If you ever see people on Instagram or people online posting about their hikes or the wilderness or different things there, uh, whenever you see photos of plants and trees and flowers and fruits, you never see photos of the roots. It's always, oh look how beautiful this tree is. or how tall it is, or the, the flowers or the fruit, but you don't see photos of the roots. Now, obviously, there's the logistics. It's, you can't really get underground. But isn't it interesting that the most important part of the plant is never really seen nor talked about? You know, the same is true when it comes to the spiritual life and, and our spiritual journey together. See, last week, we talked about how every disciple starts with a seed. And now every disciple starts with a seed. And this week, once that seed is, is planted in your life, we're gonna talk about what does it mean to have roots that grow in our lives. And so here's what I want you to know today that we're gonna spend the next few minutes talking about, is that deep roots produce obedient disciples. Deep roots produce obedient disciples. Now this morning's message is entitled Rooted and booted. And it's kind of silly and it rhymes, but really my thinking goes back to a British idiom or phrase that's commonly said of that somebody who is well dressed and ready to go somewhere is suited and booted. So picture of the businessman. Ready for action. And so it wasn't, it didn't originate with him, but because it is a British idiom, oftentimes it's connected to 007, right? James Bond, someone who was always just professionally dressed, but ready to go. I had never understood how he's able to run in dress shoes, but I was impressed, right? But any, any old millennials in the room, like we're talking early 80s, right? They're just like the best childhood, right? We, we were born before digital stuff came into the world, but we're still young enough to learn about it, right? Uh we had the, the afternoons in the summer, we had to drink out of a hose, and, and now we're still googling stuff on our phones. And so, um, in growing up in that age, I loved it. But I wanna tell you my favorite game, probably one of the best games in all of history, was the N64007 GoldenEye. Anyone ever played that? It's a great game. It was, it's, again, graphics are just starting to get better. You know, games are expanding beyond Super Mario Brothers and stuff. And so it was this game and it was action and you, you wanted to be James Bond. And if nothing else, it had the best like playlist of any video game up to that point, right? It was always like, do do do do before then, and then all of a sudden, like I found myself pausing. The James Bond game just simply to rock out to the playlist there for James Bond. You, you're tracking, uh, some of you are gonna be like, hold on, let's, let's, let's just have some fun. This is and tell the sound people, but we're just gonna do this. If this fails miserably, it's OK. But you got, you gotta, you gotta be feeling the vibe with me. OK, hold on. Um, just imagine yourself living your best life, not worrying about text and going through, but, and you hear this sign. Right, you think it's good, right? You're, you're vibing to it. And then the xylophone kicks in. You don't think xylophone, but you need it. You're tracking, right? OK. All right, who's, who's not ready to conquer the world at this point, right? OK. All right. Now 007 Suited and booted, ready to go. OK, John, but this is called rooted and booted, OK? Well, we wanna establish the roots, OK, in our faith, but understand that we weren't meant to stay stationary. That as believers, as the largest movement in world history, we are called To go take over the world, because he's already saved the world. There's actually a verse in Matthew where it says, the gates of hell will not prevail against us, meaning that the church is on offense. We got places to go, right? We got things to do. Jesus has people to save, and he's invited us into this mission. It is so much more than just show up, look nice on a Sunday, and like, oh, hey, how are you? Good. OK. All right, see you next week. No, like, uh, like, we have been called to so much more. Than what we think Christianity is all about. If you have your Bibles, open up the Colossians chapter 2. Here's what I'm talking about. It's one of my favorite verses in scripture. In fact, I love it so much. We put it in uh one of the frames in the lobby here, and it's verse 6, we see these words. Paul says, therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in faith just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. See, we live in a world where there is a battle for your mind. Right. Companies are paid millions and, and really make billions of dollars to keep you addicted, to tell you what to think, how to live, and what to believe. When Paul wrote these verses to the church in Colossa, he was addressing a group that was opposed to the church called Gnostics. Gnostics weirdly begins with the letter G. Why? I don't know. But it's there. And so the Gnostics, they didn't try to deny the existence of Jesus, which would be kind of difficult to do because Jesus just lived like a few years prior, right? Like it would be hard to ignore like that person existing when he was right there. And so Gnostics didn't deny the existence of Jesus. They just tried to diminish and dethrone the power of Jesus. They, they acted like teenagers when you try to do anything to impress them. And right? And so Jesus, uh, like the church, like Jesus rose from the dead. He conquered death itself. He rose again. And people respond like, yeah, so, whatever, right? And so they didn't deny that he existed. They