Living Wise in 2025 | Matthew 7:24-27 | Pastor Andrew Coleman

you may be seated this indeed is the

great Cry of the heart that we need the

blood of of Christ applied to us and so

this morning it's appropriate that we

would sing a song of gratitude for the

blood that was shed for us before we

come to the table of the lord well this

morning um I want us to look at how to

live in such a way that

reflects Christ's salvation in our life

so if you don't have a sermon outline

there are some guys that are rushing to

the front right now and they're going to

give one to you if you just lift your

hand you will need that this morning um

I I love great photographs I love

interesting photographs around the world

Marcy and I have lived in several

different places and um kind of an

amateur photographer um in

2012 a a picture was taken in

Serbia um that won an award with

National Geographic and I want you to

see that

picture um now my middle school mind in

my high school mind loves with to think

about what it would be like to spend the

night in that place right there I mean

that would be so much fun um it's such

an interesting place a beautiful River

and a rock there in the middle of that

River um and Irene Becker I guess

thought so as well but the dra River in

um darina River in Serbia um is where

that house on a rock stands and I I love

the things that help us see and

understand the words of Christ and um

this morning we're going to be looking

at this concept of building our life on

the Rock because Jesus thought that it

was very important we're going to look

at what is the rock what is The Rock

upon which we build as a child I had

picture Bibles and other things like

that and you know we see different

illustrations and maybe some of you that

grew up perhaps um in a Christian home

you had children's illustrations of the

story of the man who built his house on

the rock versus the man who built his

house on the sand and when the rains

come and when the floods come one stands

and the other one does not well this

year you're going to build build your

house and so this year I want us to look

at Living wise in 2005 living wise in 05

or not 2005 that was 20 years ago in 25

as we come into the year of 2025 do you

have your sermon outlined there let's

read these these are just four simple

verses and we're going to read the

passage and then we're going to see the

background of where it comes from so you

understand it even that much better but

we come to the word of God now and we

want to look at what Jesus was saying

Jesus is preaching and he says in verse

24 everyone then who hears these words

of mine and does them will be like a

what a wise man who built his house on

the rock and the rain fell and the

floods came the winds blew and beat on

that house but it did not fall because

it had been founded on the rock verse 26

then everyone who hears these words of

mine and does not do them will be like a

a what a foolish man who built his house

on the sand and the rain fell and the

floods came and the winds blew and beat

against that house and it what it fell

and not only did it fall but look in

great

was the fall of

it well this morning as we look at

Jesus's words it would help us to

remember where these are placed so do

you have your Bible turn with me to the

gospel of Matthew the Gospel of Matthew

is the first of the Gospels it is the

first book of the New Testament and in

the gospel of Matthew we saw during

Christmas time that part of the birth of

Jesus Christ is recorded here but when

when we come after the genealogy in

chapter 1 and after the visit of the

wise men in Chapter 2 and then we come

in chapter 3 John the Baptist prepares

the way chapter 4 Jesus is about to

begin his ministry there is the

Temptation Of Christ before he begins

his Earthly Ministry and then he begins

his Earthly Ministry he starts calling

his disciples and one of the first

things that he does is up in Galilee he

preaches and important message The

Sermon on the Mount now it's interesting

the the gospel of Matthew records five

sermons of Jesus the longest one and

perhaps the absolute most um uh familiar

sermon recorded in all of the New

Testament is this sermon The Sermon on

the Mount and I want you to look with me

there in Matthew Chapter 5 look at

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew Chapter 5 it begins the sermon

