WHAT IS YOUR HOUSE BUILT ON?

Here is a recap of Sunday’s message from Pastor Steve: “What’s Your House Built On?”

We wrapped up our months-long walk through the Sermon on the Mount with Jesus’ final, piercing question: What are you really building your life on? Jesus doesn’t land the greatest sermon ever preached with a sweet story or soft blessing, He ends with a warning and a choice. In Matthew 7:24–27, He paints two builders, two houses, two foundations…and one storm that hits them both. The entire Sermon funnels down to this: Will you obey what you’ve heard, or will you just admire it?

Pastor showed that everyone is building something. Your choices, habits, affections, and obedience are laying down invisible bricks every single day. On the surface, two lives can look almost identical: church attendance, language, appearance. But the foundation is hidden, and Jesus said the difference between the wise and foolish builder isn’t information, it’s obedience. The Greek word poieō, points to practicing His words as the pattern of your life, not as occasional inspiration. What we build in private, the secret place of prayer, integrity. Repentance is they key to show you’re actually building on the rock.

We then contrasted the rock and the sand. The rock (petra) is deep, immovable bedrock, you have to dig to reach it. It represents a life built on Scripture, surrender, consistency, repentance, and dependence on the Spirit. Sand, on the other hand, is convenient, fast, and popular. It requires no digging, no discipline, no real discipleship. It looks stable until the pressure comes. Ten truths about sand and rock reminded us that sand is surface-level, self-built, and culture-shaped, while rock is Christ-built, covenant-strong, and storm-proof.

Pastor also stressed that the storm is not optional; the collapse is. Jesus said when the rains and floods come, not if. R.T. Kendall’s quote rang out: “Storms do not destroy character, they expose it.” The Greek word for “foolish” (moros) shows us the fool isn’t necessarily wicked, just spiritually lazy, loving sermons but not living them. It’s where we get the word “moron” from.

And when the crash comes, Jesus describes it as a “mega” collapse (megē hē ptōsis), a total structural failure, not a minor wobble. In the end, Jesus presents Himself as both the Builder and the Bedrock. We’re not just choosing between belief and unbelief; we’re choosing between building or collapsing, obeying or falling. He is not just the Teacher giving us principles, He is the Rock we build on.

Practical takeaways:
• Everyone is building something. Your daily habits are quietly constructing your future house.
• The real test is in private. God sees what you build when nobody else is around, prayer, integrity, and obedience in the secret place.
• Rock requires digging; sand requires nothing. Going deep with Jesus means excavating pride, sin, excuses, and passivity.
• Storms are guaranteed; collapse is not. You don’t rise to your expectations in a storm, you fall to the strength of your foundation.
• Hearing is good; obeying is everything. Both builders heard Jesus’ words, but only one acted on them.
• The Holy Spirit empowers surrender, not disobedience. He doesn’t strengthen sand foundations; He fortifies lives built on Christ.
• You build on a Person, not just principles. Jesus is both the Architect of your life and the Rock under your feet.

Images that stuck:
• Two houses side-by-side. Both beautiful on the outside, but only one secretly anchored to bedrock.
• A builder digging deep, shovel after shovel. To hit solid rock like repentance, breaking through layers of pride and hidden sin.
• A violent storm slamming both houses, and when the wind dies down, only one is still standing.
• A heart “renovation” where Jesus isn’t just rearranging furniture, He’s tearing out a cracked foundation to rebuild on Himself.
• The altar as a construction site where spectators become disciples, admirers become followers, and sand is traded for Rock.

Below are the verses that were read during the message.

Matthew 7:24–27 (NLT)
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house
on solid rock.
25 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 bedrock.

26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a
house on sand.
27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with
a mighty crash.”

Matthew 6:6 (NLT)
“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in
private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

Luke 12:2–3 (NLT)
2 “The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is
secret will be made known to all.
3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered
behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!”

Luke 6:48 (NLT)
48 “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.”

1 Corinthians 10:4 (NLT)
4 “For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was
Christ.”

Psalm 18:2 (NLT)
2 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.”

Isaiah 26:4 (NLT)
4 “Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”

A closing encouragement from the service: As we stand at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus puts one decision in front of every heart: What will you build your life on? Some have a beautiful “house”, gifts, ministry, image…but a cracked foundation of emotion, compromise, and partial obedience. Jesus isn’t here to shame you; He is inviting you to rebuild your foundation on Him. For some, that means repenting of sand…emotional Christianity, convenience-driven spirituality.

For others, it means picking up a shovel and beginning to dig out pride, bitterness, secret sin, unbelief, and spiritual passivity. Before the next storm hits, before temptation knocks, before life shakes you again, build on the Rock. This altar is open as a construction site for wholehearted, lifelong obedience. If Jesus is truly Lord, let Him be your foundation.