Pause Week Five | The Parable of Two Foundations; Build Below The Surface

Well, good morning, everybody. So glad that you're here with us. If you love Jesus, make some noise in the house real quick. Yes. Can you continue to clap and welcome everybody that's joining us online at all of our locations. Thank you guys for being here today. We are continuing. I'm going to close out the series this summer. We have been doing a series we call Paws, and we've been going through the parables of Jesus. And so last week, Pastor Randy brought it home. I mean, he did an incredible job, brought a great message last week. And today I get to conclude. I'm going to be talking about the parable of two foundations. And as we get into that, I just want to prepare your heart so that you guys know where we're going to be going. I just believe that God wants to speak to us today. I believe that God's put some things in my heart specifically for some people within the sound of my voice. So open your heart, be prepared for that because it's very important the times that we live in today that we not only hear God's word, but we apply it. And if you have not downloaded the app yet, I'm going to encourage you to download the Bayside app. That will help you to stay connected with your campus as well as, man, you get to do your morning devotionals with it. You also get to pray for one another, support one another through that app. You can find out activities and events that are going on. So if you haven't done that, do so. You can tap the sticker in front of you or stop by your Connect Center to get the app. And I know it'll be a blessing to you.

All right. So are you guys ready to hear the word this morning? Are you ready to be transformed by the word this morning? That's the question. All right. So I'm going to get into this. I'm going to teach it, but I might preach some of it too. So feel free to help me preach. All right? What that means is you can say amen. All right. Preach, preacher. That's all right. And if you ain't used to talking back to the preacher, you just take your note card and wave it in the air. Just like, yes, go ahead, preach. All right. Anyways. But before we jump in, here's the big idea for today. You're always becoming what your habits are building. You're always becoming what your habits are building. Now, we're going to read out of the word of God. And so would you stand with me as we honor God's word? I believe you make room for what you honor. And so we're going to stand to honor his word because it's the one thing that transforms us. Matthew chapter 7, I'm going to read this parable, beginning in verse 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. 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. Everybody say rock. Rock. 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. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law. Father, I'm asking that you give me the words to say, so that, Father, you would open our ears and our hearts to receive what you are speaking to your church today. Remove every hindrance and every distraction as we encounter your truth. May we be forever set free to be the people that you've made us to be. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen. You may be seated. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever looked at someone and thought, how did they get there? Maybe you go, how did their marriage become so strong? You might look at Pastor Randy and Amy and be like, man, if I just had a marriage like that, how did they get there, right? Maybe you look at somebody and you go, man, how did they become so generous? Or you look at somebody and say, how did they become so bitter? You ever see somebody that got attitude and be like, how did they get so bitter? You're wondering what happened in their life. They're not just hangry, they're angry. Or you see somebody and go, how did they lose everything? How did they become so full of peace? And here's what I've learned. Very few people wake up one morning and become something overnight. Strong marriages, they're not built overnight.

Strong faith, it's not built overnight. Strong character, it's not built overnight. Neither is failure. Every day, every conversation, every choice, every habit, every decision lays. another brick and before long you're living inside the life that you built one brick at a time. Nobody accidentally arrives anywhere. You arrive on purpose or you drift on purpose and most people don't fall apart in a moment. They actually come apart neglecting the moments that they had. Let me say it another way. Your life in 20 years won't be the result of one big decision. It will be the sum of thousands of small decisions. The marriage that thrives and the marriage that collapses didn't get there in one day. They got there the same way. One brick at a time. One response at a time. One habit at a time. Now that's yet encouraged some of us because it means the small choices that you're making right now, the ones that nobody sees, the one that nobody celebrates, they actually matter more than you think. They're not small but they're seeds. Every decision and that's exactly where Jesus ends this greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount. After three chapters of teaching he doesn't ask, hey, did you enjoy the sermon? Did you take notes? Did you agree with me? No, he didn't ask that. But he asked one question, is what are you building your life on? In the context of this parable in Matthew 5 through 7, particularly today where we're going to be talking about the two foundations, Jesus, his manifesto, this is his manifesto for kingdom living because you have a choice. There's two ways that you can live. You can live God's way or you can live the devil's way, just to be honest with you. There's the world's way or God's way. But as he gets into this, he begins to boil down something that it's simply one decision. And here's what's sobering. Jesus isn't comparing believers with atheists. He's comparing believers to believers. Both of them hear him but you have two different responses. All of us that are sitting here gathered together hearing the word of God, one can respond one way and one will respond another way. Some will hear it one way and some will hear it another way. This is what Jesus is