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

on the and you see the

Beatitudes and then you see um in the

end of uh chapter 5 you see or the rest

of it uh Salt and Light uh the higher

standards that he has concerning anger

and lust and divorce and Oaths and

retaliation and he ends that with loving

your enemies so this is radical radical

views that Jesus is giving remember we

in one of our series we called Jesus in

The Gospel of Mark we called Jes Jesus

the carpet bomber he's blowing up the

landscape he's blowing up the religious

landscape and so we see that the math

the Matthew um recording of The Sermon

on the Mount Jesus is unsettling all the

things that they thought in their mind

about

religion in Matthew chapter 6 as part of

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

The Sermon on the Mount keeps going um

giving to the needy The Lord's Prayer

fasting when you fast don't do it in

public do it in private lay up for

yourself Treasures in Heaven there's

tremendous reward in that and then the

beautiful part at the end of Matthew

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 notice there do not be anxious

God notices The Sparrows he notices

you he takes care of the flowers of the

field he will take care of you in

chapter 7 we see other um admonitions

that are here about how we relate to one

another and the promise of answered

prayer

and then we come to the end of The

Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 and

verse

24 um and so verse 24 is what we just

read every then who hears these words

and does them will be like a wise man

who built his house upon the rock so

here's what I want you to see in all

this the background and the context

number one this is an illustrated

spiritual

reality the idea of a wise man and a

foolish man and how they would build

their house Jesus is illustrating your

life he's saying the house is

representative of a very practical thing

it's a very real thing I mean it's

something that everybody can relate to

because everybody sleeps somewhere it's

your house and so this is something that

the people could really understand and

then as Jesus unfolds it he's giving a

Illustrated example of a spiritual

reality well let's notice this first

when there Jesus preaches this sermon at

the beginning of his three-year Ministry

before going to the Cross this sermon

reveals how God's filling and God's true

people are to live in the present world

when you look at Matthew chap 5 67 you

are looking at Jesus's instructions

about how to live in the present world

and there's some key things about that

that we'll see in just a moment and on

January the 19th but notice this because

this is really part one of this message

look at the next part this sermon uses

practical

illustrations that people could easily

understand you see there were other

illustrations throughout the Sermon on

the Mount that talk about sewing talks

about grain talks about asking and talks

about all kinds of practical that trees

that fruit I mean it it talks about

other things that people people could

understand in their agrarian life notice

the next one there Jesus is going after

the

heart he is not going after your

religiosity he is going after the issues

of the heart that's why he says you have

said do not commit murder but if you

hate your brother it's as if you've

killed him you've murdered him see it

becomes an issue of the heart you can

get away in society with hating your

brother you can't get away with

murdering him very likely you're going

to get caught and you'll be punished and

so the idea is well I didn't kill him

and God says yes but you hated him you

see God is after the heart he's always

after the heart man looks on the outside

God looks on the inside that's true

today as it was then and he sees

perfectly into our hearts and so Jesus

wants us to know that and at the

beginning of Jesus's Ministry he is

focusing on the heart and he's blowing

up all of these things that have to do

with

religiosity notice the next one notice

the ominous that means very dark that

means dangerous notice the ominous

warnings that come

just before this conclusion so the

conclusion of The Sermon on the Mount is

everyone who hears these words is like a

wise

man everybody who hears these words and

does them is like a wise man who built

his house upon the rock so that's the

conclusion that's the final end of the

whole thing as we're going to as we're

going to see but I I want you to see

what comes before this in Matthew

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7 so there's two little sections

