Built on the Rock | P. Lorena Gamba

In Matthew 7:24–27, Jesus teaches us that a strong life is not defined by what we build on the outside, but by the foundation we build on.
In this message, we learned that the Rock is Jesus. The Christian life is not built on principles alone, but on a real relationship with Him. Only Jesus can carry the weight of our life, identity, and purpose.
We also learned that storms reveal the foundation. The Christian life is not free from difficulties, but when our lives are built on Jesus and His Word, we can remain firm.
In this message we learned:
✨ The Rock is Jesus, not just a principle.
 ✨ The only secure foundation for life is Jesus Christ.
 ✨ Jesus does not change in a changing world.
 ✨ Only Jesus can carry the weight of your life.
 ✨ What no one sees in your life with God is what keeps you standing.
 ✨ Storms do not destroy your foundation; they reveal it.
 ✨ Unbreakable faith is formed in the middle of the storm.
👉 Build your life on Jesus. Love His Word, obey it, and allow Him to examine your heart.
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Mission Orlando's podcast. We hope that through this word you will get closer to Jesus. Be sure to subscribe so we can get you new messages every week. Have a blessed day. All right, and today we're starting a new series called Unbreakable Faith. And today I want to speak about built on the rock. Built on the rock. So a few years ago, me and my husband we had the opportunity to buy our first home, and we were so excited. And we we bought it. We chose everything. We chose the floors, we chose the kitchen. I don't know if you've ever had that experience, but it's really cool, especially if it's your first home. And we moved in. By that time, we only had one child, our oldest, Ariana. She was a baby. And we were there a couple months, everything looked great. But a few months after, we saw a little crack in our bedroom. So we're like, oh, that's that's weird, right? And we called the construction company, hey, can you take a look at that crack? Okay, so they came, they looked at it, and this they kind of like fixed it. They're like, oh, it's fine. Then a few weeks later, we see more cracks in a kitchen. We see another crack in my daughter's bedroom. And so they were like, this is weird. We need to really check. So they dug deep, deep, deep down, and they found they were there were pieces of wood in the foundation of the house. And they were like, There's nothing we can do. The foundation is bad. We we're gonna have to tear down this house and rebuild it again. And you guys are gonna have to move out for like two months. We're like, praise the Lord. Or I think it was actually more, like three months or more. Huh? Oh, he's saying like a year. I'm thinking like a few months. To me, it seemed like two months because we were in love. Uh but um, but yeah, so when when the foundation is bad, you need to tear it down and rebuild it again and make sure the foundation is good. That's the most important thing. You know, we could have had the best walls, the most beautiful design, the best kitchen, but the foundation is the main thing. So, what you build on is more important than what you built. What you build on is more important than what you built. And Jesus talking about this in Matthew 7, 24, it says, Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand, the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell with a great crash. So there's two types of people in the world there's the wise people and the foolish people. So the wise people really work on the foundation. The foolish people just focus about the things that are on the outside. And I don't know if you've ever seen when you go to a beach and they build these amazing castles. Have you seen those amazing castles? I don't know how long they take, but what happens if a wave comes? It's just gonna crash down because it has nothing. It's basically just sand. So I just want to talk to you about two principles. Number one, the rock is Jesus, not a principle. Can you say the rock is Jesus? So I wanna I wanna ask you, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? Because it's not just about knowing about Jesus, but it's truly having a personal relationship with him. It says, John 10, 9 says, I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. So Jesus is talking to us that he is the gate. You know, it's a narrow gate. So we need to know him as a person. So a wise man built his house on the rock. So the rock is not just the teaching, because a lot of people speak about teachings and principles, but the rock is Jesus. It's like when people know a lot about nutrition, you know, you can know a lot about a nutrition plan, and you can really look at the ingredients, and you can see what's good, what's not good. And maybe you even work on a plan, but then you don't execute it, and you're still eating the same, or you don't you don't have that. So it's like that. A lot of times we can just know about God, know about Jesus, but we don't really have a relationship with him. And you know, my husband, he's he came back from our trip, and he's like, I'm gonna have a nutrition plan, actually. He told me that I'm gonna go to the doctor, and he worked on a nutrition plan, he actually worked on one, and he's like, I'm gonna go back to the gym. I was like, praise the Lord, after like how many years? Me crying out. I'm just kidding. But I was like, Oh, that's awesome. So he told me, I was like, I'm cutting sugar, I'm doing this, I'm only eating