Firm Foundation

Okay, yes, that would be great. Good morning, all.

Right, you'll stretch your hand out to Lisa.

We're gonna bless her this morning. Father. We just thank

you for Lisa.

I thank you for the word that you've placed inside

of her. I asked that you would open our ears

and our spirits to receive from you that which you

have spoken to her. I just bless her soul, her spirit,

her mind, her tongue to bring forth the word that

you have Holy Spirit. We love you, and we bless

her in Jesus' name. Amen, Amen, Thank you, Kylie. Well,

good morning, welcome. Oh this thing loves to give me problems.

I am very honored to be here today. You've got

me today because Justin's in Colorado. He took a little

sabbatical getting some rest. I feel a little left out,

but not too much. So I did get the blessing

of getting to go last week to Sedona, Arizona and

the Grand Canyon, so I can't complain too much, even though, man,

I love Colorado. So while I was in Sidona, I

was able to take a little impromptu vacation with Jay

and Sarah. Hendrick and Justin had already kind of prepared

me saying would you speak the second week? And I

was like, oh goodness. I kind of went a whole

month to think and pray about this because this is

not this is not really what I feel is my

gifting per se. I love to love people behind the scenes,

not necessarily be up here. So as we were there

in Arizona, I was praying. We went on a hike

to this amazing rock called Cathedral Rock. I don't know

anybody that's been to Arizona. It is absolutely breathtaking. So

we went on this hike and I had hurt my

toe playing tennis, so I could make it up as

far as Shay and Sarah. So I sat back down

and I had brought my journal and I had my

phone with scripture, and I was just spending some time

with the Lord and I was asking him, Lord, what

do you want me to speak on? Because I take

it very serious being in front of you all and teaching.

So as I'm sitting there and I'm looking at this

beautiful Cathedral Rock, I hear the Lord say firm foundation.

I was like, yeah, you are my firm foundation, Lord.

And then I'm sitting there and I was thinking about

the week prior before leaving, and those of you that

don't know, we've got an amazing ministry called Mercygate Ministries,

and we're in the process of building a new transitional

house for the women we serve. And that week before

we left, we were shoring up the foundation. So I'm

thinking about the foundation. Then we come home and Chay

and I go out the night before the concrete is

poured in our foundation and we bring a Bible and

we bring a cross, and we lay that cross in

the Bible in the center of the foundation, so that

when the concrete is poured that the Word of God.

The cross is a foundation. It's in the foundation. And

so I was like, okay, Lord, I think I hear you.

We're going to talk about the foundation. And we were

talking about Matthew seven and so Matthew seven. At first,

I thought, well, I guess I'm just going to really

talk about Matthew seven the end part, which is twenty

four through twenty seven. But no, the Lord said, look back,

let's go a little further. And so I'm going to

start in Matthew seven twenty one. So if anybody has

their Bibles or your Bibles on your phone, we're going

to start there. So before I start, I want to

encourage you all. This is the Sermon on the Mount,

so it starts Matthew five, chapter five through seven. I

want to encourage you all when you go home this

afternoon or this week, I want you to read the

whole Sermon on the Mount. There is so much, so

much meat in all of that, in learning how to

build a firm foundation. I'm going to give you some points,

but there's so much more. So we're going to start

in Matthew seven twenty one. So Jesus is wrapping up

the Sermon on the Mount with a message that hits

straight to the heart. It's about genuine faith, it's about obedience,

and he uses some vivid illustrations to drive the point home.

So we're going to start here. Jesus says, not everyone

who says to me, Lord Lord, will enter the Kingdom

of heaven, but only the one who does the will

of my Father and who is in heaven. Many will

say to me on that day, Lord Lord, did we

not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive

out demons, and in your name perform many miracles? Then

I will tell them plainly, I never knew you away

from me, you evil doers. Wow. I don't know about you,

but every time I read that, that really hits me.

It is heavy. It makes me check my heart, the

motives of my heart. Jesus is using this as a warning.

He's saying, calling me lord and professing his name isn't enough.

This passage is talking about people meet him one day,

face to face, the day of judgment, and they're going

to be in complete shock that he does not receive

them into his kingdom. That's hard. That's not the father's heart, y'all.

He loves y'all so much. He is giving you a warning.

Care He doesn't want you to be deceived. I want

to make sure that you hear my heart. This is

not about legalism. This is not about doing religious acts.

This is not about having false security in works. Am

I going to talk about being a doer of the

word and doing works? Yes, I am. But there's going

to be a difference, and I hope that you catch it,

because this is what that is about. He wants your heart.