it's 15 through 20 and 21 through 23

these two sections that I've printed on

your outline because I want you to see

them after he gives all of these

instructions G Jesus gives two warnings

look at the first one in verse 15 he

says beware of

what okay so you guys are there beware

of false prophets who come to you in

sheep's clothing but inwardly are

ravenous wolves you see they look good

on the outside but their hearts are

wrong am they're they're

brutal verse 16 you will recognize them

by their fruits and then he gives an

example again that the people can

understand are grapes gathered from

Thorn bushes or figs from thistles

that's another word for thorn bushes and

weeds verse 17 so every healthy tree

Bears good fruit but the disease tree

Bears what bad fruit verse 18 a healthy

tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a

diseased tree bear good fruit every tree

that does not bear good fruit is cut

down and thrown into the fire that's a a

phrase that Jesus used numerous times to

talk about that which is false and that

which is fake it is Cast Away verse 20

you will recognize them by their fruit

so it's very interesting and our

churches ever since um we looked at the

Gospel of John and then the little tiny

letter of Jude we've become more and

more and more aware of how much the word

of God warns about false prophets false

teachers corrupt leaders corrupt Pastors

in any church that is going to be

biblical has to recognize that not only

in the New Testament era and for the

last 2,000 years have there been false

leaders but really all the way from the

beginning there have been false leaders

that claim God but do not know God do

not serve God they serve themselves and

so here is and that's a very good thing

in this day and time as well to be aware

of because we see evidence of that all

around us people in the name of religion

people in the name of God doing hideous

things and so here we see this and this

one of the the reasons I love the Bible

so much is because it's so honest you

need to be into the Bible you need to

read the Bible it's good for your Monday

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday it's

good for every day of your life because

it deals with the realities of life so

whereas some would be hesitant to

mention that we are boldly proclaiming

all that he has commanded us and one of

those things is God's people are called

to watch out for false prophets false

leaders Jesus says it right here in his

first

sermon notice that in verse 21 he goes

on not everyone who says to me Lord Lord

calls me Lord will enter the kingdom of

heaven but what is the what is the

dividing thing here but the one who does

the will of my father who is in heaven

verse 22 on that day many will say to me

Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your

name did we not cast out demons in your

name and do Mighty works in your name

and then I will declare to them I never

knew you depart from me and then look

what he calls them you workers of

lawlessness so while there even seems to

be Miracles at their fingertips they

were still not abiding in the law of God

they were abiding in the lawlessness of

their own heart and so Jesus is saying

that there's a vast difference between

those who look religious and those who

are truly

his in the life of our church we talk a

lot about cultural Christianity versus

biblical

Christianity you don't need more

religion what you need is more

relationship you need relationship with

the Lord Jesus Christ that's the only

hope to obey and that relationship only

comes through the cross where he obeyed

and so as we look to the Cross where he

obeyed the father laying down his life

for us we see that at the table of the

Lord he calls us to trust in that and

not ourselves it doesn't matter how we

look to everybody else what matters most

of all is our submission to the one who

laid down his life for us and that we

would obey him him and so this is part

of that true Faith you see faith without

works is dead and so we see in in James

chap 1 the importance that our faith is

validated our faith is evidenced by the

fact that we obey so there's two

warnings that are given notice these

fill these in in verses 15 through 20

there's false prophets watch out for the

false prophets and number two he says

don't be be a fake follower because a

fake follower claims the Lord but goes

on living however they want to live does

not obey the Lord and there's one

conclusion as we look at our text in the

box at the top of the page it is this

hear the words of the Lord and

Obey so on this first

Sunday of 2025

it seems appropriate that we would

evaluate our lives and say are we

hearing the word of God You' say well

I'm here okay you can be present and not

hear the word you can be thinking about

the football game you can be thinking

about lunch you can be thinking about my

goodness how am I going to pay these

bills you can't be thinking about the

worries of

life or you can submit yourself to the

word of God and look deeply and drink

deeply of Christian worship and the word

