Building on the Right Foundation
Pursuing True Success • Sermon • Submitted
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Jesus and his disciples give us a radically different view of success… Pursing true success and building for the future is really about knowing Jesus and being invested in his kingdom.
But, for me and I’m sure for the rest of us, kingdom investments don’t come naturally to us. We live in a culture of instant gratification
The demand for instant results is seeping into every corner of our lives. Retailers are jumping into same-day delivery services. Smartphone apps eliminate the wait for a cab, a meal, or event tickets. Movies and TV shows begin streaming in seconds. But experts caution that instant gratification comes at a price: It’s making us less patient.
Researchers are warning that we are becoming more and more impatient and which makes it even more challenging to be invested in things that require waiting. One expert says, “We’re not wired to think about the long-term anymore,” - Phil Fremont-Smith of ImpulseSave
Things that are really valuable take time, So when our default response is immediate gratification, it is very difficult to overcome those urges and be patient and wait for things to come over time.
“If we are going to make progress in living a life of true success, if we’re going to really be invested in God’s kingdom then we must learn to think of our lives in terms of eternity”
(Article) we are becoming more and more impatient and which makes it even more challenging to be invested in things that require waiting .
But, for me and I’m sure for the rest of us, kingdom investments don’t come naturally to us. We live in a culture of instant gratification (Article) we are becoming more and more impatient and which makes it even more challenging to be invested in things that require waiting .
- instant gratification (Article) we are impatient and find it difficult to invest in things that require waiting .
- instant gratification (Article) we are impatient and find it difficult to invest in things that require waiting .
“If we are going to make progress in living a life of true success, if we’re going to really be invested in God’s kingdom then we must learn to think of our lives in terms of eternity”
“So If we are going to make progress in living a life of true success we have to think of our lives in terms of eternity”
It is a narrative that plays out over and over in the lives of people today - we strive after and pursue things that we think will bring us success - investing huge amounts of energy, time, talents and resources only to come to point usually though some tragedy or storm in life - where we discover that we had built our lives on the wrong things…
(10Years Ago) Hurricane Ike - devastated the town of Gilchrist, Texas. - - Ike’s storm surge flattened all of the roughly 200 homes along the coast - except one. The yellow house at the beach was build differently by different building codes - it had a different foundation — supported 14 feet off the ground by wooden columns — The owners put time and effort into building thier house anticipating the future storm…
all of which doesn’t seem very su
We began this series with one of Jesus’ parables about a Rich man who had attained what many would consider financial success - he was a very successful farmer - but he used what he had for investments that were self centered and very temporary. He is called foolish - he looses his soul - he has not invested in the things that would truly fill his soul and lead to a truly abundant life and future...
We began this series with one of Jesus’ parables about a Rich man who had attained what many would consider financial success - he was a very successful farmer - but he used what he had for investments that were self centered and very temporary. He is called foolish - he looses his soul - he has not invested in the things that would truly fill his soul and lead to a truly abundant life and future...
We began this series with one of Jesus’ parables about a Rich man who had attained what many would consider financial success - he was a very successful farmer - but he used what he had for investments that were self centered and very temporary. He is called foolish - he looses his soul - he has not invested in the things that would truly fill his soul and lead to a truly abundant life and future...
It is a narrative that plays out over and over in the lives of people today - we strive after and pursue things that we think will bring us success - investing huge amounts of energy, time, talents and resources only to come to point usually though some tragedy or storm in life - where we discover that we had built our lives on the
Hurricane Ike - September 2008 (10Years Ago) in Gilchrist, Texas. - - Ike’s storm surge devastated the town, flattening all except one of the roughly 200 homes there. The couple’s yellow house at the beach was build differently by different building codes - it had a different foundation — supported 14 feet off the ground by wooden columns — was the only house on Gilchrist’s Gulf Coast side not to be flattened.
- Self centered (Paragraph from Soul Care)
- Self centered
- instant gratification (Article)
Hurricane Ike - September 2008 (10Years Ago) in Gilchrist, Texas. - - Ike’s storm surge devastated the town, flattening all except one of the roughly 200 homes there. The couple’s yellow house at the beach was build differently by different building codes - it had a different foundation — supported 14 feet off the ground by wooden columns — was the only house on Gilchrist’s Gulf Coast side not to be flattened.
In a similar way, The way we go about building our lives and pursuing God’s kingdom NOW will either produce things that will count for eternity or things that will eventually be wiped away…
The Apostle Paul, one of Jesus early disciples writes about this in :10-15 lets take a look at it
instant gratification
Pursing true success and building for the future involves being ‘rich toward God’.” Being rich toward God is really about knowing Jesus and being invested in his kingdom.
So when we hear that pursuing true success is really
Pursuing true success requires us to think in terms of being part of God’s family and to think of our lives in terms of eternity. Today we want to think about success using the analogy of a building…
By being invested in the common good and benefiting others.
By contributing to and building up your local church family.
