Here To Stay (2026): Rooted For The Long Game

Here To Stay: Rooted For The Long Game

March 8th, 2026/Seventh Day Adventist

Opener:

What if the most important thing you ever build in Boulder isn’t something your name is on? What if the greatest impact of your life is not what you accomplish for yourself, but what you help establish for the next generation? Most of the things that truly shape a city are not built overnight. They come from people who choose to plant themselves somewhere, invest their lives there, and believe that God can do something meaningful over time.

Today I want to talk about that kind of faith. The kind of faith that does not just think about the present moment but thinks about the next generation. The kind of faith that builds something that lasts.

Introduction: Every City Has a Story

Every city has a story. Some of the story is visible. You see it in the buildings, the neighborhoods, the schools, and the institutions that shape the culture of a place. But some of the story is invisible. It is written in the prayers of people who lived there before us, in the faithfulness of families who quietly served God in that place, and in the moments when God moved in the hearts of people and changed lives.

Boulder has a story like that. Long before any of us arrived here, there were believers praying for this city. There were churches planted when Boulder was still a young town. There were families raising their children to follow Jesus and hoping that the gospel would continue to take root in this community. Those people were part of something much bigger than themselves, and today we are part of that story too.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Here To Stay campaign, I have been reflecting on what God has done in this church over the past year. Church, God has been faithful. Through the generosity of this congregation, we have been able to expand ministry capacity, reach more people with the gospel, and invest more deeply in mission both locally and around the world. That is something worth celebrating. At the same time, we also sense that God is continuing to lead us into the future. We believe He is still writing the story of Pinewood Church in this city, and part of that vision includes one day owning a permanent home here in Boulder.

The goal is not simply a building. The mission is still the mission of Jesus. But a place can serve that mission for generations. A place where people meet Christ, where families are restored, where students discover purpose, and where children grow up learning the Word of God. A place that quietly communicates something powerful to this city: we are not going anywhere.

A Story From Boulder: When God Moves

There is actually a story from right here in Boulder that illustrates how God can move through a place and impact far beyond it. In the early 1990s, the head football coach at the University of Colorado was a man named Bill McCartney. He loved Jesus and had a deep burden for men across the country to experience spiritual renewal. Out of that burden came something that started very small, a gathering of men who wanted to follow God more seriously.

That movement became known as Promise Keepers. What began with a small group of men eventually filled stadiums across the country. Hundreds of thousands of men gathered to worship, pray, and commit themselves to Christ. At one point nearly a million men gathered on the National Mall in Washington D.C. to pray together.

Think about that for a moment. A movement that impacted hundreds of thousands of men across the nation had its roots right here in Boulder. It began because someone believed that God could do something meaningful in this place. That is often how movements of God begin. They begin when someone believes God is not finished with a city.

The Problem With Temporary Vision:

Temporary living produces temporary vision. When you stay in a hotel, you are not thinking about the long-term future of that building. You are not concerned about how it will serve the community ten years from now. You are simply passing through. The same thing happens when you rent a car. You are not thinking about the maintenance schedule or how long it will stay in the fleet. It is a temporary arrangement, and temporary arrangements rarely inspire long-term thinking.

The same principle can apply spiritually. When people live with the mindset that they are only passing through a place, it is difficult to imagine investing deeply in that place. It is difficult to dream about the future of the community. But when people plant themselves somewhere, when they begin to believe that God has placed them there intentionally, their vision begins to change. They start thinking about the future. They begin to ask how their lives might contribute to something that lasts.

Temporary living produces temporary vision, but rooted living produces generational vision.

Personal Story: Why Roots Matter

I experienced this personally growing up. My family moved around frequently, and I remember what it felt like to constantly start over. There were new schools, new neighborhoods, and new friendships. At the time I did not fully understand how that instability was affecting me. But during one doctor’s appointment, the doctor said something to my mom that stayed with me. He said, “You need to settle down and give this kid some consistency.”

There is something powerful about being planted somewhere. When people plant roots, relationships deepen. Trust grows. Communities form. There is a sense of stability that allows people to think about the future rather than simply surviving the present. Being able to say “we are not going anywhere” changes the way people live and the way they invest in the world around them.

The Boulder Dad Illustration

Many of us understand this principle in everyday life, especially when it comes to real estate. In a city like Boulder, people often think long-term about where they live. When someone purchases a home, they are rarely thinking about the next six months. They are thinking about the future—where their children will grow up, what the community will look like over time, and how their investment will shape the next decade or more.

