The Word of God Sermon Week 1 - What is your foundation?

The Word of God - “What foundation are you building on?

The foundation you build your life in matters because suffering, hardships and affliction will come. The Word of God is the only true and firm foundation to build on. In this sermon we looked at three foundational truths to build your life on: Design and Purpose in your life, Dignity and Worth of your life, and Diagnosis and Cure for your life.

Intro/Welcome

Welcome — New Series — The Word of God

Where do you go when you are overwhelmed?

I don’t know about you, but I have been pretty whelmed in recent months with everything going on.

There is so much information to keep up with.

Everyone has an opinion

There’s always another angle

There is always one more article to read.

It’s completely overwhelming.

Questions I’m asking:

How do we know what we can trust?

How do we know what is accurate?

How will we know which way to go, which candidate to vote for, which cause to support?

What can you trust?

In the midst of the hurricane of current events, I found myself clinging to the only anchor of truth that I know — The Word of God

In fact it is precisely becuase the bible is outside of our time and outside of our culture that I can trust it

I realized anew that the Word of God, The Bible, is the only thing I can 100% trust.

This is where the seeds for this series began.

What can we trust no matter the time, no matter the place, no matter the particular circumstances?

Answer: The Word of God

Story: This is my story: The bible saved me.

The Bible makes some of the most audacious claims which is perhaps why it is the most scrutinized book in the history of the world.

It has outlasted every culture and every time.

Yet it is still alive and well today.

But the Word of God is under attack in our age, as it is in every age.

Our academic institutions scoff at the Bible as just another ancient document full of myths and legends.

Many in the scientific community discard the bible as completely irrelevant

Liberal christian denominations begin to cut away parts of the Bible one piece at a time until there is no foundation left.

Yet the Bible claims about itself that it is the “power of God for salvation” for those who believe, yet folly to those who are perishing.

And it is the power of God for billions of people today.

Consider:

The Bible is the best selling book of all time, by far.

It has been translated into 1000s of languages

It has been transmitted over 1000s of years

It has transformed billions of lives.

Series:

Do we know the power of God in the Word of God?

How do we know we can trust the bible?

How do we study the Bible?

And today, why we absolutely need the Word of God.

These are the questions this Series will address.

Ultimately my hope is that through this study we will ignite a passion for the Word of God and build our lives upon it.

Matt 7:24-28

My name is Justin, One of Pastors Here

PRAY

Help us.

Two Foundations

This is Jesus’ epic conclusion to The Sermon on the Mount

the most famous sermon ever preached.

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. 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.”

He says here everyone is building their life on a foundation.

What are the two foundations we can build our lives on?

The Word of God — “these words of mine” = The Bible.

The Word of Man — the only other option.

To reject the Words of Jesus is to accept the words of another.

There is really no neutrality.

Basically the Word of Man here is the attempt to remove the God of the Bible from our lives.

Everyone of us is building our life on a certain set of beliefs about ourselves, the World and who God is.

Our beliefs shaper our values, our values shape our behaviors.

Our beliefs form our foundation for our life.

It informs everything we do.

Proposition: The foundation on which we build our life matters immensely

The Word of God is a foundation becuase it REVEALS ULTIMATE TRUTH

God’s Word by definition is revelation.

meaning that it reveals ultimate reality.

In that way it is like a light shining into the darkness.

The Word of God is the only true foundation to build your life upon.

Why is this so important?

Here is why.

Let me show you picture (Hurricane)

Hurricane Michael, Cat 5 (2018)

Here is what was left of Mexico Beach, FL

Foundations Matter:

The owners built it to withstand 250 mile-an-hour winds. The house was fashioned from poured concrete, reinforced by steel cables and rebar, with additional concrete bolstering the corners of the house...“We’re thinking that we need to build a house that would survive for generations”

Listen to the parable.

It doesn’t say IF the rains, the floods and the winds come, it says WHEN.

The foundation your life is built on matters, becuase sooner or later the ‘rains will pour down, the floods will rise up, and the winds when beat in on your life’

It is at this point when you realize what your foundation is.

I think this is actually a grace in during our lives when we can realize this

Becuase on the last day it will be too late.

What is your Foundation?

Is it FIRM or is it FLIMSY

Is it SOLID or is it SAND?

Some of you may be building your lives on sand and it’s going to fall.

Some of you are building upon the Word of God but its become weakened.

Your foundation is under attack.

Unbiblical ideas are subtly creeping into your belief systems

Cracks being formed in your foundation

Or perhaps they are being propagated by popular opinion?

This often goes unnoticed and can do so for years.

We are going to beat up on the Secular Worldview today becuase it is the most pervasive in our culture and is diametrically opposed to the Word of God

The Word of God will help you navigate the storms of life

Thermal Imager

Look at three Foundational Truths To build your life upon.

They are:

The Truth of Design and Purpose

The Truth of Human Dignity, Value and Worth

The Truth of Diagnosis and Cure

Reasons today:

Re-affirm your beliefs and be reminded.

Help you assess any cracks in your foundation

Equip you to love your friends who are building their lives on sand.

3 Foundational Truths to build your life on.

Foundational Truth #1 — Design & Purpose

This really goes back to the origin of the universe.

The Word of God

Genesis 1:1 ESV In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:31 ESV And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

God created all things.

He created them Good

He created them at a point in the past.

The Word of Man

A couple things;

One thing: We don’t really know, but it wasn’t God. Committed to Materialism

Basic Position: The universe spontaneous sprang into existence from nothing for no reason in particular.

This is pervasive in our Academic Institutions and Education Systems.

Implications

The universe was either created with intention, design and purpose by a loving God.

The universe is indifferent, purposeless and ultimately meaningless.