By having a one-minded commitment to contribute to the progress of the Gospel
Story of the 3 little pigs - they all build houses - but only one house can stand the storm...
today we want to think about success using the analogy of a building…
Ike’s storm surge devastated the town, flattening all except one of the roughly 200 homes there. The couple’s yellow house at the beach was build differently by different building codes — supported 14 feet off the ground by wooden columns — was the only house on Gilchrist’s Gulf Coast side not to be flattened.
The couple’s yellow house at the beach was build differently by different building codes - it had a different foundation — supported 14 feet off the ground by wooden columns — was the only house on Gilchrist’s Gulf Coast side not to be flattened.
Corinthians - is a letter written to a church that had all kinds of problems - there division in the church - they were fighting over different views - they had taken sides claiming to follow different teachers - so Paul who had planted this church just a few years earlier writes this letter to challenge and correct the way they were living and pursuing God’s kingdom… Chapter 3 …
Pursing true success and building for the future involves being ‘rich toward God’.” Being rich toward God is really about knowing Jesus and being invested in his kingdom. Which means wisely using what we have to do good in this world.
“True success is far deeper and more comprehensive than financial success or enjoyment of this life. True success involves being ‘rich toward God’.”
Being rich toward God is really about knowing Jesus and being invested in his kingdom.
By being invested in the common good and benefiting others.
By being invested in the common good and benefiting others.
- wisely using what we have to do good in this world, to be invested in benefiting others.
to be invested in the good of others.
By contributing to and building up your local church family.
It is very difficult with the day to day pressures of life to value investing a portion of our resources in the future. The future seems far away, and investing in eternity can be even more difficult. Pursuing true success involves thinking of the future as far more than just retirement and investments, and personal achievements.
So Pursing true success involves wisely using what we have to do good in this world, and because being rich toward God is about investing in God’s kingdom,
of others and because being rich toward God is about investing in God’s kingdom,
By contributing to and building up your local church family
By having a one-minded commitment to contribute to the progress of the Gospel at home and throughout the world.
-it is includes contributing to and building up your local church family
- Every foundation is build to support a specific house - God’s Kingdom has a specific foundation…
By having a one-minded commitment to contribute to the progress of the Gospel at home and throughout the world
And all of this is part of God’s plan to bring the light of gospel - the good news and transforming power of Jesus - into every dark corner of this world. Which means pursing true success includes ‘investing in the progress of the Gospel’ - or the mission of the church. This is something we’ve looked at before....
Problem with all this talk about true success is that it seems the opposite...
How can our work in this life count for eternity?
- Every foundation is build to support a specific house - God’s Kingdom has a specific foundation…
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Paul makes it clear that there is only one person we are to follow - Jesus Christ. He is the way the truth and the life - not Paul, not Apollos, not Ciaphas /Peter. Which the people this letter is written to should understand because the people Paul is addressing are believers in Jesus - people who are already forgiven of their sin, who already belong to God’s family, who already are part of God’s eternal kingdom...
Paul here is not teaching here about how someone get’s saved or goes to heaven - So what is he getting at??? Because Paul calls himself a ‘Master Builder’ who laid down a foundation -with a warning to be careful how we build on this foundation- - so what is going on here?
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU BUILD -
going on here? BE CAREFUL HOW YOU BUILD - The way we go about building our lives and pursuing God’s kingdom will either produce things that will count for eternity or things that will eventually be wiped away…
By the grace given me - I laid down a foundation… that phrase ‘by the grace given me is the same phrase Paul uses in to describe his unique role in revealing God’s plan for his church… The foundation Paul laid down did not come from Paul - it was a gift of God’s grace - it came from Christ… Paul often says things like what he says later in Chapter 11 of 1 Cor - when he writes ‘For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you’
We need to understand that God want’s us to live successful lives - as believers in Jesus …In the passages we’ve looked at so far in this series - “Jesus said that God takes pleasure in giving us His kingdom!” God is described as ‘richly providing everything for our enjoyment” ! we are told that God gives each of us spiritual gifts and abilities to use for building up his family and contributing to the progress of the gospel - every passage we’ve read says something about God giving to us. And here again Paul is explaining that God has given what we need to be truly successful —
(Acts) It was Paul’s practice that after some people had believed in Christ - to gather them into community and carefully lay out the basic teachings of Christ for living as his people, his church in this world — this is what Paul means by ‘laying a foundation’
(Acts) It was Paul’s practice that after some people had believed in Christ - to gather them into community and carefully lay out the basic teachings of Christ for living as his people, his church in this world — this is what Paul means by ‘laying a foundation’
If the foundation is Christ - it is all of Christ - who he is, what he’s done, and his teaching - his commands… what the early church called ‘the teaching’
preservation of the ‘didache’ over the centuries
preservation of the ‘didache’ over the centuries
God wants us to live truly successful lives and has provided a basic outline - core principles - for building our lives on… the Apostles lived it out, they taught it to others, they wrote it down in the scriptures. It is a gift to us that has been preserved and passed down to us... so that we can live truly successful lives!
