Laying The Foundation

INTRO

What kind of Life do you want?

How you build determines the life you end up with.

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.”

Laying the Foundation

PRAY

STORY

(bring out screws)

I brought somethings with me…

You ever put something together…and somehow you’ve got pieces left over?

And you’re like… “ehh… it seems solid… we’re good.”

I’ve got screws in here from stuff I don’t even own anymore.

SHIFT

Which means at some point…

something looked ok…

but it wasn’t built right.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

Many Christians are carrying pieces from a life we don’t even live anymore.

And we’re still trying to build something stable…with the wrong or spare parts.

EVERYONE’S BUILDING

Nobody’s life is neutral, it’s going somewhere.

You are building your life right now… whether you realize it or not.

It’s not if you’re building… it’s what you’re building on.

AMERICAN DREAM

House

Marriage

Kids

Stable life

Not wrong…just not enough

About 65% of Americans own a home.

That’s the goal for most people. Build something stable.

But at the same time…

Around 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

So you can have the house…

And still feel like everything is one step from falling apart.

And it’s not just finances…

About 40–50% of marriages end in divorce.

So you can have the marriage…and still watch it fall apart.

And even beyond that…

About 1 in 4 adults are estranged from a family member…often a parent or a child.

So you can have the family…and still feel the distance

And even beyond that…

1 in 5 adults struggle with anxiety.

So we’ve built more than ever before…and we’re more overwhelmed than ever.

Which means the issue isn’t that we’re not building…

It’s that we’re building on something that can’t hold.

Some people are more focused on owning a home than building a life that can hold it.

Many people are more concerned with “paying someone else’s mortgage” every month…than they are about what our own life is built on.

You can own the house… and still lose everything inside it.

Proverbs 14:12 ESV

12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Just because something seems right, doesn’t mean its right for you.

BACK TO JESUS

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.”

Two builders

Same storm

The difference is not what they built… it’s what they built on.

GENESIS

Genesis 1:1–3 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

The earth was unformed

Before anything could be built… it had to be formed.

God speaks

order happens

Formation begins when God speaks.

You can have a life… and still be unformed.

God is not just the designer… He is the stabilizer.

HEARING VS DOING

Both heard

Hearing produces awareness… obedience produces formation.

Luke 6:46 ESV

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

This is the same teaching as Matthew 7… just Luke’s account of it.

Jesus is saying the same thing in a different way.

Saying one thing… living another

And this isn’t just something Jesus said one time…

This is a thread that runs all through Scripture

James 1:22–25 ESV

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

 Don’t just hear the Word… do it.

Because if you hear it and don’t do it…

it’s like looking in a mirror… and forgetting who you are the moment you walk away.

Hearing alone doesn’t build anything.

The foundation isn’t knowing Jesus… it’s obeying Jesus.

THE TEST IS COMING

Rain = from above

Flood = from below

Wind = from the sides

Pressure from every direction

The storm does not create the problem… it reveals it.

(make it real: marriage / money / stress)

Storms don’t destroy strong homes… they expose weak foundations.

NOW YOU SEE THE FOUNDATION

Not belief

Not intention

The foundation is obedience.

What is not formed by obedience… will not hold under pressure.

THIS EXPLAINS YOUR LIFE

Your life isn’t random

Your home shows

Your reactions show it

What shows up under pressure reveals what you’re built on

You don’t build a strong home by focusing on the home… you build a strong home by building your life on Jesus.

THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION

Matthew 5:3 ESV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Poor in spirit = nothing to offer God.

And then He ends by saying…now build your life on Me.

That feels backwards to us…

You don’t build your life on Jesus by bringing Him your strength…you build your life on Jesus by surrendering your life.

LAND IT

you’ve heard the Word

you’re building something

It might look fine right now…

But the question isn’t what it looks like today…

It’s what will be left when the storm hits.

GREAT WAS THE FALL

Matthew 7:27

“and great was the fall of it”

Jesus doesn’t say it cracked

He doesn’t say it struggled

He says it fell

and great… was the fall

“great” = complete

Total collapse

Nothing left holding it together

Not surface damage

Foundation failure

When the foundation fails…everything built on it goes with it

REFLECTION

I wonder how many people heard that…

and thought,

“but I worked so hard to build this…”

MAKE IT REAL

Effort isn’t the issue

Activity isn’t the issue

Foundation is

You can build something impressive…

and still build it on the wrong thing

QUESTION

What is your life actually built on?

RESPONSE

Where is God speaking… that you haven’t been building on?