Growing Where God Plants You | Rooted | Pastor Harvey Feliciano

Foreign.

We are in a series called Rooted, and this is the third installment

of Rooted.

And, you know, Pastor Sandra opened us up.

Pastor Sandra, you might know her as Mama Moses.

Pastor Moses.

My kids call her Pastor Nana.

And she.

She gave them permission to call her that.

You can't call her that, but they can.

And she opened us up, and we had so many amazing leaders represented

last Sunday at every campus.

I was hearing testimonies of them just going off at every single

one of the campuses.

And I want to shout them out because they did amazing.

And I am grateful to be in a house that raises up leaders, that

pours into leaders and deploys them and raises voices.

And so, you know, I can't say enough of this house.

Of course I'm biased, but just so amazed to be here and speak on

Rooted, because that's one of the things that goes deep into my

heart and into my soul.

And, you know, I was thinking back to how we commenced this series,

and Pastor Sandra opened us up, and she just started, like, hopping

on stage.

Y' all remember that?

It was to the imagery to talk about church hoppers.

And I was like, I don't think anyone has ever done that before

from the stage.

And, you know, it just got me to thinking, because we do live in

a generation that celebrates movement, and we move from job to

job, and we move from city to city.

We move from church to church, and people move from relationship

to relationship, and we celebrate movement, but oftentimes

at the expense of commitment.

And, you know, we talk about rooted, you know, in this series,

particularly even rooted into the things of the Lord and rooted

into the local church.

It's not about attending.

It's not just about attending.

It's about covenant, and it's about actually coming together and

God, what do you have for me?

What are youe speaking to me?

Where do youo want me to move?

Where do youo want me to plant my feet?

And that's what this message is for.

This message is a call to deeper roots.

As I get into this.

And, you know, we plant seeds.

We don't plant seeds in the air, but it's roots that actually

hold us to the ground and the soil of life.

So I want to reference Psalms chapter 92, verse 13.

Psalms 92:13

And it says, they are planted where in the house of the Lord.

They flourish in the courts of our God.

And when you study New Testament, house of the Lord is oftentimes

referred to as the local church or the body or place of gathering

where they corporately got together.

And so the psalmist says, they are planted in the house of the Lord.

They flourish in the courts of our God.

And many of you have heard my testimony, but I'll give a quick

synopsis.

I've lived many, many, many years of my life attending church

and showing up and going to church.

But I was never really rooted in.

I was never really committed.

I was just showing up because in my mind that, you know, that was

all I had to do.

I was checking off the box.

I went to church today.

I knew of Jesus, but I didn't have a personal relationship with

him.

And it wasn't until that I decided to go deep.

God, where do you want me?

What do you want to do?

I'm ready to go into this process that I started to see a shift

in the atmosphere of my heart and in my mind.

And at that time, you know, I was spiritually dry and disconnected.

And those are the kind of things that we go through when we're

not rooted.

And I saw a shift in my home, a shift in my marriage, even a shift

at my workplace.

Something happens.

And there's a shift that happens in our life when we're actually

done with trying to do us.

And we actually open the door to say, God, whatever you want to

do.

I'm making the decision to go deep, to go out where you want to

plant me, where you want to develop me.

God, what do you want me to go?

And where do you want me to plant my roots?

But the first question I want to propose is, why do roots matter?

We're going through this series of rooted why?

Why do roots matter?

And so I want to Reference Colossians Chapter 2.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

If you're taking notes, and I urge y' all to take notes, we are

a church that takes notes.

And, you know, apostle says this all the time.

Don't just take my word for it, because I am man.

You take these notes and you go back home and you go deeper, you

dig deeper, and you allow God to minister in a special way.

So Colossians chapter 2, verses 6 to 7 says, Therefore, as

Colossians 2:6–7

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.

So why are roots important?

Roots are essential for strength, for stability, for development,

for growth.

Because trees can't bear fruit without roots.