looking at. In Matthew, Henry, he has a commentary and he says this. He says, the difference between the wise and foolish hearer is not knowledge but obedience. Should I say that again? The difference between the wise and the foolish hearer is not knowledge but obedience. So, think about it. Both men, they're sitting there listening to Jesus. Both men attend church. Both hear the truth. Both have a dream of building a house. Both experience storms, which by the way, everybody in this room is going to experience a storm. Hopefully, not a hurricane this year. I'm not talking about that kind of storm. But I'm talking about Jesus said in this life, you will have trouble. And if you're not in a storm currently, a storm is coming. And now let me just say this because I felt this strongly in my heart as I was preparing for this message. Listen to me very carefully. There is a storm that's coming. And my heart today is that your house will stand and withstand the storm that's coming. That after the wind has stopped blowing, and after the rain has stopped, and after all of the chaos happens from the storm, that your house will remain standing because it's built on a firm foundation. The only difference is that nobody sees your foundation. Because the strongest part of your life is usually the part nobody applauds. These guys, they both want to build a house. And in the Bible, you know, a house could be your life. We're building our life. This is the house, the temple of God, right, on the inside. Building your life, what are you building your life on? Is it your foundation or is it his foundation? The family, that can be a house. In fact, God referred to David's house, his family, as the house of David. Maybe your ministry, the church. This is the house of God. Our society, our nation. The children of Israel, they were called the house of Israel. And here in our nation, we got the White House, the House of Congress. But here's what I want you to understand. The foundation is very important. It's so critical that we understand that our foundation is very important.

I had a friend whose house... I was at his house one day and... You know, he started telling me how he was noticing these cracks, and I told him, I'm having the same problem, and I noticed that, you know, on the side of my house, they were just cracks, and it just kept getting bigger. Well, when I really looked and had someone come out, there's these gopher turtles that started to dig under the house in different places, and so it was causing the foundation to be a little bit shaky because we were getting a lot of rain, and so things were happening. And at his house, it was even worse. In fact, he had a sinkhole developing under his house. So they had to come and shore it up. Now, here's what happens. The cracks, at first, we address them cosmetically. We paint it over it, and then the crack reappeared but bigger. And you cosmetically fix it again because you want the outside to look great. But then you realize it's not the crack that's the issue, it's the foundation that's the issue. And if you don't address the foundation, you're going to keep doing the cosmetics to fix what's not actually the problem. So your addiction, you may think that that's the problem. Your habit, you may think that's the problem. That's not the problem, it's your foundation. Who are you trusting in? What's your life built on? Our nation, our world right now is not operating on the same foundation that we should be as a kingdom people. And therefore, we are seeing full of cracks. We're seeing a nation, we're seeing a world full of cracks. You could be sitting here right now and going, I ain't got no cracks. We experience it, your cracks.

I ain't got no cracks, but you mean everybody. I ain't got no cracks, you ain't got time to spend time with your kids. Because you're, you know, and this, by the way, kids are watching your sermon through the life that you preach, not what you say. Yes, amen. Yes, that's the point. Don't meddle, Bernard, keep moving. All right, so Luke's account gives us one detail that Matthew leaves out. In Luke 6, verse 48, it says this, it is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. What I love in this passage, notice it says, he dug down deep and laid the foundation on solid rock. That phrase really grabbed my heart this week, right? He dug down deep. He dug down deep, dug down deep. This is what I learned, is everyone wants elevation, but Jesus starts with excavation. Everybody wants to be promoted, but this is what you got to understand, before God builds something through you, he has to build something in you. Before he raises you up, he digs you down. He goes down deep because he understands the higher you go, the deeper the foundation has to be. You got to go down into the soil enough till you hit solid ground. You got to hit a solid rock, but here's the problem. Many of us are being the foundation when Jesus says, I don't need you to be the foundation, I need myself to be the foundation. I am the foundation, trust in me, build your life on me. So today, I want to challenge you.

