Planted To Flourish - Part 1

Welcome to the Lone Start Church Podcast.

Pastor Z and Nicole Ray are here to share the Word of God with you each week, helping you grasp the fullness of God's plan for your life.

We hope you'll be blessed by this week's message.

If you live in Northwest Missouri or Southern Iowa, we invite you to join us in person on a Sunday morning.

For more information about us, visit our website at poststartch.org.

Or find us on Facebook, Instagram, or we've talked about vision uh the last few weeks, and and Nicole mentioned uh a scripture about being planted.

And uh it's something I've I've uh mentioned before over the years, and it's actually a message uh that I'll be teaching off of that uh Pastor Caleb Moran uh shared with me uh years ago.

And uh I think it's good because we need to understand the importance of being planted into a local church.

Yes.

And uh let's go to Psalm 92.

We're gonna look at verses 12 through 14 here.

And look at can we go back to the New King James, please?

Uh but but look at what the psalmist writes here, what God says through through the psalmist.

And and he he says, the righteous, well, who's who's the righteous?

Us.

Right?

If you're born again, the Bible says you have been made the righteousness of God through Christ.

Yes, right?

Righteous is simply a uh a biblical term that means right standing.

You get born again, you now how many know when you get born again, you go from being the enemy of God to being uh a child of God.

You have right standing with God.

So when it says the righteous, right, that means uh us.

Everybody say righteous means me.

Righteous means me.

Means you.

So look at what it says about the righteous.

Don't you think you should pay attention to the verses that are talking about you?

Yeah.

The righteous shall what?

Flourish like a palm tree.

He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

I mentioned the uh Hadtabals are over in Beirut, Lebanon, missionaries this church supports.

Uh Matt, I was I I saw them uh in January down at in Louisiana at Pastor Mark.

They they've got these little pins that are uh cedar trees because the cedars in Lebanon are still there.

How many know when God says you're gonna grow like a cedar in Lebanon, he knew they'd still be there thousands of years later, still growing, still strong.

Righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Next verse, verse 13.

Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.

Planted where?

In the house of the Lord.

Talking about being planted in a local church.

Those people will flourish in the courts of our God.

Verse 14.

They shall still bear fruit in old age.

Y'all still think you're young, don't you?

No one amen that.

They shall be fresh and flourishing.

Three times, three verses, we see the same word, flourish.

When's the last time someone walks up to you and says, Hey, how you doing today?

And you go, flourishing.

How's your week?

Flourishing.

Some of y'all need one of those uh words of the day calendar.

Expand your vocabulary a little bit.

Do you think that would do you think people would be like, what do you mean flourishing?

Everything's just going good.

Well, flourishing like what?

Like a palm tree.

You say palm tree, especially people in Missouri.

I mean, you think good times?

You you hear palm tree.

Man, I'm just flourishing.

I'm bearing fruit in my old age.

I'm still fresh, right?

They shall be fresh.

I'm still still fresh, still good, right?

I'm not expired, still doing well.

Who who flourishes?

The one that's planted in the house of the Lord.

Right?

The one that's planted in the house of the Lord, they're the ones that flourish.

Uh, the new living says they're transplanted to the Lord's own house.

Right?

Being transplanted.

Uh we we we know the scripture says that that uh we've been translated into the kingdom of light from the kingdom of darkness.

But the thing is, according to scripture, if you want to flourish in life, you have to be planted in the house of the Lord.

Anything you plant, you desire what?

For it to grow.

Not just one season, but throughout all seasons.

My grandma, my grandma Craven, she's the only grandparent I ever had.

The others all had all passed away before I was born.

And uh, my grandma Craven came to live with us for a little bit when I was little, and uh my mom had to go back to work and she came and kind of nanny'd me a little bit, definitely babied me a whole lot.

Uh but my grandma uh loved plants, houseplants.

In fact, my mom said that my grandma Craven had a green thumb.

My mom said that she had a brown thumb because my mom liked to kill houseplants, but my grandma, boy, she could grow any of them, right?

And they just flourish.

You'd go to her house and they'd just be huge and big, and she'd be repotting and taking and giving to grandkids and stuff.

She she gave all of us grandkids.

