. I told him about weight
watchers and invited him to come. He put me off. I kept inviting and finally one day he said to
me, “I don’t need a bunch of other people telling me how to do what I should be able to do
myself.” And I looked at him and said, “Leon, if we could do it ourselves, we wouldn’t be fat in
the first place!”
Jeremiah says that if you live life and put down your roots in the soil of human ingenuity, then you
will end up like a tumbleweed and get blown along with every storm.
The truth is that some of us here today are in that camp. It is not that we don’t believe in God.
Rather it is that rational side of our brains that says, “What do we need God for when we have
brains to work things out for ourselves?”
We see church as being important for our “spiritual side” but we put aside that touchy feely stuff
when we get to work, or when we are dealing with our family issues, or when we are trying to
make ends meet with our budget.
Jeremiah says, that if you are trusting in yourself or the ingenuity of humanity to solve all your
problems then you are going to be cut off and ruined.
We are pretty special people but when you look at what we’ve been able to do on our won, you
will get a picture of a pretty messed up world. Global warming, war, famine, poverty, aids,
genocide… We need help.
I want to go back to that question of roots again. Where is it that you draw your strength from?
Where have you put down your stake in life. There is nothing wrong with using your talents and
gifts to push forward, to solve problems, to overcome obstacles. But if you turn away from God
and look to others for the answers, if you are so rooted in this world, then you can easily get
yourself in trouble.
Many good intentioned people start off looking for answers from their friends. They look to
people who are worldly wise. I think this is the crowd that the psalmist refers to in Psalm 1. He
calls them scoffers and sinners, but you might replace those terms with names like realists and
friends who don’t go to church.
Too often people who are going through problems in life turn to these “friends” for answers.
Sometimes they give good counsel or at least advice that seems right. But too often we hear things
like, “You shouldn’t have to put up with that. Just divorce him.” “Go ahead and declare
bankruptcy. It won’t hurt anyone but the banks.” The truth is that most often this advice leads to
more problems down the road because the underlying problems that led us to this point have not
been addressed.
But you see, God knows our hearts. God knows what we need. That’s why Jeremiah says
“Blessed is the one who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”
You see God knows us and he knows what we need and how we can get it. When we have our
roots in him, when we turn to him, God will show us the way.
In Psalm 1, the righteous person is compared with a tree planted by a stream. Jeremiah picks up
this theme again in our text today. In a country where rain clouds were few and far between, a
tree didn’t stand much of a chance, unless it was located in a place where the soil was continually
moist. The same is true for us living in this world. We need to trust in God. We need to put down
our roots in him and let him nourish us and make us strong.
For you see, God has shown us his love. He has taken the first step to reveal that he has the best
intentions for our lives. All we need to do is look at the cross to know it is true. For on calvary,
God declared his love for us and his hope for our future by giving up his own life as an atonement
for our sins. God has said “I love you so much, I am going to give up what is most precious to
me, my only begotten son.”
Would your friends do that for you? Some might. Most wouldn’t. Friendship only goes so far.
So if God was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, then shouldn’t we be able to trust him when
it comes to living our lives? You see God wants us to have an abundant life. He wants his joy to
be made complete in us. He wants us to walk through life, holding hands and working together to
bring his kingdom to light.
So where are your roots? I pray if you haven’t done so already, you will settle down and begin to
let them flow into the heart of God. Amen.
Jeremiah 17:5-10 February 11, 2007
Psalm 1:1-6
Alex Haley caused a social revolution with his Pulitzer Prize winning book, Roots, in the late 1970’
s. When it aired on television in an eight day mini series in January of 1977, it set records on the
ratings charts that stood for years. In Roots, Haley chronicled the generational story of Kunta
Kinte, a west African slave and his family, in a way it hadn’t been done before. All of a sudden
everyone was looking at their family histories and trying to discover where they came from and
whom they were connected to.
That sense of being connected is important. When we look at our family histories, we can see
where we came from and what has been important in our lives. It helps us answer questions
about why we believe certain things and even why we act the way we do. That sense of
“rootedness” also helps us stay connected to the important things in life.
In our churches, we look back at our history to get a sense of what our mission is, don’t we?
In the late 18th century, a group of dissenters broke free from Rev. Benjamin Lord’s church in
Norwichtown. This group wanted to have more authentic worship and develop a greater sense of
the divine in their lives. They championed the idea of “believer’s baptism” and a real personal
relationship with our Lord. This group became the core of what would become the First Baptist
Church of Norwich in 1800.
Forty years later a group emerged out of the First Baptist Church that was sensitive to the
growing number of people meeting, working, and living in the Chelsea district of Norwich. Some
thought that we should be in the center of the action. This group left and took up residence in the
heart of the changing city and became the Central Baptist Church.
Forty years later, the group on the West side began to feel isolated up on High Street Hill and a
decision was made to move closer to the action and establish a church on the main road. And we
moved down here to Main Street, purchasing land from the sister/daughter church in the center
city.
For the last two centuries, we Baptists have been ministering to our city. If you look at who we
are today as the Central Baptist and First Baptist Churches, you can still see the influence of our
roots. That doesn’t mean that we cannot boldly move forward and consider things like working
together. We are not tied to the past. But it does help direct us when we are considering what the
future holds for us. The roots remind us us that no matter where life brings us, we need to be
faithful to that which has supplied our sustenance over the years.
I say this because this morning I want to talk about our roots and how they affect the way we live
our lives. If it is true in institutions, like our churches, then it is most certainly true in individuals.
But I am not talking about who your grandmother was. I am not going to get into who married
who and where you lived when you were three. That is a topic for another day. Today I want to
talk a little bit about our faith and being connected to the right source.
