Building on the Foundation of Obedience

Matthew 7:24-27
Dr. Tony Evans
Notes taken on March 25, 2009

I had a crack on my wall which I hired someone to fix. He plastered it and painted it, and it was good as new. One month later, the crack reappeared, so I called him again to fix his work; it looked good until a month later, when the crack not only appeared but also brought along its cousins! Frustrated at the workmanship, I called a differed person.

He came, took one look, and said that he can't fix the crack. I was agog. Didn't you specialize in fixing cracks? He said, yes, but the problem with your wall is not a crack. It is your shifting foundation. If you fix the crack, you are just patching the symptoms, not addressing the actual problem.

Many of us spend time and money fixing cracks on the wall, when it's the unseen shifting foundation that needs our attention.

The metaphor of building a house

Two men were building a house. Both had a dream and wanted to build something of value, significance, that matters.  The house can be the following things:
• A life that matters.
• A household. No one wants to walk on the aisle knowing that it will lead to divorce.
• A church or ministry.  We're a household of faith. No one wants a ministry that doesn't grow.
• A nation.

Comparison between the two men

Both men were compared in their dreams and adversities (storms). Both had access to the word, to a Bible believing church. How do we know this? Because Jesus said, "Everyone who hears these words of mine..." Nothing can be closer to orthodoxy than that.

Contrast between the two men

While they had many things in common, Jesus contrasted them. He called one a wise man, and the other, a fool.

Who is the wise man? He is one who ascertains God's desires and seeks His mind, and then pragmatically applies them to life.

Who is the fool? He is the one who refuses to apply God's mindset to his life. You can be a fool coming to church. Listening to His word one day, and leaving the mindset all behind on Monday.

Building the right foundation

Both had the same dreams, but they didn't start from the same place. One started on a rock; the other, on  sand.

When people are building a skyscraper, they dig deep. In fact, you can discern their ambitions and tell how high they plan to build by how deep they dig. Yet, many people build their skyscraper dreams on chicken-coop foundation.

You know why the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans? Because it was built on Pisa—that's Pisa. Pisa means "marshy." The only thing Pisa is good for is as a tourist attraction. There is nothing there except for a small building that has to be held up by ropes lest it falls. I don't know how good your life is right now, but if it's built like this tower, it will come crashing down.

Building on a rocky foundation:
• Expensive
• Time-consuming
• Means you heard the word and acted on it

Building on a sandy foundation:
• Cheap
• Quick
• Didn't do nothing. Truth unapplied might as well not be heard.

Applying what you learned

You need the classroom to learn the football play, but it's in the field that it's practiced. Christians have a disconnect between Sunday and Monday.

What people want is sandy-rocky. When we water down the word of God, that's what we get. When we mix the sand of man with the rock of God, we cancel the effectiveness and power of the word of God.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, yes, but not if it's candied apple dipped in a vat of sugar. It's not that the apple is no longer nutritious, but the sugar cancels out the benefits.

So why do we take the word of God on Sunday, then dip it in human understanding on Monday... and then wonder why they don't experience God's power and transformation?

Notes: Walk the Walk. Our Whole Life for God

Revelations 2:1-5

by Ryan at Resonate

May 29, 2011

Synopsis: What makes a great church and what is the purpose of our lives. 

What makes a great church?

What kind of church, when you visit, makes you go, "Wow!"

Not one of us here will say, I want to be part of a church that is mediocre.

But part of the consumer culture is that we look for the wrong things. We say, Oh, the worship is good, or the sermon is good, or it has a pet program I value. The way we judge churches is that these churches fill my need. But there is a danger in that. Scripture doesn't say that. Scripture doesn't say that you are a great church because you have a great program.

In Revelation, Jesus tells us what He wants. In Acts, it is clear where the heart of Jesus is. If we use our filters, instead of the standards of God for a good church, we will miss the heart of God.

What is it like to be the church that walks the walk? What does a healthy, vibrant church look like?

1. Jesus Christ is pre-eminent over everything

Jesus is the central focus of the church. In word and deed. There isn't a church that would say that Jesus is not number one to them, but that's not necessarily reflected in their deeds. Whatever we do, we do it for Christ. The central focus is Jesus.

If He's the center, then His manifest presence will watch over you and me. Yes, God is everywhere, but his manifest presence is not there all the time. Hence, David cried out: "Cast me not away from your presence, O God, and take not your Holy Spirit from me."

There are many churches where God does not bless with his presence. They sing about God, they talk about God; but God is not there.

We speak about revival as a church event, but revival is to relive and to re-experience. Its an overwhelming sense of God's presence over people.

Were not striving for cool. It's not scriptures's standard of a vibrant church. The goal is not to be the coolest, the sexiest, or the most relevant. The last thing I want to do is pastor at a church where Jesus is not at.

If we take the glory that belongs to God for ourselves, God will take His presence from the church.

2. The church is on mission

Mission is from the Latin word, to send. So there needs to be an act to send. When you look at Acts and the Gospels, there's a lot of words about sending. It's rooted in what Jesus does. You know John 3:16. But do you know 3:17? "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." It lies in the action of God sending his son. In verse 34, God gives Him the Holy Spirit and the words to utter.

Later, Jesus prayed for us, saying in John 17:18: "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." So God sends Jesus, and now Jesus sends us. That is the mission of the church.

What is the mission of the church? Its just like Jesus said Matt 24:14: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." We have a job here, People. There's work to be done.

How does Resonate become a missional church? Is it going on foreign missions? Yes, but its more than that. Individual church members should realize one central truth and organize their lives around one central truth. And we have about 30 years to make a big impact. There's no accident that you are here. Once the years are gone, they're gone. There's no redo button.

Watch Dead Poet's Society.  The teacher showed the students a glass cases full of with pictures of people. "What do they have in common?" he asked.  They're all worm meat—they're all dead. Carpe diem. Seize the day. Do not miss the chance of making your life extraordinary. You have only one shot. We act now, or we don't act at all.

A Biblical believer is a missional believer. Let everything in your life... your recreation, your living, your everything be missional. Our mission field is whatever or wherever you are. Your neighborhood—where you live—is your mission field; where you work is your mission field; where you take vacation is your mission field; where you so spend your money is your mission field.

3. The church is a great agent of transformation in the city

All great churches make an impact. If Jesus is central, the cities will never be the same, because we are on mission and Jesus is the central figure of our lives.

Have you considered why you are here, in wherever city you are? God brought you here, He moved you here, gave you a job, and apartment for a reason. Its not by chance.

Why do you love your city? Is it close to work? Is it where you go to school? Don't look at your city as a consumer, look at it as a mission field. Be the solution, not the consumer.

God does not love us on the basis of our work, or love us less on the basis of our deficiencies. You should be the same way towards the city to which you are calked to serve. One life. One time.