I I remember I had in my room for a long time, uh a little uh violet, right?

And get those little purple flowers, and was in the windowsill of my room.

But she was always she was always growing stuff and doing things, right?

I know things that are planted should grow.

Things that are planted should should flourish.

Amen.

Look at this Psalm 27, verse 4.

Psalms 27:4

We're gonna go through a couple other psalms here real quickly.

Praise the Lord.

Listen to what the psalmist says here, Psalm 27, 4.

It says, One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, right, and to inquire in his temple.

What did the psalmist say?

He said, You know one thing I desire?

To just dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Psalm 23, 6.

I like this one.

He says, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

He says, I'm gonna make God's house the place I dwell.

What's talking about?

It's talking about being planted somewhere.

Not talking about just breezing through somewhere, right?

It's dwelling, right?

To dwell means to live in a specified place.

And the thing is, until something is planted, it can't grow roots properly.

And until it gets roots, it can't bear fruit.

Right.

How many know the Bible says one of the first actually the first thing he told Adam and Eve to do, he said, uh, be fruitful and multiply.

Right?

He said, Be fruitful and multiply.

So guess what?

We're supposed to be doing things.

There's supposed to be production coming from us, there's supposed to be fruit coming from us.

But you can't get there if you don't have roots, and you can't get roots unless you're planted.

So the first thing you have to do is you've got to be planted, and and you know uh what that means is you've got to choose not just to attend a church, but to say, This is my church.

Yes.

I'm planted there.

I'm gonna plant myself in that place.

And and the uh the amazing thing about planting yourself somewhere is is that you make number one, you need to see God where you're supposed to be planting.

But number two, then once you know where you're supposed to be planting, you've got to choose to plant yourself.

It it it it it is I've I I've said this before.

If if you've never been offended by someone at church, then you've never gone to church.

Everyone at some point's probably been offended by someone at some church, went went somewhere.

Uh, I remember when I was on the road when I used to travel when I was young.

Uh I was talking to a guy the other day, a young guy, and and he's traveling right now.

He's he's doing some uh electrical lineman work and he's traveling.

I said, Boy, I was about your age when I was doing that.

It's hard for me to believe that because Bo's like that age, and I was that age, just you know, getting in a F-250 and driving all over the country or flying somewhere.

And I'm like, I can't believe, you know, it's it's just it's crazy to think about.

But I I got to the place I'm like, boy, I need to be in church when I'm on the road.

And so that was for the days of the internet, and I just pull up and and I if I saw a church near my hotel, I'd just go to church there.

And uh I went to one church, and boy, they were not nice.

They they weren't.

I was in uh North Carolina and I walked into church, and you would have thought that I don't know what they thought I did, but I just I was dressed kind of like this.

I had a pair of jeans on and like a polo shirt, and they were all in like suits and ties and fancy dresses, and it wasn't Easter or anything, right?

It's just a normal Sunday in the summer, and boy, they all just everyone looked at me, no one said a word, and I just kind of walked in and sat down by myself.

And that service, the pastor was gone.

Uh, they had a missionary from Russia that spoke.

I I remember I still I find the notes every once in a while when I look through uh some of my old notes.

And uh he's the only one that talked to me after that service.

Not another person talked to me when I left that church.

Uh I wasn't gonna live there, so I I didn't say planted there.

I I found another church the next Sunday.

But what I thought about was this sometimes you you go to a church, you expect something, and maybe you don't get what you were expecting, and you get offended.

But if you know that's where God's called you to go, you've got to be planted there, right?

You're gonna show up some Sunday and someone's gonna be in your pew.

And you can't get can't get all upset about it, be like, no, no, no, no, no.

I don't think, Truman, I don't think these people know who I am, but that is my pew.

And and and you're the fella that's supposed to get people out of my pew.

Well, well, what it's okay if you guys sit somewhere new.

That's right.

It's okay if someone takes the last bagel.

Usually we have more.

Right?

It's a you you you you you just so many people get offended, and where they're supposed to be planted, they just pull up roots and go somewhere else.

Or what most people do is they just quit going to church altogether.

Here's I'm gonna tell you this right away.