The book of Psalms is perhaps the best-known and best loved book in all the Bible. The various
psalms describe so many emotions from joy and enthusiasm to depression and discouragement.
The very first Psalm expresses a theme that runs throughout the book and really, for that matter,
throughout the Bible. It is simply this: That all of us have a choice to make between two ways of
life, and only two. These two ways lead to two different destinies. And every one of us finds
ourselves on one or the other of those two paths. Either we are accepting the counsel of the world
or we are meditating on God and his law.
Jesus talked about the two ways -- he called them the broad way and the narrow way. John wrote
in his first epistle about those who walk in the light and those who walk in darkness.
Psalm 1 gives us a beautiful image of the godly person. Those who love the Lord are like a tree
planted by streams of water. Their roots find all the nutrients they need to yield beautiful fruit.
They stand up to storms and last forever.
So my question today is where are your roots? Are you rooted in the God or are you rooted in the
world. You might say that since you are here in church it is obvious. But sometimes the most
obvious answer is not always the truthful answer.
In the book of Jeremiah, the seventeenth chapter, the Prophet talks about the two ways in terms
of trust. He says, “Who do you put your faith in?” He implies that some put their trust in
humanity, in other people and even themselves. While others trust in God.
Not let me say this straight out: We depend on other people. Our families nurture and love us.
Our friends encourage and support us. The people in our churches pray for us and help us when
we are down. When Jeremiah says “cursed is the one who trusts in man,” he is not talking about
these helpful, blessed relationships. He is talking about people who believe that they can work it
out themselves. Jeremiah is speaking about people who say I don’t need God. I have got my
scientific explanation of the way the world works. There are those people who say I don’t need
the church and all that God teaches because I believe in humanity. We are smart enough and
capable enough to solve our own problems.
I’ve told this story before, but I will tell it again for those from Central Baptist who haven’t
enjoyed it yet.
Back in 1994 I was struggling terribly with my weight. I was at my heaviest and I finally bit the
bullet and decided to do something about it. I hooked up with Amy Rezendes and my brother in
law Bobby Duntz and we went to Weight Watchers. We all did great. Bobby and I lost sixty
pounds and Amy, who had far less to lose, lost about thirty pounds. Well during this time one of
my best friends, was watching the weight melt away and he asked me how I was doing it. He
was extremely overweight and he yearned for a secret to lose the pounds. I told him about weight
watchers and invited him to come. He put me off. I kept inviting and finally one day he said to
me, “I don’t need a bunch of other people telling me how to do what I should be able to do
myself.” And I looked at him and said, “Leon, if we could do it ourselves, we wouldn’t be fat in
the first place!”
Jeremiah says that if you live life and put down your roots in the soil of human ingenuity, then you
will end up like a tumbleweed and get blown along with every storm.
The truth is that some of us here today are in that camp. It is not that we don’t believe in God.
Rather it is that rational side of our brains that says, “What do we need God for when we have
brains to work things out for ourselves?”
We see church as being important for our “spiritual side” but we put aside that touchy feely stuff
when we get to work, or when we are dealing with our family issues, or when we are trying to
make ends meet with our budget.
Jeremiah says, that if you are trusting in yourself or the ingenuity of humanity to solve all your
problems then you are going to be cut off and ruined.
We are pretty special people but when you look at what we’ve been able to do on our won, you
will get a picture of a pretty messed up world. Global warming, war, famine, poverty, aids,
genocide… We need help.
I want to go back to that question of roots again. Where is it that you draw your strength from?
Where have you put down your stake in life. There is nothing wrong with using your talents and
gifts to push forward, to solve problems, to overcome obstacles. But if you turn away from God
and look to others for the answers, if you are so rooted in this world, then you can easily get
yourself in trouble.
Many good intentioned people start off looking for answers from their friends. They look to
people who are worldly wise. I think this is the crowd that the psalmist refers to in Psalm 1. He
calls them scoffers and sinners, but you might replace those terms with names like realists and
friends who don’t go to church.
Too often people who are going through problems in life turn to these “friends” for answers.
Sometimes they give good counsel or at least advice that seems right. But too often we hear things
like, “You shouldn’t have to put up with that. Just divorce him.” “Go ahead and declare
bankruptcy. It won’t hurt anyone but the banks.” The truth is that most often this advice leads to
more problems down the road because the underlying problems that led us to this point have not
been addressed.
But you see, God knows our hearts. God knows what we need. That’s why Jeremiah says
“Blessed is the one who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”
You see God knows us and he knows what we need and how we can get it. When we have our
roots in him, when we turn to him, God will show us the way.
In Psalm 1, the righteous person is compared with a tree planted by a stream. Jeremiah picks up
this theme again in our text today. In a country where rain clouds were few and far between, a
tree didn’t stand much of a chance, unless it was located in a place where the soil was continually
moist. The same is true for us living in this world. We need to trust in God. We need to put down
our roots in him and let him nourish us and make us strong.
For you see, God has shown us his love. He has taken the first step to reveal that he has the best
intentions for our lives. All we need to do is look at the cross to know it is true. For on calvary,
God declared his love for us and his hope for our future by giving up his own life as an atonement
for our sins. God has said “I love you so much, I am going to give up what is most precious to
me, my only begotten son.”
Would your friends do that for you? Some might. Most wouldn’t. Friendship only goes so far.
So if God was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, then shouldn’t we be able to trust him when
it comes to living our lives? You see God wants us to have an abundant life. He wants his joy to
be made complete in us. He wants us to walk through life, holding hands and working together to
bring his kingdom to light.
So where are your roots? I pray if you haven’t done so already, you will settle down and begin to
let them flow into the heart of God. Amen.
| Welcome to the First Baptist Church of Norwich 239 West Main Street Norwich, Connecticut Phone: 860-889-0369 |
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