Rooted in Christ

Scripture Text

Colossians 2:6-7

Intro: The apostle Paul says in these scriptures for today that we are to be “rooted” in Christ, rooted in His word, rooted in love, rooted in faith, and rooted in hope. The bible has much to say about spiritual roots. The deeper our spiritual roots the stronger we are.

I. Receive Christ as Savior and Lord. Colossians 2:6 (NKJV) As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord

a. To be able to walk and be rooted, built up, and established in Christ, you must have confessed your sins against God to Him and ask Him to save you and receive Him into your life! Then you should be baptized and begin to live for Him. He says not merely, "You received" the doctrine of Christ, but "Jesus" Himself; this is the essence of faith. You have received once for all the Spirit of life in Christ; carry into practice that life in your walk. When we receive Him, the Savior from heaven; then we accept Him as the Lord of our lives. That means He owns us and tells us what we should do.

II. Live your life in Christ. Colossians 2:6b so walk in Him,

a. Because Christ dwells within all believers through the Holy Spirit, they should walk or live our lives in obedience to him. We begin to do His will and bear His fruit! The past event of receiving Christ should be a present reality in the believers’ daily life. To live in Christ means to conduct yourself each day as Jesus would in every situation of life. To do that you must be rooted like a tree, built up in Jesus as your solid foundation, and established in the faith. So we will look at how we do that?

III. Be rooted in Christ. Colossians 2:7a Be rooted in Christ

a. How do you know when you don't have deep spiritual roots? You will have continual worry, doubts, fears, stress, guilt, shame, resentment, and bitterness, and so much more show up in your life. These are the results of not having deep spiritual roots.

Jesus told a parable about sowing seeds. The seeds represented God's word. Some fell on stony ground which represents hard hearts. The Word never penetrated the heart. Some received the word but never developed deep roots and soon the worries and problems of life choked out the word and it never developed deep roots. The roots withered away.(Matt. 6:4-7) But Jesus' will for us is to develop deep spiritual roots that will carry us through hard times and “produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as has been planted.” (Matt. 13:23)                                             IV. Be built up and established in Him. Colossians 2:7 (NKJV) built up in Him and established in the faith. We all build our lives on something we believe in. So Christian Build your life on Christ alone and you will be an overcomer!

a. For this to happen, You must spend time with God in bible reading and prayer. As you read God's word and pray you begin to become strengthened and built up in Christ. To build on Christ you have to know what God is saying to us from His word. We have to spend time studying and meditating on His word and be in communication with Him through prayer. If we don't spend time with God, we will dry up and blow away when the pressures of life are on. There is no substitute for time with God. We have to spend time with other believers as we gather together and worship and praise God. No one has life all figured out. That's why we need each other. We can learn from each other and encourage and help each other and thereby build each other up. Building on Christ means we have Him as the solid foundation of our lives and He directs everything we do. We build our lives on Him and His word. Jesus and His word become a part of us and helps us face whatever life throws our way and helps us live the victorious lifestyle.

Then we become established in Christ and we begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV) ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And this kind of life will abound in thanksgiving to God for His glorious provisions.

Conclusion: There is no substitute for growing in our Christ likeness because that's what God saved us for. [Rom. 8:29] As we are more rooted and grounded in Christ, the more victorious we will be in our daily walk, and we will begin to experience more and more the blessings and favor of God in our lives.

Invitation: Dear Lord, as we continue seek You, I pray that You will build up our lives into all that You have for us. May our lives bring glory and honor to Your great name. And Jesus , if the one reading this today has never confessed their sins to You and asked for Your forgiveness, may today be the day of their salvation I pray in Your name. Amen!