Pastor Brodie Kalamen | Stay Planted | September 7th, 2025

Well I'm uh the what a great video.

Let's give it a hand for all those who share.

I know that uh I know that uh the life happens in uh seasons, and for some of you it may be a a season of uh foundation and change of a season of planting.

And uh that's really what it's all about for us today, is uh to actually get planted again and uh and or just be reminded of the importance of being planted in the house of God.

Amen.

Uh well it's time uh for a new season.

How many of you feel it?

It's like a new season.

You woke up, it was a little cloudy outside.

We'll just call it clouds, okay?

Clouds, I don't want to say any other word that triggers someone out there, but uh we we look outside and you can just feel that the season's changing.

And uh I appreciate everyone who comes here today because I know it's probably something that's in the busy season, it's important to put the first things first.

And the Bible says if we see God and his kingdom first, everything else will be added unto us.

So we put and we prioritize God's way and God's purpose in our life and God's priority first in us, and that when we do that, all things kind of fall into place.

So today, our text uh we're gonna just jump right into this right away.

It's out of Psalm 92, verse 12 to 15.

Psalms 92:12–15

I'm gonna read it and uh just you can read along with me, uh, like or read it along with me.

You don't have to say anything.

It says, the righteous, amen.

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree.

I I like thinking about palm trees right now, they will grow like a cedar of Babylon or Lebanon.

Those who are planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God, they will still bear fruit in old age.

Yeah, I was waiting for that.

Come on, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming the Lord is upright, he is my rock, and there's no wickedness in him.

And I want to preach today from this word stay planted in God's house.

Would you say that?

Stay planted in God's house.

This year I will stay planted.

This season I will stay planted.

I'm gonna reaffirm the importance of being planted in the house of God.

When you do that, you're excited about the future because you're being planted.

You're in a place where you're growing, a place where you're flourishing, being flourishing in the place where you're planted.

Now, if we were transparent and we were honest with ourselves, vulnerable, perhaps, in when you come to church and your heart is open, we would be um honest in saying that we we plant ourselves for a lot of things in front of a lot of things.

Uh there's an Armstrong Fair.

How many of you have ever been to the Armstrong Fair before?

It's uh it's our version of like local Disneyland.

It's like, let's go to the Armstrong Fair, the IPE, and they've got a few rides there: the zipper, the slingshot, and people will wait three hours to get on a three-minute ride that's run by a guy who's not even paying attention, has no insurance, and is just kind of like you don't know where that machine has been.

It was around when I was a kid, and it's traveled across the country, been disassembled and reassembled, and I do not when it runs, I just pray like you want to go for prayer, get on the zipper, you'll learn to pray.

We will wait, we will stand in in in line, we will be planted in place.

Taco Tuesday.

You're waiting for that taco, so is everyone else, but you're there for that taco.

We'll stay planted in uh your favorite Netflix series.

Don't don't look at me like in judgment, like I'm the only one.

But when you've started something and you're like, oh man, one more episode, sure.

Another episode, well, it's almost done.

There are only three more seasons left.

Let's go for it.

You know it.

We'll stay planted.

We're honest about that.

But when it comes to prayer, when it comes to church, when it comes to showing up in God's house, suddenly it can feel like work, negotiable, optional.

How am I feeling Sunday morning?

And the Bible says, not Pastor Brody, the Bible says the there's an important factor to your flourishing, and it's going to be related to where you are planted and where you are, where you will grow.

So this year, if we can commit to planting ourselves, not just in entertainment or in places of comfort, but in the one thing that matters in God's house.

We stay planted.

And I know that it's sometimes easier, you know, January hits and it's like people see the new season, they're like, I'm gonna stay planted.

It's always easy to start and stick with something as soon as we at the beginning, at the genesis.

People don't just get married and the next day like call it quits.

It's not it's not easy like that.

It's not something that you just quickly exit at the beginning, but over time, things begin to break down, and you have to be reminded like this is why I'm here, and this is why I put roots down, and this is the choice I made.

And so we have things every year, we have events every year for every marriage.

It's called an anniversary.

And we remind ourselves of why there's a planting in our life, why we made the choice to get married, why we chose what our commitment and our vows were to stay together.