There are gonna be things that happen in church, whether this or any other church where you're supposed to be, that will give you opportunity to be offended.

I don't know, you cannot be offended unless you take offense.

You cannot be offended unless you take you ever had people walk up to you and if they say something like this, hey, no offense, but get ready, because the next thing they say is gonna be offensive.

If someone says no offense, but hey, no offense, but I hate your haircut.

Hey, no offense, but you smell a little.

Hey, no offense, but I don't like the the look of your face.

Right?

Get ready to be offended.

If someone says no offense, but there's there's something offensive.

But you you can choose not to take offense.

That's right.

I've had people say some horrible things to me.

There is a uh there's a kid at school that uh he'll say just about anything.

Lucy knows what I'm talking about.

Right, and he'll say, I remember one time I'm not I won't even go there.

Uh one time I walked into my mom's house, and there was a guy I hadn't seen for a long time.

He had worked for uh Don, mom's husband, and I hadn't seen him for a few years.

And I walked in and he looked at me and he goes, Hey, CF.

I go, hey.

He goes, Boy, you sure put on some weight.

I said, I've also lost a little hair.

Anything else you want to point out?

Like, I said, you get done with me and then I'll start with you.

How about that?

I got a few things I'd like to say about you.

I didn't, and I did, and I did not.

Uh it did bother me a little.

I'm still talking about today.

But I still sit down and visit with the guy, right?

I didn't just walk up, slap him, and walk out.

I wanted to.

But you know, I mean, if if if if nothing's ever, you've if you've ever been in church, you've you've had opportunity to take offense.

Whether it's something the pastor did, something someone else did, uh, you know, pastor mentioned Abby's birthday.

He that's my birthday today, too.

He didn't mention my birthday.

Well, she's our youth pastor.

You you become our youth pastor, and we'll mention your birthday.

You've got to choose to be planted.

And when you choose to be planned, you've got to choose.

I am here no matter what.

Right.

It it goes back to like I'm planted right in my covenant relationship with my wife, Nicole.

And I'll never forget.

I will never forget the night I asked for her hand in marriage.

I was a little afraid of her dad for a while.

You gotta remember, you gotta remember at the time, you know, he's what's funny is he's like what I am now, age-wise.

He was benching 405 pounds, and he was a quiet guy, so he didn't say a lot.

So he was scary.

I was not benching 405 pounds.

I don't know, right?

I was just like, and then I ask.

After hours of waiting, I ask.

And he gives approval.

Then he looks at us across that kitchen table, dining room table.

He goes, just so you know, divorce is not an option.

I look at him, I go, yes, sir.

I'm like, boy, that man will rip my arms off and beat me with them.

I don't you just got one leg now, he'd have to catch me.

But I still, right?

You that's just something I remember, right?

Well, what what was he saying?

You're planted in this relationship.

Well, same thing with church, right?

You you you gotta realize I'm planted.

Is this where I'm supposed to be planted?

I've got to choose to be planted there.

Let's go to Psalm uh chapter one, verse three.

Psalm 1-3, and it says, He, right, shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

Right, we know God, right?

Holy Spirit is referred to like rivers of living water.

Rivers of water that brings forth his fruit in his season, whose leaf also shall not wither.

Whatever he does shall prosper.

Well, that sounds good, doesn't it?

Yes.

Boy, you you plant yourself where God wants you, there's rivers of living water that will sustain your spirit, that will help you grow spiritually, that will take you places you couldn't go on your own.

Because some people be like, no, no, no, man.

I just need me and a Bible and Jesus.

That's all I need.

I just need that.

Well, the Bible, right, in Hebrews says, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together.

Yeah.

What's the Bible say?

The Bible says you need more than just you, a Bible, and Jesus.

You need people, you need a shepherd, right?

Jesus in the uh New Testament, in the gospels, he said, uh, look at those people.

Look how sad those people are.

They're like sheep with no shepherd.

You need a shepherd, need a church, need a family.

Amen.

You need a river of living water that's coming forth from the place God's told you to be planted that's going to help you bring forth your fruit in season, where your leaf doesn't wither, where everything you do prospers.

How you doing, boy?

Everything I do prospers.

