Foundations

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

I also want to read lukes version of this parable

Luke 6:46–49 ESV

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Introduction

I want to talk to you today about foundations..

The importances of foundations

There was a man one time who bought a house…

And as he was going through the house and inspecting its condition he noticed that one of the walls has a pretty good size crack in the drywall..

So he called a handyman, and asked him to come and repair the crack and repaint the wall.

The handyman did.. and the man moved in.

A few months later, the man walked into the room and notice that the crack had returned in the wall!

Frustrated he call the handyman and complained about the work he had done..

The man agreed to come out and redo the work to the persons satistfaction..

When the handyman arrive he was perplexed by the problem because he was sure of the quality of his work..

So he decided to conduct his own inspection of the crack to determine why it had formed again..

During his inspeciton he uncovered an issue and returned to talk to the homeowner..

Putting his tools back in his box the handyman told the home owner I am unable to repair your crack again..

Frustrated the home homeowner demaned to know why..

to which the hand many replied, Because my work was not the issue.

The real issue causing your crack in the wall is the crack under the wall in the foundation..

If you want the wall to stop cracking, then you must first repair the crack in the foundation..

Foundations are important.

A house without a strong foundation has little chance of standing for long..

the first wind that comes by will destroy it..

Cracks

a house with cracks in the foundation will have just as many probelms..

a the foundation cracks..

it provides oppurtunity for movenent insted of stability..

This movement allows the house to settle, or move when storms come by..

and produces other faults and cracks through the house..

eventually if things get bad enough..

These fault can lead to the total destruction of the house..

US..

our lives must be built on a strong foundation..

If we dont have a strong foundation..

Then anything we build on it will not be stable..

I think we know that..

Today

but more than just having a foundation today I want to talk about the cracks..

because many times with think they are insignifigant.. not a big deal..

but if our foundation has cracks..

and they are not delt with…

Those cracks will eventually lead to greater destruction

and potentially the colapse of our relationship with God..

we cant ignore the cracks..

Jesus tells the parable

The parable we find in both luke 6 and Matthew 7 is a parable about strong foundations..

Jesus is telling the poeple he is talking too, its important that you establish a strong foundation to build your life upon..

because life is going to bring wind, rain, floods and storms..

and if you have not built your life on the right foundation, when they come, you will be swept away..

Sermon on the mount

I want you to take notice that, especially in the matthew 7 account, where this parable is located.

Jesus for some time now has been giving what we know as the sermon on the mount.

he has teaching his followers and all who are listening what it means to live a kingdom life..

Giving instruction on how to live like a believer and follower of christ..

and its at the completion of this sermon that we find this parable..

as a capstone if you will of his sermon..

commands

through this parable Jesus is reiterating the importance of following his instructions for living..

The ones he has just laid out through the sermon on the mount..

but he also gives a warn as to what will happen if we choose to ignore them..

church people

I think many we read this story..

and the first thing that comes to our mind is Jesus is talking to sinners..

to people who need to be converted still..

And he is telling sinners, listen to my comands and follow them youll be established..

Dont listen and youll be swept away..

but

but the account we find of this parable in luke tells a little different story..

in Matthew Jesus addresses this parable to Everyone..

and this parable does apply to everyone..

but in luke..

look what luke 6:46 says

Luke 6:46 (ESV)

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

Lord Lord

in luke Jesus is not talking to sinners..

even thought this applies to sinners..

in luke Jesus is talking to followers..

in our time you could say hes talking to church people

hes talk to people who call him Lord Lord..

who say they know him.. have a relationship with him..

Lord

That word lord means ruler, master, boss..

when its found in all capitals in scriptures its used to denote the name of god YHWH

So Jesus is talking to people who should already be following his teachings..

but they evidently are not..

because look what he says..

why do you call me lord lord..and not do what I tell you?

Us

You know its easy to call Jesus lord..

Its difficult to live as hes comanded..

Words are cheap

Actions are costly..

and in my time in ministry ive found that one of the biggest issues in our lives..

Is that many of us, my self included at times through my life, claim we know and love Jesus..

We say we love Jesus..

We say we are christians..

And we might exibit that in ways..

but there are many areas of our lives where we ARE NOT following his comands..

but since we call him lord, we dont think those areas are a big deal..

But Jesus evidently did…

Cracks

what I believe we need to understand this morning..

Is that when we fail to live the instruction of christ in our lives as believers..

We begin to develop cracks in our foundation..

problems with out relationship with god..

and if we do not treat them..

If we dont fix the shortcomings..

those cracks will evenually show in the walls of our lives…

and begin to effect everything..

and potentially lead to our own distruction..

Become Visible

you know you dont see a foundation most times..

but you see the walls..

And for some it can be easy to hide foundation probelms.

hidden sin..

things done behind closes doors and in the dark…

But again..

if you have foundation problems eventually they will lead to cracks in the walls..

visible issues..

and evenaully colapse..

Jesus said in luke 12..

Luke 12:1–3 ESV

In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

If we have cracks in our foundations..

we they will eventually come to light.

and effect other areas of our lives..

We must repair the cracks..

so lets talk about some cracks..

somethings Jesus told us we should do..

but we are ok with not doing in our lives..

Cracks

What constitutes a crack in our foundation?

Cracks are broken areas of our relationship with god

Areas where we know Jesus has instructed us to live one way..

but we have chosen to live another..

honestly they are rebellous areas.. un surrendered areas..

and they are brought on by our own unwillingness to submit that areas of our lives over to him.

but these are not normally public blatent sins..

Hidden

These cracks in our foundation, like the foundations of a home, that may not be readily visible to others unless they are close to us..

rather we try to keep them covered and hidden so now one can see them..

because we know they are contrary to gods word..