Indication:

Actions or Words: If someone were to tell you that they believe something but their actions indicate that they do not really believe that thing. Which one would you be inclined to believe?

His Words or His Actions?

There certainly appears a lot of intention, design and purpose in the universe.

Everyone lives as if there really is design, purpose and intention in the universe.

Application:

Firm Foundation vs. a Flimsy Foundation.

We all live as if we have purpose and meaning.

Those with a secular worldview don’t really live as if what they believe is true.

The Word of God gives us a great truth here.

Nothing is without purpose. Nothing is without meaning.

Things don’t happen randomly, but everything has a purpose even if we don’t know what it is

This gives us HOPE in a world that doesn’t often make a lot of sense.

It gives meaning to suffering

It can redeem even the most dire of circumstances.

It means your life have design and purpose

We can trust in God’s Good creation.

This means: HOPE, hope for what we do not see.

Foundational Truth #2 — Dignity & Worth of Human Beings

The Word of God

Out of God’s goodness he created humanity in his image to worship him and bring his glory to the whole earth.

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:7 ESV then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Human beings then have Value, Dignity and Worth becuase they are made in the image of God.

The Word of Man — Secular

Human beings came into existence after a very long process of evolution which was undirected, indifferent and ultimately meaningless.

Implications:

Human beings have have inherent value, dignity, worth, design and purpose.

There is no ultimate meaning, value, dignity, worth or purpose. To be human beings really means nothing at all.

Culture, morality, music, justice, beauty, love, art and human existence do not have any meaning, purpose or inherent value.

Nearly everything we hold dear has no meaning or ultimate value.

This means that on what foundation can we make the claim that human life has any more value than an animal.

On what foundation can we say that racial prejudice is a great evil?

On what foundation can we fight for justice becuase justice is based on a morality of right and wrong.

The Secular Worldview is sitting on a foundation of sand.

It writes checks it cannot cash.

Indication:

Nobody really lives as if their lives don’t matter, as if justice doesn’t matter, as if life, death and suffering don’t matter.

We all live as if our lives to matter, as if other lives matter.

So which do you trust the Words of men or the actions of men?

Which points to ultimate truth?

Application:

You have value, dignity and worth even when you don’t feel it

You have dignity and worth

Even when the world tells you that you are worthless, that you don’t matter, that you are not worth listening to.

The Word of God trumps the Words of men.

You matter, you matter greatly to God.

Everyone else has dignity, value and worth

It is the reason we fight for life in the womb

It is the reason we fight against racial prejudice in the world

It is the reason that we fight against poverty

It is the reason for the words in the Declaration of Independance:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Foundational Truth #3 — The Diagnosis and Cure

What is wrong in the World?

All the more evident in our present cultural moment.

Racial Prejudice and inequalities

Global pandemic and suffering

What is the real problem?

Again the Word of God and the Word of Man are diametrically opposed.

Needed Truth: If God really does exists and really does love us do we expect that he would only tell us what we want to hear? or what we need to hear?

How about if you had a true friend?

Would you want them to tell you the truth you need to hear or the ‘truth’ that you want to hear?

This is what the Word of God does. It tells us the truth we need to hear rather than the ‘truth’ we want to hear.

So we would expect not necessary like everything the Bible might have to say to us.

The Word of God

The word of God tells us that the problem is Sin residing in every human heart.

That we are born into a condition that Sin and Selfishness rules our hearts.

The solution then is we need to be rescued from Satan, Sin and Selfishness.

We need a new heart, with new desires and new abilities

We need a total reorientation of our life away from ourselves and towards another.

The Word of Man

Tells us that the problem is there is a lack of ______

Education, resources, policies, opportunities, technologies

The solution then is we need MORE of _______

Education, resources, policies, opportunities, technologies

more therapy

Implication:

If we don’t get diagnosis is correct, the cure won’t matter.

Has more education/resources/policies/opportunities/technologies fixed the problem?

Should we continue to pursue these things?

Absolutely, but we should realize that they will never cure the human problem

Becuase sin in the human heart pervades and infiltrates every human system and endeavor.

History tells the Story. These things don’t fix anything.

The Inevitability of Progress at the turn of the 20th Century.

Great Optimism

Two World Wars and the bloodiest century known to man.

Indication:

But the problem persists because the true problem is sin and it pervades and infiltrates every human system and endeavor.

So the answer isn’t more human effort and achievement

The answer is we need to be saved from ourselves.

Only the Word of God tells us that God in the person of Jesus came to do what we could not do for ourselves.

This is what we need. Redemption, Rescue, Restoration

This is what the World needs.

Does this mean would shouldn’t make every human effort to improve things, have better education, fight for equality and opportunity?

Of course, not. We should fight for all of those things.

But we shouldn’t be surprise when even the best systems fail.

Becuase the real issue is sin in every human heart.

Application:

What this means is there really is a cure.

True healing, true change, true freedom is possible

But not by you or becuase of you, or based on you but becuase of and based on Jesus.

Application

Build your life upon the Foundation of the Word of God

The Word of God is the only true foundation to build your life on.

On Christ’s Solid Rock I stand

All other ground is sinking sand.

For you, sooner or later,

The rains will rain down, the rivers will rise up and the wind will beat in on your life.

What will you cling to in that day?

The Word of God is not just something we know, it’s something we cling to for life.

In my life, the Word of God has been my life preserver, a refuge, a stronghold, a fortress, a guard against error, a shield about me.

Submarine life on the Sub.

Closing Exhortation

Know the Word of God and Cling to it For life.

Your life has design and purpose

You have dignity, value and worth

Jesus Christ died for sin and rose to make all things new.

Neil Shenvi

Make sure your foundation is sure

Read your bible

Tell others about the gospel foundation

they need to hear

Be equipped with truth and grace.

only grace saves people.

Let’s Pray