The Microwave and the Crock-Pot
Rev. Ryan Franklin Preached on 10/21/2026
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45:54
Summary
Rev. Ryan Franklin explores the necessity of slow, seasonal spiritual growth, arguing that while we often want 'microwave' results, God uses a 'Crock-Pot' process to build lasting character. Using the analogy of ancient trees and the parable of the fig tree, he emphasizes that deep roots and intentional mentorship are the keys to surviving life's droughts and producing good fruit.
Key points
- •Growth in God is often slow and seasonal, much like the rings of a tree, rather than the instant results we expect in a microwave culture.
- •Hard seasons of life (thin rings) are just as valuable as seasons of abundance (wide rings); staying faithful during a drought is still counted as growth.
- •True spiritual transformation happens in the roots-the hidden areas of character, prayer, and private discipline-before it ever manifests as fruit in the branches.
- •Sustainable growth requires a keeper-a mentor or fellow believer who gets close enough to see the mess, speaks the truth, and invests what you cannot produce on your own.
- •Empty people unintentionally hurt those closest to them; prioritizing root work ensures that your family and community taste good fruit rather than the effects of your exhaustion.
Scripture
Spiritual Growth
Discipleship
Character
Community
Perseverance
Life application
Identify one trusted person who is further along in their faith and give them permission to 'dig around your roots' by being honest with them about a struggle you have been hiding.
Reflection questions
- Are you currently measuring your spiritual progress with a microwave timer or a Crock-Pot perspective?
- What 'thin ring' seasons have you walked through recently, and can you see how God was still adding strength to your life during that time?
- Who are the 'keepers' in your life, and who is God calling you to be a 'keeper' for?
- What hidden root issues (bitterness, pride, or temper) is God putting His finger on today?
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Full transcript
0:00Tell him how much you love him.
0:03>> [cheering]
0:08[cheering]
0:13>> I love you, Jesus.
0:16I love you, Jesus.
0:18You're so worthy, Lord. You're so
0:20worthy Jesus.
0:22I love you, Jesus. I love you, Jesus.
0:27If you have your Bible, you can turn to
0:28Luke chapter 13
0:32verse six.
0:35Before you're seated, we'll read this
0:37text. And I just want to say that it's
0:39such a privilege to
0:41teach you tonight. Thank you to brother
0:43and sister Bachelor for the opportunity.
0:47Such tremendous leaders, wouldn't you
0:48agree?
0:50Such a tremendous pastoral team.
0:54We have the best. And now I can say we
0:56have the best. We have the best.
1:00I want to say a big thank you to this
1:01church for taking me and my family in.
1:05Your hospitality has been amazing. Your
1:08smiles, your handshakes, all of that
1:10over the last 4 months.
1:12We moved from
1:14uh if you don't know me, my name's Ryan
1:15Franklin. Moved from the Pentecostals of
1:18Alexandria. I was a assistant pastor
1:20there
1:21for a number of years, 21 years on the
1:23pastoral team there. And all of a sudden
1:26I was there for 43 of my 46 years. All
1:29of a sudden
1:31we find ourselves in a big city of St.
1:33Louis
1:34in a foreign place. [music]
1:36And you guys have been a breath of fresh
1:39air. And so thank you
1:41for being such a tremendous church
1:43and uh taking in our family the way that
1:45you have.
1:47Luke chapter 13 verse 6.
1:51And I just want to say
1:53Kevin Howard is awesome, isn't he?
1:55>> [cheering]
1:57[applause]
1:58>> His family
2:00we sort of he may be a few years older
2:01than me, but we sort of grew up together
2:03at POA.
2:05He spake also this parable, A certain
2:08man
2:09had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,
2:11and he came and sought fruit thereon,
2:13and found
2:14none.
2:16Then said he unto the dresser of his
2:18vineyard, Behold, these 3 years I come
2:21seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find
2:24none.
2:25Cut it down.
2:26Why cumbereth it the ground?
2:29And he answering said unto him, Lord,
2:32let it alone this year also, till I
2:34shall dig about it,
2:35and dung it.
2:38And if it bear fruit, well.
2:41And if it And if not,
2:43then after that, thou shalt cut it
2:46down.
2:47Want to speak to you tonight on the
2:49microwave
2:51and the Crock-Pot.
2:54Why don't we pray? Lord,
2:57thank you so much for allowing us
3:00to be in the house of God with so many
3:02wonderful people
3:03who are serving you, who love you, who
3:05want to pursue you with all everything
3:07that's within them.
3:09I pray Jesus that each and every
3:11individual in this room would receive
3:13exactly
3:15what you want them to receive. Help me
3:16to deliver it, Lord, in Jesus' name.