Think of it as a building code for Life! There is a difference between building codes and blueprints - blueprints outline every detail…which means every house built to the same blueprint will be exactly the same - but building codes give us the acceptable range to build within - you can have many different designs many different materials but in order to build successfully you need to build within the code or it will not be safe -the inspector will make you tear it down and start over - it will not stand the storm…
SO BE CAREFUL HOW YOU BUILD - make sure you are building in a way that is consistent with - this foundation you’ve been given - that you are building your life in a way that is is consistent with Jesus, by his principles for life. Make sure that you are not building on some other foundation, some other philosophy of life. Make sure you are building with quality materials - that you are building with the lasting eternal wisdom of Christ - not the cheap changing wisdom of the day.
You can know the difference - it’s not a mystery - we’ve been given the core principles - God has already because God has graciously given us the basics outline.
each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
The Day is coming - when everything that is not in-line with Christ and his teaching will be burned up - wiped out… when God’s kingdom is fully realized
There is lots about the Day that we don’t understand, there is a mystery to this, but we are told here that those who don’t build carefully ‘Suffer Loss’ their work is burned up… they are Christians, they are part of God’s kingdom, that’s not in question… but they suffer loss…they have missed a great opportunity. However those who build carefully their work still stands and they are rewarded.
The point is this: The way we go about building our lives and pursuing God’s kingdom NOW will either produce things that will count for eternity or things that will eventually be blown away…
God want’s us to be truly successful, he wants our works to stand, so by his GRACE he’s given us a foundation to build on - Jesus Christ, Who he is, What he’s done for us, and his principles for living as his people in this world.
Jesus Said,
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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 everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like 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 fell, and great was the fall of it.”
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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 everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like 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 fell, and great was the fall of it.”
You can’t even begin to truly build your life on the commands of Christ - the principles for living by faith - if you don’t have faith Christ...
What would building on the foundation of Jesus Christ in your family, your finances, and your lifework involve? What would be some examples of other foundations?
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU BUILD -
when we build on his
Christ is the foundation we are building on --- and by his grace he already given us the basics for building successful lives - his commands - his teaching - his will for us...
the foundation = the commands of Christ
By being invested in the common good and benefiting others.
By contributing to and building up your local church family
Are we
By having a one-minded commitment to contribute to the progress of the Gospel at home and throughout the world
But Paul calls himself a ‘Master Builder’ who laid down a foundation - so what is going on here?
What would building on the foundation of Jesus Christ in your family, your finances, and your lifework involve? What would be some examples of other foundations?
What are some things that might happen if a church family is building on several different foundations (various philosophies and principles for making the church successful)?
What is the relationship between quality works and building on Christ’s foundation? What sorts of work would be examples of wood, hay, stubble? What are some examples of work you could pursue that is like gold, silver, and precious stones?
BONUS MATERIAL: not used
Story of the 3 little pigs - they all build houses - but only one house can stand the storm...
Problem = culture of instant gratification = prone to neglect these kinds of investments = or to look for
Pursing true success and building for the future involves being ‘rich toward God’.” Being rich toward God is really about knowing Jesus and being invested in his kingdom. Which means wisely using what we have to do good in this world.
By being invested in the common good and benefiting others.
By being invested in the common good and benefiting others.
By contributing to and building up your local church family.
By contributing to and building up your local church family.
By having a one-minded commitment to contribute to the progress of the Gospel
By having a one-minded commitment to contribute to the progress of the Gospel at home and throughout the world.
“True success is far deeper and more comprehensive than financial success or enjoyment of this life. True success involves being ‘rich toward God’.”
hospitaol (Micheals mom) all the things she had built her life around had not prepared her, were insignifigant and empty for facing her diseases -
In fact the culture we live in sets us up for failure...
- Self centered (Paragraph from Soul Care)
- instant gratification (Article)
We began this series with one of Jesus’ parables about a Rich man who had attained what many would consider financial success - he was a very successful farmer - but he used what he had for investments that were self centered and very temporary. He is called foolish - he looses his soul - he has not invested in the things that would truly fill his soul and lead to a truly abundant life and future...
It is a narrative that plays out over and over in the lives of people today - we strive after and pursue things that we think will bring us success - investing huge amounts of energy, time, talents and resources only to come to point usually though some tragedy or storm in life - where we discover that we had built our lives on the
It is a narrative that plays out over and over in the lives of people today - we strive after and pursue things that we think will bring us success - investing huge amounts of energy, time, talents and resources only to come to point usually though some tragedy or storm in life - where we discover that all our efforts were wasted on lesser things - things that distracted us from what is most important....
It involves giving generously and serving others, it involves using our gifts and talents to contribute to the life and ministry of our church family, it means making sacrifices and working together with others for the progress of the gospel…
- Self centered (Paragraph from Soul Care)