Wednesday Wrap-Up: Building on the Rock

Life doesn't come with a warning before the storms hit. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus reminds us that the difference between standing and falling isn't whether we face storms; it's what we've built our lives on.

In this episode of Wednesday Wrap-Up, we'll take a few minutes to pause in the middle of the week and ask some important questions: What are we building? What foundation are we standing on? And are we simply hearing the words of Jesus, or are we actually putting them into practice?

The storm will test the foundation, but it doesn't have to destroy the house. 

Don't just hear it. Do it. Build on the Rock.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:19

Good Wednesday morning, everybody. Pastor Christian here, this first edition of Beyond the Pulpit, this Wednesday wrap-up. I am glad that you are taking a few minutes to pause in the middle of your week and spend some time with me and us just talking about, thinking about what really matters and going beyond the pulpit. Today I want to take us to one of Jesus' most familiar teachings. It's found in Matthew 7, verses 24 through 27, where Jesus tells the story of two people who built houses, one on the rock and one on the sand. Jesus says, Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Friends, I love this picture that Jesus paints here because he isn't talking about weather storms will come. He is saying they will, he assumes they will, he knows they will. The rain falls, the floods come, the winds blow. But the difference is not the storm, the difference is the foundation. So as we wrap up thinking about building on the rock, there are really three crucial thoughts and three crucial takeaways as we wrap up. First of all, everybody is building something. If we think about it, family, every day we are building. I mean, we're building relationships, we're building careers, we're building families, we're building our character, we're building our faith. And each day when that building is happening, there's a question, and that question isn't whether we're building. The question is, what am I building on? What are you building on? We can build on success, we can build on popularity, we can build on money, sure. We can build on our own abilities and think about and see what we have in our lives. We can even build our lives around good things, great things. But friends, good things, great things make terrible foundations when they take the place of God. Because Jesus says the wise person builds on the rock. And the rock is not simply knowing about Jesus, it's hearing his words and doing them. Everybody's building something. Second of all, the storm reveals the foundation. So we are building something, and then storms will come and they reveal the foundation. Here's something interesting about Jesus' story. Both houses, when we look at them, probably looked pretty good when the weather was calm. You couldn't necessarily tell which foundation was better by just looking at the houses. They appeared, the appearances seem to be looking really good. But then the storm comes. A storm came, and storms have a way of revealing what we have built our lives on. Family, we all experience storms. Think about it. There are financial storms, there's relationship storms, health storms, spiritual storms, there's disappointment, grief, uncertainty, loss, stress. I mean, the list can go on and on. And when the storms come, we discover whether our faith is simply something we talk about or something we've actually built our lives on. Brothers and sisters in Christ, storms don't necessarily create our foundation. They reveal it. So we're building something every day. The storms reveal the foundation. And thirdly, and most importantly, maybe building on the rock happens daily. The tremendous thing, the great thing about this passage of scripture is that building on the rock isn't a one-time decision. It's a w not a one-time event. It's a daily decision. Every morning we have an opportunity. We are gifted as long as we take breaths to say, God, today I'm going to build my life on you. That means choosing obedience even when it's difficult. It means forgiving when we'd rather hold a grudge, when we'd rather seek revenge, and maybe it seems to be easier to do that. It means trusting God when we don't understand, when we don't have control, when we don't know better. It means opening scripture, the living word of God, and allowing it to shape our decisions. It means praying before we panic. It means choosing faith over fear. That's how a foundation gets built. Not usually through one dramatic moment, but through hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of ordinary decisions. So here's our Wednesday wrap-up. Here's my encouragement, my prayer for me, for all of us, friends, family, brothers and sisters in Christ. Don't wait for the storm to decide what you're standing on. Build on the rock today. You know, we may not be able to control the weather. You may say, Pastor Chris, you may we may not be able to prevent every storm. You can't do that. We can't always control what happens around us. But I'm gonna say, what we can decide is what our lives are built on. You can decide what your life is built on. I can decide what my life is built on. Jesus says the person who hears his words and puts them into practice is like a wise person who built their house on the rock. So this week, friends, family, brothers and sisters in Christ, don't just hear Jesus. Do what he says. Don't just attend church, build your life on Christ. Don't just prepare for the storm. Prepare your foundation because when the rain falls, when the floods rise, and when the winds blow, a life built on the rock that can stand. Let me leave you with this question. What is one thing that Jesus is asking you to put into practice today? Don't just think about it. Do it. That's how we build. That's how we stand. And that's how we win the day. Thanks for joining me for this week's this very first Wednesday wrap-up here on Beyond the Pulpit. It's Pastor Chris saying, God bless you, love you all. See you next time. Keep building on the rock.