3:19In Jesus' name. You can be seated.
3:24In 1964,
3:26a young graduate student
3:29hiked up into the mountains of eastern
3:31Nevada.
3:32He was studying some of the oldest
3:34living things on the planet.
3:39It was a grove of trees called the Great
3:41Basin bristlecone bristlecone pines.
3:46Now,
3:47these are not pretty trees.
3:50They're actually
3:52gnarled
3:53and they're twisted.
3:55And most of them look about half dead on
3:58the outside. And believe it or not,
4:00that's actually how they survive.
4:04A good friend of mine told me about
4:06these trees about a month or so ago and
4:08I used it in my message at general
4:10conference a few weeks ago.
4:12And
4:14I just haven't been able to stop
4:16thinking about those trees.
4:18Because on that mountain,
4:21there was one tree that looked
4:23especially old. And that tree would
4:26later be called Prometheus.
4:29And one day, many years ago, this young
4:32scientist drilled into that tree to
4:36count its rings.
4:38He wanted to find out how old it was.
4:41And his instrument got stuck.
4:45And so he asked permission to cut the
4:46tree down.
4:49And somebody
4:51somebody said yes. I would imagine they
4:54don't have a job anymore.
4:57And when he finally sat down and he
4:58counted those rings, he realized
5:01what he had just done. The tree was
5:05nearly 5,000
5:07years old.
5:10Older than the pyramids.
5:13It was already ancient when Moses led
5:16Israel out of Egypt.
5:20It was growing on top of that mountain
5:21before there was even a nation of
5:23Israel.
5:25Think about what that tree lived
5:28through.
5:30It lived through the coldest of winters.
5:33Buried in snow, blasted by ice, parched
5:36dry every single summer. Storm after
5:40storm, drought after drought, century
5:44after century. Nothing in nature could
5:46take that tree down.
5:50But it was killed
5:53one afternoon.
5:55Not by a storm.
5:57Not by a drought.
6:00It wasn't killed by a fire.
6:02It was killed by a man
6:05who was in a hurry.
6:07Looking for a shortcut to get what he
6:10wanted.
6:12And here's what got me about this story.
6:15That tree
6:17didn't grow strong in spite
6:20of those hard conditions.
6:23It grew strong because
6:25of the hard conditions. The harsh
6:27conditions slowed its growth down to
6:30almost nothing.
6:34And that slow growth
6:36is exactly what it what let it live for
6:39thousands of years.
6:42It never got to skip a winter.
6:45It never found a shortcut
6:47to add a ring.
6:49Every single ring was earned slowly,
6:56one hard season at a time.
7:00And when I read that story for the first
7:01time, I thought,
7:03"You know, that's exactly the problem
7:05with how most of us want to grow in
7:07God."
7:09We want it fast, right?
7:12We want a microwave, right?
7:15But God often uses a Crock-Pot.
7:18Will you say that with me?
7:21We want a microwave.
7:23God gives us a Crock-Pot.
7:29That tree
7:31lived in the Crock-Pot.
7:34And it was killed by someone that was
7:35looking for a microwave.
7:38And so tonight, I want to show you why
7:41your walk with God feels so slow
7:43sometimes.
7:46And what God uses in every season of
7:48your life to grow fruit that's going to
7:50last.
7:53Here's the first thing I want you to see
7:54tonight. Growth is slow
7:56on purpose.
7:59Now, I know nobody came here
8:01to church on a Wednesday night hoping to
8:04hear that
8:06growth is slow on purpose.
8:08We live in a world that everything is
8:09fast. You You can get food in 60
8:12seconds right?
8:14You can order a package tonight,
8:16especially in St. Louis, and it may be
8:18sitting on your porch the next morning.
8:22You can now get an answer on your phone
8:24before you even finish typing the
8:26question because AI can read your mind.
8:32And we bring that same expectation to
8:34our walk with God sometimes.
8:38We want to be patient,
8:40but we still want it on Friday.
8:43We want to be free from that habit, but
8:45we want it to happen after one altar
8:48service.
8:50And yes, God can do that.
8:54We want to know our Bible
8:56without actually having to read our
8:58Bible.
9:00Am I right?
9:03And so we go looking for shortcuts.
9:06The next good conference,
9:08the next big service, we have lots of
9:10those here.
9:12The next 21-day plan that promises to
9:15change everything in your life.
9:18And some of us even think, well,
9:21maybe if I just start coming to a
9:23Wednesday night service, that's going to
9:25fix all of my discipleship problems.
