All right, we awake destination. >> Okay, I'm going to wake you up this morning because we are in a brand new series. I know some of you are sad to to stop and pause on our who is Jesus series which we've been in, but we are kicking off a brand new one and it's called Foundations.

And the goal of this series, I think, can be understood with a little bit of a story. , I'm gonna put my parents on the spot this morning because when I think of Sorry guys, love you. But, , when I think of the word foundation, do you know what I think of. I think of our basement growing up.

Okay, now this is the story. , our basement growing up was , for me a endless cycle of the three of us taking turns with the shopvac during April. Okay, you know why. Because water, right.

And so the rain would fall, the snow would melt, and we would get water in our basement. And so we would take turns and shifts just sucking up water. And year after year, this kind of got worse to the point where we had to do what.

Gut the entire basement because it had been so water damaged and install this stuff called drain tile and then fix the foundation. It's a pain. Don't recommend it. Even as a kid, I I can't even imagine it for you guys. It was really bad.

And it was so crazy, as I think about this, that just little cracks in the foundation could spew into something so big that you would completely have to gut the entire basement. And that kind of shows us a little bit about how our lives work. That our lives don't fall apart all at once.

It's just little cracks in our foundation that slowly kind of seep in and destroy our relationships and our lives and different things that we're trying to build in our faith and in our walk with Jesus. And so this is kind of what this series is going to be. It's going to be fixing the pieces of your foundation that maybe are not fully understood or maybe kind of cracked. And so for the next couple of weeks, we'll be looking at relationships. Today we're looking at relationship with Jesus.

Next week, marriage. So bring your spouse to church day. And it's going to be a good one.

And then the following week, child dedication Sunday, we'll talk about parenting and parents. And then as we move into May and June, we're going to talk about some of the spiritual rhythms that maybe we understand are part of the Christian walk and life, but maybe we don't fully understand how it looks in our lives. And so this is kind of a little bit more topical than we usually do here at Destination, but that does not mean it is not biblical.

Okay, I want to make that distinction that we are still a Bible-based church. So everything that we are doing in this series as we are looking at topics is still rooted in the truth of scripture. Okay, that's what we're going to do.

So turn your Bibles open to Matthew chapter 7. It's on page 833. And the question that I have for you today is, what is your life built on. And by the way, if you don't have a Bible, please take this one home with you.

That is our gift to you. This is what you build your life on is the truth of God. And that's what we're looking at today is a teaching from Jesus. And this teaching comes after just a little bit of context so we understand what's going on here.

Is this teaching comes from the sermon on the mount is what it's called. It's about three chapters in the book of Matthew where Jesus is teaching about a lot of these foundational pieces. We'll actually be in a lot of the sermon of on the mount for this series. Not the whole thing, but a a big portion of it. And as we look at that sermon, Jesus kind of summarizes it it all or kind of just brings it to a close in verse 24.

So if you follow the numbers down to 24, it says this, "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the wind blew and beat against the house. Yet it did not fall because its foundation was on the rock.

" But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. This is great for those of you who like simple biblical teaching because Jesus is like, look, with the words that you hear, the teachings of Jesus, you can either do one of two things, okay. You can go one or two ways.

You can be a wise builder and build upon these truths or you can be a foolish builder. If you are a wise builder, when bad things happen, storms come, nothing is going to happen because you are on this firm truth. But if you are not on this firm truth, what's going to happen.

You are going to fall with a great crash. So, it's really obvious what Jesus is trying to to teach in this moment. And so, we have to ask, are we the wise builder or the foolish builder. And if we're the wise builder, what does that actually mean.

What is our lives built on. Well, Paul kind of reflects this teaching later years after Jesus has given this teaching in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. He says this, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder.

" He's claiming to be the wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each of you should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that is already laid, which is Jesus Christ. And so what Paul's claim is is he's saying, 'Look, if we want to be wise builders, then that means we build our lives on Christ. If you've ever been in the church for any of amount of time, maybe you've heard somebody say, , you know, they're really Christ centered or, you know, they're really, you know, built on Jesus or whatever, , you want to put into that little terminology.

, and you're kind of wondering, what does that actually mean. What does that actually look like. And so I want to dig into this just a little bit, okay, with my first ever at Destination Church acronym. Are you guys ready. First ever acronym.

Okay, every single person in here is like who's been in church for a long time is like, "Oh no, the preacher is using an acronym. That should be a card in a card game, right. " , and and I I just got to say I just got to say I know that they're cliche, okay.

But you remember them, right. So, this is how we build our lives on Jesus. The first, anybody want to guess. Oh, so you already put it up there.

Well, you want to guess. It's believe. Yes, it is believe.

