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1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

- Psalm 139:1-10


One of the things I like to do to grow closer to Jesus is to take a retreat every now and then and go somewhere in Creation where I can just sit, and be, and reflect, and soak it all in. 

Not too long ago I hiked down to a waterfall not far off the Blue Ridge Parkway and I just sat in the presence of the falls, listening to the water fall on the rocks and felt the spray coming up. I marvelled at the creation of God. And as I sat I wanted to connect with the One who made the rocks and trees and the water and me. 

One of the core purposes of ROOTED is connecting with God. Why? Because He is the source of everything good in this world, and because He wants us to. What else is there? He is the reason we were created. 

I am reading CS Lewis' Mere Christianity again with a good friend. This week we read a passage that caused me to think deeper on my relationship with God. This is what he wrote in regards to being in a relationship with our Creator:

"There is no other way to the happiness for which we made. Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: If you want to be wet you must get  into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone. They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very centre of reality. If you are close to it, the spary will get you wet: if you are not, you will remain dry. Once a man is united to God, how could he not live forever? Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?" - CS Lewis, Mere Christianity.

This Sunday, as part of the ROOTED Series - Week 2,  we will tackle the question "Who Is God?" which is no small task. The key point is what are you willing to do to find the answer to the question? What are you willing to do to know Him? 

He is always right there with us. Will we open our hearts to draw near to Him? 

He alone is our source of real joy, real peace, real life. In a crazy world, why not seek the One from Whom all good things come?

ROOTED - Week 2: This Sunday, 9.20.2020 - Facebook Live or in person, 9am & 11am