this. This is gonna be my breakfast, my lunch, and I'm like, awesome. I joined him as well because he needed support. And the good thing is that I want to testify, he's been doing it for two weeks. So praise the Lord. Not just not just knowing about it, but he's actually delivering it, executing. So that's the same thing with us and Jesus. First Corinthians 3 11 says, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. That's our foundation, Jesus Christ. So Jesus is our is unchanging in a changing world. Every day the culture shifts. You're gonna see new trends, you're gonna think see new things happening, but Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. So when your life is built on him, you're not standing on trends or emotions, but you're standing on truth. He's also strong enough to carry the weight of our life. You know, our our foundation must be able to support what's built on. So many people built their lives on success, relationships, stability, but those things were never meant to carry the full weight of us. Only Jesus can sustain it. And I don't know if you've seen like these famous people, even like very rich people, and even actors in Hollywood. And I don't know if you've ever ever heard the term open relationship, right? And they even have these agreements like, oh, our marriage is an open relationship, and and you know, I'm able to see other people, but we're still married. Obviously, those marriages don't really last because they don't have any foundation, they they're not built on the truth with which is Jesus Christ. And after a year or a few years or more than that, eventually one of them says, This is not working, and I cannot fake this anymore. I need to get out of this relationship because he has no foundation at all. So, who is Jesus Christ? Jesus is the word of God. Um, John had a revelation about Jesus in Revelation 19, 13. It says, He is dressed in a robe diped in blood, and his name is the word of God. So he saw Jesus, he saw the blood of Jesus, but look at it, it says the name of Jesus is the word of God. Can you say the word of God? So you need, if you want to know Jesus, you need to love the word of God. And perhaps you you haven't really started learning or reading. So I want to encourage you to have a Bible plan. Maybe start reading something every day. If you've never started it, start reading at least one chapter a day. It could be in the New Testament, in the book of John, but just get in a reading plan, in a Bible plan every day. There's a lot of Bible plans in the Bible app as well. You could also join a small group that's really gonna help you grow in your relationship with the Lord. John 14, 24 says, Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own, they belong to the Father who sent me. So if we really love Jesus, he's telling us, you need to obey my words, you need to obey my teaching. So say with me, obey his word. And I I really love to hear what God is doing in our church because it's a process. You know, we've we're always telling people getting to know the Lord is not like a one-day thing. Maybe you came for the first time last Sunday, but you gotta really work on your relationship with the Lord every day and start getting to know him. Something we say here is give us a year. And last Sunday I met a couple and they told me, actually during the week, they told me, hey, you know, when we got to church, our marriage wasn't doing good at all. My husband had no job. I was struggling financially as well. We were doing really bad. We had been church hurt as well. They were doing really, really bad. So they heard about our 21 days of prayer and fasting, and they were like, okay, we're gonna join. And they were like all in, all in the praying, all in the fasting. They actually started doing the Bible plan as well. They they started reading the Bible every day, and they said those 21 days and the revival nights, they said the last night we were all crying out on the floor. They said, Well, they had an encounter with Jesus, and the Lord did something incredible with them that date. And they were like, Ever since then, uh, things outside hadn't changed, but on our inside we were different. And later, you know, little by little their marriage got better. God opened doors and they they were able to start their own business, and God has been blessing them so much. So they were like, We know what you mean when you say give us a year. Because it's been exactly a year since we came to church, and the Lord has done great things. Can you praise the Lord for that? So Jesus is the rock, not just a principle. He is the word of God, and you gotta you gotta love the word of God as much as you love Jesus. Because sometimes people just love knowing that he's there with you. But if you love someone, how do you get to know someone? By spending time with them. And the only way you can really get to hear God is by being in his word. So number two is the storms reveal the foundation. The storms reveal the foundation. I don't know during COVID, a lot of things came out to the light, right? So if marriages weren't doing good, they got better. But if marriages were struggling during COVID, a lot of them got gotten really, really bad. Because those storms, they reveal really the foundation. A lot of people didn't really have uh a good marriage. They were just roommates probably, and just living day to day, and everything just blew up, right? So, what are some of the storms in life that we can experience? And maybe you might be experiencing them