9:30And here I am preaching on discipleship
9:33on a Wednesday night.
9:35Now listen.
9:37I'm not against any of those things.
9:40God uses all of those things in our
9:43life, and sometimes he does it really
9:44quick. Sometimes he does really quick
9:46things in our life, and those moments
9:49are like rain on a tree, and that tree
9:52needs rain, right?
9:55But one good rain doesn't make a
9:565,000-year-old tree.
9:59Seasons do.
10:02The rings of that tree takes takes
10:05seasons, and there is no shortcut.
10:09And if you don't believe me, just look
10:11at how God has always grown his people.
10:13Joseph got a dream from God as a
10:15teenager,
10:17and then spent about 13 years in a pit,
10:21in a slave house,
10:23in a prison before he ever saw that
10:25dream come to pass. Think about that.
10:29David was anointing anointed as king as
10:31a as a young man and then went right
10:34back out to the to be the shepherd of
10:36his sheep.
10:38It was years before he ever sat on the
10:40throne.
10:42Moses spent 40 years on the backside of
10:46a desert before God ever spoke to him
10:48out of a burning bush.
10:51Even Jesus spent 30 years in obscurity
10:56and he did it for only 3 and 1/2 years
10:58of public ministry.
11:02God is never
11:04been in a hurry
11:06with the people that he's growing.
11:08Because he's not just growing your
11:10gifts. You have to understand that God
11:12is growing your roots and that only
11:16takes time.
11:20How many of you are from Louisiana?
11:22A bunch of you in here. At least I've
11:24met a few of you.
11:26Or how many of you are somewhere in the
11:28south?
11:30If you grew up anywhere around the south
11:33then you know about Sunday roast in the
11:35Crock-Pot.
11:38I hear a few amens.
11:41You know what I'm talking about.
11:44You put it in before church.
11:48And when you walk back in the house
11:50the whole place smells like heaven,
11:52right?
11:55But there's one rule with a Crock-Pot
11:57that every everybody's grandmother can
11:59tell you.
12:02Don't lift the lid.
12:07Because every time you lift the lid to
12:09check it
12:10you let the heat out
12:13and you add more time to the process,
12:15right?
12:18And I think that's what a lot of us do
12:19with God.
12:21We keep just we we keep lifting the edge
12:24of that lid.
12:28Is it done yet?
12:30Am I there yet, God?
12:33Why am I not further along? And all that
12:37checking and all that worrying and and
12:39all that comparing, it just lets the
12:41heat out.
12:43And I think some of you need to just put
12:44the lid back on and you just need to let
12:47God cook.
12:50>> [applause]
12:52>> Paul told the church at Galatia,
12:54Galatians 6:9, "And let us not be weary
12:57in well doing, for in due season we
12:59shall reap if we faint not."
13:02In due season, not microwave season, in
13:06due
13:08season. And here's what happens when we
13:10expect microwave growth out of a
13:13Crock-Pot God. We start thinking
13:15something's wrong with us.
13:18We look around the room and we think,
13:19"Well, everybody else has got it
13:21together, so why am I still struggling
13:23with the same thing that I was
13:25struggling with last year?"
13:28And the enemy starts whispering, "You're
13:30failing.
13:32You're behind.
13:35Maybe this just doesn't work for you."
13:40And some people just quit.
13:43Not because God failed them,
13:45but because they were measuring a
13:46Crock-Pot with a microwave timer.
13:50And so let me ask you a very honest
13:52question tonight. How many shortcuts
13:55have you chased this year hoping to
13:57speed up something that God was only
14:00ever going to grow slowly?
14:06Here's what I want you to hear tonight.
14:09Slow
14:11is not the same thing as stuck.
14:15And if you're still showing up
14:17and you're still praying, and you're
14:18still opening the word of God, and
14:20you're still coming back to this this
14:22altar Sunday after Sunday, Wednesday
14:24after Wednesday, then you're still
14:26adding rings.
14:30And here's something that I've learned
14:32about tree rings that I that I just
14:34love. In a good year with plenty of
14:36rain, a tree puts on a nice wide ring.
14:42But in a hard year
14:44in a drought year
14:46that ring is thin.
14:49And sometimes it's so thin that you need
14:50a magnifying glass to even find it.
14:54But guess what?
14:56It still counts as a ring.
14:59A thin ring is still counted as a ring.
15:03And some of you here tonight may have
15:05had a thin ring year.
15:08You lost somebody close to you.
15:11Your marriage has been hard.
15:13Or your health has been hard. Or you've
15:16barely been holding on to to whatever it
15:18is, and you feel like you didn't grow at
15:20all this past year, but you're still
15:23here.