He doesn't want you just to profess his name and

check boxes doing works. That's not what he's asking you

to do. I think I'm getting emotional here because I

really do take this serious. I this is not something

I really want to do stand up here and teach

or preach. It's actually kind of terrifying for me. This

is only the third time in eight years that I've

done this. I'm a slow learner, slow to mature, but

here I am. But I'm telling you I can't stand

before you. And if there is one one of you

that is just checking boxes and you don't truly know

the Father and are known by him, then I want

to say the hard things because of loves you so much.

He wants you not to be deceived. So we're talking

about works, but what does what does the word say?

Our works are but filthy rags? So why are we

talking about doing works? Well? Because when you truly know

the Father, it starts becoming natural, a desire, it's your

pleasure to do the works that he calls us to do.

It's not the checking of boxes. It becomes natural to

become a doer of the word. So you are doers

of the word, not to be bound what I like

to call the do doo list. I know, please forgive me,

but I've got a girlfriend and we keep each other accountable.

In things, And she's like, so, Lisa, are you doing

that out of the do do list? You do this?

You do that, you don't do this? Do you hear

what I'm saying? It's am I doing it because I

feel like I'm supposed to do it? That I think

that if I do it, that I am being godly

and religious in all of those things? Or am I

doing it out of a place of love for the Father.

That's the difference. So if y'all want to take that

and ask yourself, is this the do do list? Do that?

I'm telling you you don't forget it. But I just

want to say, please do not mistake what I am

saying and take this message and grab onto legalism. Okay,

that's the do doo list. That's the list that no,

you do not want. Okay. Jesus is talking here about

hearing his words and then putting them into practice. There

isn't an expectation for you to come to Jesus and

then all of ausud and boom. You are mature, You've

got it all put together. You're doing all the right things. No,

that's not what he says. The Lord is patient, he

is kind, he is gentle, but when you come to him,

he expects to see you go after him. Have maturity.

I love that he uses the word put his words

into practice. He didn't say perfection into practice. Okay. So,

like I said, the Lord doesn't want you to be

deceived by work. So let's look at James one twenty

two through twenty five. It says, do not merely listen

to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Anyone who looks in the word but does not do

what it says is like someone who looks at his

face in a mirror, and after looking at himself, goes

away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever

looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and

continues in it, not forgetting what they have heard, but

doing it, they will be blessed in what they do.

So let me ask you, what does your spiritual reflection

look like when you hear the word of God, Whether

you're here at church, another church, or you're listening to

a podcast or a sermon online, and you're done and

you walk away, maybe you're in your place of work.

Do you forget what you learned? Do you go back

to your old ways. My dad was a custom home builder,

and I will never forget growing up, he would say

all the time, if you see a Christian fish on

a business card, run, He's like, don't trust him, just run.

They're gonna get you. And I was like, I thought

that was terrible. I was like, that is so mean. Dad,

and Dad, if you're watching, hello. I just could not

believe that. Whenever I was younger, I thought anybody that

professed christ they had to be trustworthy and a Christian

and somebody that you could do business with. And unfortunately, y'all,

that's not the case. That's heartbreaking. It is absolutely heartbreaking,

and we wonder why the world looks at the church

and they run. I want to challenge you to really

be thinking about your spiritual reflection. And this is not

to be judgmental or condemning. I check my own heart, y'all.

I think I have a lot more time than I

did in for service, so I'm going to share this.

I never know, like how many pages is going to

equal what. I am not an expert at this, so

my timing is never quite right. But so a few

weeks ago, I picked Micah up from work and he

goes mom. I heard the Lord speak to me and

he asked me to pray for someone and I said,

that's amazing. He goes, yeah, but I didn't do it.

And I was like, okay, well why didn't you do it?

He goes, well, I just felt insecure. And I said okay.

I said, but you heard the voice of the Father.

He's like yeah, so I'm really excited I heard the

voice of the Father. Well, we literally I picked him up.

We pulled into a store and while we're picking up

some things at the store, the man that's checking us out,

I said, well, how are you? And he gives me

a long list of things that are not going well

in his life. And I was like, oh no, I

am so sorry, poor guy. And as I grabbed my

bag and Mike is with me, I'm I hear pray

for him and I'm like oh. At first, I was like, oh,

I'll pray for you, but I'm going to keep on

walking out and I'm going to pray for you. And

the Lord said pray for him now, and I was like,

oh gosh, and he literally said, be an example to

show your son what putting my word into practice looks like.

