Solid Ground In Times Of Change Series

Solid Ground in Times of Change

Rerouting: Navigating a Changing World

August 9, 2020 – Brad Bailey

Intro

Good morning to each of you who have joined our gathering this morning... and welcome to each of you who may be watching at a later time.

If you have ever used a map application... like Google maps... you have probably had the experience when it needs to reset course...something in the route changes...and some sort of spinning shape begins... with the word: “rerouting.”

In many ways... that can capture the nature of this season. You were moving along in life...and then in March... a pandemic brings change. Changes to your path. Changes to your plans. Change to your patterns.

Once I see that spinning icon... with the word “rerouting”....I often feel some mix of frustration....and anxiety...cause I need to keep driving but it hasn’t showed me a new way yet.

Sometimes I just pull over. And that may be how some of us feel. We may feel we pulled over to the side of the road and are waiting to find a new way forward.

We are all in a strange time of rerouting... of navigating a changing world.

So today I want to begin a series...a weekly focus... on how God may speak to us in such a time.

I want to invite you to consider how God speaks to us about navigating a changing world. If you are a part of our Westside Vineyard Church... I am so glad that we can navigate this season together...as we gather around Jesus whose life we are to embody. If you are just beginning to explore who Jesus is...and who he may be to you...I am so glad you have stopped to take time listen to what Jesus says.

We are all seeking the know what is the true center in life... around which life can really be oriented. And at such a times as this... when our familiar routines and reference points change... we can feel a bit disoriented... and that can be an opportunity to consider afresh... the true center in life. Today... I believe God wants us to grasp that amidst all the changes at hand... it’s a vital time to realize what is unchanging.

Think about those events we usually associate as striking with change...and what we can learn from our natural reaction. Let me ask you... When a hurricane comes... from your personal experience or what you see people do from images you see...what do we do? I would venture to say that our most natural reaction is to hold on to what is most solid and that will serve us well. When an earthquake comes... from your personal experience or what you see people do from images you see...what do we do? I would venture to say that our most natural reaction is to hold on to what is most solid and that will serve us well.

In many regards... we may need that good sense towards the whole of our lives. Let’s listen to what Jesus says. As we read in the Gospel of Matthew [1]

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” - Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT) ?

Jesus speaks these words at the conclusion of his extended teaching about how to reorient one’s life according to the kingdom of God.... God’s reign and rule over life. And now he brings home the significance of actually doing so.

I want to help us hear a few particular truths within these words that can speak to us in this particular time.

The parable draws on the image of building a house... and it’s rather clear that Jesus is using this to speak about building our lives. Jesus gives an example of two people...making two very different choices. And it may be helpful to consider which of these two very different lives is building a house?

The obvious answer is BOTH. The truth is that every one of us is building a house…which is a picture of building a life.

Now some of us may think... “I’m not building a life... I’m just living day to day.”

As comedian Lily Tomlin once said… “I always wanted to be someone. I just should have been more specific.” We may tend to see ourselves as just in some sort of casual process of living day to day. But here’s the truth... every day we are building lives. With every decision and action we are forming something called our life out of the material we have. So the first point I want us not to miss is simply this...