15:25You're still in the house of God on a
15:26Wednesday night, and guess what?
15:29That's still a ring.
15:31And you may not feel it,
15:33and nobody else may see it, but every
15:37ring is earned.
15:40Every ring is earned.
15:42And so, stop measuring your faith with
15:44God with God by how fast it's going, and
15:47start measuring by whether you're still
15:49growing.
15:51>> [applause]
15:54>> But if growth is that slow,
15:58where is it actually happening?
16:00Because most of the time you can't see
16:01it at all.
16:03Matthew 12:33,
16:04the last part of that, the tree is known
16:07how?
16:10By its fruit.
16:12And that's true
16:14whether you know it or not, people know
16:16you
16:17by your fruit.
16:20By your kindness.
16:22By your patience.
16:24How you treat your family.
16:26How you respond when somebody cut you
16:28off on I-70.
16:31And I hope that wasn't you that flipped
16:33me off the other day.
16:38It was my fault. I didn't put my blinker
16:39on.
16:42But here's what we forget.
16:45The fruit doesn't start in the branches.
16:48What you see
16:50the fruit that you see doesn't start
16:53in the branches. The fruit actually
16:54starts underground in the soil.
16:57In the roots. In the stuff that nobody
17:00sees. And most of us spend all of our
17:03energy working on the branches. We We
17:06try to fix the fruit from the outside.
17:10We try to be nicer. We try harder. We
17:12stop doing that thing. We try to act
17:16like a Christian.
17:19And then we wonder why nothing changes.
17:22Because the problem was never in the
17:24branches.
17:25The problem was in the roots.
17:28Let me show you what I mean.
17:30And
17:31uh I'm going to be honest with you about
17:32a version of me that I'm not really
17:34proud of. I've used this illustration a
17:36few times. But I had an old F-250 years
17:39ago. It was pearl black. I love that old
17:43truck. Anybody in here drive a big
17:44truck?
17:46Nobody?
17:48Really?
17:49My goodness.
17:53I must be from Louisiana.
17:56I love big trucks.
17:58One Tuesday after a really hard day at
18:01the church at POA, I I I pulled into the
18:03driveway and
18:04and I had been giving all day as a
18:07pastor at my church and I was giving
18:09from a well that had run completely dry
18:12or at least that's what it felt like and
18:14and I had hidden it
18:16from everybody I worked with for the
18:17whole day.
18:20And honestly, I had gotten pretty good
18:22at hiding it
18:24back then.
18:26And my kids, Olivia and Neil, they were
18:28elementary age at the time and and they
18:30could hear the garage door
18:32go up when I would come home and and
18:34they could hear the old truck door close
18:37because it squeaked a little bit. It was
18:38old.
18:40And I can just imagine their little
18:41faces. They were They were wondering
18:43which dad was going to walk through the
18:46door that day.
18:50Was it the loving engaged father
18:54or was it the dad who would
18:56grunt a few words and then disappear
18:58into his own little detached world?
19:04And unfortunately, that day
19:06they got the second one.
19:10I want you to hold on to that image for
19:12just a moment.
19:15Because here's what I've come to
19:16understand about that version of me.
19:20I wasn't a bad dad.
19:24I wasn't a bad man.
19:27I was an empty one.
19:31And empty people don't just hurt
19:33themselves.
19:35They hurt the people that are closest to
19:37them.
19:39And here's the thing.
19:42My problem that day wasn't in the
19:43branches of the tree.
19:47It wasn't the detached behavior. It
19:49wasn't the moodiness. It wasn't all of
19:51that.
19:52It wasn't in the branches.
19:55I could fake the branches all day long
19:57and I did.
19:59Everybody at the at the church saw a man
20:02who had it all together.
20:05But down in the roots, there was stuff
20:07going on inside of me that I that I had
20:10never been honest about.
20:13Not with God.
20:15Not with my wife.
20:18Not with anybody.
20:20And I lived in extremes back then.
20:24Either everything was good, it was fine.
20:28Or everything was falling apart in my
20:29mind.
20:31There was no middle ground.
20:34And that's where root work
20:36comes in.
20:38Root work is getting honest.
20:42Honest with God about what's really
20:43going on inside of you. Not the not the
20:46polished Sunday version, but the real
20:49version of you.
20:52And then letting him deal with what's
20:54under the surface.
20:56Instead of just rearranging the
20:57branches, we're working on the roots.
21:01The prophet Jeremiah described it like
21:03this. Jeremiah 17:7, "Blessed is the man
21:06that trusteth in the Lord, and whose
21:08hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a
21:10tree planted by the waters, and that
21:12spreadeth out her roots by the river,
21:13and shall not see when heat cometh.