Can you imagine meeting someone that talks like that?

Boy, how you doing, Pastor?

Everything I do just turns to gold.

Everything I do just prospers.

You think that would offend some people if you said that?

But God says that's how you're supposed to live your life.

That's right.

Boy, everything I do just prospers.

Boy, look at that guy.

Everything he does prospers.

Why?

Because he's planted.

Where?

Where he's supposed to be planted.

Rivers of living water feeding that root system.

Going into that tree, producing fruit, keeping its leaves from withering.

Right?

You get planted in the right church, you're planted in the right river.

Some people, right, planted in a desert by themselves, that tree's not going to do anything.

Some people, right, instead of being planted where they're supposed to be planted by the river, they're planted over a septic tank.

What's feeding your roots?

That'll paint a picture.

Because if you're in the right church, then you're getting the right food, the right spiritual food, and that's what's right.

Remember when Miracle Girl came out?

Just throw Miracle Girl on that thing.

How do you get tomatoes like that?

Miracle Girl.

That's it'll make anything grow.

Right?

I went home and started putting it on my head.

No, if you're planted where you're supposed to be, there'll start to be fruit.

Start to be growth.

You'll start to see some things change in your life.

Thing we have to understand, right?

Uh, you you think about this.

When a a seed, right, a plant comes from a seed, right?

And a seed has to be planted in order for any of these other things to happen.

Right?

There's no leaves, there's no fruit without it being what?

Planted.

You can go to Walmart right now.

I was there the other day.

You can walk by and they've got the big thing, and there's all what?

Seeds in those envelopes, right?

Whether it's for vegetables, fruit, flowers, whatever it is, there's there's seed in those things.

Go back a month from now and tell me if there's tomatoes growing in that aisle, if there's corn growing in that aisle.

If there's apple trees growing in that aisle.

Nope.

Flowers growing, nope.

Why not?

Never been planted.

So what's in those packets, right?

Seeds in those packets.

But but what really is there?

Potential.

Yes.

Potential.

Potential corn, potential green beans, potential tomatoes, potential flowers, potential.

But that potential never gets realized if what?

If it's never planted.

Got to be planted for that potential to get realized.

There's a lot of Christians that don't go to church or aren't in the church they're supposed to be, that are what?

They're just a whole lot of potential.

That never produce anything.

Why?

Because they've never taken the time to plant themselves into a church and be where God's told them to be.

The amazing thing is, and Nicole mentioned this and reminded me of it uh earlier, Kenneth Copeland, I heard him say this years ago, that there are people that will move across the country for a job or to go to school or to do something.

But that should never be the reason you move across the country or move somewhere.

He goes, you know where you should move?

Where you're supposed to go to church.

That means there are people in other states that possibly are supposed to be going to church alone star that are in the wrong state.

In the wrong state, planted in the wrong place.

Why?

Because the most important thing you have in your life, in your family's life, is where you go to church.

It's where you're fed, where you receive spiritually, where you're tapped into spiritually.

Most important thing.

That'll affect everything else.

It'll affect your job, it'll affect your kids, it'll affect everything else.

Why?

But because that's where your pastor is, or that's where your kids' youth pastor is, or that's where your kids' children's ministry is.

And if you don't have the right shepherd, you don't have the right church, then guess what?

You'll never produce the fruit you could have produced.

And you'll always wonder, why are we not doing what I believe should be happening in our life?

Because you're not in the right place.

You decided to plant yourself somewhere because you like the weather, because it was close to family or it was far away from family, whatever it is.

Right?

Fruit comes from a plant, a plant comes from a seed, and a seed has to be planted for any of that to happen.

Right?

When a seed is planted in the ground, we call it germination.

Right?

Germination is the process in which a seed changes from a state of dormancy, right?

Just a seed to something that's growing and living.

So all those seeds that aren't planted, what are they?

They're dormant.

There are a lot of Christians, their life is dormant.

They're not flourishing, they're not producing fruit.

Why?

Because they're not planted.

How do I get planted?

It's not just going to church.

Right.

It's not just saying, oh, I go to church there.

Right?

I always tell the story, Nicole.

This was years ago, so so it's no one in here.