So I stopped and I said, can I pray for

you now? And it was so cute. He stuck out

his fist, stuck out his fist. So I grabbed his

fist and I opened it up and I held his

hand and I prayed for him. And it made such

an impression on my son, because that was putting the

word into practice. We are to be examples to our children,

to our friends, to those around us. So I want

to ask you before I move on to what what

does it look like to build on a firm foundation?

What does it look like to be a wise or

a foolish builder? I want you to think about what

is that thing in your life that the Lord has

been working on for obedience. It's not about the doing

to check off the box. He wants your heart. So

what is that one thing you're holding onto with your fists.

Remember he gave me his fist. He was holding on

to pain. I guarantee you he was holding on to

a lot of other things that the Lord wanted to

take it. He wants your heart, y'all. So I want

you to be thinking about what is that thing? So

that you cannot just be a hearer of his word,

but you can be a doer. The Lord isn't trying

to control you. He wants to bless you, and he

doesn't want you to be deceived. Okay, so let's move

on to Matthew seven twenty six through twenty seven. So

this is Jesus giving us a picture of two builders.

He 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

that house. Yet it did not fail because it had

its foundation on the rock. What does it mean to

build on the rock? Who is the rock? The rock

is Jesus himself. It's his teachings. He is the Word

of God. He is the rock. There is no other.

So then Jesus compares the wise builder with the foolish one.

He says, but everyone who hears these words of mine

here's them, but 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 that house, and it fell with

a great crash. Here's the thing. Let's think about those

two houses. Both probably looked equally the same, Both probably

looked pretty strong. Maybe both were beautiful in how they

were designed. But the difference is one was built on

the rock and the other one was shifting sand. It

was the foundation that was the difference, not the outward appearance.

Another interesting part is both of these houses stood until

the storms came. So this is so important to the

Lord for you to not be deceived. He also it's

in Luke six forty six through forty nine. 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. They are like a

man building a house who dug down deep and laid

the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the storm

struck that house, but could not shake it because it

was well built. But the one who hears my words

and does not put them into practice is like a

man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

The moment the storm struck that house, it collapsed and

its destruction was complete. So imagine those two houses in

the storm. Like I said earlier, on the outside, they

look the same ones on solid rock, ones on shifting sand.

Now imagine that those two houses are two people in

the church. I would say, there's a lot of people

in church. We can look the same, We can go

to the same Bible studies, go to the prayer group,

do the religious acts. On the outside, we look great,

we look the same. But the Father knows your heart.

He judges the motive of your heart. So what is

your foundation on. You'll find out when the storms of

life come. Because when the storms of life come and

you can't stand because your foundation is not on the rock,

and your life crumbles, what did you build on? Y'all?

Hear me? This is not condemnation, This is not about legalism.

The Father is after your heart. He wants to give

you the ability to build on the rock. He wants

to be the firm foundation for you so that no

matter what storms in life come, you can stand. And

you know what, there's a lot of people in this

church that have done that. People have battled cancer, lost

love ones. And I've seen you up here praising the

Lord regardless of your circumstances, regardless of the outcome. We've

prayed for healing, and healing didn't come. But you know what.

You weren't shuck because I know what your foundation is on,

and you're a testimony to those of us around you.

You are, you really are. So the Lord wants that

for every single one of you. I'm telling you right now,

there is nothing too hard that you can't make it

through with the Lord as your foundation. It is right.

So what does it look like to build your foundation

on the rock? I want to give you. There's a

lot of them, but I actually wrote down eight, and

then during worship, I was like, I cannot believe I

didn't to me one of the very most important ones.

So I'm going to start with that is repentance. I

can't believe I forgot that the first first service. So

I want to read repentance. If you want a firm foundation, repent,

humble yourself and repent. It's not repent because oh you're

so bad. It's repent. Get your heart right before the Lord.

So tewod Corinthians seven. For godly grief produces a repentance

that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Do you know the difference? Godly repentance is where you

come before the Father. You pross yourself on the ground,

you ask him for forgiveness. Your heart wants to change

and run away from the sin. But worldly repentances, Oh darn,

I got caught. So I'm going to be sorry, but

I'm not gonna change. I'm gonna give lip service, I'm

gonna show up, I'm gonna do the things that look right.