And a lot of us walk in, and it's like, I want to walk in and

immediately just want to bear fruit.

Now, all the things that can be seen from the outside, but there's

no root.

And Sometimes we have to go through a process first of saying,

God, that my roots grow deep.

Where are my roots?

Develop my roots so that the fruit can be, can bear witness.

And so the challenge is that for many of us, whether you might

know it or not, our roots grow deep somewhere.

And for some of us, we're rooted in the wrong places.

Some of us, our roots can grow deep in pride, in rejection and offense,

in addiction.

And dealing with the symptoms or cutting the root from the surface

isn't going to deal with what's below the surface.

And a lot of us try and go on this journey to deal with the symptoms

of the sin.

If I can just stop doing this one thing, if I can stop that, then,

then I'll be good.

And then you find yourself constantly falling to the same things

because you're just dealing with surface level things.

But there's a deeper rooted problem.

You guys ever hear that phrase, deeper rooted issues?

Deeper rooted problems.

And so a lot of the times, like we can mow the weeds on the

top, but they're going to continue to grow back and multiply

if we actually don't do the work of getting dirty and digging

into the soil to reveal how deep those roots actually grow and,

and allowing God to reveal some things.

And if you're asking God, I'm ready to go on that journey, it's

not just going to be allowing him to move, but it's going to require

some things from you.

And he'll show you the path, but he's going to want you to have

to do the work and get your hands dirty to dig into that soil.

See, by simply saying yes to God, I don't think we realize that

there's going to be a call for us.

Cause some of us might have some things in our life that nobody

knows about.

And you think it's just me and God and you know, I'm working this

thing out with God.

Some of you might not even know the depths to what you're dealing

with.

And your process is gonna be asking God to continue to bring revel

revelation into your mind and your heart.

Lord, what is it that keeps tripping me?

What is it that I'm tied to reveal it so I know how to come against

it.

Father, I need you to just bear, just show the revelation.

I'm ready to go on this journey to go deep and dig up some

things.

But symptom management, we can't settle for symptom management

because surface change never transforms the depths of our soul.

And God wants to dig deep and replant you into truth.

But you first have to go into the process of getting dug up to

be replanted.

I don't know if many of you know this when.

When you replant something, it goes through a shock season because

it's still trying to get used to its environment.

And that what you thought was going to give you fruit, that first

year doesn't bear fruit.

And it might not bear fruit a second year.

And it might be more than years, but that uprooting and replanting

might take some time because it's not your time, it's God's time.

And there's a process we got to go through to say, God, I feel

you're.

You're replanting me somewhere.

And I gotta get to go deep in with these people, get to know who

they are.

They're actually for me, and get used to the environment.

There's a shock season, but all we want to do is come in and

bear fruit from the forefront.

But God wants to put us through a process.

When God replants, see, he never takes away, he replaces.

And that's why God isn't just gonna uproot you and leave you abandoned,

but he'll replant you somewhere.

But it's up to us to make the decision to say God.

You start arguing with God.

Is this really where you want me?

I know this is where I'm at.

What do I do from here?

And we start wrestling with God.

Mess around and break a hip.

Wrestling with God.

I'll tell you what, if you know your Bible, but the local church

is God's garden.

Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 16.

Ephesians 4:16

From who?

The whole body joined and held together by every joint with which

it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body

grow so that it builds itself up in love.

See, God did not make you for isolation.

Isolation is not of God.

God made us to be in communion.

You go back to Genesis and God made us perfect.

And the Bible says that God walked with man.

And we were made to be in communion with God and in community

with God.

He didn't make you to be isolated.

But it's so easy for us to walk in and see everybody serving

in a different area.

And it's like, no, no, no, they don't need me.

I'm not gonna join the team.

I'm just gonna come.

I'll sit, receive.

What does God have for me?

And leave.

And God's asking, I want to see what you have for me.

You're coming.

Okay, let's see if it's good today.

What can I receive today and take with me?

