Series: Finding Home

Sermon: Finding Home

Speaker and Writer: Amy Markoch

Refresh: Start with a prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.

Read: Colossians 1:26-27; Isaiah 61:1-3 (RSV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.

Reflect: Did you know that there are over 600 varieties of oak trees?? They are fast-growing and have many amazing properties. It is no coincidence that God would choose to refer to us as “oaks” in Isaiah 61:3. There are many different varieties of people in this world! When each is connected to Christ, they are a shelter to protect and feed those around them. God did not choose one type of people. He did not see only one variety to be significant. He looked at each person and said, “I see your talents, I see your potential, and I want to help you to grow into something that will not be knocked over when the storms come.”

Popular Science featured an article last month on an oak tree that was in the path of Hurricane Harvey. “The 108 mph winds and more than 40 inches of rain destroyed houses, churches and schools. But a 1,100-year-old oak tree was left standing at Goose Island State Park. “This is not the first hurricane it’s sat through,” says David Appel, a plant pathologist at Texas A&M University. The “Big Tree” has a diameter of 11 feet and a circumference of more than 35 feet. The community of Rockport has appreciated the tree for more than a hundred years, calling in experts like Appel to help care for it. And it’s not the only tree that survived—many younger, less remarkable live oaks survived the hurricane. And, with the way the climate is changing, some of them may thrive there for another 1,000 years.”

Have you experienced strong winds in your life? Felt like you could be easily uprooted? When Christ said we were to be “oaks," He was making a promise that like the 1,000 year-old oak tree in Hurricane Harvey we could stay firmly planted no matter the hardship.

Recalibrate: Is there anything in your life keeping you from becoming an “oak of righteousness”?

Respond: Pray that you can plant your roots deep in the soil of Christ.

Research: Study these verses about stability and knowing Christ.