I want to challenge everybody in this room. Stay, please. And we're going to keep coming to this all morning. You're always becoming what your habits are building. Just going to tag off of what Pastor Randy said. Listen, when you pray, you're building. Bitterness, both good or bad. Prayer, you're building. Bitterness, you're building. Forgiveness, you're building. Generosity, you're building. Complaining, you're building. Serving, you're building. Isolation, building. Comparison, building. You can look at all of those, and I'm telling you right now, if you start to look at your life and you want to build it on the right foundation, whatever you're doing, whether you're building it right or wrong, whether you're building on the rock or you're building it on sand, you're building something. The question is, when the storm comes, where will you be found standing? Everything is building because every decision lays another brick. So here's the first point, dig deeper. Everybody say, dig deeper. Dig deeper. Dig deeper. God digs before he elevates, right? In Luke 6, where it says, he dug down deep. And can I just be honest for a second? Nobody likes digging.

We like promotions, we like platforms, we like miracles, we like influence, we like recognition, but nobody posts pictures of digging. Ain't nobody like taking pictures of the foundation and be like, look at the foundation, you know? No. But builders understand something that we as homeowners often forget. The house that everybody is admiring stands because the foundation that nobody sees. And if your house has got cracks, which all of us end up having cracks, and you have to evaluate and go, what foundation am I on? That's why Jesus begins below the surface, because character is always developed underground. Roots grow underground, foundations poured underground, and faith is formed underground. In fact, Colossians chapter two, verse six and seven, it says, and now just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth that you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness. Family, can I tell you something? Some people here might be frustrated because it feels like you're buried. But maybe you're not buried, maybe you're planted. And you're trying to dig yourself out,

but actually you need to dig deeper to make sure that you're on a foundation that is on solid ground, which is Jesus Christ. There's a difference. Seeds get buried before they bloom. Jesus spent 30 years preparing for three years of ministry. David spent years tending his sheep before he ever became a king, a war crown. Joseph spent years in a pit and in a prison before he ever sat in a palace. Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before leading Israel. God digs before he elevates. When you see these skyscrapers being built, you see these huge, deep holes in the ground, that's the most important work because as much building as you see going up, you gotta know how deep the foundation must be. And so if you want to see your family built on something stronger, if you wanna see your life built on something stronger, if you wanna see things shift in your life, stop building your life on sand and build it on Jesus. Which requires maybe, you know, Florida, we have a lot of sand. So maybe you have to go deeper. Well, how do I go deeper? How do I get down deeper so that I make sure that I'm on solid rock? First, you gotta stop dating the church.

What do I mean by that? Stop coming for just what you get out of it. Maybe come and serve, dig deeper. Maybe do something that you haven't done before. Maybe worship is more than just standing and enjoying the incredible music that we have. Maybe it's God, I'm here to give you me. Dig deeper, dig deeper. Oftentimes, if you've seen a building go up, recently we built a house and you can go by for days and you really can't tell if anything is happening, but it's all happening in the foundation. And some people here have been asking God, why am I so deep in this season? And maybe you feel so deep because God is preparing to build something that you've never imagined. And here's the truth, that all of us who really take home foundations are formed in the ordinary. And that simply means it's not during the big moments, not during revivals, not during crisis, but on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, all of those invisible days, the life everybody sees is built on the choices that nobody sees. Private obedience, it literally always becomes public stability. Nobody watches concrete dry, but we all depend on it. You know what I'm talking about? Nobody's watching concrete dry, that's the boring.

But we cannot wait till it's done. But here's the question, what does digging actually look like on Monday morning? It looks like the dad who shuts his laptop and spends time with his kids. It looks like the wife who chooses kindness when she had every right to be cold. It looks like the businessman who tells the truth on a spreadsheet when a lie would have saved him a lot of money. Come on, somebody. It looks like the person who has every reason to be bitter but chooses to bless instead. That literally is excavation. Nobody claps for it, nobody celebrates for it, nobody retweets it, but heaven is watching every shovel. Every time you dig deeper, every time you make a choice to say, I'm going to be faithful, every time you make a choice to say, I'm going to pray. Because what is prayer? Prayer is digging. Worship is digging. Repentance is digging. Scripture is digging. Every time I get in a word, I'm digging to make sure that I'm on a firm foundation. Integrity, it's digging. I'm telling you right now, humility, it's digging. All of these things are reassuring that I'm not the foundation, but Jesus is the foundation. Well, I'm preaching better than you, amen, but that's all right.