21:16But her leaf shall be green, and shall
21:19not be careful in the year of drought,
21:20neither shall cease from yielding
21:22fruit."
21:26Did you catch that?
21:28He doesn't say the heat won't come.
21:31He doesn't say that there won't be a
21:34drought.
21:35He says when the heat comes, the leaf
21:38stays green. The fruit still comes. In
21:41the year of In the year of the drought,
21:43the fruit still comes. Why? Because
21:46Because of what's going on underneath
21:48the surface.
21:49The roots stay close to the river.
21:55So, what does root work actually
21:58look like?
22:00First of all, I want to say that it's
22:01not glamorous.
22:05Most of it happens
22:07when nobody's watching.
22:11It's your prayer life when there's no
22:12altar music playing.
22:16When there's nobody praying beside you.
22:19It's opening the word of God when you
22:21don't feel like it.
22:24And letting letting the word of God read
22:26you.
22:27Letting it get deep inside of you.
22:31It's repenting of the things that nobody
22:33else even knows about.
22:37And here's the part that most of us
22:38skip.
22:41It's letting somebody else in.
22:44James 5:16, confess your faults one to
22:46another and pray for one another that
22:48you may be healed.
22:50Not just confess to God, but one to
22:54another.
22:56Because there's some things in your
22:57roots that won't heal until they see the
23:00light.
23:04And slowly,
23:06not overnight,
23:10it took a lot of time,
23:12took a lot of prayer,
23:14took a lot of hard, honest root work
23:18within me, but slowly,
23:20eventually, my family stopped bracing
23:23when their dad would walk through the
23:24door in the evenings.
23:27Because I had deep character change
23:30within me.
23:33And nobody handed me an award for that.
23:37Nobody else Nobody stood up at church
23:40and clapped for me.
23:42Nobody even noticed the season in my
23:45life
23:47that it changed.
23:51But my wife noticed.
23:54And my kids noticed.
23:57Because the people that are closest to
23:59you are always the first ones to taste
24:01of the fruit, whether it's good or bad.
24:07And that's what root work does in a
24:09person's life.
24:12Nobody sees the roots,
24:14but everybody feels the fruit.
24:19And so let me ask you this,
24:22who in your life can feel what's going
24:24on in your roots before you ever say a
24:26single word?
24:30Maybe there's an area God keeps putting
24:32his finger on and
24:34and you keep stepping around it.
24:37Maybe it's your temper.
24:39I've had to deal with that in my life.
24:42Maybe it's your thought life. Maybe it's
24:44that bitterness that that you've been
24:46carrying around for years. Maybe it's
24:48that thing that that you've never told
24:50anyone.
24:53That's where you start digging.
24:57But here's what I haven't told you about
24:59the rough season of my life.
25:03I didn't dig my way out of it alone.
25:07And I'm here to tell you today that
25:08neither will you.
25:12There's a parable that Jesus told that
25:14that says all of this better than I ever
25:16could. Our text that we started with,
25:18Luke chapter 13 verses verses 6 through
25:219. He spake also this parable. A certain
25:24man had a fig tree planted in the
25:25vineyard, and he came and sought the
25:26fruit there on and found none. Then said
25:29he unto the dresser of the vineyard,
25:30"Behold, these 3 years I come seeking
25:33fruit on this fig tree and find none.
25:35Cut it down."
25:37And he said, "Lord,
25:38let it alone this year also, till I
25:41shall dig around it and dung it.
25:43And if it bear fruit, well,
25:46and if not,
25:47then after that, thou shalt cut it down.
25:51Now,
25:52I'm not going to unpack for you what the
25:54word dung means on a Wednesday night.
25:59But you know what it means.
26:01Sometimes root work gets a little messy.
26:04It gets stinky.
26:07Look at the two men in the story. The
26:09owner wants fruit now.
26:13It's been 3 years and and there's no
26:15fruit. Somebody gets the ax, right?
26:18He wants the ax, but the keeper knows
26:20something that the owner doesn't. Fruit
26:23takes root work first.
26:27And a lot of us are standing over our
26:29own lives with an ax.
26:32We're frustrated at the fruit.
26:35Ready to give up on our own selves.
26:39When nobody has dug around your roots in
26:42years.
26:45But I want you to notice the grace
26:46that's in this parable.
26:49The keeper doesn't pretend that the tree
26:51is fine.
26:54He doesn't argue that there's no
26:56problem.
26:58All he does is ask for time.
27:02And he gets down in the dirt.
27:05And he digs.