Of course, many people rent in our city, and that is simply part of the reality of living here. But the principle behind long-term investment is something most of us recognize. When you invest somewhere for the long term, you begin caring deeply about the future of that place. You become more connected to the community. You think about the long-term flourishing of the neighborhood. That same mindset reflects the posture God calls His people to have in the places where He plants them.

Background:

This idea appears clearly in Jeremiah chapter 29. The chapter is a letter written by the prophet Jeremiah to Jewish exiles who were living in Babylon. Jerusalem had been conquered, and many of the people of Israel had been taken into exile. They were living in a foreign city far from their homeland, and many of them believed the exile would end quickly.

False prophets were telling the people not to settle down because they expected a rapid return to Jerusalem. But Jeremiah writes to correct that assumption. Instead of telling them to wait for escape, God tells them to settle into the place where they have been sent. In fact, later in the chapter God says the exile will last seventy years. That means most of the people hearing the letter would never see the end of it. Their obedience and faithfulness would benefit the next generation.

Passage: Jeremiah 29:4–7 CSB

This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. 7 Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.” 8 For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you, and don’t listen to the dreams you elicit from them, 9 for they are prophesying falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

10 For this is what the Lord says: “When seventy years for Babylon are complete, I will attend to you and will confirm my promise concerning you to restore you to this place.

Main Points:

1. God Plants His People in Places on Purpose
   1. One of the most striking elements in this passage is that God reminds His people that their presence in Babylon was not accidental. In verse four He says, “I deported you.” While the people may have believed they were there because of the power of an empire, God reveals that He was still sovereign over their circumstances. Even in exile, their location was not outside the scope of God’s purposes.
   2. This principle runs throughout Scripture. In Acts 17, Paul explains that God determines the times and places where people live. That means our lives are not random, and the cities where we find ourselves are not accidents. When believers begin to recognize that God may have placed them somewhere intentionally, it changes the way they live. Instead of drifting through life, they begin to ask how God might want to work through them in that particular place.
2. God Calls His People to Put Down Roots
   1. Jeremiah instructs the exiles to build houses, plant gardens, marry, and raise families. These commands were about establishing stability and continuity. God was telling His people not to live like temporary refugees who were merely waiting for escape. Instead, they were to live as a community that expected God to continue working in that place for years to come.
   2. Legacy rarely happens quickly. Relationships require time. Trust grows slowly. Communities are built through long-term faithfulness. When people are willing to remain committed to a place and to one another, they begin to create an environment where future generations can flourish. This is why rooted living produces generational vision. It allows people to imagine how their faithfulness today might bless people they may never meet.
3. God’s People Seek the Good of Their City
   1. Jeremiah then gives a remarkable command: “Seek the well-being of the city.” The Hebrew word used here is shalom, which carries the idea of peace, flourishing, and wholeness. God was calling His people not simply to survive in Babylon but to contribute to the flourishing of that city.
   2. This instruction would have been surprising because Babylon was the empire that conquered them. Yet God’s people were still called to work for the good of the place where they lived. The same principle applies today. The church does not exist only for its own benefit. It exists for the good of the city. When the people of God pursue the flourishing of their communities, they become a visible expression of God’s love and grace.

Boulder Legacy Moment

If you walk through downtown Boulder today, you will see churches that were planted more than a century ago. Imagine Boulder in the late 1800s—a young town with dirt roads and small buildings. Somewhere in that developing town, a group of believers decided to build a church. They prayed together, sacrificed together, and invested their resources to establish a place where people could gather and worship God.

Those people are long gone now, and most of their names have been forgotten. Yet their faithfulness still blesses this city. Every week people walk through the doors of those churches to worship, pray, and encounter God. That is the power of long-term faithfulness. When people choose to invest in something that outlasts them, their legacy continues long after they are gone.

Vision for the Future

Buildings are not the mission of the church, but they can serve the mission. Imagine a place in Boulder where marriages are restored and families find healing. Imagine a place where students discover their purpose and begin following Christ with their whole lives. Imagine a place where children grow up learning the truth of God’s Word and experiencing a community that encourages their faith.

Imagine a place that continues serving this city for decades to come. That is the kind of place we are believing God to establish.

Final Vision

Many of you moved to Boulder because you wanted a place where your children could grow up well. You wanted strong schools, healthy community, and a place where your family could flourish. We believe the church should be part of building that kind of future for this city.

One day people will walk into a church in Boulder and never know your name. Yet their lives will be changed because you were faithful. Because you prayed. Because you served. Because you gave. Because you believed that God wanted to do something in this city.

Temporary living produces temporary vision, but rooted living produces generational vision.

And by God’s grace, Pinewood Church is here for the long game.

We are here to love this city, serve this city, and see the gospel transform this city.

And church, by faith we believe this:

We are here to stay.