These are things maybe only we or the ones close to us know about about..

but the thing about cracks if they wont stay hidden for ever..

The issue with these cracks though, is left untreated, unrelenquished to god, healed and sealed, they will end up bringing destruction to the public and visible parts of our lives and eventually lead to our destruction..

Some cracks

So what are some common cracks in our lives?

Failing to genuenly show love to others

Jesus comanded us..

John 13:35 (ESV)

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Matthew 22:37–39 (ESV)

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

1 John 4:20 ESV

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Loveing others is a comand directly from Jesus himself

its not optional, its expected

so what does it look like to love others?

What is love

Paul, in 1 corinthians gave us a working definition of what love should look like!

1 corinthians 13:4-7

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

he also wrote in romans 5:8

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus said we are to love people..

thats means as believers

we have been instructed to be pactient and kind to one another

not to envey one another

not to be arogant and rude to one another..

not to be resentful

but instead we are to bear all things..

believe all..

hope all

and endure all..

Question

is that how you interact with other people?

does your interactions with others reflect the love paul explained or the love Jesus exemplified?

If it doesnt theirs a crack in your foundation..

lets look at another one

Unforgivness

Jesus tells us in this very sermon were talking about this..

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

We are required to forgive..

Jesus says our own forgivness depends on it..

but yet we choose to hang on to hurts..

and because of it we the victom, not the perpatrator, are the ones who continue to suffer..

Quick

and we have to be people who are quick to forgive..

in matthew 18 peter asks, how many times should i forgive? Seven?

Jesus says 7 times 70…

in the message bible

eugene peterson explains colossians 3:13 as this..

Colossians 3:13 MSG

Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.

snake

unforgivness is like be bit by a snake..,

You know..

you walked up on one, your probably didnt know it was there..

and you steped on it and it bit you..

(lets not talk about how people have a tendancy to bit when you step on them or enfringe on thier teritory..

and never in the church)

but you got bit..

The best chance for you to remain health if you were bit by a poisonous snake..,

is to try to suck the venim out before it hits the bloodstream..

us

To many of us though instead of trying to prevent the poisnoning..

get mad at the snake.,,

and the snake doesnt care..

hes a snake..

And instead of preventing our poisoning we allow it to get deep in our viens…

where its harder to get rid of..

unforgivness is a poision. ..

you have to get rid of it quick..

do you have unforgivness in you life?

If so, you probablly have cracks in your foundation..

Anger

Anger is a crack..

Matthew 5:21–23 ESV

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,

We try to sugar coat our tempers..

well their just passionate..

they just have a temper..

but when you get angry with others and start slinging names your living contraty to the comands of Jesus

and while you may be ok with that he is not..

Were called to love one another like I said before and bear the fruit of the spirit..

or which anger is not one of them..

If your life is filled with anger and name calling, you probably have a crack in your foundation..

Judging others

Judging others

Matthew 7:1–5 ESV

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

god never called us to be our brothers judge..

If all you can see is whats wrong with other people when you have a vision problem..

Because Even Jesus saw the good in people who where not walking good in that moment..

Correct

but pastor arnt we called to hold each other accountable?

yes..

If you brother is in sin..

you come to him in brokeness, meekness, and humble concern for him..

not judgement..

You and i will never determine where people go..

Ultimatly thats gods job..

Church

if people walk into church and all you can see is their sin.. then you need to repent and find the heart of Jesus..

because the bible said while we were sinners christ died for us..

in other words when Jesus look down through time and saw our sinfulnature..

instead of condemning us to hell

he saw us as lost sheep

and he made a way for us to be redeemed..

sinners

when we see people living in sin our job is to pray for them and help them get back to Jesus..

Not write them off and talk about them..

If all you can see is other peoples probelms when you look at them you probably have a crack in your foundation..

Sefl righteousness..

self rightteousness..

Matthew 6:1 ESV

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Lust

Matthew 5:27–30 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Any area of our lives where God has comanded us to live one way and we have chosen to live contrary to his word is a crack..

and it must be repaired.

Repairing cracks

So how do we repair cracks?

If you encounter a crack in your homes foundation

it usually requires you to contact an expereinced repair professional

its not something most people can repair on their own correctly

and when they do.. if its not done right the cracks reappears

we serve a god who is in the crack repair business

he is expereinced and specializes in dealing with the broken areas of our lives..

in mending our brokeness and setting us free..

If you have a crack in you life..

then the best way to deal with it is to choose to submit it to JEsus for repair.. and choose to obey his word..

We have to be set free.. and then live free..

both of needed..

Own

We cant do it on our own though..

if we could we wouldnt have cracks..

We need god to set us free and empower us to live free..

The Danger of ignoring God..

there is a real danger in thinking that god doesnt care about our foundation problems..

Thinking were good.. because we call ourselves christians..

Prior

In the matthew account

the passage before the parable of the rock… Jesus gives a related warning..

and this is the true danger of ignoring gods teachings..

look what he says in matthew 7:21-23

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Did you see it again?

hes talking about people who call him lord lord..

people who follow him. ..

implying that they think they are going to heaven..

but he says those people are going to get to that day..

and try to come into the gate…

thinking they were living for god..

and they will miss out..

because they were really living for them selves..

and passifying thier feelings by saying they serve god..

but their actions did not..

making it in

Jesus says in verse 21..

the only ones making in are those who do the will of my father..

whats the will of the father?

to serve and obey the son, Jesus, who he sent..

Jesus says..

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We cannot live in our flesh and says we serve god..

We have to actually live and obey him..

Today

I want to ask you today..

are you actually serving god?

are you doing what he has instructed you to do thorugh scripture..

is your life bearing the fruit of the spirit?

are you reflecting the light of christ by living like him?

or does your foundation have cracks in it..