27:07And he fertilizes it
27:09with dung.
27:11And here's what I don't want you to
27:13miss.
27:15The fig tree couldn't dig around its own
27:17roots.
27:19Somebody had to do it.
27:22Somebody fought for one more season. And
27:26if you look closely, this keeper does
27:28does three things for that tree. First,
27:31he doesn't give up on it.
27:35The owner says cut it down and the
27:36keeper says, "Uh-uh, give me one more
27:38year."
27:40Second, he comes in close to it.
27:44He doesn't stand in the distance.
27:48You can't dig around somebody's roots
27:50from across the vineyard.
27:53You got to get down on your knees and
27:54you got to get close to the roots. And
27:56then third,
27:58he gives it what it can't produce
28:00on its own.
28:02That tree couldn't fertilize itself. It
28:04needed something from the outside.
28:08And that's what a keeper does
28:11in your life.
28:12They don't give up on you when when
28:14you've had three fruitless years. They
28:17get close enough to see what's really
28:19going on in your world and they pour
28:21into you what you what you could never
28:23produce on your own.
28:27Now, here's why a lot of us don't have a
28:29keeper.
28:31You ready?
28:34Cuz a keeper gets close enough to see
28:36stuff in our lives.
28:40Stuff we want to hide.
28:42We'd rather keep our branches looking
28:44good from a distance, right?
28:47We don't want anybody coming up close
28:49and seeing our stuff.
28:52It could be pride.
28:55Could be fear.
28:59Or we got hurt by someone and we
29:02at one point and we decided it ain't
29:04ever happen to me again.
29:08But I want to tell you tonight
29:11that you can't grow deep roots and keep
29:14people at a distance.
29:19And in essence, that's what discipleship
29:21really is.
29:24Look at how Jesus did it. Mark 3:14.
29:28And he ordained 12 that they should be
29:30with him
29:32and that he might send them forth to
29:33preach.
29:35That they should be with
29:37him. Before Jesus ever sent them, he
29:40kept them close.
29:42And discipleship was never some some
29:45class first, it was a relationship
29:47first.
29:49And when I look back over my life, I
29:51could see it so clearly now in every
29:54season of my journey, God has sent me a
29:57keeper.
29:59When I was a teenager
30:01trying to find my way, God sent me West
30:03Whitehead.
30:05He lives in Singapore now.
30:07He invested in me.
30:08He invited me into his house and he let
30:10me talk some crazy teenage talk.
30:16And West didn't just give me answers, he
30:18pushed me.
30:19He taught me and then he made me dig dig
30:22it out of the word of God for myself.
30:25And what came out of that season years
30:27later
30:29became a little book that that some of
30:31you may have seen or used, it's called
30:33Salvation Made Simple.
30:35It's my journey of figuring out
30:36salvation for myself. It's a it's a
30:38salvation Bible study now that has sold
30:40over 60,000 copies in the last 30 years.
30:45And that book exists because one man was
30:48willing to dig around the roots of a
30:50teenager who didn't have it all figured
30:52out.
30:55In early college, God sent a man named
30:57Toby Stevens to me. Toby helped disciple
31:00me. He he literally dragged me around
31:03with him to Bible studies.
31:06I didn't always want to go.
31:08But Toby didn't ask, he just dragged me
31:10with him and I went anyway.
31:15And then 21 years ago, God sent me Terry
31:17Shock. He hired me and and he gave me a
31:20chance in ministry when I when I was
31:21still trying to find my way and he
31:23invested in me.
31:25And in that empty season I just I just
31:28told you about with my kids about 10
31:30years ago, God sent me another man, Dr.
31:32Brian Epison.
31:35He became my executive coach right when
31:37I needed it the most.
31:40And then he mentored me so I could help
31:42other people
31:43walk through the same thing and and it's
31:45now what I'm actually doing here at UPCI
31:47headquarters.
31:49And I could keep going.
31:51Because in every season
31:54I've ever been in,
31:55as long as I was willing to receive it,
31:59God has provided a keeper.
32:02Every tree
32:04needs a keeper.
32:08Not somebody who's impressed by you.
32:11Somebody who's for you.
32:13Somebody who loves you enough to get
32:15down in the dirt and dig.
32:18And so let me ask you, who has
32:20permission to dig around your roots
32:22right now?
32:26And how do you know who that person is?
32:28Let me give you three quick things to
32:29look for.
32:31You look for somebody that's a little
32:32further down the road than you.
32:35They don't have to be perfect. They just
32:37they just need to have walked through
32:38some seasons that that you haven't
32:40walked through yet.
32:43Next thing you want to look for is
32:44somebody who who'll tell you the truth.