And God's asking you to come to his house and give what you have

to his feet and pour it out.

How are you building his kingdom?

Why do you think that the moment you feel offended, you want

to isolate.

The moment you feel rejection, you want to run.

And it's like, I don't.

I don't want to talk to nobody today.

I'm not going to go because I don't want to see those people today.

I don't want to hear what they have to say.

And he fights so hard to isolate.

Why?

Because it's easier to pick you off.

It's easier to pick you off when you're isolated and alone.

Isolation is not what God created us for.

You grow best in relationship.

You grow best when you're seen.

You grow best when you're known.

And you grow best when you're held accountable.

And a lot of people don't like to hear that.

Nah, nobody's gonna call me out.

You tell me what I need to do, I'll do it even less.

That was me.

That was me.

My marriage was not perfect.

And the more you ask me to do something, I ain't gonna do it.

I'll do it when I want to do it naturally.

Why?

We're born into sin, but we grow in the midst of community.

When God places leaders and group facilitators that's gonna walk

it through with us, Walk through with it with us, pray with

us, give us wise counsel, the leaders that God has placed before

us.

It's like, you know, past.

I just.

I need some wisdom in this area.

We don't go around, we go up.

The things that you go through, you don't take it around

and start spreading it with those around you.

You start taking it up to the leaders that God placed before you.

And God will use those leaders to share wise counsel.

And we won't make your decision for you, but you go on that

journey with God.

That's why we have to always be like the farmer with our hands

at the plow, doing the work, digging into the soil with evidence

of being dirty, of having to do the work.

Digging in the ground ain't easy.

Hard ground.

You need heavy machinery in a lot of these.

The farms, they use heavy machinery because the ground has

been impacted with the stomping of, you know, all these

different things.

But what happens is that when we allow God to grow us, and it's

like, God, use me.

Where do you want Me, I'm ready to do whatever you will of

me.

And then he gives you a task, and it's like, wait, wait, wait,

wait.

That's not what I wanted to do.

That's too hard or that's too messy, or I've already come that

area in my life.

I'm above that, dare I say it.

But what happens is that in those moments, God will use you to

pull weeds, to plant seeds, and to water someone else's breakthrough

when you yourself are waiting for your own breakthrough.

And that's why we run from wanting to serve people, because

we're in need ourself.

God, you know, I've been petitioning for this from you.

You know, I need healing in my body.

How am I gonna pray for healing in someone else's body?

I need help in my marriage.

I need help at my job and my circumstance.

But God wants to use your yes to see, let me see the faith that

they have to say, God, wherever you want to place me, I

will worship you.

Well, grow my faith in you.

But we don't want to do that hard work because it's messy and

it's hard.

But that's where fruit is developed.

That's where fruit is made.

And you want to bear fruit without doing the work of getting

your roots down deep.

So is fruit what we want to bear?

Because we have to abide to bear fruit.

We have to abide in the areas of God, in his word and in community.

And Lord, build me up.

I want to talk about nourishment, because nourishment

is crucial not just for planting, not just for the roots

to grasp its roots down.

But those roots eventually will get to a depth where they reach

the water.

And now they have to grow out for stability.

They have to grow down and out to be able to withstand all that's

going to come for it.

So nourishment is what's going to feed that.

But you know what nourishment is.

Nourishment comes through connection.

Hebrews chapter 10, verses 24 and 25.

Hebrews 10:24

Listen to these key words and let us consider how to set up, to

stir up one another, to love and good works, 25 not neglecting

to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one

another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Now, can someone grow on their own?

Can they grow by themselves?

To a certain extent.

But you need nourishment to continue to go deep and go out.

You need nourishment to be able to feed those nutrients that

are Going to make it healthy.

Nourishment comes from fellowship, prayer, discipleship,

correction, and encouragement.

And in the church, we have a lot of people that are spiritually

malnourished.

Not because you don't love God.

You love God.

But we have people spiritually malnourished because they're disconnected

from Christ and the body that he's placed before them.

