Jesus tells this story, found in Matthew 7:24 – “Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse, because it is built on rock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and the floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash.” (Matt 7:24-27 NLT)
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Full audio version of this sermon. 2009-06-14 Rooted Faith – Draw Up – Ken Castor
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There is the idea that storms reveal the true wisdom and strength of a person. The wise person will have their life rooted down and built up in such a way that when storms come they will remain standing strong… and even grow from it. Those who secures themselves down into Christ will draw up strength to stand in even the most torrential rain or winds. Proverbs 10:25 says that “Disaster strikes like a cyclone, whirling the wicked away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.”
There is no other noun that we should base ourselves on than Jesus Christ. There is no other person, no other place, no other thing, and no other idea that should ever serve as an alternative to Christ as the foundation for our lives. It’s like the old hymn sings, “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand! When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand!
The Good News today is that you can dig your roots down deep into Jesus and you will not be disappointed because there is no more secure ground in which to be established. In Christ you will draw up all the resources you need to stand firm through anything. That’s why the Psalms begin the way they do: with such hope. Psalm 1:2-3 says, “Oh, the joys of those… [that] delight in doing everything the Lord wants; day and night they think about his law. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper.” And in Psalm 52 we get the picture of sturdy contentment that results from a life that is faithfully rooted and drawing up nourishment from God: Psalm 52:8-9 says, “I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever. I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done.”