Isaiah 41:19-20
“I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.  I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

Matthew 13:31-32
“[Jesus] told them another parable:  ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.  Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.’”

Isaiah 61:3b
“They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.”

Creator God, thank you for the gift of a green earth as a symbol of the life found in you.

From unnoticed beginnings faith’s forest takes root.  In the cedar-scented shade of a place once barren, we discern the strong and beautiful growth of your kingdom.

Plant us as seeds capable of reaching towering heights.  Though diverse, may we each flourish to provide sheltering boughs for the tender ones in our care.

In the name of Christ we pray, who reversed the power of the tree of despair to give us the splendour of the tree of life.

Listen to ‘Evergreen‘ by Sojourn