just didn't care. And what they would do is they would separate the physical and the spiritual. OK, yeah, that's fine. That, but there's spiritual life and there's a physical life. And because they're not connected, I can live however I want over here, and then still believe whatever I want over here. And Paul said, no, no, no, no, no, you are spiritually saved, but understand that Jesus physically died. That he is reconciling to himself all of creation, that he wants all of you holistically. That's why as believers, we're called to love Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Because he wants everything. So to follow Jesus is not simply just a head acknowledgement, but rather to give your life in submission to his life. And we shared last week that we are called to believe. To believe, to put the full weight of your life, to acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior of your life, so that he changes the direction of your life, that we're not just waiting to simply go to heaven someday, but rather, we are becoming kingdom-minded ambassadors of the gospel, bringing light and love into every conversation, every relationship, everywhere we go. This is the movement we've been called to go. See, last week, we began our transformation journey. We talked about how everyone starts out as a seed. And how there's 4 types of soil. And that the soil doesn't represent the gospel because the gospel is good and true, whether you believe it or not. And so the soil represents the condition of your heart. And so do you have a hardened heart? Do you have a shallow heart? Do you have a divided heart? Or do you have a receptive heart that not only hears the word of God, but then applies it into your life? We shared those before knowing Christ are really described as seekers. They're all searching for something, but eventually we are seeking for the heart of God. And that once you engage with the gospel, the end result or goal of that is to believe in him as Lord and Savior. Well, the next phase of the journey, the next stage of your spiritual life is could be described as roots. In order for the seed to germinate, it grows. And first of all, the growth grows underground. We're gonna talk about why that's important in just a few minutes. But understand those that are roots that they grow for those who are followers of Jesus. And then as they're followers of Jesus, and they establish biblical foundations and the goal for this stage of your spiritual life is to obey. Because it's not knowledge-based discipleship, it's obedience- based discipleship. Here's what I mean. The word Christian in the New Testament is only used about 3 times. The word disciple is used 269 times. And it's not a new word. They, they, it really was a word to describe those who serve as an apprentice. And so teachers or rabbis, Jewish teachers would, would teach a way of living. And if you followed a rabbi, not only would you listen to the teachings of the rabbi, but you would pattern and model your life after the rabbi. And so just as in the trades, that if somebody is learning how to uh do a specific trade in, in air conditioning or plumbing or welding, wherever it is, you learn as you do, right? You are, you are learning how to act and, and, and live. So did followers of rabbis in the day. And so Jesus comes in and calls people to follow him. And so this, this, we have to get out of this Americanized thinking that says, well, I gotta believe in Jesus. And then when I get real serious, then I'm gonna become a disciple. Well, no, that's not how that works. And we're gonna talk through what that means. So here's what I wanna do today. As long as, I'll talk about what does the Bible actually describe or say a disciple is. So what is a disciple? And we're gonna say, why do we actually need roots in the first place? And then we're gonna land of how do roots actually grow. OK, what is a disciple? Why do we need spiritual roots and how do roots grow? Let's jump into this together. First, when we understand what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus, let's go ahead and, and look at when Jesus called his first disciples, found in Matthew 4:18-22. While they were walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. So he's taking what they thought was their purpose and said, no, no, no, I'm gonna give you what you were really made for. And immediately, they left their nets and they followed him. And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets, and he called them. And immediately they left the boat and their father, and they followed him. You see, uh, John Mark Comer put it this way, Jesus is not looking for converts to Christianity. He's looking for apprentices in the kingdom of God. To be with Jesus, to become more like Jesus, and to do as Jesus did. So what actually is a disciple of Jesus, I would give her, I, I would give you this definition, that a disciple is someone who follows Jesus, fellowships with believers, and then fishes for people. Now, following Jesus is the idea of not just a mental consent, like, OK, yep. But rather actually going where Jesus went, walking where Jesus walked. And walking is the pace of relationships. I love that. Because when I see and hear these running clubs that are around the valley, I'm like, oh, that's cool. I don't know. I don't know if that's for me. But Jesus calls them and walks with them day in, day out. So they can see how he lived, see how he spoke, see how he loved and served and treated others around them, and said, and then calls them and say, I want you to do as I did. And so you want to follow Jesus. Second, though, notice that he said to them, said to plural, multiple