First Baptist Church of Highland Park

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: Hi, I'm Henry Davis, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. A Bible-believing, Christ-centered, and spirit-led congregation. I want to welcome you to our radio broadcast and remember, there's power at the park.

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: There's a word God has for us and it is in the Psalms. Of course we know the Psalms, but I want to look in this service at Psalm 1. The New Living Translation puts it this way: "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. And they are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do."

Amen. You may go to your seats around the building. The emphasis scripture is that third verse. Psalm 1, verse 3. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their lives, their leaves never wither and they prosper in all they do. I want to talk in this service, because all weekend I'm dealing with this theme: Unshakeable when it matters most. But more specifically, in this service, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Family, if we're honest, there are some things in life we would change if we could. Some roads we would've taken, some storms we wish we could've avoided. Some seasons that, if it were up to us, we would rewrite them. If we're real about it, there are moments when we've said, "Lord, I don't like how this feels." But here's the deeper truth of faith: God doesn't just work in the parts we like. He does his best work in places we wouldn't choose. Some of the best work is done in those places because sometimes the very thing you wouldn't have picked is the very thing that positioned you to become who God called you to be.

The question this text answers is: how do you become unshakeable in a world that keeps shifting? I don't like who's in the White House, and many of you don't either. It is disturbing. The recklessness that he has put on black and brown and the all-out assault, because that's what it really is. But for us as believers, we still have to stay anchored in the word. I need to put up a clock and count down the days this person has.

Psalm 1:3 says they are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither and they prosper in all they do. Here's my first point: you've got to be planted in the right place. The text says the trees are planted. That word "planted" suggests something that is intentional. It is what I could describe as divine positioning. Nothing about God is accidental. It is with a purpose.

You can look over the expanse of your mind and your spirit and know that God is not operating by accident but by providence. Not accidental growth; he's going to grow you, he's growing you in the faith. Sometimes we go through our experiences so God can indeed bring the best out of us. This tree didn't just show up; it was set there. You are not where you are by accident. Even the seasons you didn't understand, God was planting you where you could grow.

A younger minister asked me yesterday, "Have you always pastored a big church?" I said, "No." The first church I had, we had about six in the choir and about 20 to 30 on a regular basis. Then I had a vision. I said, "We're going to build." With 30 people, we were going to build. I was talking with the architect and he asked the question, "How many members do you have?" I looked at one of the deacons because I wanted the deacon to answer.

The deacon looked up and he said, "We have 200 members." I said, "My God, I've been here all this time and I haven't ever seen 200." But then he quickly said, "We have 200, but they don't show up." I want to say that God plants you with purpose. He plants you trying to bring the best out of you because so many times we can get so wrapped up in the exterior, so wrapped up in what's on the outside. A tree doesn't argue with the soil. It grows where it's planted.

On the street on which I live, recently they planted some little trees. Not only did they plant the trees, but they planted sticks next to them. They tied them so they could anchor the tree because they understand that in the early days, the tree is going to have to deal with some challenges. The time's going to come when the tree is not going to need those sticks, but God is trying to position you to bring the best out of you. Many of us spend more time complaining about the soil than growing in it. My family, my job, my neighborhood. No, if God planted you there, he planted you there to grow.

The other thing about a tree is that it's not like some plant that's already been cut. The tree has to have roots. Once the roots start to grab, you've got to let those roots continue to grow so you can see what is going to be ahead. What is going to be around the corner? What do you want to do, God? I want to grow where I'm planted. Matter of fact, at the first church I pastored, an older lady came to me one time. I didn't really like her comment, but she said, "Are you happy where you are?"

I'm thinking I have a bigger vision than preaching to 20 or 30. I'm going to give it my all, I'm not going to lie to you. She said to me, "You need to settle in where you are. Once you settle in, then God will move. God will open up doors. But you've got to make sure that you have emotionally and spiritually settled in with every sense of who you are." I was human, and I still didn't buy into that. I was still looking for greener grass. But you've got to understand that wherever God plants you, he does not plant you there by accident, but by providence.

My second point is: your strength comes from what you're connected to. Your strength comes from who I'm connected to. A person asked me yesterday, "You've been celebrating 25 years. How many more years do you plan to do this?" I said, "Don't ask me that." I do have people who are close to me and I said, "When you see me slipping, nudge me. Don't see me going down and just look at me. Nudge me. Let me know the rep."

The scripture says your strength comes from what you're connected to. The text says the tree is along the riverbank. That means I have constant access to water. If I'm by the riverbank, I have unseen nourishment. You can't see it, but because I'm near the riverbank, I have a hidden source of strength. Water represents the word of God, the presence of God, and the sustaining power of God. There are trees in dry climates that still thrive, not because it rains often, but because their roots have learned how to reach water that others can't see.

I'm reaching down and getting water. You can't see the water or the strength that I'm pulling from. You made it here this week, not just to get to the sermon today, but because you've been reading your Bible. You've been praying. You've been on your knees. You've been sharing your testimony. You've been listening and walking next to miracles, and you've been drawing from others. It's like ballers on the court; even if you didn't have much game, if you got on the court with somebody who did, they lifted your game. I wish I had a witness here.