of God and the gospel and you can hear

his words and then it's not only that

you hear them but that we come to obey

them this is a very big deal to God we

would be a false church I would be a

false Pastor if I didn't continually say

to you you need to believe upon the Lord

Jesus Christ and that true belief will

result in obeying him and if you will

not obey him if you will not follow him

in obedience then you need to question

whether or not you truly believe in him

as Lord and so that's what we see in

this Jesus is laying it out for us in

his very first sermon you see The Sermon

on the Mount fill it in The Sermon on

the Mount calls Christ's true flock

underline that word true the true flock

to follow the Good Shepherd in both word

and In Deed so it's not just that you

say that you

believe it's that you actually do

it we'll see that again in just a second

look at number three The Sermon on the

Mount gives great assurance and I love

this it gives great Assurance of God's

Tender Care do you remember what we just

said Jesus is saying don't be anxious

about tomorrow today has enough trouble

of its own

amen Jesus is saying don't live in fear

live in faith live in faith in the one

who made you he knows you he knows what

you need he knows what your concerns are

and if you will direct your fear into

faith and looking to him as the source

of Hope and your sustenance he will care

for you because he loves it when people

trust

him and he also promises answered prayer

in The Sermon on the Mount he says if

you will ask you will receive from me

the things that you

need and that you can have the great

confidence that there is a God who is

ready and willing to answer you some of

you might say well I've asked for things

before and I didn't get them so you know

what's the

problem well I remember being in the

activities building over there on the

far side where the gym is in Mr

Anderson's George Anderson's Sunday

school class and hearing about how God

promises to answer our prayers and I

just remember oh God I want a mini bike

I want a mini bike so bad a mini bike a

three and a half horsepower brick and

Straten Engine with 9 in tires a

minibike so I can run up and down the

road you know and I was just praying for

and I never got a mini

bik and you may laugh at me for my

9-year-old

prayer but you know there's a lot of

times when people say well I asked God

for this and he didn't give it to me he

must not he must must not know me he

must not love me or he must not be real

why would he even allowed this to happen

or that to

happen you see maybe James 1 is really

on to something when it tells us you

don't have the things that you ask for

because you ask a

Miss you're asking for the wrong reasons

with the wrong

motives you're not asking for the things

that are in the will of God you're

asking for the things that are in your

will but when we begin to get our will

in line with God's will we see and

that's what the Sermon on the Mount is

all about God answers prayers and he

answers prayers in miraculous powerful

ways there's many people sitting in this

church family right now that would say

Amen he's done it in my life over and

over

again so there is the God's Tender Care

there's answered prayer and then we also

see in the sermon on Mount there are the

rewards all caps rewards for obedience

God promises to reward obedience and in

this this section of scripture that

we're looking at we're seeing that one

house stands when the storm comes and

the other one Falls and it doesn't just

fall it goes

Splat some of you remember the song that

we used to sing in the house on the sand

went Splat so notice this and let's read

the passage again I want you to notice a

few things here um before we come to the

Lord's table verse 24 says everyone who

then everyone then who hears these words

of mine and does them will be like a

wise man who built his house on the rock

so first of all notice the wise man

that's the first thing that we want to

do we want to notice the wise man and

what does the wise man do he hears the

words of Christ but he doesn't only hear

them but but he also what he does

them um look at John 14 and: 15-17 we

put it right there on your outline to

make it easy for you to really take this

in Look what Jesus says over in another

gospel in John's gospel Jesus says if

you love me you will what keep my

Commandments and I will ask the father

this is very important and I will ask

the father and he will give you another

helper can you circle the word helper

and then put a line up above that and

write Holy

Spirit this is the holy

spirit look at this he says and he will

give you another helper Helper and look

what it says to be with you for how long

forever even the spirit of Truth he's

called the spirit of Truth whom the

world cannot re receive because it

neither sees him nor knows him but you

know him for he dwells with you and look

what it says and will be in you let me

be very very clear here everyone who has

been washed by the blood of the Lamb

everyone who has become a child of God