I want to take some time to unpack this truth uh over the next uh this week and next, being planted in God's big house and being planted in the small house, in big church and small church.

Because I believe that the truth and the truth is that the power and the purpose of God, the work of God will only occur and only be able to happen in your life when you are planted.

It's hard to stay planted in a culture that actually has a holiday where the it's called the day of quitting.

You know that holiday is January 10th, it's 10 days after people made these big decisions, and then we call it the day of quitting.

And like it's interesting that we have a day that's recognized as the day of quitting, but there isn't a day that's like, hey, a day of commitment.

You stuck to it, keep going.

Turn to your neighbor just for a second and say, You're doing good, keep you can do this.

Like, you just need that sometimes.

You need that, and yet we don't have a holiday that celebrates that, but we have a culture that says, hey, it's okay, it's a day of quitting, you're off the hook.

If you want to go, check out, you can check out now.

But the challenge for many of us now is not how or if we get planted, but if we stay planted.

Staying planted makes a difference.

Planted in your place.

Verse 13 says, Those who are planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of God.

There is a place where you're supposed to be planted.

It's not even staying planted, but it's it's being planted in that place.

Hold on one second.

It's being planted in that place.

And so the psalmist said it this way.

He said, it's more important, but defining the place than being planted is defining the place where you're planted, and this will cause you to grow.

The place where you're planted matters, and so you need to get in the right place.

And when the scripture talks about the house of the Lord, it's talking about more than just a church, more than just the psalmist talking about the temple.

He's talking about the presence of God.

It's in the presence of God is where you'll flourish.

It's not outside the presence of God where you'll flourish, but it's inside his presence where you'll flourish.

Everything that was created by God has a place to flourish.

God put man in the garden, he created the garden, the place, and then he put the person in that place in order for man to flourish in that place.

It's just like uh with fish, he created the water first, and then he put the fish in the water.

He put the fish, he created the soil, and then he put the tree in the soil.

God created a place for us, and he says, in that place is where you'll flourish.

Last week I had a chance to go fishing with my kids and with my dad, and we caught fish, and as soon as we took the fish out of its place, you know, we had a bucket, and how many of you know you get that little club?

And my poor son, he's looking at it, and I just had didn't have the guts.

Well, I didn't have it to like club this fish in front of him.

It was a big fish, and he's looking at this fish, and I pull up the club, and I just was like, you know what?

I can like smack it and you know do the club thing.

Or you can just let it sit out of its place, and within 30 seconds it was nearly dead.

That's how quickly we begin to shrivel up and pass away if we are removed from our place.

So people say, well, church, the house of God, it's a good thing.

It was all it's all right.

I can attend once a year, two times a year, once a month, you know.

No, you've got to be in your place.

If you want to thrive, if you want to move forward in your in your faith, and if you want to grow, if you want to uh expand.

So we find that place of flourishing.

It if you take humanity out of the place of the presence of God, all of a sudden, you watch how you begin to lose your peace, you lose your joy, you lose your sense of confidence, you lose your self of uh your self-identity.

All those things begin to drift away from you as you drift away from your place.

So, my challenge to you today comes from the scripture, and it says, come back to your place, and come back to your place and be planted in your place.

And that means something, and there's a resistance, and that's the consequence of the fall of humanity is that we end up at times resisting the things that cause us to flourish, and so we begin to resist the things, and the enemy begins to uh try to convince you that no, no, no, you'll be okay, you'll be flying to drift for a while, you'll be uh this is negotiable.

It's okay, you're going to school, you're in a different city, it's okay.

You're you've changed jobs, or hey, it's sunny outside, or it's smoky outside, whatever.

I'll stay indoors.

Remove yourself from that place.

But the first lie in the presence of God was in the scripture was is God's presence enough?

Like you start to believe that I can find my place in my work, I can find my place in my social, I can find my place with a different community, I can find my place something else, somewhere else.

It's what Adam and Eve experienced when they were in the garden, and they they came to that moment and they said, Is God's presence enough?

Or do I need something more?