Because nourishment comes not from yourself, but abiding into the

community that God will pour into you.

And people want to come in and show how great of a leader I am,

because they've been through some things, and maybe somewhere

else they were leading, and they come in, I just want to lead.

Let me prove myself.

And they're striving, and they're trying to get some things

done.

Let me show you that I can lead people.

Let me show them the talents I have, the talents that God gave me.

And we're trying to see, you might be a great leader, but can

you submit?

You're trying to show how great of a leader you are, but can

you submit?

Can you submit to the discipleship pathways that are in

place?

Can you submit to the groups that are there?

Can you submit to the process?

Can you submit to the leaders that the Lord has already placed

before you?

Your time will come in God's time.

But a lot of times we're trying to bear fruit with rotten

roots.

And God is trying to take us on a journey to make sure we got

healthy roots in place so that when we actually bear fruit, it's

not just for ourselves, but we can minister to others.

And we're always declaring, God, use me.

I want to be a golden vessel for your glory.

If you could use anybody, use me.

But when he gives that assignment, it's like, wait, wait,

wait.

Not.

Not that, though, you know, they.

They must not know the talents I have that God gave me.

I don't want to do that.

And they want the microphone, but not pick up the toothbrush.

That's a V1 college reference.

If y' all didn't get that in Rowan V1.

But every time you say yes to the enemy, you say no to your destiny.

And you were never meant to maintain that fire alone.

I was in V1 youth a couple of weeks ago, and one of the youth said,

you know, I feel God is putting coals in each of us, and

we bear fire.

And you're not meant to bear that fire alone, because even through

the local church.

Church and discipleship, we show.

How do you fan that flame?

How do you tend to it?

How do you feed it?

2nd Timothy 1:6 says, Fan into the flame.

What?

The gift of God, which is in you.

And what we have today is a lot of encounter chasers or church

hoppers or, where's the revival right now?

Where's revival happening?

I need to go there.

I need to jump over here.

Revival's over there.

And it's like, where's the closest place that I can travel to

still make it?

And we become encounter chasers and those.

Those events and those.

That's not the problem.

The problem is that if you're not encountering God at home and

you're living off of the encounters of these events, you got

to learn how to tame that in your own home, in the private place.

And I see a lot today that there's a lot of revival hunters

or encounter chasers.

And, you know, they're jumping, jumping, jumping.

Then they'll come into the local church, and it's like, isn't

this amazing?

I got this fire in my living room, in the middle of my living

room, and it's big and it's tall and it's hot.

Isn't this amazing?

It's great.

And then a leader will come in.

The local church comes in.

It's like, this is amazing.

But.

But let's take that fire that's in the middle of the living

room and let's put it into the fireplace where it'll sustain.

And they get offended, and it's like, wait, wait, wait, wait,

wait.

Because if you put this into the fireplace, you're gonna smother

the fire down.

That's not what I need.

Oh, no, they get offended because it's like they're just trying

to quiet those talents God put in me, and they get offended.

And, yes, they even leave the church.

But no, what the church tried to do was disciple and correct you

to tend to the flame so that it goes far.

If you want to go fast, you go alone.

But if you want to go fast, far, we go together.

And when we go together, there's some things we learn from

each other.

And God's going to teach you how to chop the wood, keep a backstock

of the firewood, how to tend to it, how to feed that fire.

Because what happens is you become so blindsided that by the

time you take a step back, you didn't even realize that that wildfire

burned down the house, and now you can't make it to the next event.

Now you have no roof and you have no covering, and you're left

exposed to the one that First, Peter says, is prowling around looking

for someone to devour.

In the words of Pastor Moses, get out of here with that junk.

We're trying to develop and empower you in such a way that you'll

be able to run the race to the end and you learn how to sustain

and feed that fire for the long run.

But I'm going to keep it real with y'.

All.

There's no running away from the storms.

We're going to go through some things and the storms are not optional.