32:48Cuz if all they ever do is agree with
32:50you, that's a fan, not a keeper.
32:54And then third, look for somebody who's
32:55faithful.
32:57Somebody whose roots you can you can see
32:59by their fruit. Somebody who's still
33:01standing after the storms of life come.
33:07I just want to say if if nobody comes to
33:09mind with you as you're sitting here, if
33:10nobody comes to mind,
33:13that's not condemnation.
33:16But that is your next step.
33:20That tree that was in Nevada in the in
33:22the Nevada mountain
33:25grew slowly for 5,000
33:29years.
33:32And I happen to know that you don't have
33:335,000 years
33:36to grow.
33:39But you do have this season.
33:42And maybe tonight you feel like that
33:44that fig tree, 3 years and and nothing
33:47to show for it, and you've been standing
33:48over your own life with an axe.
33:52Can I tell you something?
33:55God's not done digging.
34:00And you're not falling behind, you're
34:01growing through a hard season.
34:05And I can promise you that God is is a
34:08lot more patient with you than you are
34:09with yourself.
34:13And I'm closing, if you want to come to
34:14the music.
34:15I want to leave you with three things
34:16here tonight.
34:18Number one,
34:20every ring is earned.
34:23So don't quit when it's slow.
34:29Second thing I want to I want to leave
34:30you with is nobody sees the roots,
34:34but everybody feels the fruit.
34:36So start digging
34:39where you feel God pointing in your
34:40life.
34:44And the last thing, third thing,
34:46every tree needs a keeper.
34:49So stop trying to do it alone.
34:54And here's what I'm asking you to do.
34:57Just one thing.
34:59Before this week is over,
35:03I want you to name just one person
35:08and ask them to walk this journey with
35:09you.
35:10Name one person.
35:15Somebody that's a little further down
35:16the road than you.
35:19Somebody that's going to be honest
35:21with you.
35:24And again, if no name comes to to mind
35:26this tonight, you know,
35:28this church is is working on small
35:30groups.
35:32This church teaches home Bible studies.
35:35This church has a new converts class.
35:38Has a discipleship class. There's a
35:39million ways to get involved and get
35:41connected with people here.
35:44A million ways.
35:45And that's a great place to find
35:48your keeper.
35:52And I plead with you today, don't let
35:53this week go by. Don't let this week end
35:58without finding how to get connected
36:02to your keeper.
36:03Let me say one more thing.
36:06For somebody in this room,
36:09God is going to call you to be a keeper
36:10to someone else.
36:16Maybe it's a teenager.
36:19Maybe it's a new convert.
36:22Maybe it's a young truck young couple
36:24trying to find their way.
36:26Someone
36:28is going to need somebody to dig around
36:30the roots, and you might be
36:33that person.
36:35So, I urge you to let God
36:38grow you deep enough
36:42that one day soon you can do it for
36:43somebody else.
36:46And you can do what somebody did for
36:47you.
36:48Amen?
36:50We want a microwave. Why don't we all
36:52stand?
36:56We want a We want a microwave,
37:00but God
37:02gives us a a crock-pot.
37:06Let him take his time with you.
37:10Let him dig around the roots with you.
37:13Let him grow the internal
37:16of you
37:18so that you can be strong for him.
37:21I'm done.
37:24And I'm not going to be long for this
37:25altar call, but I just
37:28I I feel like inviting all of you, if
37:31you would.
37:33Would you be willing to to step down to
37:35the altar?
37:37>> [snorts]
37:40>> Just go home tonight by way of the
37:41altar, if you're able to. I understand
37:43if you're not able.
37:48There's a few of you here tonight that
37:50need the root work.
37:54And I'm inviting you to the altar.
37:57I'm having everybody come cuz I don't
37:59want to single anybody out.
38:01But you need the root work.
38:04And then there's a few of you in here
38:05that that need to be a keeper, and you
38:08haven't stepped into that in your life.
38:11And I'm inviting you to that.
38:14To the altar tonight.
38:19I wish somebody right now would lift
38:21their hands
38:23and just begin to talk to God.
38:25You know where you're at.
38:29You know if if something within this
38:31message spoke to you.
38:36And I want you to begin to talk to the
38:37Lord about it right now.
38:39Lift your hands. I'm not going to hold
38:41you long.
38:52I want you to begin to lift your voices.
38:56As you're praying to him right now, lift
38:58your voices.
39:03That's it.
39:05That's it.
39:08We love you, Jesus.
39:12We love you, Jesus.
39:16Lord, there's nothing that I want more
39:18in my life
39:20than to be rooted and grounded in you
39:22and your word.
