Upside Down - StormProof Faith

When Kristy and I bought our house here in Myrtle Beach, we looked at many homes, and regardless of the size of the house, every house we looked at had a foundation. Even the houses built along the sandy coast, which are so close to the ocean they look like they are built on sand, are built on piers that go deep through the sand and are built on the bedrock.

Can you imagine buying a house because it had really nice brickwork or nicely painted walls, but no foundation? It would not matter how beautiful the home is, you would not put 20% down on it if it is not built on a solid foundation. Jesus tells us that our lives are the very same way.

Matthew 7:24-27
“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 ignores 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.”

Jesus said the life of a follower of Jesus can be compared to a builder building a house. Those who listen to his teachings and develop applications are wise and are building a strong house that can withstand storms. And those who hear and ignore his teaching are building a house that will collapse when the storms come.

A dating relationship built without the solid foundation of the word of God will COLLAPSE.

A marriage without the solid foundation of the Word of God will collapse.

And, a LIFE without the foundation of the word of God will collapse.

Over the past few months, we have learned what living Upside Down from the world looks like.  We have focused on Jesus' teaching from Matthew 6-7 in the Sermon on the Mount. Over the past couple of months, we learned that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that Jesus shines through cracked lives and uses broken people to reflect His light.

We learned that Jesus fulfilled the Law, so we could stop obeying the old system He ended and start obeying Him through love.

We learned that self-awareness is greater than self-defense, that our worship does not outrank our relationships, and that humility makes the first move in reconciliation.

We learned that lust turns people into products and that sin you will not name will eventually name you.

We learned that serving others does not include receipts, that prayer bends our wants to His will, that fasting chooses hunger to experience His presence, and that judgment given is judgment returned.

We learned to keep asking, seeking, and knocking because our Heavenly Father wants to bless us.

We learned that the wide road is full of good people who never knew Jesus, while the narrow road is filled with bad people who he has forgiven.

We learned that “image” can fool people, but fruit never does…

And now, Jesus closes His sermon with the final challenge that everything He has taught means nothing if we do not apply it to our lives. When we apply his teaching to our lives, we did deep and build our lives on a strong foundation. But, when we only listen and never apply it, we build our lives on sand.

The difference between the wise and foolish builder is not what they heard; it is what they did with what they heard. And, Jesus' message is clear:  We will face storms in life.

I wish storms in life never happened.  But they do.  And sometimes, storms come one right after the other.  Just when you start to recover, you get hit again by another storm.
Childhood cancer.
Childhood diseases.
Job loss.
An affair.
The death of a spouse.
Financial ruin.

Because we live in a world broken by sin, every single one of us will experience storms in our lives.

Some storms,
even Ed can’t predict

Ed Piotroski is our local chief meteorologist who analyzes disturbances and weather patterns to help us brace for a hurricane, tropical storm, or just heavy rain and damaging winds.  Since we relocated to Myrtle Beach, anytime there is a question about the weather, people say, “What’s Ed say?” If only life had an Ed Piotrowski. You flip on the TV, and there he is:

‘Tomorrow at 8:17 a.m., you're going to get blindsided by a betrayal at work.’

‘Next spring - heart trouble. Start walking and swap the fries now.’

I mean… how great would it be to get a forecast like that? But life doesn’t come with radar. We don’t have an Ed that can predict the storms we face in life.

Every STORM you face has the potential to destroy your faith and weaken your trust in God. Storms that could wipe out everything you worked so hard to achieve.

Many people in our worship center and watching online have faced storms they never thought they would have to face, and if it wasn’t for their faith in God, they would not have made it through the storm. You kept your faith through that cancer diagnosis. Even when a friend stabbed you in the back in a way you never expected, you held onto Jesus like He was the only oxygen available.
You kept your faith through the financial collapse that wasn’t supposed to happen.
You kept your faith in God through that injury at work.
You kept your faith through that job loss. You didn’t know how to provide for your family, but you made it through, and God took care of you.
You kept your faith in God even though your spouse was unfaithful to you.
You faced death, family disputes, friendships falling apart, divorce, and unemployment.
You faced depression, anxiety, and darkness – but you made it through to the other side of that dark storm because you kept getting out of bed.

You kept putting one foot in front of the other.

You kept trusting in God.

You kept believing in His Word.

You kept applying His Word to your life.

You kept on following Jesus…

You made it through the storm because you continued to follow Jesus and apply his word to your life. You have faced Cat 5 Hurricanes and thunderstorms.  Yet, you have made it through because you spent a lifetime building your house on the Word of God. Every time the storm came, you reinforced your foundation.

You have anchored your life to the Promises of God’s word.

You have anchored your heart and your attitude into the bedrock of God’s word.

As a follower of Jesus, you learned along the way that the storms will inevitably come, and you…

Live what Jesus taught, and you will not drift

Sometimes, as followers of Jesus, the life storms come, we get knocked down, and stand back up, knocked down, and get back to our feet, knocked down over and over and we keep getting back to our feet. The storms come, the waves beat us down…but we make it through. But, we have drifted.  Our relationship with Jesus is not as deep, meaningful, or personal as it once was. We made it through the storm; our faith in God carried us through, but our relationship with Jesus feels…hollow.

Not all storm damage can be clearly seen by others. Storms can drain your bank account.
Storms can destroy your health. But the storm that should terrify us most…
Is the one that quietly breaks our connection to Jesus.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus spoke to different churches and warned them about specific issues they were facing. To the church in Ephesus, Jesus acknowledged how hard the church had worked through the storms. The Ephesians knew the Truth so well that they discovered false teachers and turned away from them because they were liars. But the church was still missing something.

Revelation 2:2-5 (NLT2)
“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3  You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. 4  “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5  Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.

Hard work.

Patient Endurance.

They did not tolerate liars, evil people, and those who pretended to be God-called Pastors.

They patiently suffered without quitting…

But they still drifted away. They endured the storm but drifted away in their love for Jesus.

I have been there. I have endured brutal storms in my life.

Childhood of abuse.

Six years of infertility.

Childhood disease.

Job loss.

Financial loss.

Betrayal of friendships.

I have endured those storms… And I kept getting back up.

But the words of Jesus speak to me today and perhaps they speak to you:

Revelation 2:4-5 (NLT2)
…You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5  Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me…

We can be on target with our mission to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

We can live out our guiding values of:

Life-Changing Truth

Transparent Living

Uncomfortable Grace

Captivating Celebration

Selfless Service

We can practice 1 John 2:6 and live our lives as Jesus did. We can do all of the right things. We can live right through the storms. But our hearts can drift away from our first love. We can endure the storms. We can endure suffering. We can stay on target in our mission.  But our hearts can drift away from Jesus. But when we continue to anchor our lives in the words of Jeus and apply his word to our lives…

Your resilience will become a refuge for others

I was living about forty miles south of Atlanta when Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans.  Lives were lost, and homes were destroyed. Families fled. Refugees from New Orleans made their way to Atlanta and needed food, clothing, and shelter. Kristy and I got involved, cooking meals, leading clothing drives, and trying to help as much as we could. It seemed that the entire community wanted to do something to help because of the storm's damage and destruction.

Beach Church is a place for refugees seeking to rebuild their lives. Beach Church is a place for those who have been hurt by the church, hurt by life, and hurt by the storms. Here, you will find community, you will be encouraged, you are welcome, and you can join our mission to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

Sign up for our Next Steps event happening on November 23.

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This isn’t just a place for you to attend. This is a body of believers in Jesus Christ who are serious about building our lives on Jesus, and we are committed to building relationships with each other and doing life together.