I want you to know heaven celebrates every shovel of faithfulness because you're always becoming what your habits are building and every decision lays another brick. So, everybody say, dig deeper. Here's the second thing, build stronger. Build stronger. You know, strength, it's accumulated. It's not an instant download. So, before we go any further, I want you to hear this question that Jesus asked in Luke 6, verse 46. It says, Jesus looks at the crowd and says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? Man, that's one of the most convicting sentences in the Bible. He's not talking to people who rejected him. He's talking to believers, people that call him Lord. They say, I'm a Christian, I'm a follower of Christ, but he says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, but you don't do what I say? People who sang songs in church, people who attended church, people who use the Christianese, the Christian language, people who had all of the right vocabulary but not obedience. And then Jesus says in verse 47, the one who hears my words and puts them into practice. I want you to notice something. Jesus never praises information, he praises application. You can have all the information, but if you're not going to be obedient, it's meaningless. Think about it, in our country, we have more Bible apps, we have more podcasts, we have more sermons, we have more Christian books and content than we can ever imagine out of any

generation that's ever existed in history. Yet, information has never been easier to collect or easier to ignore. Knowledge alone doesn't build foundations, obedience does. If I hear his word and apply it, I'm building on a solid foundation. James 1, verse 22 through 25 says this, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, but do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in the 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. Everybody say, do it. They will be blessed in what they do. I wonder if one of the greatest dangers in the church today is confusing inspiration with transformation. I feel good, but I'm not changing. You can be inspired every Sunday, but unchanged every Monday. Some Christians collect sermons like they collect subscriptions. Anybody have so many subscriptions, you don't even know where your money is going. Yet, when it's time to pay your bills, you need money, but all you got to do is cut out a subscription. Steward what you have better. We can sit here and say, I've heard that message. Wonderful.

Have you forgiven your brother? Oh, I've read that book. Awesome. Have you prayed for your enemy? Oh, I know that verse. Great. Are you living it? And here's the theological center of everything that I'm saying today. Information never becomes foundation until it becomes obedience. It has to become obedience. So let me wrap this. Because in our culture, and maybe in your life, I don't know you, I can speak to me, I got cracks. And if I'm not willing to deal with those cracks, meaning not just cosmetically covering them, that means making sure that I'm not the source. Because for a long time, I was the source, I was the foundation. When I went through abuse, and when I was been hurt, I was gonna make sure that that would never happen again, and so I made sure that I was gonna be planted on my foundation, I was gonna be in control. When I did that, I start realizing when the storms came, when the winds blew, when the pressure came, see, pressure, all it does is reveal what's already there. And when those storms revealed, and that pressure revealed, is that I was on a shaky foundation. Sand feels stable for a moment, until you step on it.

And as soon as pressure gets on the sand, it shifts. And if you want your house to be on solid ground, you have got to dig deeper. Your response has to be, it has to be more than what you've done. Because church, there is a storm that's coming, and I'm speaking prophetically, and I'm not talking about the weather. I'm talking about there is a real enemy, and there is a prophetic word that Jesus told us that in the last days, in the last days, and I believe we're in them, there's gonna be trouble, and a storm's coming. And the last thing that I wanna see happen as a pastor at this church, is that your house not stand when the storm comes. And here's the promise that Jesus makes, because you are making the decision to dig deeper, and not just casually come, and casually call yourself a Christian, but to live as a follower of Jesus Christ, that every day you're digging to make sure, yep, that foundation is still there. Yep, I'm on the rock. Yeah, I'm not the rock, Jesus is the rock, and I'm standing on that rock. So when the government gets crazy, and when the world gets crazy, and when in darkness, all these things start happening, my house is not gonna blow over.