I'm gonna check those boxes, y'all. That kind of grief

produces death. Okay, so this was number one, but repentance

really is number one. So here's signs of authentic faith

and obedience to the Lord. So if you're taking notes,

here we go. First one was repentance, and that was

Tewod Corinthian seventy ten. Now we're gonna well, well, you

can't have a genuine relationship with Jesus without repentance. So

number one was genuine relationship with Jesus. Jesus says in

John fifteen five, I am the vine. You are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you

will bear much fruit a part for me. You can

do nothing. Authentic faith involves staying connected to Jesus like

a branch to a vine. It's a living, growing relationship.

Let me ask you, those of you that are married,

how good of a marriage would you have if you

barely spent time with your husband or wife? If you

just were, you know, passing each other. Hey, did you

take out the trash? Have you paid the bills? But

there was no genuine relationship, intimacy, time spent together. That's

what the Lord wants. Like I said, he's after your heart.

It's not Oh, I'm gonna give him my twenty minute

devotional time because I'm checking the box. No, he wants

your heart. He wants you to be in love with

him so much that you desire to be with him.

You desire to be in his word. So two living

according to God's word Psalms one nineteen, verse one oh

five says your word is a lamp for my feet,

a light on my path. Authentic faith means letting the

Word of God guide our decisions and actions. The Word

of God is your map to navigate your life to

stay on the right path. Let me ask you, when

a challenge comes up in your life, where do you go?

Do you go check out the news, see what's happening

in the world. Do you go to a friend and

try to get all there advice and their input on

how you should live your life or decisions that you

should make. Is it wrong to seek godly counsel? Absolutely not.

But if you're going to anyone, before you go to

the Father and the Word, you need to get back

into the Word so he can guide you. Number three,

Transformation of character Galatians five twenty two through twenty three.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

and self control. When you follow Jesus, your character changes.

We start to reflect those qualities and characteristics. That's what

he wants. You don't. And I'm gonna say this again

because I know there's a lot of new believers. It's

not all of a sudden you accept Jesus and boom,

you are just mature in the faith. You know it's

a process, and y'all, let's just be honest. It's a

lifelong process for all of us, every single one of us.

But I want to ask you, what is the fruit

in your life? Uh? Oh okay, Just like a healthy

fruit tree will bear good fruit. A life rooted and

Jesus also bears good fruit. The Lord says, you'll know

my people by their love, by their fruit, the gifts

of the spirit. You're going to know someone by the

fruit in their life, all right. Four Consistent prayer life

Philippians four. Six. Do not be anxious about anything, but

in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present

your requests to God. Prayer is a lifeline to the Lord.

It shows your dependency on him, and it keeps your

relationship with Him strong, and it keeps it gives you

strength when you take the time to spend time in

prayer with him. It's vital to your health. It's a

foundation to a relationship with him, all right. Five is

service and love for others one John three eighteen. Dear children,

let us not love with words or speech, but with

actions and in truth, not just with words. Authentic faith

shows itself and how we treat others, especially those in need.

Think about the good Samaritan. He was probably a wealthy businessman.

He was on his way somewhere. There was a man

that had been beaten, bruised, who knows how. I mean,

he could have been dying. And this road was well traveled.

There were so many people just marching past him. Too busy.

I've got places to go, people to see, money to make.

I can't stop for the one. But the Samaritan, he stops.

He tends to him, He takes him, He gets him shelter,

he provides food, he makes sure that he's taken care of.

It costs him his time. It cost him his talent

and his treasure. Y'all, love looks like something, and it

has a cost. It costs Jesus everything, and he would

do it all over again because he loves you that much. Six.

Holiness and moral integrity one Peter one, fifteen through sixteen.

But just as he who called you as holy, so

be holy in all you do, for it is written,

be holy because I am holy. Faith. True faith means

living a holy life set apart from God. If you

profess Christ, but you live just like the world, do

you have authentic faith? These are questions you need to

ask yourself. I think we all have to do heart checks.

We're supposed to be set apart from the world. We

need to be in the world as light and salt

to be an example of who Jesus really is. But

we're supposed to be set apart. If you think, say

you have I don't know, maybe you've come out of

alcoholism and you're in a good place, and you think, well,

I'm going to go back to the bars and I'm

going to start discipling people, and then you start changing

back into the old behavior. Don't do that. Don't put

yourself in that situation. You're supposed to be set apart

but a light. And if you have struggles in areas,

don't put yourself in that place where you're going to

be tempted. Okay. Seven is forgiveness Matthew six fourteen through fifteen.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you,

your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you

do not forgive others their sins, your father will not

forgive your sins. Yeah, we need to forgive others as

we have been forgiven. Forgiveness is non negotiable. I want

to make it clear because a lot of you have

been through some really hard things. A lot of you

have gone through abuse and traumas. I am not saying

that when you forgive, that means you bring that person

back into your life. You can forgive. Forgiveness is for you.