Now God put Adam and Eve in a place where they would never die, where every one of their needs would be taken care of, every dream would come true, every reality and resource was available to them, and still humanity has that part in their life that says, I could use something more.

It's kind of insane.

It's like looking at your life, and you've got everything that you could ever need.

God walks with you, the creator, in the cool of the garden every day.

I'm sure there's something more out there.

And it's this lie you begin to believe that God's presence isn't enough.

I call it the Ariel syndrome.

How many of you know Ariel?

No, little red-headed princess from Disney, you know.

The princess, you know, Sebastian, the little yellow flounderfish, is trying to convince her.

You've got it good here, Ariel.

You're the king's daughter.

You've got everything around you, every resource.

And she looks at a hairbrush.

There's gotta be something more.

Feet.

I don't think that was the moral of the story there.

If I had feet, that would be enough.

But she looked at all these trinkets and she looked at all these things, and she looked at everything, and then she had this idea that there's got to be something more.

I was gonna sing you the song, but I'm not gonna do it.

Wandering free.

Wish I could be part of this world.

I like to see Disney's sequel.

Ten years later, she's in her house with her husband doing dishes.

He's on her last nerve, and she's like, My dad told me never to come up here.

I'm going where you'll never follow because I have gills.

It's always a weird thing for your wife to have gills, but always something more.

The human heart is never satisfied.

So the the enemy's convincing uh lie will be to make this church, isn't good enough.

There's another church down the street.

This place isn't good enough.

There's something more, there's always something more, something more, something more.

If you see that, go Ariel, throw on Ariel, the littlest mermaid or little mermaid, she's tiny.

But all these elements will keep you from flourishing in the place where you're planted.

Since creation, the creator, created and curated a place for you to flourish.

God planted Adam in that place, God planted you and I in that place.

He said, It's in my presence, you will grow.

You're flourishing, it's not gonna happen anywhere else.

It's not in the next neighborhood, it's not with the next car, it's not with the degree that you're gonna get, it's not with that new Botox injection, it's not gonna happen.

It's gonna happen because you're planted in the house of God.

There's a challenge with staying planted.

Uh my friends always uh I always I reach out to a few guys uh in my kinetic group, and I'm like, hey, tell me like summer's coming.

I love watching like something really fun on on Netflix, and they'll give me like some some show that I can watch.

And how many of you would admit or can admit, you know, you're in season, you're in episode six, and you've been sitting on the couch and you've been watching, and your eyes have been heavy, and then eating snacks, and you're like, Yeah, this is awesome, this is great.

And the person that you were watching watching the show with has fallen asleep two episodes ago, and and you start to drift off, and then you kind of open your eyes later, and Netflix has this very passive-aggressive, shaming message that they put on there.

Are you still there?

Has anyone seen that?

Are you still there?

Like, are you still there?

It's like well, and you realize that there was no interaction.

Netflix knew, like, we've just been rolling through episodes, and you need to get up.

Like, are you still there?

And the challenge for me is like, sometimes how many of you know that you can be in the room but not engaged?

Not paying attention, and there are times when you can be in the church, you can be in the place, but you're not planted in your place.

You're not engaged in your place.

And God's calling us, he says, you want to flourish.

I'll I'll I'll see this and I'll see the guarantee of what it looks like.

There'll be a showcasing in your life of what it looks like.

It says, Those who are planted in the house of the Lord, those who are engaged, they will flourish.

They'll grow in the courts of God.

There will be a response to your being planted.

You will grow.

Now, I could have commented to this message being all about flourishing.

It's very like trendy.

Let's grow.

It's a mastermind class on growth.

And everyone's like, Yes, we need that.

We need that.

I need to grow, grow, grow.

And it's interesting that the people chase the flourishing, they chase the growth, but the secret to growth is not focusing on growth, it's focusing on being planted.

So for me to be able to help you is not to be saying, okay, come on, you can grow, you can grow, you can grow.

I'm saying, get planted, get planted, get planted.

Put your roots down.

Join foundations class.

Get to know what our faith is all about.

Get to know other people, get connected.

Don't just come in the doors and leave the doors.

Get planted in the house of God.

And that will result in growth.

Growth is the byproduct of being planted.