everyone who has become a true Christian

has the Holy Spirit

there's some people that would say to

you well if you don't speak in tongues

if you don't have Miracles that you

perform then it must be evidence that

you do not have the Holy Spirit that is

heretical false Doctrine the Bible makes

very clear that those who are his

children have his spirit and we enjoy a

fullness of this that Old Testament

Believers did not enjoy in Old Testament

Believers we see that God's spirit would

be upon an individual here and an

individual there the Holy Spirit had not

yet come for all of those who would be

followers of God through faith in his

Plan of Salvation but in the New

Testament we are privileged to see what

happened at Pentecost at Pentecost the

Holy Spirit came and the Bible is very

clear over and over and over again just

like Jesus's own words here is that if

you are a child of God the spirit dwells

within you look at John 15:4 and 5 key

John 15:4

words John 15 is such a beautiful one of

my favorite chapters in The Book of John

look what it says in verse

4 abide in me and what we were just

talking about that and I in you this is

God the son promising God the spirit

they are

one is going to be with you Jesus is is

saying I will be in you through the

spirit look what he says abide in me and

I in you as the branch

cannot bear fruit by itself you know

what that also could say is you

cannot obey in your own

strength you cannot follow and practice

The Sermon on the Mount in your own

strength look what it says abide in me

and I in you as the branch cannot bear

fruit by itself unless it abides in the

vine neither can you unless you abide in

me now that word abide it's being used

over and over again it's used three

times in these verses it's used more

times than that um and excuse me four

times in these verses it's used more

times than that in verse 15 but right

out to there to the side abide means to

live with to stay with to remain

in so Jesus is saying stay in me and I

in you as the branch cannot bear fruit

unless it stays in the vine neither can

you unless you stay in me verse 5 I am

the vine you are the branches here again

this is an agrarian example he's using a

grape plant he's using this grape vine

to show they understand that it is

impossible for a branch on the thing to

bear fruit if it's cut off from the vine

so the branches have to remain there

look at what he says I am the vine you

are the branches whoever abides in me

whoever stays in me and I in him read it

out loud together with me he it is that

bears much fruit keep reading for apart

from me you can

do okay that was kind of weak let's read

the last part again it's so important

for apart from me you can do you can do

nothing you can't obey without God's

strength there why this is part of the

reason so many people have gotten

frustrated with a Christian Life they

they look at the calling of the

Christian life and they

try but they're not trusting in Him they

try to do it in their own strength and

they get frustrated and they give up

listen God wants a relationship with you

God has designed it to have a

relationship with you in such a way that

you are abiding in him you're resting in

him and you're saying Lord if you don't

help me to obey I cannot and let me tell

you he will help you to obey if that is

your

prayer and so the Lord knows the

difference between the outside of

religion and the inside of

relationship and he calls us to abide in

him and this is what the wise man does

the wise man hears the words of Christ

and he does them but he doesn't do it in

his own strength because we know John 15

is saying you can't do it in your own

strength you can only do it in God's

strengths look at verse 25 up in the Box

on the top of the page um just before

that it says he built his house upon the

rock verse 25 and the rain fell and the

floods came and the winds blew and beat

on that house but it did not fall

because it had been founded on The

Rock and so what is the rock well the

rock is an actual stone an actual rock

if we're talking about the illustration

of the house but when we talk about the

spiritual implication of the rock what

is the rock well it can be two things

that are

inseparable it is the rock of Jesus

Christ himself he is the rock but

Inseparable from him are his commands

you see he is also called The Living

word he is the word made manifest to you

he is the instruction he is the command

of God and so you can't separate Jesus

from his commands they go hand in hand

from the truth of who he is and so what

kind of person's life stands when the

troubles come it's the person who obeys

the

word so very critical see notice this

the wise man withstands the

deceptions the attacks and the

calamities of this

life you see there are false prophets

that will come along and try to deceive

you they'll tell you if you really

believe God he'll give you everything

you want everything you want in fact

they'll say you don't have things

because you don't have enough faith God

wants you to be healthy and Wealthy God