And they're not if they're when.

Some of you might be in the middle of the worst storm you've

ever faced in your life, others of you might be at the cusp

of entering that storm.

You will face the storm.

I'll keep it real, but I'll also let you know that in the midst

of the storm, it's the roots that will determine whether you can

endure it to the end.

It's the roots that will determine that no matter how hard

the storm is going to hit, will you be able to sustain to the

end, to go up into the next level?

First Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 26.

1 Corinthians 12:26

If one member suffers, all suffer together.

If one member is honored, all rejoice together.

See, shallow Christianity looks good on Instagram.

Shallow Christianity looks good for a moment, but when it's

shallow, it won't sustain.

It looks good on the outside, but under the ground, it's weak.

And when things start to happen, when there's betrayal, when

the storm hits, when someone comes against them, there's no one

to talk to.

And then you really start to see the strength of the roots that

are beneath.

And there's no one to lean on.

Because hard times don't grow isolation.

Hard times grow church.

And people fail to realize that because when they go through

something, a hard time is when they want to isolate.

But hard times grows the church because you're not meant to

do life alone.

The Bible says when you suffer, we suffer.

We're in this thing together.

We're here to.

To provide resources.

We're here to pray with you, to.

To pray for.

For you.

And if you don't allow your roots to go down and out, we can't

have an intricate root system to bear the storm together.

Cuz even the tallest trees, when their roots are weak, will fall.

See Pastor Exica.

For those who follow Pastor Exa, shout out Pastor Exa in Long

Island.

Come on.

She shared a photo on social media last week.

And she said it was a windless night.

And a tree that looked tall and it looked wide and it looked

strong fell over in a.

In a windless night.

Why?

Because even a tree that looks sturdy and strong on the outside,

with weak roots, will not withstand what comes against it.

And you need church family to hold you up when you can't stand

on your own.

See, in a tree grove, even here in Miami, there's palm tree

farms.

And when the hurricane hits and the storm hits, you tend to see

the trees that are on the perimeter that fall down, but within

the grove, they're always standing strong.

Why?

Because there was an intricate root system where each tree interlocked

with each other.

And it doesn't matter if you get blown to the left, you get blown

to the right.

When something comes straight on from the front or from the back,

when your roots are intertwined with those around you

in church, family, and in community, you'll stay standing to

the end.

Because together we go far for what God has for us.

But to bear fruit.

To bear fruit comes from remaining.

To bear fruit comes from staying.

And it's not an easy process because the flesh is weak.

But to bear true fruit comes from remaining.

John 15.

5.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.

For apart from me, you can do nothing.

Fruit is not produced by striving.

Fruit is not produced by the works.

There's nothing you can do.

There's like, I just gotta show them everything I can do.

I just got to be able to do everything that I feel God is calling

me to, but it's not.

You can't bear the fruit by striving or by your works.

You bear fruit by staying, staying in his word, staying in prayer,

staying in community, staying through the offense, staying through

the correction, staying when it's easier to run.

Fruit doesn't appear overnight, but trees connected into

the vine will never go barren.

And you might be in a shock season where you're here and it's

like, God, I'm rooted.

I've been rooted.

But you might be going through a process in God's timing before

you could bear fruit.

Are you abiding into the process that God has been putting

you on?

Because the fruit that you bear is not just for you.

The fruit that you bear is for those around you.

You become shade to the weary.

You become nourishment for the hungry.

You become strength for the weak.

Even when you're looking for strength for yourself, Church, you

can stand to your feet.

I feel God is Talking to some of us today, some of us have been

rooted and we're questioning, how deep do my roots actually go?

Others might be questioning, was I ever rooted to begin with?

See, rooted people move in powerful obedience.

And you can ask, what?

What is it that I need to give up?

What is it that I need to do?

But the Bible is very clear that obedience is greater than sacrifice.