So we remain planted and you will grow.

The scripture says, they shall flourish.

They shall, they will flourish in the courts of God.

How many?

The courts of God, it was a really interesting term.

I thought about this the other day as we were driving to the lake.

I was like, what do the courts of God mean?

Like, they'll flourish in the courts of God.

I know what it's like to be in the God's house, but what is the courts like?

How many of you know when you go to court and you're there and a judgment is being made?

And the Bible says, when you are planted in the house of God, you'll go to the courts where things have been taken from you, and the judgment will be you in favor for you, in favor for you, in favor, you'll flourish, you'll you'll be blessed.

Benefited in the courts of God.

How many of you have experienced a robbery in your life, in your years, in your health?

How many of you have experienced where the enemy is stolen from you, taken from you, robbed from you, destroyed from you?

And you say, I'm gonna go into the courts of God and I'm gonna wage suit against the enemy.

And he's going to, the Bible says, when you are planted in the house of God, you will benefit.

You will, the courts of God are gonna be in your favor.

In your life, what is the area that you've been robbed?

Allow God to do his work.

In a culture that is flourishing, the Bible says you will flourish like a palm tree.

Palm tree.

Palm trees are powerful, they're amazing.

I have a picture here of a palm tree in the middle of a hurricane.

Everyone else runs.

But the palm tree just decides to flex with the storm.

Everyone, when they think about in our Western culture, when they think of flourishing, they think, my pockets are gonna grow, my bank account is gonna grow, my fame is gonna grow, all these things are gonna grow.

But the Bible says your flourishing will be like, you'll be like a palm tree.

Anytime when there's an obstacle, when there's a wind, when there's a storm in your life, you will overcome that storm.

That's your flourishing.

When the enemy puts something in front of you, you'll just drive right through, you'll move your way through, you'll become strong, like the cedar in Babel Babel, uh cedar in Lebanon.

This strong wood, this hardy wood that's like you can build from, you'll have that.

And I've been, I've been through storms.

And how many of you can say that?

I've been through storms and I'm still standing.

How many of you can say that?

I need someone to testify today.

I've been through storms and I'm still standing.

I've been planted in the house of God, I've I'm flourishing in his courts, and I'm like a I'm like a palm tree, I'm like a cedar, and that the storms, I've been through storms, and I'm still flourishing because I've been in the house of God.

The Bible says you'll grow, you'll stay evergreen.

In your age, you'll grow older, but you'll stay young.

How many of you want that?

Oh Lord, come on.

If the enemy is fighting to keep you planted in things that are temporal, says, hey, you should just be planted in these things that are temporal, then why is he why is he fighting for you to remain planted in those temporal things?

Because he knows that if you're planted in the house of God, that's where you'll flourish and that's where you'll be blessed.

I know people who can struggle who struggle with uh plant being planted, and yet they can plant themselves on social, hours going through social, and the result of that is like more anxiety, more comparison, more concern and fear and distrust and and weakness.

And all those things are natural when you plant yourself in the wrong place.

When you're planted in the house of God, the word of God, the community of faith, it builds you, encourages you, supports you.

When there's prophecy and life is injected into you, you're filled with his presence, you're filled with his purpose.

The scripture said, uh the song said today, you begin to, I've I've witnessed his love.

You know what love does?

Love, perfect love casts out all fear and anxiety.

When you walk in God's love, and you know that you are loved by God, perfect love casts out all fear, all anxiety.

You can walk in that confidence, walk in that assurance that your life is his and his alone.

You ever wonder why people in Hollywood they they have everything and yet they still have anxiety, they still have fear, they still have loss, and uh you see it all the time.

It's because they haven't, they've planted their life in the wrong place.

Your roots are important, your root will bear the fruit, and God needs to build your root system first.

I asked my wife to bring me a seed and uh today, and how many of you know, you know, in our family, it's like she she serves at the coffee bar, so it's a coffee seed.

How many of you are thankful for the coffee bean?

Jehovah Java, our awakener.

He's there.

You know the seed is often when it's planted, it's planted in a in a dark place, it's covered.

It's often when the seed goes in the ground, it it's it you don't see it.

