A Threefold Cord
Introduction
The Redwood tree must be seen to believe. They average eight feet to as much as twenty feet in diameter with heights as tall as three hundred seventy five feet. This is a tree taller than the Statue of Liberty with a diameter larger than a Greyhound bus. They are absolutely the largest living thing on earth.
Redwoods have some of the most varied and intricate survival strategies going.
The bark of a coastal redwood is very thick, as much as a foot in places. And it exhibits an unusual property when exposed to fire- it chars into a heat shield. The chemical composition of the tree itself is apparently distasteful or even poisonous to normal tree pests like termites and ants.
However, the greatest survival strategy of the redwood is not its bark or its chemical composition. It is the tees root system. I would think the largest living trees on the planet would have a root system buried deep into the ground. If the tree grows 300 feet tall, surely the root system is hundreds of feet in the ground. This is not the case. The root system of the massive Redwood trees is very shallow.
So what keeps the trees from falling during a storm?
It is the unity between the trees. As the tree grows vertically, the roots grow horizontally intertwining with other trees. The interlocking roots allow the trees to grow bigger and stronger. They support each other and sustain each other. They need each other to survive!
In order for the church to grow bigger and stronger, we need to be unified!!
We are a unified body of believers. Personal agendas are irrelevant, unnecessary, and dare say unwanted!! Jesus said, upon this rock, I will
1 Corinthians 1:10 (KJV)
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
We are intertwined and interlocked together. We come from different backgrounds with a variety of heritages and experiences. Outside of the church we are separated by race, education, social status, etc. etc. But in the church, there ain’t a devil in hell that can separate us. We are the church!! We are united. way—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.
We are a threefold cord. We are the church!!!
Psalms 34:3 (KJV)
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
Matthew 6:11 (KJV)
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Romans 6:4 (KJV)
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
The Holy Ghost changes our attitude of me and my to us and we. It’s no longer what’s best for me but what’s best for the church. Because the best thing for the church is in fact the best thing for me!!!
The bigger, better, and stronger the church becomes. The bigger, better, and stronger we become. Let me put it to you this way.
- I love my private Holy Ghost times of me and God.
- I get loud, tears flow and I even do jig for Jesus in private times.
- However, there is an added blessing of exalting the Lord together!
- For where two or three are gathered together in my name, Jesus in the midst of them.
God used a diverse group to write the bible. I submit to you this morning that it is His will to have a diversified church that is united for His purpose. Peter said in Acts 10:34 “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:”
- Bring on the liars
- Bring on the addicts
- Bring on the cheats
- Bring on the broken homes
- Bring on the sinners
It will not make us weaker; it will make us stronger. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
- Come as you are
- Come with your problems
- Come with your pains
I’m see some 375 feet tall redwoods!!! God has blessed you!! God has kept you!!
For those who haven’t given everything to God, Jesus has a target on you right now. He wants to intertwine and interlock with you so you can grow tall and strong in Him.