MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY EVENING, JANUARY 2, 2011 CHRISTIAN HOPE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA by Reggie A.

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1 MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY EVENING, JANUARY 2, 2011 CHRISTIAN HOPE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister HOW TO SURVIVE LIFE MATTHEW 7:24-29 (NKJV) 24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. 28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching. 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ***************** Prayer ******* Introduction My message this evening is not exactly a NEW YEAR S SERMON, but yet there is a lot of TRUTH in tonight s message that will help us in this coming NEW YEAR. Jesus told this brief parable at the very conclusion of his SERMON ON THE MOUNT. In the Sermon on the Mount, JESUS described For his listeners, the KIND OF LIFE THAT PLEASES GOD. A Life GUIDED BY FAITH GOVERNED BY LOVE EMPOWERED BY PRAYER And DEMONSTRATED in compassion, forgiveness & goodwill.

2 As JESUS concluded The Sermon on the Mount, He knew that many of those who had LISTENED TO HIS SERMON would walk away from that place and never put into practice the truths he had taught them. No doubt this is why He concluded His message with this parable of the WISE and FOOLISH BUILDERS. *********************** Well as we go back and study JESUS PARABLE OF THE WISE AND FOOLISH BUILDERS, let s see what TRUTHS we can learn That will help you and me SURVIVE LIFE S STORMS. First of all, JESUS teaches us I. When It Comes To Life s Storms We Don t Get To Choose Our Storms 1. JESUS is teaching us a very valuable lesson here that can Be overlooked if we are not careful and that is there is an equality when it comes to life s storms. 2. In VERSES 24, 25, Jesus tells us about THE WISE MAN. Listen in VERSE 25, as JESUS describes the storm That came upon the WISE MAN S HOUSE. and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; (verse 25a) 3. Now as we move down to verses 26, 27, JESUS tells us about THE FOOLISH MAN. Listen carefully to how Jesus describes the storm that came upon the foolish man s house in verse 27.. and the rain came descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;

3 4. Let s not miss JESUS point here! When it comes to life s storms, we do not get to choose our storms! -He has described here a STORM that is the same in Nature..the same in intensity and the same in Power. 5. Earlier in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had said: He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, And sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 6. When it comes to the STORMS of LIFE, God doesn t have one set of storms for BELIEVERS and one set of storms for UN-BELIEVERS. THE STORMS OF LIFE ARE THE SAME! 7. Every day, CHRISTIANS and NON-CHRISTIANS alike are involved in automobile accidents. Every day, CHRISTIANS and NON-CHRISTIANS alike lose their jobs. Every day, CHRISTIANS and NON-CHRISTIANS alike suffer heart attacks and strokes. Every day, CHRISTIANS and NON-CHRISTIANS alike walk out of doctor s offices having just been told they have cancer. Every day, CHRISTIANS and NON-CHRISTIANS alike experience the break up of their marriage. 8. There are THREE TRUTHS we need to know about LIFE S STORMS.

4 TRUTH NUMBER ONE (A) We Don t Get To Choose THE TIMING of Our Storm. *A life storm may come on our birthday. *Or on our anniversary. *Or at Christmastime. *Or on the day we had planned to leave on vacation. *Or perhaps around the time of A GRADUATION Or A MARRIAGE.or.THE BIRTH OF A NEW CHILD into the family. ILLUSTRATION: The very first words out of my mouth on the Christmas Eve night when I learned of my dad s death, were: WHY CHRISTMAS? Sometimes life s storms come at a time when we haven t had a chance to even recover from our last life storm. Sometimes life s storms come when we are just getting ready to enjoy our retirement..or.at a time when YOU and YOUR MATE are getting along better than you have in years.or.at a time when you ve just gotten back on your feet financially. WE DON T GET TO CHOOSE THE TIMING OF OUR LIFE STORMS. TRUTH NUMBER TWO (B) We Get To Choose THE INTENSITY of Our Storms. ILLUSTRATION: Let s say you go out to eat at a STEAK HOUSE. After looking over the menu you select a 10 oz. ribeye. The waitress then asks you, And how would you like that cooked? You tell her, I would like mine medium-well. Fifteen minutes later the waitress returns with your steak cooked MEDIUM-WELL, just like you ordered!