And some of you may be feeling like, you know, I've been I'm I'm planted, but I feel like I'm just on my own.

I don't feel seen, I don't see it.

I like I don't know what's going on.

I'm I'm covered.

I'm in that dark place.

And how many of you know that that dark place where you feel buried and sometimes overlooked or or forgotten?

It's where you're buried is where you're going to be planted, and that growth is going to happen.

But you know what happens first when a seed is buried in the ground?

It grows down first, it grows downward first before it grows up.

It needs to grow deep first.

And there's time in your life where you're going to be looking and saying, I've been planted, but I don't see the result, I don't see the effect, I don't see the fruit, but the fruit is going to come, but it takes time.

Uh it takes time.

Listen to Genesis chapter 8, verse 22.

Genesis 8:22

It says, as long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.

In other words, this is a principle that will not stop.

That it's going to be there are seed time and harvest.

Now, if you slow that down, a lot of people are like, seed time and harvest.

I'm gonna throw the seed out and harvest.

It's like a, I don't know what that looks like, but it's just like immediate.

You want it now.

But do you know what happens when you throw a seed in the ground?

It takes time.

You slow it down, seed, time, then harvest.

Seed, time, and harvest.

And you cannot rush this system because the roots need to grow down.

Root system before the fruit system.

Just for just an a clear idea of this, uh, we're in a in uh agricultural valley, an apple tree takes seven to ten years before it grows its first piece of fruit.

The system needs to be developed before the fruit.

Pears, six to ten years.

Peaches, three to five years.

Oranges, lemons, six to ten years, cherries, seven to ten years.

Figs, three to five years.

If you like figs, that's your best bet.

I'll come quick.

Avocados, how many of you love a good guac?

Ten to fifteen years.

You gotta wait for the seed.

Seed, time, harvest.

Seed, time, harvest, seed, time, harvest.

But I've been planted.

I've been planted, I've been here like three days.

I've been planted, I've been here like three weeks, three months, three years.

We've been planted.

KCC, the reason why we are doing things that that are are we're able to go farther than a lot of places have gone is because we've been planted here for 42 years.

42 years, and that planting makes a difference.

So if I was the enemy, can I see that plant a little bit, please, Natalie?

If I was the enemy, I would want to disrupt this process.

And I would want to try and convince each and every one of you.

You know what?

You need to get removed.

You need to take the plant out, and I hate doing this because how many of you like it's just a painful process for me because it's been planted.

And they said I could take it out of the pot.

But I honestly I feel bad taking it out of the pot because do you know what happens when I take it out of the pot?

It's gonna start dying.

It's like if I had a f I was gonna take a goldfish.

I was gonna take the goldfish out of the little bowl and just put it on the deck.

And I thought that would actually be memorable.

But there would be some of you who would be like calling castinet, and others, what is he doing?

It's so terrible what he did to that little goldfish as it flopped on the on the table and gasped, and its little lips came out.

Flounder, Sebastian, keep to.

No, I won't do it.

Because I love I I love that.

If I see the pain of even removing it from the place where it was planted is enough of a lesson.

I don't want to remove this plant.

Because if I remove it, it will die.

In the same way, in the same fashion, my reminder to you today is to know that God placed and created a place for you to grow.

That place is the house of the Lord.

Make it a non-negotiable, be a part of the big church.

When you see when you're on Saturday night and you're like, oh man, I can just hang out or I can go to bed and get up in the morning, go to God's house, go to bed and get up and come to the house of God.

Get planted, stay planted, stay connected, stay rooted, build roots, wait your time, build build deep before you go upward, go down, go down, be undercover.

You're like, well, I don't know if that's it's all part of the process.

It's uncovered, it's hidden, it's forgotten, people don't see it.

All the world, like God is doing his work.

And if you wait and you just relax and you just sit in the system, God will bring forth the fruit in your life.

Do you know that this whole Psalm 92?

This Psalm 92 is the Psalm of the Sabbath.

And it's what they would recite every Sabbath.

Because do you know what you don't do?

Is you don't go to a cherry tree and put your ear up to the cherry tree and hear it going, cherries, come on! It's not striving for a cherry to be grown.

