If you’re a pastor or emerging leader (ie: church planter, youth pastor, etc.) then you’re invited to come hang out, drink some great espresso and talk life and ministry. The times are open: 10 am – 2 pm. Stay as little or as long as you like. Bring a few questions or thoughts and let’s converse.
Luke 6:47-49 says “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.“
Jesus equates the person that hears his words and does them to a well-constructed home on a firm foundation.
That person dug deep and laid the foundation of the home on a solid rock. The imagery is rich and clear: our life is the building and the foundation is Jesus Christ.
Will this kind of home be standing although it is blasted with wind and waves?
Yes! Why?
Because it is well built.
Here are a few questions for you: Who is your foundation? How deep did you dig? What is the condition of your spiritual home?
I encourage you to dig deep into Christ. He is our solid rock…all other ground is sinking sand.
In Acts 3 I think we find an important reminder of how we should approach life and ministry.
Peter and John were confronted by a beggar near the entrance to the temple and he was looking for money. Its unknown whether or not they would have given him money IF they had some. I don’t think it’s inherently wrong to give out money to those in need and nor is the text making that point. However, Peter and John had NO money so they said, “Silver and gold we don’t have, but what we do have we will give.”
They had Jesus. So they gave him Jesus.
How often do we rely upon money as the answer to most, if not all, things? Are we too quick to throw dollars at something rather than the message and ministry of Jesus? In our culture, even within the local church, we have a default propensity towards money as THE answer. Have we perhaps overlooked and/or minimized Jesus? He is the only one that causes a paralyzed man to instantly rise up and begin to walk, leap and worship. That’s someone that money really can’t buy.
I wonder if our current economic realities have forced us to lean harder upon Jesus? When there isn’t much in terms of silver and gold then we gotta go to Jesus. But what happens then when the silver and gold starts to flow again? Does Jesus take a back-burner? Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.
