Wed. Message

Sept 4, 2024

 

Deep Roots

 

The very first real road trip that I took on my own happened just after high school graduation.  My best friend and I drove out to California together, and spent a week camping in the redwood forests of the northern California coast.

 

The redwood forest is a truly amazing place.  It’s almost otherworldly.  In fact, they filmed a number of scenes for Star Wars there because that forest is so unlike any other forest on Earth.  It’s technically a rainforest, although it’s a temperate rainforest as opposed to a tropical one. 

 

The redwood trees, themselves, are truly awesome.  They literally inspire awe!  An individual redwood tree can grow to over 350 feet tall and weigh over 5,000 tons. Some of the trees we saw are taller than the Statue of Liberty!  Some of the trees were so wide that a dozen adults, all holding hands, still wouldn’t be able to wrap their arms around the trunk!   Some were alive and growing when Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth!  You look at a redwood tree, and you see strength.  You see might and majesty.

 

And these Redwood trees that can grow to over 350 feet tall and weigh over 5,000 tons, these trees that can live for more than 2,000 years, how deep would you guess their roots grow?  Surely such massive trees would dig their roots deep down into the earth, right?

 

It turns out that, on average, redwood trees’ roots go only 4 feet deep into the soil.  When we were there, camping underneath these giants, I would have never in a million years guessed that such mighty trees could have such shallow roots.  But they do.  300 feet tall trees, with roots averaging only 4 feet deep.

 

How can those gargantuan trees survive with roots so shallow?  The secret is this:  although the redwoods, when viewed from above ground, appear to be giant and towering and strong all on their own, the truth is that beneath the surface they need one another for support.  Their roots may only go 4 feet down, but they stretch 125 feet outward in all directions, and as the roots spread out, feeling their way blindly through the earth, they wrap around and over and under and in between the roots of their neighbors.  Beneath the earth’s surface, the redwood trees are holding hands, embracing each other, relying on one another for support. 

 

It turns out that those mighty, majestic trees can’t make it on their own.  You can’t grow a redwood tree all by itself, even if the climate, the temperature and the rainfall were all perfect.  All by itself, a single redwood tree would grow and grow and grow until one day it got to be too big, and without the roots of other Redwoods to anchor itself to, it would fall over. 

 

Friends, that is why we need the church.  We need each other for support, for strength.  The Christian faith was never meant to be an individual endeavor.  The very first thing Jesus did when began his public ministry was not miracles, not preaching and teaching.  The very first thing that he did was create a community.  He called a group of flawed and fumbling fishermen and transformed them into a community of faith, anchored by Jesus and one another.

 

We need the church.  We need each other to pray for each other.  We need our church family to share our joys, because when we share our joy it is multiplied and amplified.  We need our church family to share our sorrows, because when we share our sorrows they are divided and diminished.

 

The First Congregational United Church of Christ is not as strong without all of our members, together.  Please, make your presence in worship and your participation in mission and ministry a priority.  We need you.  We all need to be anchored by deeply woven roots.

 

Blessings,

Pastor Dustin

 

 

 

Sunday Coffee : Potluck meal

Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy treats, coffee and conversation, downstairs in the Fellowship Hall following the Sunday service.

There will be a WinGs meeting on Saturday, September 7 at 10 am. Updates on the activities at the meeting will follow.  Please plan to attend!!"   Thanks,  Dawn

 

Sunday, September 8, Church School Kick-off after the worship service, with a potluck meal, activities and a bouncy house out in the back. If anyone has any yard games we could use we would really appreciate it.

Everyone please come join us.

 

Church council meeting, Monday, September 9, 6:00 pm

 

Sunday, September 15,  Church School Lessons start 9:15am, everyone is welcome to come.

 

Bible Study, Sundays, at 3:00 pm with Pastor Dustin, the 2nd & 4th Sunday of the month, all are welcome.

 

Adult Confirmation Class, on the 1st & 3rd. Sunday of the month at 3:00 pm with Pastor Dustin,

everyone is welcome to come and join us.

 

Theology on Tap with Pastor Dustin. Meet at “Harry’s” on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

 

 

 

Money Counter: 

 

         

        Sept. 08      Robin Briggs

        Sept. 15      Melissa Pond

        Sept. 22      Cyndy Voight