Hi Everyone,
I am preaching at New Life this Sunday so I have decided to share with you a part of my message for Sunday. (A sort of preview!!)
My biggest prayer is that we will step up to the microphone (to use the words of the Newsboys) to live out our faith daily! Anyway, here is a snippet.
Matthew 7:24-29
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.
Colossians 2:7 states: Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
When we allow Christ’s teaching to become the foundation of our lives we are guaranteed that our faith will grow strong and we will overflow with thankfulness. Today we are going to study what happens when one of those building blocks is missing or somehow was taken away from the foundation.
The verse in Colossians 2:7 is a foundational verse for us to live on when it is partnered especially with Mathew 7:24-27. After studying Jesus best sermon ever for 20 weeks we must not let it fade from who we are. We must make his teaching the very essence of our being. I am not trying to be all mythical and mysterious, not at all. What I am saying is that it is time for God’s church to take seriously the call to live a life that is built and rooted in the bedrock of His word and not the “ideas” of our time. That is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 7:24-27.
When we look at the very nature of the builders in Matthew 7:24-27 we can see many similarities. They both desired to have a beautiful home. They both desired to live in the same area (based on the context of the scripture). They both wanted a place for their families to be protected and safe. There is one key difference though. When we look at the passage we see that the wise man thought through his decision to build his house. He took the time necessary to pray and dream and then plan for his house. The foolish man, on the other hand, did not. The foolish man could only see the end result in his mind. He just wanted to get the house up and worry about the rest later. The wise man must have not only read the Bible but also Andy Stanley’s insightful book 7 Practices of Effective Ministry because he understood what it took to build a lasting home. Stanley’s book deals primarily with ministry but it has real application to our lives as well. In Stanley’s book he talks about clarifying a win and thinking steps to get to that win.
The result for the wise man was joy and thankfulness as he built upon a solid foundation that never moved allowing his house to stand firm against the storm. While the result for the foolish man was hopelessness and despair as he lost everything. I don’t mean to make a teaching of Jesus sound so gloomy and sad but the reality is that if Jesus isn’t the foundation of our lives then we will not stand against the storms of this life. Some may turn to something other than the solid foundation that will only be washed away in the storm causing their lives to be that much more desolate.
But the truth today is that Jesus is the solid foundation. God’s word is our solid foundation. When we do the things that Jesus tells us to do and allow our roots to grow down deep into God then we will have a solid foundation on which to stand against the trials we face in life.
For more and two great illustrations you really don't want to miss, be at New Life this Sunday at 10:00 AM!
See ya,
Brad
No comments:
Post a Comment