Stones…and the Stories They Tell: Dig Down to Build Up
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Matthew 6:24-29
24 “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. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
4 Life Footers
#1 Jesus is The Solid Rock.
#2 Sand Castles Crash.
#3 Storms do not discriminate.
#4 Wisdom is in the doing not the knowing
Footer #1 Jesus is The Solid Rock
Psalm 118:21-23
I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 23 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.Isaiah 28:16
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
Direction, level, strength and identity are hallmarks of cornerstones.John 14:6
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Here, in no uncertain terms He points to Himself as the only viable foundation on which to base our lives.
Footer #2 Sand Castles Crash
Footer #3 Storms do not discriminate
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
John 16:33 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Psalm 18:1-2 1 I love you, Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
Footer #4 Wisdom is in the doing, not the knowing
Here are some reasons why we don’t act on what we know:
What Jesus teaches is hard to trust.
What Jesus teaches is disruptive.
What Jesus teaches takes practice to do.
James 1:22-24 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.