You just gotta rest.

Because as soon as it's planted, it will grow.

There are vineyards all across Kelowna.

One of the vineyards just grows, and I was talking to the uh the people in charge of the vineyard, and they said, I said, you don't water this vineyard?

And they're like, no.

Well that's abnormal.

I think things need water.

He goes, no, the roots have been allowed to grow down to the point where they found their own water source.

And they pull the minerals up from that water source.

So I asked, I said, how far do those roots go down?

He said, You want to take a guess?

I'm like, eight feet?

That's pretty deep.

17, the size of this ceiling to floor.

300 feet.

300 feet, the roots go down, down, down.

But because of that, he was the only winery in the Okanagan where the wine was given to William and Kate's wedding.

It was the only wine served at their wedding.

And they served there, and they said it has flavors of like mango and all this kind of chocolate.

And I'm like, wow, that's crazy.

Because it went down 300 feet.

It's pulling from the richness of the soil, from 300 feet down.

God has a purpose and a plan for each and every one of you.

But the seed and the time of the harvest.

Amen.

Would you stand with me today?

I just want you to take a moment.

I'm gonna lead you, but it's gotta come out of your heart.

Is that you've got to say, Father, this is a season for me to stay planted and say, Yes, Lord, to being planted.

Would you just close your eyes between you and God today and just begin to take this moment and say, Lord, I choose to stay planted.

I choose to stay planted in your house.

I choose today to remain planted in your house, in your place.

I reject other places, and I say today that this is the place where I will grow.

And every good thing, every good gift, every good fruit will come because I've been planted in your house.

And so, Father, today I pray for not fruit, not flourishing, not any of those things.

Lord, I pray for roots.

I pray for deep, rich, uh, rich, uh, flavorful roots, roots that go deep today.

Father, that there may be a desire and a commitment and a boldness to say yes to you, and yes to your way, and yes to your place, and yes to your plan, and yes to you, Lord, and we will not be pulled up, we will not be uprooted, we will not listen to the enemy that would try and deceive us to rob, kill, steal, and destroy from us by moving us from point to point to point to point.

Father, today we say yes to you, yes to you, Lord, yes to your roots, yes to your covering, yes to your care.

You are the great shepherd, you are the great gardener, you take care of us, and we can trust in you in this season of this time of our life, Father, for roots in Jesus' name.

Hallelujah.

If that's you, could you just say yes, that's me?

Just say yes, just make that that agreement with God and that agreement with your community.

Yes, we're gonna grow, we're gonna grow together today.

Hallelujah.

If you're here today and you have never been able to put the root down because you weren't planted first in him, you don't know him.

I'm gonna give a moment here just for you to say yes to God, yes to the Lord, because in our life we can try and do things our own way, but it's God's way that will result in life.

It says that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father except through him.

And if you're here today, you've never had an opportunity to make Jesus your Lord and to serve him and welcome him into your life.

I want to give you a moment, just even now, as everyone's heads are bowed and eyes are closed, and just private between you and God and me, just so I can just see that.

Would you just raise your hand and say, I want to, I want to serve Jesus today.

I want to get rooted in him.

I see those hands, I see those hands on my right, I see them, I see those hands.

Thank you, Lord.

We're done with anxiety, we're done with fear, we're done with our own way, our own striving.

And we say, Father, we want to be planted in your place so that we can grow.

And so, if that's you, along with everyone else together, would you pray this prayer with me, just everybody together?

Um, just pray, Father, I come to you now, and I accept this free gift of salvation.

I believe today that you are the Lord, and I confess that I've gone my own way, and I'm making a decision today to choose you and to choose your way.

Would you forgive me and give me that eternal life and that gift of salvation to be mine in Jesus' name?

And Father, fill each one here with your spirit and confirm it with the love and the freedom, Lord, that you offer in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

If you made a decision today to follow Jesus for the first time, there's gonna be a number on the screen behind me, and we just encourage you to just text Jesus to that number, and we'll help you with those next steps.

How many of you know when you make that first step, you're just like that baby that's taking that first breath, and we want to be there with you.

So, would you just give a round of applause to the Lord for those for making that journey today?

Amen.