people. I think another American lie that we tend to believe is that we don't need each other. Right? We think that spirituality is just a personal belief. Well, we are meant to grow together. You were, there were some things in life that you cannot do alone, right? You can't play team sports alone. You can't do uh a seesaw alone. Right? I saw someone trying to play pickleball by themselves. They just hit it really high, run to the other side, hit it, and you look kind of ridiculous. So too are people trying to follow God by themselves, OK? Is it we are called the body of Christ. That we need each other. That's why fellowship, this idea of having community. We're gonna end today talking about just how important community is. But understand you're following Jesus, you're fellowshipping with believers. But then we don't turn inside that, and, in fact, we encourage one another and actually go outside. Uh, anyone remember the game sardines, growing up? Sardines would be a form of hide and seek where you would go. And one person would hide, and like 20 people would search for that person. And whoever found that person, then that person would hide. Now, 2 people are hiding, and 8, and you know, 19 people, and then you keep going until there's 1 person left looking, OK? Now, we were doing that one night, uh, at a, a student trip and we were going to the first person to hide got tired of hiding, so they just went back to the cabin. And so then there's just 20 of us out in the woods searching for someone who wasn't there. That wasn't the most fun. Um, anyway, some of us do that with Christianity. We're like, Oh, now that I found Jesus, my, I don't need to do anything else. Well, no, if it, if it changed your life, you can share that and it can change someone else's life that we are God's plan A. He looked at the disciples. Think about this. He had 12 disciples, 3 years. And at the end of 3 years with Jesus every day. You still had one who betrayed him, one who denied him, and one doubted him. And Jesus looked at the 11, sorry, Judas, and said, yep, this is who I'm gonna use to change the world. So if you don't think God can use you, understand, look who God used to start. But then just stay inside, then that's why we're called the fish for people. Not literally, that'd be weird if you're out in the school like, right? Like unless you're on the dance floor, that still works. But Sorry, you get insight into my head. This is how it works. We're just, we're just on our, we're all on this ride together. I don't know what I'm gonna say. We're just going. OK. But we are called, they took their profession and they said, no, I'm going to give you a deeper purpose. So what it is a disciple? It's not a more serious believer. It's simply somebody who follows Jesus, fellowships with believers, and fishes for people. Let's see this idea of following throughout scripture. John 10:27, My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me, right? We are sheep, he is a shepherd. Luke 9:23-24, and he said to all, if anyone should come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. Forever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. This is not popular in our culture, but this is truth. Following Jesus will cost you something. You hear me? Following God, following Jesus specifically will cost you something. And for the early church leaders, it cost them everything. We have to understand what's at stake. But the surpassing goodness and grace and forgiveness and love and glory of God so far outpaces anything negative that comes our way that we gladly give up what we can't keep to gain what we can't lose. But we got to consider the cost. Some of you aren't growing because your faith has never cost you anything. Nothing's changed. But it's gonna give us a spirit to help us. You see, John 14:15 to 17 says, if you love me, you'll keep my commitments, right? It's not knowledge-based discipleship. It is obedience-based discipleship. He's actually telling you how to live because he actually wants you to live that way. He says, if you love me, you'll keep my commands. But he understands that in our own strength, we're not going to do it. Right? Did you have to teach your kids how to disobey? Did you have to teach your kids to be selfish? Did you have to personally learn how to eat unhealthy? No, right? It's in our desire, it's in our nature. He says, but I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper. The word there is paralete, advocate, helper. It's the Holy Spirit. I heard another preacher describe it one time this way as a, a coach, so it fits. And he says, think of a pair of cleats, right? It's a paralete. What is the purpose of cleats when you play football or soccer, right? And it's not football, OK? It's America, right? We should change it. We, we hosted the World Cup. It's soccer. OK, sorry. What's the purpose of cleats in sports? To keep you on your feet, to keep you grounded, to give you traction when the ground is unsteady. Have you ever tried to play sports outside without cleats? You're sliding every which way. Same thing when it comes, if you're trying to live apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, you're going to be slipping and sliding everywhere. The Holy Spirit, like cleats, I'm not saying it's the same thing, but just the idea so you can remember it, is to keep you grounded, to give you traction and grip in your life so that obedience becomes possible. Verse 17, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows Him, for you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Then the writer of First John, 1 John 2:6 says, whoever says he abides in him, ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. If you say you believe in Jesus, may you walk as Jesus walked. The great commission. Some of the last words of Jesus to his followers. Who right before this, by the way, it says some worship and some doubt it. So it's not like they had it all together, right? If you come in with questions and worries and doubts in church, I wanna say welcome. We all have them. So even in the middle of all their questions and doubts, Jesus said these words. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority and on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and then teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. So we get the authority sandwich in there, right? All authority over heaven and earth, given to me, so that you can go do this and, and don't fret because I'm gonna give you the power. I'm gonna be with you every step of the way. It's why we're here. It's the purpose of what we're doing. Right? If you don't apply the words of God into your life, then you're missing it. Right? If not, then simply going to the gym would be enough to get in shape, right? Here, let me, let me describe a time in my life where I was full. OK. The pandemic had just happened. Well, we're now gathering again. Um, I'm in the middle, I'm finishing my doctorate. We're starting a church, we'd adopted a child. My wife's working, I'm working. Things feel a little crazy. And so I just want a little bit of peace, right? I used to judge the people that show up at the car line 30 minutes before school's let out. Now I've come to understand that might be the only 30 minutes that that parent has of peace and quiet in their day. Now I'm jealous of it. Um, so, what I would go, I, what I learned, I would go to a gym, a local gym here in the, in the community, and I heard that, oh, childcare is available for 2 hours. And so I, one day I had, I wasn't feeling motivated to work out. And uh I had my work bag with me. And so I checked the kids in. I was like, huh. So I went back outside. I grabbed my work bag and I sat down at the desk and just started working. I was like, this is kind of awesome. So the next day I went back The next day I went back. By the 3rd or 4th day, I wasn't even bringing gym clothes. I just brought in my laptop and was just putting in some work. And I was there, I was starting to be there enough that people thought I worked there and started asking me questions. And at first, I didn't know. But by the 5th day, man, I, I, I was, I was selling memberships. I was taking registrations. I was, no. Um, and it was, it was a time that happened. Now, you wanna know what I didn't do in that period of time? I did not get in shape. Why? Because I was not using the purpose of the gathering for what it was made for. Yes, I was getting some work done. I was doing some other things. But even though I was going to the gym every day, I wasn't getting in shape because I wasn't actually doing what you're supposed to do at the gym. And as silly as that might look, how many of us are doing the same thing right now in church? We come, we gather, we sit down and we go, if that's you, I'm glad you're here. But understand this, that you will never get spiritually fit, unless you actually start to live out the very words that we sing about, preach about, pray through. Amen. So what do we do? Why do we even need roots in the first place? Good question. Let me give you 3 reasons why we need roots. Number 1, we need roots for nourishment. We need roots for nourishment. Yeah Especially in Arizona, we understand that the rain is scarce. And so you need roots down deep to grab any sense of nourishment that it can get for survival, right? Second reason we need roots in our lives is for stability. It's fascinating. I, I saw an article of a botanists who were growing plants in one of those biosphere things like the self-contained things, like can we grow plants in space kind of thing, you know. And what they found was actually a lot of the plants were falling over. Even though they had quote unquote perfect conditions. And what they realized was that the wind and the adversity and the storms that come when plants are, are starting to grow, actually aid the plant's development of stability and strength. So if there is no wind, if there is no adversity, they have no reason for the roots to get stronger. So when something does come, they just fall over. So isn't that interesting? Because in our lives, I don't know about you, but I get annoyed at windy seasons, right? Especially in the summer, because Arizona wind feels like a hair dryer coming at you. You know what I mean? It's like, oh, it's windy. Oh, how is it hotter, right? Like, OK. And so we go through and like we think the windy seasons or the stormy seasons, like, oh God, oh man, I'm just being attacked. This is tough. But what if the wind and the storms, and those things were coming into your life, not to hurt you, but to actually strengthen you for what's to come? Some of the most spiritually deep and strong people you will ever meet have gone through the most difficult things. And it's the people that you look up to that you realize, man, they will make it because they've been through some stuff. So what if we weren't scared of what was coming our way, understanding that God was going to use whatever's coming our way so that we can grow in stability and strength and get stronger than ever before. Amen. So we need it for nourishment. We need it for stability. But third, we need it for growth. We need it for growth. We have one of those little spots in our house in the door frame where you measure the kid's height as you grow, right? And some of you, if you're measuring the spiritual growth, you'd be like, oh, cool, I accepted Christ. Cool. And then a couple of years from later, oh, and oh, we're actually at the same spot where we were before. Oh, we're OK. You've been called to grow. You've been called to mature. Right? And that's found throughout scripture, but don't just take my word for it. Let's jump into a couple of passages together. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 16 and 17. Paul's praying for the church in Ephesus while he's in prison for preaching. He says, he prays that they'd be strengthened according to the riches of His glory, that he may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being. That's a credible verse, isn't it? With all the glory and riches, the power that spoke the world into existence, the power that conquered death, it's in that name, and that strength and that power. He's praying so that what? So that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love. It goes on to say that you can comprehend. You just get a glimpse of just how high, how wide, how deep, how long is the love of God. We need it for nourishment and stability in our soul because it changes our identity. Hm. Right, it anchors us to the one who made us. The psalmist writes in Psalm 1, verse 2 and 3, he says, but his delight in the law of the Lord and on the law, he meditates day and night. He says he who can meditates on the word of God is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither in all that he does and he prospers. You see, fruit has seasons. Fruit has seasons. No one, no tree is producing fruit 24/7. So if you're not seeing visible fruit in your life right now, it might not just be the season for it. But it says, even in fruitless seasons, visible fruitless seasons, you can still have leaves that are green, leaves that don't wither. Why? Because you are tied into the source. If you've driven through the desert, and you just see this patch of green out in the wilderness, you know there's a, a body of water nearby, right? Because even though it doesn't rain, they are still getting the nutrients that they need because it's, they're connected to the source. And the prophet Jeremiah writes in Jeremiah 17:7-8, Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when the heat comes, for its leaves remain green. And it's not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. You don't need the reins if you're connected to the water. That even when everything on the outside feels uncertain and anxious, you know, you're good, because the roots are deep. I am. What is a disciple? Well, disciple is somebody follows Jesus, fellowships with believers and fishes for people. Shares that message with others. Why? Why do we need roots? Well, we need roots for nourishment. We need it for stability, and we need it for growth. There's no way you're gonna grow stronger without being anchored deep. Then how do we grow? Let's talk about 4 practices that deepen our roots. Here are 4 spiritual practices that deepen our roots. There's more than that, but here's a great spot to start, OK. Number one, we got to be rooted in scripture. We got to be rooted in Scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. You know, Jesus, when he was tempted in the desert, the way he defeated temptation was by quoting scripture. Now, he didn't have the New Testament because right, the New Testament was about his life. But even Jesus knew the Bible to the point where he's quoting scripture to Satan. And so that when you're tempted, you actually have the word of God to fight on your behalf. Be rooted in Scripture. Second, we need to be rooted in prayer. Don't miss the fact that after the disciples spent every day with Jesus for 3 years, they could have asked him anything. Jesus, how do you do miracles like that? How do you preach like that? How do you love like that? And the question they asked Jesus directly is like, Jesus teach us to pray. That's how impactful the prayer life of Jesus was. And so they realized, man, if we could pray like Jesus. Then we could live as he lived and see God move as God moves. And you can't say, well, I was too busy. Because in Luke 5:15 and 16, it says, but now even more, the report about him went abroad. Great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. So ministry is booming, his schedule's filling up, it's getting busy. And he says, but he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. As the stress goes up, as the schedule gets full, as, as anxieties run high, More than ever before, you need to have that one on one time to connect with your Heavenly Father. To talk with him, to, to listen, just to be present. And we know you got time. Just check the screen time on your phones. You got time. Right, I, I'm with you, right? I'm the parents like, kids, get off your phone, right? We do it. We all do. That's why, that's why in Scripture says that don't let the world take your mind captive. We have to take our thoughts captive, what with scripture and with prayer. The third thing we need to be rooted in is rooted in worship. Jesus shares the gospel with a Samaritan woman, actually offers her living water. And she goes, wow, that's incredible. And she comes back with a church question. Hey, hey, uh, some people do church here. We do church here. Which, which is better? It's like you're not getting that. Jesus says these words in John 4:23 to 24, he says, but the hour is coming and now is here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. The idea of worship comes from this idea of worship. In other words, you are ascribing value to something or recognizing the value of something. Did anyone ever watch the show, uh, Antique Roadshow, right? Uh, people would come