Roots - Part 2 - People And Place Series

Roots

Pt. 2 - People and Place

I. Introduction

Last week I told you that it is absolutely essential for us to not only have roots, but to also know what those roots are. So, we began a close examination of the core values that are under the surface of our church and should be the foundation of our lives. These things are beneath the surface, often overlooked, seldom talked about, but are necessary to sustain life, produce fruit, aid/assist in movement, anchor us during a storm, and to keep us alive in dry weather.

I want to remind you again that our root system is:

Praise

Purpose

People

Place

Prayer

Pentecost

Presence

Preaching

I told you last week that we must stay rooted to praise and purpose. Our victory, plunder, and peace are directly linked to our willingness and involvement in praise. Purpose is what keeps us moving in the right direction and on the same page. It is also what we must help you to find and discover in order for us corporately to fulfill our purpose. If you find your purpose it will not only change your life, but it will cause our church to blossom and succeed.

Text:

Matthew 9:35-36

35And Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness. 36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd.

Luke 19:41

41When the city came into view, he wept over it.

So, today I want us to look the next 2 roots that we draw from. People and Place.

II. People

5 times in Matthew, 4 times in Mark, 3 times in Luke we are told that either Jesus was moved by compassion or he told a parable where a character that represented God or Jesus was moved on by compassion. Jesus was moved by people.

In fact, when you stop and think about Jesus’ ministry you can summarize his ministry by saying that he was moved by people, took time for people, touched people, healed people, and ultimately died for people. His ministry was rooted in people. He was surrounded by people, hurt by people, spit on by people, interrupted by people, betrayed by people, and yet he remained rooted to people!

We too must stay rooted to people! We are to stay rooted to each other. I have already talked to you in the past about our responsibilities to each other. We should guard, protect, lift up and assist with the burdens of those inside the walls, but what about the people out there? We must stay rooted to a Jesus kind of life.

So, can I ask you a few questions?

a. Are you moved by people?

When was the last time you were moved by compassion for the plight of others? When were you moved to tears when you saw the hurt and struggle of others? When were you moved to more than sympathy, but to action? Jesus didn’t just see the pain and feel bad. He had compassion which is not only a deep awareness of suffering, but a wish to relieve it. In fact, one of the Greek words used for compassion (which wasn’t used until after Jesus began to use it) actually carries with it the idea of courage. So it isn’t enough to be moved, we must also have the courage to do something about what moves us.

I was intrigued by something I watched in a football game this week. I was numbly watching Texas Tec take on Ole Miss. The sidelines reporter began to do one of those human interest pieces that most guys, myself included, just think are a stupid interruption to the game. But this piece was different. The story was on a white couple by the name of Tuohy. Sean Tuohy had been helping with basketball practice at a local high school when his attention was caught by this large, young black teenager. He began to buy him lunch. During Thanksgiving break, Sean and his wife were driving down a street and they saw this young teenager getting off a city bus wearing nothing but shorts even though it was snowing outside. Sean’s wife said he looked homeless and helpless. The woman convinced her husband to stop to help this young man. This young man was one of 13 children born to a mother hooked on crack. He grew up in the Hurt Village Project in Memphis. Through the ninth grade, he’d been to 11 schools and had a 0.6 GPA. This white woman said, “he just looked like he needed a big hug.” They stopped and took this young man into their home. They adopted him in 2004. They cared for him. Watched over him. Encouraged him. Ultimately they sent him to Ole’ Miss and paid for his education. That young man is Michael Oher. He is now a 6-foot-5, 318-pounder and could be a top-10 pick in April’s NFL Draft. They were moved to the point of taking action.