Preparing To Build - 3

Preparing To Build, Part 3

In Order To Build Up, You Have To Dig Down!

Today, we continue our series about building. Two weeks ago, we started talking about building. Talking about the importance of building our church for God and building our lives for God.

Our theme verse for this series is 1Cor. 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Steadfast, immovable means being anchored in Him, in God’s word. Always abounding means to be working hard, praying hard, always doing something for Him. Accomplishing great things for God.

And, over these past two weeks, I hope we’re starting to get the picture that in order to become all that God wants our church to become, and for us as individuals to become all that God wants us to become, that we must PREPARE!

Preparation is vital in order for God to use us. For God to use our church. Preparation is vital to see our vision succeed. It doesn’t simply happen, you don’t cast the vision and then sit back waiting for it to arrive. YOU PREPARE, THEN YOU DO IT!

It’s PREPARATION WITH PASSION. We talked about our passion for planting churches, our passion for missions, our passion for serving, and our passion for souls. All of these things are important, all of these things are central in the FUTURE FIVE years. But all of them take preparation.

That’s the focus of this series. That’s our focus as we seek to PREPARE for God’s blessings.

Last week, we chose a builder. We talked about how there are so many competing philosophies out there of building. How there are many who would like to build our churches and our lives.

We mentioned the GOOD WORKS GUYS, THE MEMORIAL BUILDERS, THE CUSTOM BUILDERS, THE SHOWMANSHIP ARCHITECTS…and we talked about how none of these are based on the Word of God.

We then talked about the FIRM FOUNDATION. That is the right choice, the choice that will bring us success in our vision, success in our lives.

Christ said in Matthew 16 that UPON THIS ROCK, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH. We have chosen to build our spiritual house on the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ.

We talked about how you can build on the rock or build on the sand. And, while both have intrinsic value, only one can withstand the inevitable trials that they will face.

Today, we focus on the FOUNDATION. You see, once we’ve chosen the builder, the work must commence. And, in order to build the house that we want to build, there must always be a foundation.

The foundation is always that part of the structure that transfers and distributes the weight of the building onto the ground. In other words, we must transfer the massive weight of a structure onto something that has far greater mass, far greater strength, if we expect that structure to stand.

And, the larger the structure, the deeper and the more important the foundation becomes. The EMPIRE STATE BUILDING was built in the 1930’s and because of its height, they had to employ 300 men just to dig the foundation. The WORLD TRADE CENTER, because of the height of its towers, needed a foundation over 70 feet down into the bedrock of Manhattan. The PETRONAS TOWERS in Malaysia, currently the tallest buildings in the world, has a foundation that varies from 120 feet to 300 feet deep.

You see, the larger the structure, the deeper the foundation. Likewise, the larger our church becomes, the larger you become in service to Christ, the deeper the foundation required to sustain it.

Col. 2:6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

That is the basis for our time together today. IN ORDER TO BUILD UP, WE MUST DIG DOWN…before we build. Laying the foundation that will sustain us as we move forward with God. It’s often been said that if we will PAY ATTENTION TO THE DEPTH OF OUR MINISTRY, GOD WILL PAY ATTENTION TO ITS BREADTH.

You’ll notice today that our pile of dirt over here has transformed into a construction site. Today, there is caution tape surrounding it and caution signs that let us know about the dangers that exist as the construction begins.

Any builder will tell you that one of the most dangerous times on a construction site is when the foundation is being dug. That is when the potential liability is at an all time high. Why? You have a big open hole. You have a site that is not yet fully developed and there is a great risk associated with the early stages of development.