Where is Your Foundation?

INTRO

Have you ever gone to a construction site where a new home is being built? If you walk through when just the studs are up, but they haven’t put drywall in yet—you get a feel for how the house is laid out, but can still see through walls.

Have you ever gone to a construction site where a new home is being built? If you walk through when just the studs are up, but they haven’t put drywall in yet—you get a feel for how the house is laid out, but can still see through walls.

Before that, the very first thing laid out for the building project is the foundation. Most houses have something called “footings,” which is concrete poured into the ground, and then the house gets built up on top of the footings. Footings must be made with skill and precision (and in the right weather conditions) to be sure that the house will be secure. These footings are the most important part of the house, and yet most people don’t even know they are there.

SCRIPTURE

Jesus used “building a house” as a metaphor to teach people about how they should live. Check out these verses in the book of Matthew.

Read CSB

My question for you today is simple: “Where is your foundation?”

Is your life built on the rock or is it built on the sand?

Here’s the deal – life is awesome! It’s fun, meaningful and is an incredible journey. But guess what? It can also be really difficult--and you know it firsthand.

Here’s the deal – life is awesome! It’s fun, meaningful and is an incredible journey. But guess what? It can also be really difficult--and you know it firsthand.

All of us face storms in life. Our lives are like the houses Jesus talked about. It says they got pounded by the storms. You will have days in life when you feel like you’re getting beat up. Jesus says that when the storms of life pound into you, the determining factor of whether or not you collapse is your foundation.

All of us face storms in life. Our lives are like the houses Jesus talked about. It says they got pounded by the storms. You will have days in life when you feel like you’re getting beat up. Jesus says that when the storms of life pound into you, the determining factor of whether or not you collapse is your foundation.

So I ask again: Are you on the rock or are you on the sand?

So I ask again: Are you on the rock or are you on the sand?

DIGGING DEEPER

Thankfully, Jesus makes it clear how we can tell where our foundation is built.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 7

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

(CSB)

THE TWO FOUNDATIONS

(CSB)

THE TWO FOUNDATIONS

24“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

24 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

(CSB)

26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

24“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

26But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Jesus lets us know that our foundation is based on whether or not we act on His words.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Which words is He talking about? What’s the context here?

Jesus’ teaching on building a house upon the correct foundation (7:24-27) wraps up the end of has been called His “Sermon on the Mount.” For three chapters, Matthew records this epic sermon where Jesus lays out the foundations of Christian discipleship. These chapters are one of the most widely quoted sections in the entire Bible.

It’s in the Sermon on the Mount that we get:

- The Beatitudes

- Warnings against certain types of behavior

- “Love Your Enemies”

- The Lord’s Prayer

- The Golden Rule

- Ask, Seek, Knock

- Don’t be anxious

He teaches all this important stuff in one big sermon on how to live, and then He wraps it with this analogy of the two foundations.

Live how Jesus taught you to live means your life won’t collapse when the storms hit. But if you don’t live how Jesus taught you to live means your life will collapse.

Jesus is calling us not only to believe in Him, but to LIVE as he’s taught us.

APPLICATION

We must examine our lives – and not just the part of our lives that everyone sees at church. We must examine the entirety of who we are and how we live, to hold it up in comparison to how Jesus teaches us to live.

Will we find weak spots in the foundation? Many of us will. Yet, this is not a question of condemnation, but of growing and becoming strong in Christ.

Jesus calls us to believe in Him as Savior as the beginning of our relationship with Him. Next, He calls us to LIVE according to His teachings, to follow Him with our lives—in action, behavior, words, and living. That’s what it means to have a secure foundation that can withstand the storms.

In a perfect world, living our lives according to Jesus’ teachings would be easy for us. When we let the reality of God’s love for us sink in, it should make us want to give our lives to Him.

But if we’re honest, it can be hard to fully commit. Why is that?

Have you ever heard of the term Cultural Christianity?

Some believe Christianity is a cultural identifier, no more than a label. It gets lumped in with stuff like Age or Gender or Nationality. For many, faith is relegated to belonging to a group, instead of transforming the very core of who we are. Some believe that if you’re from a Christian family and go to church—that is all it takes. That cultural identity marker is more of a family tradition than a life which is becoming more like Christ daily in actions, behaviors, words, and the way one lives life.

In daily life, a Cultural Christian ignores how Christ taught us to live in favor of living however they want. Whatever feels right, is how they live.

Author Brennan Manning said this: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

We want to think that quote doesn’t apply to us, but it does for many of us. We love God, but when it comes to making changes in our daily lives, we don’t change because want to do what we want to do. It’s hard to live like Jesus called us to live, so we usually don’t. Yet, we wonder why our lives start to fall apart when the storms of life hit.

I think the opposite of a “Cultural Christian” is a “Christ Follower.”

A Christ Follower is just that: someone who follows Christ with his or her life. To say “I am a Christ Follower” leaves no room to be mistaken for a Cultural Christian. It defines you as someone whose faith in Christ is leading the way you live.

Are you a Cultural Christian or are you a Christ Follower?

Is your foundation built on the sand or on the rock?

Jesus wraps his most influential sermon; a sermon which has impacted humanity for all time, to tell us that we must act on His teachings. We must LIVE out our faith.

CLOSING

If you ever go to a house that’s being built, imagine what the rooms will look like when it’s all done. Envision the family eating dinner in the kitchen or watching TV in the living room. If you go to a really fancy neighborhood you can even imagine a formal dining room that will only get used on special occasions.

Is your faith in Christ the foundation that your life is built on, or is it just a pretty room in your house that only gets used on special occasions?

CLOSING CHALLENGE

Examine your life.

Hold it up in comparison to how Jesus teaches us to live.

Find your weak spots, and invite God to make repairs. How?

- Start with reading His Word.

- Pray and ask Him to guide you.

- Get plugged in at church.

Perhaps you need a more significant renovation of your heart and your life. Or maybe it’s time to tear it all down and build a new foundation altogether. If that’s you, let’s talk and we can help you figure that out.

One thing is certain, in life you will face storms, and they will pound you.

But there is hope for the Christ follower. If you follow Christ with your heart and your life—you will not collapse.

But there is hope for the Christ follower. If you follow Christ with your heart and your life—you will not collapse.

END IN PRAYER.

Icebreaker: what’s the coolest house (or thing in someone’s house) you’ve ever seen?

Read together

 Open up your Bibles, read Matthew 7:24-27 together.

What are the storms that you face in your life?

 What are the storms that you face in your life?

How do you feel when going through these storms?

 When do you feel like you’re going to collapse from these things?

Do you ever sense God helping you in life’s storms?

 When have you sensed God helping you get through life’s storms?

Jesus that we must live as He taught us to live. How can you apply that in your life?

 Jesus said that we must live as He taught us to live. How can you apply that in your life?

 In your own words, describe the difference between a “Cultural Christian” and a “Christ Follower.”

In your own words, describe the difference between a “Cultural Christian” and a “Christ Follower”.

CHALLENGE: Examine your life and think about areas where you can work on following Jesus, by becoming a Christ Follower instead of a Cultural Christian.

CHALLENGE: Examine your life and think about areas where you can work on following Jesus, by becoming a Christ Follower instead of a Cultural Christian.

BEFORE YOU GO:

• Get prayer requests, & take time to pray together.

• Upcoming Schedule reminders