The wind is gonna come, the rain is gonna come. All these things are gonna come against me, but at the end of the day, I'm gonna be found standing, and having done all to stand, I'm gonna stand on the word of God. I'm gonna stand on the rock who's Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, because greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world. Amen. Dig deeper. Why? So that brick by brick, every choice you make, you can build your life, your family, your job, everything, on something that will never be shaken, and that's Jesus Christ, our Lord. Would you bow your heads with me? I want you to ask Holy Spirit, what is he saying to you today, through this message? What is he saying to you? God, what cracks do I have in my life? Would you ask him that, that you wanna address? Today, maybe, you need to surrender your life to Christ. So that your life could be built on that rock. I wanna give you an opportunity to do so, to say yes to Jesus, to allow him to be your rock, your Lord, your Savior. If you wanna make that decision, on the count of three, lift your hand. One, two, three, lift your hand all over this room.

Online as well, thank you. You can put your hands down. If you lifted your hand or desire to lift your hand, we're all gonna say this, so we can all say it together. If you're a believer, you're a believer. If you're a Christian, you're a Christian. If you lifted your hand or desire to lift your hand, we're all gonna say this simple prayer with you together, just an affirmation of what's already taking place in your heart, just say these words after me. Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sin. Be my Lord and my Savior. I believe that you died for me and that you rose again. So be my life, be my strength. Thank you for loving me, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, amen Caesar. Thank you. Now, I ended early so that the campuses can take it from there, but we're not finished. We still have time on the clock. But I wanted to give us time because as I was preparing has completely crumbled already. that you're sinking. Your choices that you've made hasn't been on the right foundation, and so therefore, everything is shaking around you and it's crumbling. But Jesus wants to shore up your foundation. He wants to shore up your house, because Jesus loves you so much,

he wants your house to stand when the storm comes. It's interesting, you can tell the people who don't have their house built on a firm foundation because the littlest things, they react. And the enemy is so good, he knows your foundation is jacked up so the storms just keep coming. Your house is leaning, there's all kind of cracks, there's addictions, there's bondages, there's all kinds of things, and you keep cosmetically trying to cover the cracks, and Jesus said, no, the foundation. And so for some in this room, repentance is for you today. Because Jesus, his grace is here for you today. We're getting ready to worship a little bit because one of the ways that you can dig deeper is worship. Now, here's the key. What I learned is you don't just worship when the storm comes, you worship before the storm so that you know what to do when the storm comes. Because the worship that we do allows us to stand when the storm comes. Stop looking at Jesus as the emergency room. I mean, he's good at it, but he's given us all the tools to be prepared for when the storm comes. And church, the storm is coming, so we gotta dig deeper. And so maybe you're here as we're worshiping, maybe you're here and there's some things that you want shaken off of your life,

you wanna be delivered from. Our prayer team's gonna be up here, they're gonna be here to pray for you, so allow the spirit of God to draw you and come and just be ministered to, or maybe it's just you just need to be there and just go, God, I'm gonna dig deeper by worshiping you. Maybe your posture, normally when we sing songs, is like this, or like this. Boy, that Franklin's all right. Man, that's a pretty cool bow tie he's got. Man, listen to that voice. Man, that guy could be on Broadway, I'll tell you what. We're not here to worship Franklin. Even though that brother's good, man, he's great. He's great. Thank you. Thank you. But maybe the posture to dig deeper for you might be from this to this. Open hands means, God, I'm gonna take a step to go a little deeper. What I've been doing hasn't been working. A little transformation's been taking place, so I might as well give you something. Maybe you go, I can't sing. Open your mouth and say the lyrics. You can talk. Just say it.

Just go deep. Make it seem deeper. I'm gonna go deeper. There's some that just need, you're gonna have a breakthrough. I don't know. I just felt like they were somebody that even have something in your car that, I mean, it's almost like our cell phones or they're so attached to our body, but it is a bondage in your life. You need to get rid of it. You need to throw it away. Maybe you need to come and surrender that at the altar. Go surrender it at the altar. Whatever it is, we're gonna take a couple minutes because we got time, and we're just gonna worship. We're gonna worship. We're gonna dig deeper to shore up the foundation to make sure we're built on the rock, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. He's our rock. So speak to us, Lord. Speak to us, Lord.