wants to give you a prosperity in this

world I I would say that is that is

absolutely false it's the number one

deception that is being preached in

America and in numerous other places

it's called the Prosperity Gospel the

Prosperity Gospel will lead you to

Hell the Prosperity Gospel will cause

you to love the things of this world and

try to get them through manipulating God

or thinking that you have to have enough

Faith or if you do these things God is

going to give you what you want that's a

that's a gross

misunderstanding of many of those

passages that that lead people to say

those

things no the true picture is the

deceptions whether it's that deception

or numerous other deceptions or maybe

it's the attacks maybe it's even

physical

persecution Marcy and I have friends in

North Africa that have been persecuted

for their faith the shabas have friends

who were persecuted for their faith in

Jesus Christ and so um we we see

whatever the difficulty comes the the

rains come the floods come but the wind

and the winds blow and beat on that

house but the house stands and you know

why it stands because this individual is

in Christ and obeying

Christ this is when your precious

husband passes away this is when your

precious wife

passes away the Calamity comes and our

faith remains because it's beyond the

things of this life we look to the

promises that go beyond and so this is

how we continue and our house does not

collapse you see notice this at the

bottom the house is your life it's your

life at home it's your life at work or

school it's your life at leisure when

you're off

off it's your life at

church so those who hear the word and

Obey stand the test of time in the

storms of

life notice with me though verses 26 and

27 look with me at verse 26 and everyone

who hears these words of mine and what

does it say next does not do them will

be like a what foolish a foolish man who

bu built his house on the

sand and the sand and the rain fell and

the floods came and the winds blew and

beat against that house and it fell and

great was its fall now if you were

listening to Jesus on The Sermon on the

Mount and he started talking about one

man built his house upon the rock and

another man built his house upon the

sand you're sitting there going you

understand that I mean the average

person now I know we're in South Florida

and most of what's underneath us is sand

I get that there's rock down there

somewhere but if you dig around out here

in Hollywood there's a lot of sand there

and most of you are not General

Contractors most of you have not built

your own house I get that but it doesn't

take very much

intelligence to realize that if you

build your house in a

mudbog the weight of the house is going

to start moving that mudbog and in

Period of time there's going to be

cracks and crevices and over that period

of time there's going to be crumbling

and when everything gets wet from the

rain and maybe even flooding Waters come

by because you're down there on the sand

there's going to be promises problems as

a result of that and so here we see the

foolish man people listening to the

sermon from Jesus would he go yep that's

what

happens notice this with me the foolish

man may hear the words of Christ it's

not that he hasn't heard them the

foolish man may hear the words of of

Christ but the foolish man does not do

the words of

Christ he's a forgetful hearer is what

James 1

says and we see in this text that look

what it says in his house at the end

there in his house it fell and great was

the fall of it if you look and listen

carefully to what Jesus is saying in all

that he does and all that he says he's

very precise in what he's doing and this

is how he ends The Sermon on the Mount

do you notice this these are the last

words if you don't like warnings because

you perceive them to be a little bit

negative and you'd rather go to a church

where the whole message is rainbows and

unicorns and you know you can do it

you're a winner um this is your best

life now type thing you're going to

ignore a lot of the Bible

because a lot of the Bible is warning us

that we have a

problem a lot of the Bible is correcting

us the gospel is offensive to our flesh

it's offensive to our

pride and so don't be turned off by the

preacher I if you're going to listen to

the word I would say humble yourself and

hear the words of the

Lord he is warning you and because the

fall isn't just great in this

life the great part of the Fall is in

eternity in fact notice our notes Here

the foolish man has a hard

life followed by an even worse

eternity this is what Jesus is getting

at and you know you can look at it you

Jesus said come

and take my yoke upon upon you come and

bear my burden with me for my yoke is

easy and my burden is light and I

remember as a high schooler thinking

that's not true because when I started

to walk with the Lord I started to to

have people criticize and I started to

have people kind of Mock and make fun

and it wasn't it wasn't like my friends

in North Africa being persecuted but I

mean I got letters in the mail one day I

