Sermon Central
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Roots - Part 4- Presence And Preaching Series
Contributed by Steve Ely on Jan 23, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: Beneath the surface. Overlooked but powerful and essential. Unseen but they can split concrete and destroy roads. Essential to sustain life. They produce all of the seen life and fruit. What is beneath the surface is directly responsible for what you
Roots
Pt. 4 – Presence and Preaching
I. Introduction
The foundation is the most important aspect of a building. It isn’t the most impressive aspect of the building, but it is the most important part. No one stops their car in awe of a building’s foundation. We often are awestruck by the beauty or size of an edifice. What we forget is that without the foundation that structure would not be possible or safe without a foundation that is adequate and that is able to provide security, strength, and stability. That is why we have been taking the time to go back to do a root check. We must make sure that our foundation is secure and that our anchor will hold. Without such a foundation we will waver, we will blow like a leaf in the wind, we will be unstable in all of our ways, and we will have no lasting impact in our world. Our roots matter.
I have boldly declared to you over the last 3 weeks that we will remain rooted to certain things. I believe these 8 elements are nonnegotiable and are essential for our health and well being as a body and individually. Our roots are:
Praise
Purpose
People
Place
Prayer
Pentecost
Presence
Preaching
Praise is a foundation because in our praise is victory, plunder, and peace.
Purpose is foundational for us because we understand that we as individuals and also “we” corporately have God given design and destiny.
People are part of the root system because Jesus taught us and showed us
that people matter and that we should give our lives to people by being moved by people, taking time for people, touching people, healing people and dying for people.
This place is part of our root system. He could have placed us anywhere, but He hand-selected this community for us!
Last week we talked about the foundation of prayer. We must be rooted to prayer on the bad days, not just the good days. Without prayer we are not a church!
We also said that we will remain rooted to Pentecost because it is our hope of freedom and change in the community. The real deal is worth wading through the counterfeits!
So, I want us to conclude this series this morning by examining the last two roots that we are firmly connected to. . . Presence and Preaching.
II. Presence
Exodus 3:1-6; 13-14; 4:10-12
1Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb.2And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3And Moses said, I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
13And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? 14And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
10And Moses said unto Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. 11And Jehovah said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Jehovah? 12Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.
The account that I read to you is the account of a man who has just experienced the presence of the Lord. It helps us to remember that this is a forgotten man, a broken man, a man in pain, a man with a checkered past, and without much future when suddenly he has an encounter with the presence of God. This burning bush encounter teaches us some things about the presence of God.