You forgive and you set a boundary. That does not

mean you bring that person into your life because you've

forgiven them. Do you understand. I want to make sure

that that is very clear. The Lord doesn't want to

put you back in a scenario where you could be

abused or traumatized again. But does he require you to forgive? Absolutely,

he does so. The last one is endurance and trials

James one two through four. Consider it pure joy, my

brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let's let perseverance finish its work so that you may

be mature and complete, not lacking anything. I think to me,

one of the biggest parts of the message of the

Two Builders, or you know, the Foundations, is those that

went through life's challenges and when the storm came, they crumbled.

When we he build on the rock that storm can

come and you keep standing. It's not going to tear

your life apart. Is it going to be hard? Yes?

Are you going to go through hard things? Yeah? He

did not promise you an easy life. I don't find

that anywhere. But he promised that he could get us

through it. I don't know if any of y'all have

ever heard. Oh my goodness, now he just came out.

What Graham Cook? I'm like, how did I forget that?

Because I didn't write it down. So Graham Cook is

a teacher and years ago I was listening to one

of his teachings and he was talking about going through

trials and hard things, and he said, you know what,

the Lord shifted my perspective when I went through trials

or hard things. I'd call it my best friend. I'd

be like, hey, guess what's going on in my life?

You ready to jump for joy with me? And he

would share whatever the trial was. And I was like,

he is crazy, Like why would you do that? But

James one two says, consider it pure joy, my brothers

and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because

you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

And I took that teaching, and Justin and I have

gone through a lot of hard things over the last

well many many years. We've been married almost twenty five years.

So let me tell you we've gone through things. But

now it's kind of a joke. When a trial or

hardship comes into our life, we'll look at each other

and We're like, are you ready to jump for joy?

You know? Because the Lord shifted my perspective. It's like

the refining fire. It's when you put the gold and

the fire and it heats up. That's uncomfortable, and what

does it do? It brings all the dirt. So when

you're going through a trial in life and you're feeling

the pressure and the heat and you want to run, stand,

let him do his refining work. Your gold. You're precious

to him. It's worth it. He's worth it. Wayne, Would

you mind coming up as we wrap up today, I

want to take a moment. I want all of us

to take a moment, and I want you to reflect

on your life. What's the foundation that you're building on.

Are we hearing Jesus' words? Are we being a doer?

Are we putting his words into practice? Are we hearing

him turning away and forgetting? I don't want you to

go through the motions of checking the boxes and have

a false security because you've proclaimed his name and you've

done religious acts. He loves you too much, and he

paid a hefty price for you, and he would do

it all over again because he loves you so much.

This isn't about feeling condemned. It's an invitation to examine

our hearts and to align ourselves more closely with the Father.

He's given us a blueprint for life that stands firm

against any storm, a life built on a solid rock

his word. Jesus sacrificed everything for you. He didn't just

teach these things, he did them. He was our greatest example,

and he has given us everything we need to live

a life worthy of his sacrifice. Everything you need is

found in him. So let's choose to be like a

wise builder on the solid rock, not one that's on

shifting sand. My prayer is that everyone takes a moment

and really thinks about your heart connection with the Lord,

because he's after your heart. Are you living a life

in faith on the rock? Are you cultivating a genuine

relationship with the Lord? Are you allowing his word to

guide your steps? And are you allowing your character to

be transformed by the Holy Spirit? If we could get

the prayer teams to come up, anyone that's on the

prayer teams, if any of you, as you're reflecting, find

an area in your life that you want to change,

that you want to lay down and submit to the Father.

Today is the day. Today is the day that you

can start fresh. Today is the day that you can

build on the solid rock. Don't wait until tomorrow. You're

not promised tomorrow, but you're promised today, and He's willing

to meet you right now, right where you are. No

matter what you have done in life, you haven't done

in life, it doesn't matter. He loves you and he

wants your heart right now. So if there's anything that

you need prayer for, please come up and pray, and

I pray that you are inspired to live a life

worthy of Jesus's sacrifice. So I'm going to pray and

close this out, and if you need to sit and

take a moment, just sit, get quiet before him. So,

Father Lord, I thank you. I thank you for these people,

I thank you for what you're doing in this community,

in this church. Thank you for listening.

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