got get well cards you know when you

when you get well from all of this and

you we are your friends and we're right

where you left us I I received one that

said that I had another one that was a

sympathy

card and it was it was mocking my faith

and I I just remember there was there

was a a beautiful confidence that God

gave that well I may be on the right

track if those guys are condemning me

you see as time went on I I initially

thought those are hard things that we

experience but in all reality several

years go by and I see that many of those

guys that were ignoring the Lord and

doing their own thing started to

experience the results of addiction

started to experience the results of

divorce started to experience the

results of all kinds of

Despair because they had been living in

foolishness and then I started to

understand why Jesus said my yoke is

easy and my burden is light come and

walk with me and though the world may

reject you I won't reject you and you

will be saved from much of the vortex of

sin notice this the foolish man in

Proverbs 13 it says whoever ignores

instruction hates himself fill that in

he hates

himself and in Proverbs 29:11 a fool

Proverbs 29:11

gives full vent to his spirit that means

he just lets it all out there see he is

out of control he just goes

off a fool despises wisdom and

instruction that's exactly what Proverbs

17 says proverbs 1320 says a companion

of fools suffers harm you know many

times we've said to our young people be

careful who are your friends you make

your friends and then your friends make

you that's part of what I was just

talking about there may come a time when

it's better to be kind of lonely than to

have the wrong

friends it really is and the if you will

wait on the Lord he will bring the right

friends so it's much better to be alone

with the

Lord than with many who did not know the

Lord you see Psalms 14:1 says the fool

Psalms 14:1

has said in his heart there is no God so

a fool ultimately rejects

God a fool rejects God now this can't be

true this isn't what I want Psalm 2

would even say they have said let us

break off the cords and the bonds that

hold

us so this

morning I just want us to see that the

way we live our lives in 2025 is going

to build

something you're either going to build

your

house on the sand that is Shifting in

our

culture going for all the social media

and all the values and all of the

ideologies and all of the entertainment

ments and all of the things that are

passing away all of those things that

you watch all those stories that you

listen to the songs that you listen to

they will either be causing you to fall

more in love with the things that are

going to be gone in a very short amount

of time or you're going to spend your

life constructing and building a house

that is on a rock that is going to stand

throughout all of

eternity and so I just call you to

evaluate your life as we come before

this table in just a few minutes I I

want to ask you have you been I mean to

everyone in the room from the youngest

to the oldest what have you been

building your life on and what are you

going to build your life on in 2025 you

see here's what we can do we can say at

the end of 2025 are you going to be

closer to the Lord and more like the

Lord

more in love with the

Lord or are you going to be further

away some of you would say well I'd kind

of like to just stay where I am you know

what that is that's a developing hard

heart what if I were to say to Marcy

Marcy I will love you up to this point

but no further what do you think the

response to from Marcy would be God get

him I mean she would start praying

imprecatory prayers on me just look it

up what does imprecatory mean go study

it she would I mean she would not put up

with that the the picture of

relationship is that we are growing in

love our our love and our faith grow

more and

more the idea that you can stay where

you

are is a

misnomer the Lord calls us to grow in

love with him to become more like him

this is the process of sanctification

and so if you don't pay attention to the

way you live in

2025 you at the end of the year will be

further from the

Lord and that's a dangerous thing I want

to encourage you to say oh dear God in

heaven who went to the cross for my soul

that I would love you more at the end of

this year that this year would mean

victories and this year would mean

battles that are won this year would

mean old hurdles that are gone now you

know there's things that I used to deal

with that I don't even think about

anymore and that's the grace of God it

is God it is the holy spirit in me that

the things that were such a big deal to

me

before maybe are

vanquished there's many in this room

that would say hatred had overtaken my

soul this unforgiveness was ruling over

me this bitterness or maybe this

substance maybe it was alcohol wine beer

liquor whatever it was that was ruling

my life or grass or cocaine or whatever

there's many people in our church that

were hooked on something that now they

can say to you by God's grace I don't