Believe in Jesus. Now, this seems simple for those of us who have came to a belief in Jesus. And if you haven't, I'm praying for you today that you do because it's the best decision you will ever make.

But a lot of us think that we might actually know, you know, what it means to believe and and we got this one checked out. Don't tune out yet, okay. Because I think what happens I I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but this this happens to me. It even happened to me last week where I'm talking with somebody and they'll say that they believe in Jesus and I'm not coming from a judgmental heart, but I'm looking at their lives and hearing everything that they're talking about and there isn't any evidence.

I haven't seen anything that shows that you are living a life that is centered on Jesus. And I'm like, okay, I I guess I have to just take them at their word and just believe that they believe. But what I started doing, just a little tip for you, what I started doing is instead of just accepting that they believe, I would ask deeper questions.

Questions like, well, what does that belief mean to you. Or, tell me how you came to that belief in Jesus. And when I do that, it leads to a better, deeper conversation to know where somebody is at with their faith.

And here's what I've come to realize that's really hard. Even with the conversation that I had with somebody last week using this same questions is that most people think what they mean is I believe when really what they're saying is I agree. I loosely agree with believing in Jesus, but belief changes how we see Jesus. CS Lewis says it like this, by the way. This is like the one of the best CS Lewis quotes.

Ready for it. I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun is has risen not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. And so what CS Lewis is saying is that the real belief doesn't just mean you see Jesus.

It means you see everything through Jesus. It's like when you put on glasses for the first time and all of a sudden it's like a whole new world. Like it's it's really crazy.

And and so this is how we are to see our new lives in Christ. And so the question then becomes, how does that belief actually happen. How do we know that we've arrived at that.

Well, luckily Paul tells us in Romans , he says, "If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified. And it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

You guys ready for more acronyms. >> Let's do it. This is what we call in in faith 101, the ABCs of believing. And you ever hear that Michael Jackson song, the ABC like that.

It's it's easy as one, two, three. So, it's easy. It's accept, believe, commit. That's what Romans is trying to break down for it. It it is accept as in declare.

Declare that Jesus is Lord. Similar to the first step of alcoholics anom anonymous, which is to do what. To say I my name is and I am an alcoholic.

Well, there is a flip side to that. And that flip side to that is to be able to say, "My name is Josh Meyers and I am a child of God. I am a follower of Jesus.

" It is declaring that I believe that Jesus is who he says he is. And that's the second step to believe in your heart. Now, a lot of people that you start to share the truth of Jesus with will will kind of bring up that one core, you know, problem that they have like, , how did Noah get so many animals on the ark and all of a sudden you're talking about animals and not Jesus anymore.

And this is where the belief kind of starts. And believing in Jesus, it doesn't mean you have it all figured out, but it means that you're trusting in the one who does. And then after that acceptance and that belief, you are committing your life to following Jesus.

You're committing a life to understanding. That's the U. Okay, we're on you. You writing this down because this acronym stuff. This is great.

Understand what it means to follow him. And this is where that I believe a lot of us and even me in my life have stopped because we think that believing is the finish line when really believing is the starting line. I want you to think about it like marriage for a second. Like I said, that's our topic for next week. But salvation, the moment of believing is kind of like the wedding day.

It is one day where you are making a vow to God. And then I've explained this before that baptism is like the wedding ring of faith. Taking this off does not, you know, change anything about my marital status, but putting it on shows the world that I believe in Jesus.

Now, I don't know if anybody has told you guys yet, but there's something after the wedding. It's called marriage. It's the tough part. So, it's the tough part when you have to do the whole like relationship part.

The wedding day is easy. Really, all you need is a bride and a groom, a pastor, and a couple of witnesses. That's all you really need for a wedding.

But for the marriage, it is so much more. It is a commitment. It is the hard part. And so, for us, when we give our lives to Jesus, that's the easy part. But then there's and that's called salvation.

But then there's this second step, the kind of marriage step that's called sanctification. Maybe you've heard this word before. It's a it's a big churchy word, but sanctification is really the process of you being set apart from sin.

It is like you saying, I am choosing to walk towards Jesus instead of walking away from Jesus. You are becoming saintlike. You are building something in your lives. And which is it for you. Let me just kind of show you what sanctification looks like.

In your life, by the way, this might be the toughest part of my message, so just follow me here on this. In your life, you are either inviting heaven down or hell up. And so what ends up happening is that you by the things that you are choosing to push in in your faith and trying to understand, you are either asking Jesus's kingdom to come into your life and his will to be done in and through your life or you are inviting hell up. I heard a a pastor say it like this. Some people that are walking this earth right now are either the closest to hell there they'll ever be or the closest to heaven there there be.