today. Sickness, you might be going through pain, you might be going through abuse, losing a job, maybe you're going through a marriage affair, financial trial, or losing a friend. So, all of these trials, you gotta say, God, during the trial is where I'm gonna stand strong on the rock, which is Jesus. And uh uh a few weeks ago, I I I got really sick. I know I got a I I think I told you guys I got a lot of like a headache, and I had to go to the hospital. I wasn't feeling good for a few days, and I felt very weak and my heart beat, a lot of things, and and then I really saw our foundation on the rock because I saw that my husband was that uh representation of Jesus on earth because I saw him taking care of me, praying for me, taking me to the hospital, and just giving me words of encouragement. It's not like oh you're sick, too bad. But you see Jesus during those trials, and you see when your marriage is built on the rock, we're both praying for each other, we're both encouraging each other, we're both there no matter the circumstances or the storms, and then you see Jesus through your spouse many times because they're that Jesus for you, so it's incredible when when your marriage is built on the rock, when your life is built on the rock, and thank you for being that Jesus to me. Amen. Give a hand to my husband. That that shows what what Jesus is, and even Paul and Barnabas said to the early church, you're gonna go through trials. Acts 14 22 says, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. So Jesus didn't promise you an easy life or a life with no trials or tribulations, but it's it says, you must. So he's like, you're going to go through hardships in order to enter the kingdom of God. And then going back to that parable that Jesus spoke about, the man who built the house on the on the rock, and the man who built the house on sand, we see we look at what Luke wrote, which is the same parable, but he changed something. He changed a little something. Uh let's go to Luke 46, 46. It says, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. Again, God is saying, If you call me Lord, you must do what my word says. You must do what I say, you must practice. And it says, They are like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck the house, but could not shake it because it was well built. So uh we see here that Luke added something, and it says that he dug down deep deep. So in order for you to see what your foundation is like, how you're doing, you gotta dig deep. Say with me, dig deep. So you gotta see what is your foundation, and maybe you have little a few preconceptions. So one of them could be religion. Maybe you're you have a conception, a preconception about what religion is, and like you're like, I don't want to get into religion, but re Jesus doesn't want your religion, he wants your heart, he wants a relationship, maybe even preconceptions about Jesus, and you're seeing him like judging you. Maybe you grew up in a house where they were always telling you if you do that, Jesus is gonna punish you, and that's what you think about Jesus, or even your your heavenly father, because you didn't really have a good example of your heavenly father, maybe a preconception of what it means to be a Christian, maybe you didn't really have um a good example around you about good Christians, and you're like, I don't want those Christians, I don't want anything to do with them because I don't see a good example. Maybe rebellion, and you might say, Oh, but I'm not rebellious. You know, we're all descendants of Adam, so it means that we all have a rebel inside and we must nail it to the cross, amen. Maybe you have hurt in your heart as well, and you haven't healed that wound or unforgiveness, but you know what? Jesus, 2,000 years ago, he died on the cross, and our old man was crucified with him. So we need to identify that rebel inside and say, God, I want to die on the cross with you. And that's the beautiful thing that we saw about Easter. That it's not just about a man, any man is the son of God dying on the cross for you for us, but it's about you seeing yourself being crucified with him and dying to yourself, dying to your own will. If even Jesus Christ being the Son of God said, Not my will be done, but your will be done. It's the same thing, die to your will, die to your rebellious nature, to your sinful nature. Every day we gotta die on the cross, and we gotta repent of our sins, and we gotta repent of that sinful nature. You know, what you feed the most is what's gonna get stronger. So I want to ask you today, what are you feeding the most? And how do you how do you know if you're feeding your spiritual life? What are you listening to during the day? You know, a lot of times we gotta be radical with what we listen to, with what we watch, with the friends we have. And I'm always asking myself, would Jesus be watching these things? You know, would Jesus be here in the middle having these conversations? Would be would He be following these accounts? Would He be doing these things? Because as I told you last time I was able to speak, if you're called a Christian, you're a little Christ. So make sure you're you're telling God every day, God, I want to live a radical life for Christ. That's what I want to live. You're not like everybody else, you're different. You're a son of God, you're a daughter of God. You don't have to go after the things of this world. You're different. You're a Christian, the spirit of the Lord is upon you. So don't compare yourself to other Christians. Oh, but