5 Wouldn t it be great if we got to choose our STORMS In life like we get to choose the steak at a steak house? Lord, I d like to have one of those MEDIUM storms..one that s not too tough..one that s not too painful or difficult.but one that s JUST RIGHT! BUT LIFE ISN T LIKE THAT IS IT? When it comes to Life s Storms we don t get to choose The degree of intensity or difficulty. WE must live with a keen awareness everyday, That If it can happen to someone else, it can Happen to me. TRUTH NUMBER THREE (C) We Get To Choose THE DURATION of Our Storms. ILLUSTRATION: Several years ago our family went To Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. While we were there Linda and I rode this roller coaster called APOLLO S CHARIOT. Now the fact that Apollo s Chariot is ranked as one of the 10 Scariest Roller Coasters in the world Roller Coasters in the World, should have been warning enough for Linda and me not to go anywhere near it. But in a moment of sheer ignorance, we cast all reason aside. Well as we got in the our seats, we soon discovered the only thing that would be holding us in our seat was this arm that locked down in front of us about this wide (show size).

6 There was NO SEATBEALT. There was NO SHOULDER HARNESS. There was just this tiny little handlebar no wider than the handlebar on a kid s tricycle. Well as we made our slow ascent to the top it suddenly dawned on me that if we are going almost straight up, that means we will soon be going almost straight down. BOY was I right! Soon we were going almost straight down at almost 80 MPH! I wanted the RIDE to be over RIGHT THEN! I would have given anything to have the operator of that roller coaster STOP THE RIDE and LET ME OFF right NOW! BUT you see, I couldn t! I had to stay on for the FULL DURATION OF THE RIDE. How many times have we found ourselves in the midst of a storm and cried out, God, I m ready for this storm to be over! OK, GOD, you got my attention..you can end this storm now! BUT you see, WE DON T GET TO CHOOSE The duration of our storms. Sometimes our storms last a few days, sometimes a few weeks or a few months. And sometimes our storms last for many years. 9. So as CHRISTIANS, one of our KEYS TO SURVIVAL In this LIFE is UNDERSTANDING WE DON T GET TO CHOOSE OUR LIFE STORMS!..We don t get to choose TIMING of our storms. We don t get to choose THE INTENSITY Of OUR STORMS. NOR do we get to choose THE DURATION of our storms.

7 Jesus teaches us something else in this wonderful parable and that is II. When It Comes To Life s Storms, We Do Get To Choose How We Prepare For The Storm 1. Let s go back to JESUS words here in Matthew Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, because it was founded on the Rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who who built his house on the sand. 27 and the rain came descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell. And great was its fall. 2. Both the WISE and the FOOLISH BUILDERS experienced the same storm. Why did one survive the storm and the other didn t? It was because THE WISE MAN had prepared for the storm And THE FOOLISH MAN had not.

8 3. THE DIFFERENCE came down to what each man did with THE WORD OF THE LORD. -Both men HEARD the WORD OF THE LORD -BUT ONLY THE WISE MAN put what he heard into practice. ILLUSTRATION Greg Elder tells a humorous story that illustrates the Importance of building on a strong foundation. When he was growing up on the Atlantic Coast, he used To love to go to the beach and build beautiful Sand castles. On one of these trips to the beach, He had a problem with some bullies who kept Coming along and KICKING DOWN his sandcastles. Every morning he would go out and build a new Sandcastle, and before day s end the bullies would Come along and kick them down. Well he finally figured out a way to get the bullies. He drug some concrete blocks from beneath the Beach house where his family was staying and He built his sandcastle on top of the blocks, Carefully concealing the blocks with sand. Then he went up behind a dune and waited for The bullies to come along. Sure enough, they Showed up! Greg could hardly contain his laughter as He watched them circle around his dune and Count to three then KICK the concrete blocks With all their might. While the bullies were hopping around on one Foot.Greg couldn t help but notice HIS SANDCASTLE WAS STILL STANDING!

9 You know, there s not a day goes by but what that old bully SATAN doesn t come along and try to KICK down all our Hopes and dreams. But just like the SANDCASTLE Greg Elder built on concrete blocks Our lives can withstand ALL STORMS and ALL OF SATAN S ATTACKS when we BUILD OUR LIVES ON THE ROCK SOLID FOUNDATION OF GOD S WORD! CONCLUSION Perhaps right now you are going through a very difficult time. Perhaps you have had one trial after another and you are thinking, I don t think I can take one more thing. Yes you can! Yes you can! You know why? Its not because you are some kind of Superman or Wonder Woman. Its because your LIFE IS BUILT ON THE ROCK SOLID FOUNDATION OF JESUS CHRIST and Jesus is UN-MOVEABLE. UNSHAKEABLE and INDESTRUCTIBLE! And that is how you and I can SURVIVE and THRIVE in this life!

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