Building the Right Foundation
Matthew 7:24-27 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (26) "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (27) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
We began our Family Values sermon series last week. Sis. Carol began by defining what values is:
Value defined: Webster’s Dictionary
val·ue [valyo?o]
noun: the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something:
verb: a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life
Value
val·ue [valyo?o]
noun: the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something:
verb: a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life
This is a key word in walking through this series. There are certain things we hold as valuable in our life and in life.
The Right Foundation
In the opening passage Jesus deals with the importance of having a right foundation. Let us make some observations from the passage.
Mat 7:24-27 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (26) "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (27) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
“hears these sayings of Mine”
Hearing is the first key. We must hear what is being taught. This may include understanding also. But we have to hear.
Jesus tells us throughout the New Testament “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear”.
Even when building a house you don’t start without any plans. You start with plans.
Question #1: Who are you listening to?
When building your life?
When building your family?
Every person has a house—a life—to build. How he builds his life determines his destiny, not just for this life but for eternity. How he builds his life makes all the difference...
• between success and failure
• between life and death
• between reward and loss
• between acceptance and rejection
• between standing and falling
Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Matthew I.
There are a lot of people who are trying to get your attention.
Right now a person sees 4000 to 10000 ads a day. This is up from 500 to 1600 in the 1970’s. (https://siteefy.com/how-many-ads-do-we-see-a-day/)
We may not remember all of them but we have people trying to get our intention and trying to influence our values.
Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, tiktok, mobile games. Everyone trying to get you to buy something. You put your money into that which you value the most.
Jesus would tell you that the most valuable thing in your life that you need to listen to is His word. The Bible.
But there is more:
Having the right material is important. We are not slack for the right material. As far as Bibles are concerned, we have no issue. But making an application is the key.
Being “raised in church”. Or in the “Bible belt”. Can have its disadvantage. Especially if we are not letting what we have been taught influence our values, or to the least influence some of our values while not making the same application to others.
We know just enough to get us in trouble. Just enough to justify our bad decisions.
The key to it all is building the right foundation.
In the passage, the materials are the same. The building process is similar except for the fact what they built the house on.
Notice: The house held for a little while. It was not until “the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house”
This was a major storm. The house had stood up to small storms. But then it hits. It builds.
All kinds of rain and storms come. There are storms of...
• sickness
• sorrow
• nervous stress
• neglect
• loneliness
• sin
• suffering
• disappointment
• disease
• emotions
• tension
• poverty
• pain
• rejection • accidents
• handicaps
• complaints
• mistreatment
• pressure
• misunderstanding
• doubt
• gossip
• hospitalization
• temptations
• failure
• loss
• abuse
• death
Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Matthew I.
Psalms 127:1-2 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. (2) It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Life 360 is good to a certain point. But what is more important is giving them the ability to deal with their crisis. Twice while my wife and I were overseas we get these devasting phone calls. Once while in Korea our daughters call and say we were in a car wreck and we are going to the hospital. While we were in Honduras our son calls us, “Mom and dad our house is on fire.”
I could not get to them if I wanted to. But the values we put in to them were important.
Most valuable thing you can do for your family is trust in the Lord.
You are loved by God
Men has sinned and it separates us from God.
Christ died as the only payment for our sin.
All we have to do is confess and accept God’s forgiveness.
Conclusion
What are you building your life on? What are you building your family on?