these Christians are doing it, but everybody's doing it, but you're not like everybody else. You are a son, you are a daughter of the living Christ. So the spirit of the Lord is in you. Something I always tell my kids. You're like, oh, but my friends are doing it. I'm like, great, good for them. But you're not like them. You're different, you're different, and you gotta act different. We don't watch those things, I tell them. We don't watch those things. Can I have a phone? No, you cannot. When can I have a phone? When you're an adult, I don't can I have social media? No, you cannot. When you're an adult, you decide if you want to, but as long as you're in my roof, I'm just gonna kid. You're not, and then you gotta you gotta be extremely radical. And they're gonna sometimes my kids are like, you're too strict. I'm like, Yes, I am, hallelujah. Be grateful that I'm strict, I'm loving, but I'm strict. Because if you if you yield a little bit, then you know kids have access to the world. And it's for kids and adults. So I'm very like I try to put a lot of things on my phone because we're all tempted every day. Notifications, the account, everything, the algorithm, like it's right there. So you gotta be radical with everything, everything that you do, and ask the Holy Spirit, show me. Show me because I want my foundation on the rock. Maybe you hear about it in church, but are you really doing it? Are you really doing it? And you know the storms reveal who you are, how you react. Are you gonna are you gonna be grateful? Well how what's your what's your response gonna be? So last Sunday we had our Easter, right? Who's who's grateful for our incredible choir today? A lot of our middle schoolers are are serving in our choir, they're incredible. But uh, we have our our uh a very special lady who also serves in our prayer team, Ingrid. She's part of our church, she's amazing. So she was she came to practice very early, and right there on the stage it was dark, and she fell. And she hit herself so bad. Her her Foot, her ankle, uh, her head is really, really bad. And we were my husband was praying for her. We gave her some time. We would just see, like, what's gonna happen? Do you want to go to the hospital? But she was saying, she just stayed there calm for like an hour. And eventually she's like, I want to sing in the choir and I want to testify what Jesus has done. And she didn't complain, she didn't say anything. She was just so grateful. And she had a smile in her face. She's incredible. So the following day, she, I don't know if you saw her, she was limping with her cardboard. She she's she was amazing. The following day, she went to the doctor. Thank God she didn't have a fracture or anything. Uh, she was just sore. But we were like, wow, she's giving us an example of what it means to act during a storm. If your life is built on the rock, when you hit yourself, you know, what are you gonna say? Are you gonna say a bad word like, ouch, thank you, Jesus? Right? That's gonna reveal who you are. Or are you what are you gonna say, right? So let's work on our response when the storm comes. Okay, why don't you stand and say, thank you, Jesus, because you are good. Thank you, Jesus, because we declare that our life is built on the rock. Our life is built on Jesus Christ, Lord. He is the word of God. And say, Jesus, I want to get to know you. I want to get to know you, Jesus. I want to get to know you, Lord, in spirit and in truth. Lord, Father God, thank you because you came to this earth to deliver me, Father. You came on this earth to set me free, Jesus. And today, Lord, I'm saying that my life is built on the rock which is Jesus Christ. My life is not built on sand. My life is not built on the things of this world, the things that are just gonna pass by, Father, the things, Lord, that are temporary. Maybe right now my life is built on my success, on my career, and what I can do on the things of this world, on the things that I can buy, Lord. But today, Lord, I declare that my life is built on Jesus Christ. I say, Jesus, I want to get to know you. I want to get to know you as a friend. I want to get to know you as a close, close friend, Lord. I just I just don't want to know about religion, but I want to know about you. I want to know about the savior of this world. Thank you, Lord, because that is why we're here. That is why we're here. We're here to praise you. We're here to declare there's no one like you, Jesus. Father God, thank you, Lord. We declare that the storms, even if the storms come come, Jesus, I'm still gonna stand still. My life's still gonna be standing on the rock, which is Jesus Christ. We praise you. We praise you. Come on, praise Jesus today. Give him a hand today if you declare it. And and perhaps it's your first time here and you've never taken that step of accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. So today I want to extend that opportunity for you to accept Jesus. So if you can put your hand over your heart and say, Lord Jesus, thank you for saving me. I accept you as my Lord and Savior. I want to start a new relationship with you, and I want to get to know you as a friend. Write my name in the book of life and never erase it. In your name I pray. Amen. Amen. If you believe it, praise Jesus today. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thanks so much for tuning in. We hope this message blessed you greatly. We encourage you to subscribe and share it with your friends. For more content from our church, visit Mission Orlando Church.com.