And uh years ago, she was talking to someone and uh they were having some problems, and Cole's like, you know what you really need to do?

You need to get in church.

And I know that sounds like a glib answer for ministers or Christians to say, but honestly, just going to church can answer some of your questions, can solve some of your problems.

I've had I've had people come up and say, Hey, Pastor, can you pray for me?

I I usually tell them, I said, uh, unless it's just something drastic and and and needs addressed immediately.

This is what I usually tell them.

I said, I'll tell you what, you show up three Sundays in a row, and if you don't hear from God during those three Sundays, I said, Boy, I'll meet with you and we'll pray and we'll we'll take care of it.

You know what I find?

A lot of people just show up and God speaks to them, they hear and they're like, I don't even need to talk to you more, Pastor.

I heard from God.

Holy Spirit, just talk to me in the middle of your sermon.

So she's talking to this lady and she says, What you really need to get in church.

She goes, Oh, yeah.

She goes, With work and everything, I I really haven't been able to go.

She goes, but I'm I'm going back to my church.

I got a church.

Nicole goes, Oh, good.

You got a church, good.

Where you go?

She goes, Lone Star.

Nicole came home.

She goes, See if we haven't seen that person in eight years.

But in her in her mind, that's where she went to church.

Now, God bless her.

God bless her, right?

That's just she she didn't understand.

No, what?

Right?

Hebrews.

Uh we're we're we're not gonna read it, but but I want to make note.

Hebrews 10 25 says, Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together.

Hebrews 10 25.

Right?

The the problem with too many people is they start to forsake that.

They they don't think they need that.

Yeah.

Pastor Mark says it this way: In Christianity, there is some assembly required.

Right?

Remember the Avengers movie?

Anyone remember?

Man, I grew up, I read, I read comic books.

I love superhero stuff.

I remember watching Christopher Reeves' Superman.

I remember watching all the cartoons and stuff.

I love superhero stuff.

So when that stuff came out, I was so thankful I had a son so I could go to it and not look like a weirdo.

Right?

Just some 20, 30-year-old guy going to a superhero movie by himself.

And I'm like, oh come on, but we're gonna go see it.

Boy, I remember that movie.

And and and you see that movie because you'd seen Iron Man right in his own movie, and you'd see Captain America in his own movie.

And right, I knew the Incredible Hulk because Lou Farigno was the Incredible Hulk when I was a kid, right?

And and and and you had all these characters, and you had Thor and you had them all, right?

And then, right, all the aliens are coming in, and you're like, boy, this is too much for just one guy.

And then what happens?

They're in the streets of New York, right?

And what's he say?

Avengers assemble.

And they all get together, you're like, oh, it's on.

This is gonna be good, right?

It's kind of like kind of like uh the that last Avengers movie, right?

When when all of a sudden it looked like all was lost, and some of you don't care, and that's okay.

Uh, right, and and it it looked like all was lost, right?

And Thanos had snapped his fingers and half of the world had disappeared, and then they figured out a way to get around it, and then he's getting ready to snap his fingers again and kill half the people, and all of a sudden, they all just start showing up.

Yes.

Man, I don't, I don't care if you don't like those movies.

You watch that part, something on the inside, he's like, yes.

All these people they thought were gone just start showing up.

Well, hey, there's Spider-Man, hey, hey, there's hey, there's this person, hey, there's this person, hey, there's this person, hey, hey.

And they assemble and come together.

Right.

And when they come together, what is it?

Their strength.

The Bible talks about iron sharpening iron.

I'm in the right place, I'm with the right people.

Right.

Right?

Pastor Mark always says it this way.

He said, uh, he said, you remember the show cops, right?

Bad boys, bad boys.

What you gonna do?

Right?

Remember the show cops, and they'd always get to the point they'd arrest the guy and he'd be sitting on the curb, right?

He'd be sitting on the curb with his hands behind his back, and the cameras show up and they'd be like, hey, what happened?

He's like, Man, I'll tell you what, I just in the wrong place with the wrong people at the wrong time.

Have you ever been in the wrong place with the wrong people at the wrong time?

You all trust me, some of y'all been there.

I've got the call.

He said, but what if, what if you get planted in the right church where God's led you.