And if God has called you to something, if God has called you

to join something, and you are not abiding into what God has called

you for, the most dangerous place you can be is not the worst

area in some city of the world, but the worst place you can

be is outside of God's will.

And if there's somewhere he wants you to abide in and you're

fighting with God, go back to that word.

Luke 5:5 says, Master, we've toiled all night and caught nothing

Luke 5:5

but nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.

Nevertheless is the word of a rooted disciple nevertheless is the

word that we declare nevertheless is the word that we

have to adopt into our lives, into every scenario that we are in.

Learn to declare nevertheless over your circumstance it's what

you say when you're tired but still trusting it's what you say

when you're broken but you're still believing nevertheless is what

gets you to dig again, pray again, to try again, to serve again

nevertheless this would lift you up from the circumstance and

the weight that you were never supposed to carry the burden that's

on your shoulders but nevertheless, God, I give it to you

I carry your yoke for it is light and I will abide in your word

and where you want me to be when the diagnosis is not what I

hoped for Nevertheless I will worship when my prayers haven't been

answered yet Nevertheless I will keep praying when the job didn't

come through Nevertheless I trust in Jehovah Jireh, the provider

when the betrayal cut deep nevertheless I choose forgiveness

When I feel unseen and overlooked Nevertheless I know God

sees me When I'm tired from the weak Nevertheless I show up and

bring my worship When I've been hurt in church before Nevertheless

I will not let my pain disconnect me from God's plan Everybody

here and everybody at every campus and every revival home is

going through something and I might not know specifically or personally

what you're going through or the circumstance that you're in but

when you declare nevertheless over that circumstance there's something

that shifts in the atmosphere of your mind Something that shifts

in the atmosphere of your Heart.

And no matter what was bringing you down, declaring nevertheless

carries you into his glory and his fire will come and see.

Consume the sacrifice when you give it to him.

Learn to declare nevertheless over the circumstance and watch what

God will use behind your yes, your nevertheless is the beginning

of your breakthrough.

And there's breakthrough at every location.

There's breakthrough in the room.

But it's when we learn to go low and allow for him to go high,

when we allow that our circumstance is not who we are or

our identity.

And we say, God, we declare you over the circumstances.

I don't know how I'm going to get out of it, but I know he who

is the miracle worker.

I know he who can deliver me.

I know he who can bring the healing.

I know he who can provide in a moment of need.

And you start to declare nevertheless, I abide in you.

Nevertheless, I'll show up because I'm covenanted.

I'm not just showing up to show up, but I'm covenanted to you.

God nevertheless is the bridge between disappointment and destiny.

And a lot of us live our life in a moment of disappointment and

circumstances of disappointment.

And declaring nevertheless is the bridge that mends the gap from

disappointment to the destiny that God has for you.

Church, I don't know what you guys are going through, but I'm going

to ask that you raise your hands in believing that God's about

to work something in your life, that God's about to shift something.

He's about to shift an atmosphere and a mindset that when

you start to abide in covenant with what God has placed before you,

something changes.

And God will send people into your life that are going to raise

you up and develop you.

But you got to be able to say, God, I'm going to allow that my roots

go deep before you can actually bring the fruit into my

life.

I might be in a shock season, but, God, you're going to.

You're going to change something in me.

If you're believing that.

Raise your hands at every location and align your faith with

mine as we declare.

Father God, we pray that you encounter every scenario, every circumstance

that we are facing.

We believe that you are the almighty God, the alpha and the Omega.

And Father, we just plead that you intercede that you actually encounter

into every scenario, that you strengthen our faith where we lack

faith, that you plant us deeper that you plant us deeper into

the things of you, that you give us the strength, spirit of nevertheless,

when it's easier to run, Father God, that we declare nevertheless

when the flesh wants to run.

When the flesh wants to stay home.

When the flesh wants to isolate that, we dig in.

Help us to build your church and not just attend it.

Father, I give you my life to use as a golden vessel that my re.

My roots go deep and out as you develop me church.

If you believe that, can we just plead amen?