Building on the Rock

Song:
 

1. I am standing on the Rock (x3)
Jesus is the Rock
 

2. Do it, come and do it for us (x2)
We have tried no one did it for us
And we believe you’re a miracle God
Do it, come and do it for us

 3. I have a very big ooh
Who is always by m side
A mighty God oh by my side by my side

 4. In my life I have a reason to praise thy Lord

 5. Idimma Chineke,
Idimma nazie Idimma

 6. He has given me victory I will lift him higher
Jehovah, I will lift him higher

 Introduction

The Wise and Foolish Builders

 46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." (Luke 6:46-49).

 “ 10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.” (1 Corinthians 3:10-14).

God has kept us alive for a purpose. Our God is always good and he has promised to remain good even if we decide to do otherwise.

There is therefore every need for you to build your foundation on the rock and the rock is Jesus. You have no power of your own and you cannot do it all by yourself. You need the Lord for guide and wisdom to overcome the many challenges of life. Our Lord is the source of life. He is the vine and we are the branch. Just the branches need water from the vine to live; we ourselves need graces from the Lord to live.

And the Lord has promised to strengthen us so that we will not grow weary. God is might and he will fulfil his promises come what may. Nothing can hinder is plans for our lives.

“If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13).

"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2).

“Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labour in vain.      Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” (Psalm 127:1).

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

9 He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. "It is not by strength that one prevails;”
(1 Samuel 2:9).

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.       They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31).

"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns,       broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13).

Who is the Rock?

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Rock!

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

  4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says:
   "See, I lay a stone in Zion,
      a chosen and precious cornerstone,
   and the one who trusts in him
      will never be put to shame." 7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
   "The stone the builders rejected
      has become the capstone," 8and,
   "A stone that causes men to stumble
      and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. (1 Peter 2:4-8).

“They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:3-4).

Fake rock/foundation

Some people are building their foundation on Man, god/idols and even on self.

On men:

 You remember the story of the Samaritan Woman in John 4:1-23? To cut the long story short, 13Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,” (John 4:13). How true! This was a woman who had gone through five ‘husbands’ and even the sixth man she was living was not her ‘husband! She has drunk from the water of futility. From bed to bed in search for satisfaction

5 This is what the LORD says:
       "Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
       who depends on flesh for his strength
       and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

  6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
       he will not see prosperity when it comes.
       He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
       in a salt land where no one lives. (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

 On god/idols

 “The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.” (Psalm 16:4).

 “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” (2 Peter 2:19).

 On self

 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;

  6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
       and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Benefits of building on the Rock

7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
       whose confidence is in him.

  8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
       that sends out its roots by the stream.
       It does not fear when heat comes;
       its leaves are always green.
       It has no worries in a year of drought
       and never fails to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

13He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.” (Matthew 15:13).

God bless you

 Evang. John B. Oseh