Focus on the roots

It’s no secret that I have very fine hair.  We can thank my mother for this gift. When I blow-dry my hair, I often spritz it with volumizer. The instructions on the back of the bottle say to “focus on the roots for lift.”  Well now, isn’t that just a great phrase?

On Sunday morning after worship some folks were discussing how they wished they’d had their parents and grandparents record meaningful family stories, lineage, traditions, etc…because now they are the generation that has to pass those important things down to the up and coming.   Hmm… focus on the roots for lift.

We do this a lot at New Providence—focus on the roots-- I think, probably because I like history and I love the deep roots so many of our folks have in this community and this church.  When I asked our session to contemplate how long they’d been members of New Providence half of them asked, “can we just say lifetime?”

Amazing as that is, and as much as I love it, the goal isn’t just to keep everything and everyone the same for a lifetime.  We focus on the roots…for lift! We focus on the roots to make everything rise up, fresher and fuller than before! Eventually, we want to grow stronger as a congregation because there are more members here who are fully devoted Christians who were not born here than the life timers—then we’ll know we’ve focused on the roots, not for nostalgia, but for lift!

It will take attention to the roots to guide us though. What are the foundations and principles that brought us here, keep us here, and strengthen us in faith?  Those principles of generosity, hospitality, and service are evident—just to name a few.  We are committed to the Word of God, studying it and living it.  In today’s world that is no small thing.  But don’t hide it under a bushel friends, don’t think small.  Focus on the roots, not because they are familiar or comfortable—but focus on the roots for lift!