And that is convicting and that makes me want to work out my faith. Not because I want to prove something, not because I I think that I'm going to do it perfectly, but because I want to be set apart from that sin. So that way at the end of my life when everybody is sitting in my funeral celebration of life there is no doubt in anybody's mind of where I'm going. And that is what the job of the church is. By the way, it is to what Ephesians says equip the saints for ministry.

I am I am as your pastor supposed to equip you for ministry. That means I'm supposed to help you become a better follower of Jesus. That's why our mission statement isn't just helping people find Jesus.

It's a great mission statement for an evangelism organization, but we are a church. And the church's job is to help people find and follow Jesus. And so that's what we're doing.

And that's what you're doing as you work out your faith. And maybe your question is, how do we do that. Anybody want to guess what the eye is.

Don't put it up yet. Anybody want to guess. Oh man, no guesses. Okay, it's identity.

We got to help people know who they are and who'sse they are. You guys with me. I I'm really excited about this. And you need to know this. If you haven't heard me say this before, because I say it a lot.

You were made on purpose for a purpose. And when you know that, when you know who you are in Jesus and who's you are, it changes. It should change the way that you're built.

But a lot of us don't even realize that the identity piece is the cracks in our foundation that are letting everything seep in and destroy what God made us to be. Here's what I need you to know. God does not create junk. You are not junk.

You are not a mistake to your parents, to your upbringing. You may have felt like a mistake because you weren't planned or because somebody said this about you, but God knew. And God did not create junk. Think about this.

It took two parents, four grandparents, eight greatgrparents, and 16 great greatgrandparents. Do you want me to keep going. I'm just kidding. I I don't have it all wrote down.

Let's just let's get to the end. 20 generations. That's roughly 5 to 600 years. There is over 1 million people in your past.

Can you name them all. That helped form your DNA, your unique makeup. You have unique fingerprints, unique takes, taste palettes.

You are made beautifully and wonderfully. And this is what God says about you. That you are beautifully and wonderfully made. That before anybody even set eyes on you, he knew you. He was knitting you together in your mother's womb.

And he says in scripture that we are his masterpiece. That's a good, by the way, line to use on your husband or wife when you're at home is just like, "You're a masterpiece. " Like it it works.

I'm kidding. , I don't say that to you, but you are. We all are a masterpiece.

We are a masterpiece in Jesus. And here's what I need you to hear, okay. God does not create junk.

So, stop, ladies, stop going in front of the mirror and pointing out every imperfection about you. Guys, stop saying you're not enough. Stop saying you're not smart enough, you're not accomplished enough, you're not whatever, because that's not who you are.

God does not create junk. And furthermore, God didn't die for junk. That's what we talked about last week. That sacrifice that Jesus paid is because he sees you.

He sees you and he knows you. And that is who we are in Jesus. And when we know this, when we know who we are and who'sse we are, it changes the way we love. That's our next one. When we are building a life on Jesus, we are loving God and loving people.

If you were to look up in the four gospels, there's this thing called the great commandment. It's when Jesus's followers ask him, "Jesus, what is the first and most important thing that we need to know, that we need to do. " Again, it's a really simple message.

Jesus says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. " It's actually really easy because we've already went through some of these steps. Loving God with all your heart and soul means that your feelings are going towards Jesus.

That belief, that first letter that we talked about, that's what you're doing as you build this foundation, your belief, your heart and soul are longing for and seeking towards Jesus. And then he goes into saying the mind, that's understanding, right. You are building up your understanding of who God is.

You're deepening all of those questions that you had. And then with all of your strength, that's what you do for Jesus. Again, listen, you don't have to have this all figured out.

But it means that you love the one who does. And when we start to love God in this way, it changes the way that we love others, the way that we treat others. Now, let me go back to the identity one for a second.

Do you notice what he says here. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is not a lot a thing that a lot of pastors will say, but it's really hard to love your neighbor when you don't love yourself.

And that's why that identity piece is so important because out of God's love and out of you knowing who you are and who who's you are in Jesus, that changes the way that we love God and love people. Now listen, I got to say it. Loving people's hard, isn't it.

Some days we don't get it right. Some days loving God is hard and we don't get that right. And so what a lot of us will do is we'll hear this point and we'll think, well, my life doesn't reflect that.

So how can I actually help. How can I actually do this whole Christian thing. This whole building on Jesus thing.

If my life doesn't look like that, if I can't love God or if I really struggle with loving people or if I really struggle with loving myself. And let me tell you, no matter what, no matter where you land on this one, you are building something. You're building something in your life. The question is, what are you building. And what are you building on.

And if we are to to love God in this way, it doesn't mean that we again have it all figured out, but it means that we trust the one that does. And so whatever we're building is making some kind of difference either positively or negatively. And that's the last letter is difference. You were made to build the kingdom, not your castle. Now, there is a a story that I told a long time ago when we long time ago, it was like six months ago when we started this church about sand castles.