in and be like, hey, I brought this like thing I found in my grandparents' garage. And they were like, oh, actually, this is an original painting from the 1800s and, and they're going through. And it's, it's actually worth $50,000. And you would watch show after show, people go, oh. And now all of a sudden they've become super grateful for the thing they brought in, right? The value actually didn't change. They just didn't understand the value of the thing they already had in their possession. You're tracking with me? When we worship, we are not just simply assigning value to God, because God is valuable, and, and holy and glorious, whether you worship it or not. The Bible says, if you don't worship Him, the rocks will. Don't, don't stress. He's got, he's got galaxies that we will never see that exists simply because God wants him to. He's doing just fine. But the reason we worship is because it aligns our heart with God's heart. And we see that we recognize the value and assigned value of God in our lives. And we come before him. And you say, that's what keeps us grounded. So we have to be rooted in scripture, rooted in prayer, rooted in worship. The 4th thing here is rooted in community. Now, last week we talked about how uh coastal redwood trees, the largest trees on the planet, Start as tiny little seeds, like about the size of a grain of uh of rice. Now, you would think these trees in, in Northern California, where they would grow sometimes over 300 ft tall, have lasted for centuries. You would think their root system goes crazy deep, and they, and they do go down. But do you know, do you know where their real strength comes from? is that they don't just grow down, they actually grow together. And so the roots of coastal redwood trees actually grow and entangle themselves together so that literally the trees are holding each other up. Isn't that the picture of the church? That as we grow, that when someone's hurting, we lift them up. When you're hurting, they lift you up. When you have questions and worries and doubts, you can connect with people and, you know what, I've walked there. I've been in that situation. I understand what you're feeling. God's got this. I'm praying for you. I want to encourage you. When someone's walking and saying, you know, hey, hey, man, where are you going? Don't be doing that. We're not called to do that. We can hold each other accountable, lift one another up, stir one another on towards good works, because we need each other. This was a description of the early church. Acts chapter 2 verse 42 to 46. We pull our our church values from here. I'm not gonna go through all of our church values, but I want you just to see the connectedness of this community. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and the prayers, and all came, came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, and all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had a need. And day by day, attending the temple together, breaking bread in their homes, they receive food with glad and generous hearts. You see this in the macro, they're gathering at the temple. You see this in the micro, they're gathering in the home. You see this in the worship services, in the breaking of the bread, and the prayer. You see this in generosity, and in the service and the love and the community, that they are in this together. If you think you can follow God alone, understand that is a lie that Satan's trying to tell you. If you think of a campfire, and you remove one log. Which is going to go out first, the campfire or the single log? Single log every time. So why do we think we can follow Jesus without the encouragement and brotherly and sisterly love of a local church community where we can encourage and love one another? His deep roots produce obedient disciples. Once the seed of God is planted in your life, may you establish the biblical foundations to be a follower of Christ, not to simply acknowledge Him in word, but to obey Him and to allow God, the Spirit of God to come into your life so that you can start walking a little bit more like him than before. Not in perfection But with a different direction in life. That we are rooted in scripture and his word, that we are rooted in prayer and talking with Him, that we are rooted in worship full of spirit and truth, and that we are rooted in community. Now there are more practices. We don't have time to jump in today. You can talk about solitude and Sabbath and, and fasting and generosity and service and so many more. But if we start today, and we start now, being rooted together, may we hold each other up so that we can become more like Jesus every day, and we can let our shine, our light shine into a dark community that desperately needs the good news and hope of Jesus. Amen. This is who we are. This is what we do. This is what it means not just to be a part of Mission Grove, but to be a follower and a disciple of Jesus. Let's follow and obey him today. Dear Father, thank you for who you are. God, I thank you for giving us roots. May we walk in you just as we received you. As we received you in grace, may we walk in grace. As we received you in forgiveness, may we walk with forgiveness. As we received you in a new identity and who we are, when we walk from that new identity, to love people, the way that you have loved us and to love you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. May we be rooted in your word, rooted in your prayers, rooted in your worship, and rooted in this community. If we do that, God, may our lives become obedient. To what you've called us to do and who you've called us to be. So we offer our lives to you and your sons, and we pray. Amen.