even think about it anymore

at one time I thought this is

impossible and I despised myself for it

I hated the thing that was inside of me

and by God's grace he set me

free you know that can be the case in

every do you have a difficult

relationship did you know that God can

bring that difficult

relationship into resolve and

Reconciliation God can bring maturity

and forgiveness

will you let

him God can bring self-control that you

didn't think you had he can do that at

any age young or old God can bring

self-control moms and dads you need to

be teaching your children ask God to

help you son with your anger you're not

allowed to fall on the floor and roll

around and scream and pitch a fit you're

not allowed to do that when you do that

you're going to get a spanking and I'm

going to I'm going to stop you from

doing that but here's the the thing the

spanking isn't what's going to stop you

from doing that you need to teach your

child to Rely Upon Jesus

Christ to make him or her obedient

self-controlled you see it's about the

training in righteousness that God calls

us to not be a foolish man that builds

his house on the sand final applications

number one what do we do with a sermon

like this number one run to Christ

run to Christ today first Sunday of 2025

run to Christ maybe maybe God brought

you here somehow some way this morning

you're hearing this and you know you

need to run to Christ I just want to say

to you run to him even right now in your

heart maybe when we stand to sing

there's going to be folks over here on

this side that would love to pray with

you um they they would love to do that

our heles and Rosa and over on this side

there's going to be the samaras's they

would love to talk to you they would

love to help you finally and forever

run to God this morning they would love

to Lead You In A Prayer of coming to him

in faith if you know you need to do that

you just do it or maybe there's

something in your life that you need to

say okay I don't want to hold this

anymore I want to give this to God

whatever your need is run to Christ his

words his sacrifice for his eternal life

that starts

now this is eternal life that starts now

number two evaluate in which areas you

may be hearing but not doing the words

of Christ now every single one of us in

this room can do that we can evaluate am

I hearing the words but I'm not doing

it trust the Holy Spirit he will not lay

more on you that you can

bear come to him and and ask him for

help in this to to hear and to

obey number three is really

important how might you deepen your

church life so it blesses

yourself and others more you say okay

pastor why would you put that one here

because Jesus Christ didn't just die for

individuals though he did but we see

throughout the New Testament it's God

and his people

the church is a very big deal to Christ

he is called the groom the bridegroom

and the church is called the bride and

so I want you to see that your church

life matters your being here matters

look at this with me you're building

friendships here matter you need to be

here early enough that you can make

friends if you show up as the service is

starting and you bolt for the door in

during the last prayer shame shame shame

shame on

you that's ungodly don't do

that if you if you don't give anyone a

chance to even get to know you if you

don't come to events like we just had

this morning where we're opening if you

don't Wednesday night you you say I'm

too tired and I'm too busy and I'm not

going to do that I if you don't Avail

yourself to a deeper Church Life how can

brothers and sisters help you how can

you help

them this church is a loving church and

God has called us to that open your

heart to that discipling missions we

have you know we sent a hundred people

on mission trips last year people

ignited their faith they said I I hadn't

really grown very much until I did that

and that's lit a new fire in me maybe

your obedience to take the gospel to go

and to serve and to love others

is part of the thing that in 2025 you

need to do actively serving in the life

of the church so this

morning I want to challenge you with

this everyone who hears these words and

does

them he's like a wise man everyone who

hears these words and does not do them

is like a foolish

man which are you for 2025 which are you

what are you going to build in

2025 either at the end of

25 or at the end of your

life which one is your life going to

look

like now this is part one next Sunday

after next after Dr Chitwood is here Dr

Chitwood will be here next Sunday on

Sunday the 19th I'm going to preach part

two of this message I want to help you

know exactly how you can live wise in

2025 and help you flesh this out in a

way that at the end of the year you can

say God has done a work in me amen let's

stand together for prayer and I'm going

to ask you if you would to prepare your

heart for the Lord's supper and if you

need to pray with someone during this

song you're welcome to come and to speak

with one of these that are here

let's pray together