39:27And there's nothing that I want more in
39:28my life
39:30than to give back to your kingdom as a
39:33keeper.
39:36Why don't you talk to him right now?
39:45And if you would, this one last thing
39:47and I'll let you go.
39:50If you'll
39:51find somebody around you and just lay a
39:53hand
39:54put your arm around them
39:56lay a hand on their shoulder.
40:02And I want you to begin to pray for
40:03someone next to you.
40:06Link up with somebody, couple of you.
40:09Two or three of you.
40:12And I want you to begin to pray for that
40:13person next to you.
40:16That the Lord would show them the next
40:18step to to do the appropriate root work
40:22as a disciple of Christ.
40:31That's it. That's it.
40:37Come on now, pray for them.
40:42Lift your voices.
40:45That's it.
40:51That's it.
40:53We love you, Jesus.
40:58Every individual
41:01every individual under the sound of my
41:02voice Lord
41:04let your spirit begin to move through
41:07them.
41:10Lord, I pray that you would reveal that
41:12next step.
41:15I pray, Lord, that you would reveal
41:16their keeper, Lord.
41:22Pray that you would give them what it
41:23takes to do the root work in their life,
41:25Lord.
41:26I pray in the name of Jesus.
41:29In the name of Jesus.
41:31In the name of Jesus.
41:34In the name of Jesus. Now, why don't you
41:36begin to
41:37to praise him right now. Give him a hand
41:39clap of praise.
41:41Lift your voices right now and tell him
41:43how much you love him.
41:45Lift your voices right now.
41:48We worship you, Jesus.
41:51We glorify your name, Lord.
41:53We glorify your name, Lord.
41:57You're so holy, [music] Jesus.
41:59You're so holy, Jesus.
42:02You're so holy, Jesus.
42:04You're so Jesus.
42:12Thank you so much for being at church.
42:14Why don't you hug somebody's neck? God
42:15bless you. Have a good night.
42:20>> My savior
42:25the one who will
42:26>> [music and singing]
42:28>> never fail.
42:32He will never fail.
42:37I trust in God.
42:41My savior
42:43>> [singing]
42:44[music]
42:46>> the one
42:46who will never
42:49fail.
42:53He will never fail.
42:58I trust in God.
43:02My savior
43:06the one who will never fail.
43:11>> [music]
43:13[singing]
43:14>> He will never fail.
43:17>> [music]
43:19>> I trust in God
43:22my savior
43:23>> [singing]
43:27>> the one who will never fail.
43:28>> [music and singing]
43:35>> He will never [music and singing] fail.
43:41I sought
43:42>> [music and singing]
43:42>> the Lord
43:43and he heard
43:45and he answered.
43:46I sought [singing]
43:47the Lord
43:49and he heard
43:49>> [music]
43:50>> and he answered.
43:52I sought
43:53the Lord
43:54and he heard
43:55>> [music]
43:55>> and he answered.
43:56>> [singing]
43:57>> That's why I trust him.
44:00That's why [music] I trust him. I sought
44:03the Lord
44:04and he heard
44:05and he answered.
44:07>> [music]
44:07>> I sought
44:08>> [singing]
44:08>> the Lord
44:09and he heard
44:11and he answered.
44:12I sought
44:13the Lord
44:15and he heard
44:16and he answered.
44:18That's why I trust him.
44:21That's why [music] I trust him. I sought
44:24the Lord
44:24>> [singing]
44:25>> and he heard
44:26and he answered.
44:28I sought
44:29the Lord
44:30and he heard
44:32and he answered.
44:33>> [music and singing]
44:33>> I sought
44:34the Lord
44:35and he heard
44:37and he answered.
44:39That's [music and singing] why I trust
44:41him.
44:42That's why I trust him.
44:44I sought the Lord
44:46and he heard
44:46>> [music and singing]
44:47>> and he answered.
44:49I sought the Lord
44:51and he heard
44:52>> [singing]
44:52>> and he answered.
44:53>> [music]
44:54>> I sought the Lord
44:56and
44:58he heard,
44:59and he answered.
45:00That's [music] why [singing] I trust
45:02him.
45:02That's why I trust him.
45:05That's why I trust him.
45:08That's [music and singing] why I trust
45:09in God.
45:12My savior,
45:15the one
45:17who [music] will never
45:20fail.
45:24He will never fail.
45:28>> [music]
45:29[singing]
45:29>> I trust in God.
45:33My savior,
45:36the one
45:38who will never
45:41fail.
45:42>> [music]
45:44[singing]
45:45>> He will never fail.
45:49>> [music]