Then all of a sudden, people are like, How are you flourishing doing so well?

You just look at me and say, I'll tell you what, I just happen to be at the right place with the right people at the right time.

Amen.

That's what planet will get you, right?

I'm not just showing up to church.

I don't just think I go there and I haven't been there in eight years, right?

Or I don't just go every fourth Sunday or everything, and I get it, you can't be here every Sunday, probably.

You do know there's sometimes you could be when you're not.

But right, we don't keep attendance, but being in church, something something happens.

So this anthropologist, look at this, look at this, look at this.

Actually, listen to this because I'm gonna read it to you.

This anthropologist in the New York Times, right, studying human behavior, anthropology, and he said this one of the most striking scientific discoveries we've had in recent years about religion is that going to church weekly is good for you.

Religious attendance, this is the New York Times, right?

I'm not just making this up.

Religious attendance boosts the immune system, decreases blood pressure, and can add two to three years to your life.

See you next Sunday.

Praise the Lord.

Having no science is just catching up what the Bible already knew.

He says, uh a study conducted in North Carolina found that frequent churchgoers had larger social networks with more contact, more affection for each other, more kinds of social support than those that are unchurched.

And we know social support is directly tied to better health.

Healthy behavior is no doubt another part.

Many churchgoers may struggle, certainly, many churchgoers struggle with behaviors they would like to change, but on average, regular church attendees drink less, smoke less, use fewer recreational drugs, and are less sexually promiscuous than others.

Going to church, we found, has many benefits, not just spiritually, but physically, economically, and in other areas of your life.

So when you plant yourself, right, when you plant yourself in the right place, you you you start to understand what God has for you.

Right?

Going to church allows you to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

Serving in your local church allows you to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

Uh I was talking to Jake and Chris Vandraska here before service.

Right?

We've been talking about vision and big vision, big dreams.

You can't just have a vision of something you could accomplish by yourself, then you don't even need God for that.

But what's interesting is it's not just about our need for God, which we desperately need, it's about our need for each other.

Right?

And and and Jake had mentioned, he he said, you know, it's interesting, CF.

He goes, When you have a task that takes more than just you to accomplish it.

Right?

It's gonna take you and God, but I need some people.

Jesus, if any one person could have accomplished his call on this earth by himself, who was it?

Jesus Christ.

But who didn't?

Jesus Christ.

He had the disciples, he had other people that come alongside him.

That's when you really start building.

Not just you're building something, you're building community, you're building family.

Right?

We want you to feel uh at Lone Star that this is this is your church.

This isn't my church, this isn't Nicole's church.

First of all, this church has been here since 1863.

It predates us.

But it's our church.

And even if even when we move, it's still our church.

And it's still on starting, we're still accomplishing what God's called us to accomplish.

But you've got to be planning, you've got to take ownership of something, right?

There there remember the old uh uh I'll I'll close here in a moment.

There there was an old uh American Express commercial back in the 80s, right?

And and this was their slogan.

Membership has its privileges.

The American Express card, membership has its privileges.

I know getting planted church, being a part of a church, there's privileges there.

Yes, there is.

All of a sudden, right, but I I I think people I was talking to someone the other day, right?

A family that loses someone, they don't have a church or church family to be there for them.

And they want it.

It's so interesting.

So so many people don't think they need to be planted until they need to be planted.

So true.

Oh, we're good.

We don't we don't eat one.

Well, you you see it sometimes, you're like, well, well, well then who's who's helping with food?

Who's who's who's helping surf?

Who's who's bringing things to the the family?

Who's right?

Someone's house present.

It's like, well, well, who's doing that?

Who's who's who's taking care of them?

Who's who's gonna take them in?

Right.

Something tragic happens.

Who's who's gonna be there for them?

Who's gonna give them a shoulder to crown?

Who's who's gonna be there to support them and and and lift them up?

Right, every everyone gets to the point where they need that.

The problem is you need to understand you need that before you need that.

Thank you for tuning in to the Lone Star Church Podcast.

We hope this week's message strengthened your faith in God's word.

Remember, if you live in northwest Missouri or southern Iowa, we invite you to join us in person on a Sunday morning.

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