I don't know if you remember this one or not, but recently I got to take my kids to the ocean and to the beach for the first time. And what did they want to do. Build a sand castle, right.

And we get down there, we get to the beach, and there's a bunch of kids on this side building one. Bunch of kids on this side building one. And so we sit down and we start building and it looked like, you know, three separate castles.

But then over time, what happened is the kids started going to each other's castles and they were bringing buckets and different shovels over to each other. And then before I know it, this this kid is over at our castle and he's digging our moat for us. And before we know it, we have this huge kingdom worth of castles on the beach. It was really cool. But now think about this.

How many times in our own lives are we so focused on our own castle and not the kingdom. Even in churches, by the way, this is a thing is we are so focused on the four walls of this church that we forget that there is a whole kingdom of big C churches out there that are changing the world. And we are all, if we are theologically aligned on team Jesus, going towards the same things of helping people find and follow, of helping people love God and love others. We're all on this mission together. Yet, instead of building the kingdom, we are building our own castles.

And how do you know if you're building your own castle. Well, how where do you give your time, your attention, your finances, the way you serve, the way that you grow, the way that you seek to change others lives. You see, when we start to ask these kinds of tough questions, it starts to reflect something in us of where our difference is being made.

Because if we're building our castle, our own castle, especially a sand castle, what did we learn from the very beginning of this message from the words of Jesus. It's going to crash. It's going to crash. And so, guess what.

You can look at all of the celebrities, the rich people, all of the different things. And if you build your life on those things, guess what. You're still not going to find the fulfillment you're looking for. More time, more money, more all of it. Nothing of it is going to compare to Jesus.

Nothing of it is going to compare to building the kingdom. And this is the job, by the way, of the church, as I was saying before, is to make this kind of difference, to raise you up to be disciples that make disciples. Let's just have a real quick quiz. Okay, ready.

Fill in the blank. Schools teach Okay, let's try it. Let's try it again. Schools teach >> children.

>> Okay, children. Let's get a little louder. Hospitals heal. >> Okay, we're doing better. Let's try the next one.

Business get businesses get I was wondering where we were going to go with that one. Some of you are like money. Try running a business. , but here's a here's another one. Churches make >> All right.

Some of you I've trained in that, so you're good. Churches make disciples. And that makes a difference. The people disciples are just simply people who are following Jesus and helping others do the same. Jesus gives the great command, but then he gives the great commission.

In Matthew 28, he says, "Therefore, go and make disciples as your job after today. Make followers of Jesus, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them, equipping them, helping them to understand everything that I have commanded you. " So, we are disciples who make disciples. Now, here's the thing. As we look on at this, as we look at the put up the build acronym as we look at these, I want you to check your foundation.

Where are you at in your foundation. Do you believe in Jesus. Are you seeking to understand who Jesus is. Are you somebody who knows who you are and whose you are in Jesus. Do you love Jesus.

Do you love others as yourself. And are you making a difference. This is how you check your foundation for leaks. All of these we could have expanded on for an entire message series. But the big idea is this.

You are all building your life on something. And the question is, is it built on Jesus. Are you a wise builder or are you a foolish builder. And today I just I want to invite you into a space where you answer that question, where you check your foundation. And if it's got cracks in it, that's okay.

Let's patch it up so that way you can build this strong foundation so that way when life gets tough, and it will, then you know that you have something firm to stand on. And so I want to invite the worship team up here and I just want to give us some time to respond this morning. So here's the invitation to you. Just bow your head and close your eyes.

This is something that we do at Destination every week. Not meant to be kind of like a weird thing, but just kind of some time to sit back and reflect on how God is speaking to you. So, as you're just kind of reflecting on this, I want to ask you these questions one more time. Do you believe in Jesus.

Are you seeking to understand Jesus. Do you know who you are in Jesus. Do you love Jesus and love others. What are you building your life on. And as your heads are are closed or your eyes are closed and your heads are bowed, I just if there's anybody in here who just needs to start today, start with believing that maybe you have this life that you've been living, but it's it's not fully reflective of this believing that there isn't really much evidence.

I want to invite you after service today just come to the next steps table. We want to pray for you. We want to pray over you and we want to help you take that first step. But for all of us, we have a next step.

We have a foundation to build up. So let me pray for you. God, I thank you so much for this time, for this time to trust you as our firm foundation.

And so Jesus, help us believe. Help us understand. Help us know who we are and whose we are.

That you don't make junk, but you make us beautifully and wonderfully made. And God, out of that, help us to love you more, to love others more, to make a difference. Not to leave here just building our own castle, but to build your kingdom.

We pray this in Jesus name.