You're not surviving because life is easy. You're surviving because your roots are reaching something deeper. I heard the late Dr. Charles Booth say he's reaching into the well. I remember the late Dr. Gardner C. Taylor pastored the Concord Church in Brooklyn, New York, and he said he'd been preaching for so many years that he could preach from the well. I remember we were having a funeral a number of years ago, and Dr. William J. Shaw, who just transitioned a few weeks ago in Philadelphia, had come to the funeral. I looked out there and said, "I'm not going to preach; I've got William J. Shaw."

I called Dr. Shaw from the pulpit and said, "Dr. Shaw, come on up here." He was able to stand up in that sermon and eulogy and preach because he could draw from the well. When you go into the operating room, you don't need a doctor trying to fumble through the library trying to figure out what he's going to do with you. Something ought to be able to leap out of the spirit. That's why my professor Dr. Marvin McMickle told us years ago, "Don't be dependent on a manuscript because what happens to the manuscript?"

I was somewhere with a colleague and he was preaching with all these papers. All of a sudden the wind blew and those papers went flying. He had to scoop them up, but he didn't have time to put them back in order. It was one of the most confusing sermons I've ever heard in my life. He was going from one thing to another. There ought to be something in your spirit that is able to jump out. Every preacher in the room, if I call on you, you ought to be ready. You ought to have at least one sermon.

You ought to have one word to say. Your family knows you love the Lord. We ought to be able to say something about Jesus. You don't always need to look for the pastor or the deacon. What about you? You don't need a title in front of your name to pray. All you've got to do is believe. You're not surviving because life is easy. You're surviving because your roots are reaching something deeper. I'm going to bend, but I'm not going to break. I'm going to go down, but I'm going to get back up again.

When I get back up again, you're not even going to know I went down. You might try to gut punch me, but I'm still going to give God praise. I'm still going to lift up holy hands. I'm going to still give God the glory always. The third thing I need to tell you: when you're rooted right, you become unshakeable. You've got to get rooted right. The text says bearing fruit each season. Leaves never wither. They prosper in all they do. Not some seasons, but each season. Not never tested, but never withering. Unshakeable people are not people who avoid seasons. They are people who produce in every season.

There was a young man who inherited a piece of land from his grandfather. It wasn't much to look at: dry patches, uneven ground, and one small tree sitting off to the side. Truth be told, he didn't even want the land. He had bigger dreams of city life, fast life, and bright lights. But his grandfather had one instruction before he passed: "Take care of that tree." The young man didn't understand. Out of all the things he could have left him, why a tree?

But he honored the request. Every now and then, he'd go back, check on it, water it when he could, and clear the ground around it. Years passed. Life didn't go the way he planned. Business didn't take off. Money got tight. Relationships fell apart. One day, with nowhere else to turn, he went back to that land and this time he stayed. He started working the soil, clearing the debris. He started paying attention to that tree like never before.

Something started happening. That little tree started growing. Branches stretching, leaves filling out, and roots going deeper than he realized. Then one year, a storm came through the region. Winds howling, rain pouring, ground shifting. Trees all around began to fall. Big trees, tall trees, trees that looked stronger. But when the storm passed, that little tree was still standing. Bent, but not broken. Shaken, but not uprooted.

It was then that the young man finally understood what his grandfather was trying to teach him. It wasn't about the size of the tree. It was about the strength of the roots. That's the word for somebody this morning. You've been through storms that should have taken you out. You faced winds that should have uprooted you, but you're still standing. Not because you were the biggest or strongest, but because somewhere along the way, God let your roots grow deeper than what people could see.

When you really think about it, some of the hardest seasons in your life were the seasons God was deepening your roots. Thank you for my roots. After everything you've been through, I feel a shout about the breakout. After every storm you survive, after every season that tried to take you out, you can stand flat-footed and declare, "I wouldn't have it any other way." Look at somebody and tell them, "I didn't like it, but I needed that. I didn't choose it, but it changed me. I didn't understand it, but it strengthened me."

Because if I didn't go through, I wouldn't be who I am right now. If I didn't face it, I wouldn't have grown up like I did. If I didn't endure it, I wouldn't be standing like I'm standing. So I wouldn't have it any other way. The storm planted me. The pressure rooted me. The struggle stretched me, but God sustained me. Now I'm fruitful in every season, stable in uncertain times, and unshakeable when it matters most.

If you're here this morning and your life feels unstable, it's not about changing your situation. It's about changing your foundation. The only way to be unshakeable is to be planted in something eternal. What is that, preacher? That is a relationship with Jesus Christ. You can say it to somebody, "I wouldn't have it any other way." Now give God praise. He used everything that I've been through to make me who I am today.

I love the Lord. He heard my cry. He put clapping in my hands, running in my feet, and joy in my heart. Can't nobody do me like the Lord. I wouldn't have it any other way, because every time I turn around, he keeps on blessing me. Gary Johnson, you know what I'm talking about. Chester Buster, you know what I'm talking about. We've come through some things, but I'm leaning and depending on the power of God. Ain't he all right? Yeah! Yeah!

I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank God for every mountain, every valley, and every storm. That's a part of your maturation. When you went through it, you weren't happy about it, but you can now help somebody else because you've seen God take you from that place to where you are right now. Folk look at you and say, "How are you smiling? How do you have so much joy?" It's the roots. It's what you can't see. It's what I'm drawing from. If you don't have roots, you need to get some. Be rooted and grounded in the power of the Lord.

Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III: You've been listening to the radio broadcast of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland. If you want to receive a CD or DVD of what you have just heard, please call 301-773-6655 or visit us on the world wide web at fbhp.org. And remember, there's power at the park.