House Church Talk - Bedrock Building

[goodwordusa at att.net]

Good Morning, All.

Take a walk through the local Christian bookstore, or thumb through a catalog 
of Christian materials.  You will see a lot of very superficial stuff.  In 
fact, if you take the time to examine many of the "programs" offered by most 
traditional churches, you will see the same level of superficiality.  There 
is often the promise of spiritual meaning, but seldom anything below the 
shiny packaging.

No wonder the Christian family, and the individual believer struggles.  They 
(we) are often left to feel alone in the day-to-day walk of faith.  The 
programs and materials offered by the modern institutional church are too 
often "plastic" (to borrow a term from the 60's & 70's).   There is little 
real substance or help being offered to the people, to the pastors, to the 
children, to the lost -- to anyone at all.  Traditions, Sunday timeslots, and 
religious habits do little to make one strong in faith.

The Lord Jesus urges believers to be like "a man building a house, who dug 
deep and laid the foundation on the rock."  

The picture is clear: we must get down past the surface grass and dirt, past 
the appearance of "ground level" and get to the actual Rock of our 
salvation.  It is all about a real and meaningful relationship or walk 
between each believer and the Lord of Glory.

Mat thew quotes these words from the Lord Jesus:
"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of 
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven...
"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:  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.   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:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and 
beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."  (Mat thew 7:21, 24-
27)

Luke writes this:
"But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?  
Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom 
he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the 
foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently 
against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.  
But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth 
without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and 
immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."  (Luke 6:46-49)

And James sums it up (in the first chapter of his letter to the believers) by 
reminding us (verses 22-25) that we must pay attention and actually do what 
the Lord reveals to us in the Scriptures.  We must be doers of the Word, and 
not hearers only.

Whenever my life starts to get complicated and difficult, I can usually find 
where I've started to drift -- I've gotten "too busy" or too focused on my 
goals to heed the instructions clearly given by my Lord.  

We have the Spirit within us to lead us.  That is true and wonderful.  But we 
also need the plain words and directions of Scripture, to help us recognize 
God's voice, as opposed to the noise of our own Human "reasonings" when we 
simply want our own way.  A man who has good eyes and a good brain for 
walking sometimes still needs a handrail, when the going is uphill.

In housechurch gatherings and practices, we have the opportunity to break 
away from the superficial doings and the little circles that so many 
believers are walking in.  But if we do not take heed to our Master's words, 
we will not go any deeper, or put down any better roots than those we think 
of as dry and empty.

To be truly spiritual we must obey what the Son, through the Spirit, has to 
say to the churches.  And the basics of what God is saying are already 
written for us in Scripture.  Take the words of God to heart.  Follow the 
guidelines in daily life.  And the result will be a newness of strength and 
character that goes well beyond the superficial appearances of modern Western 
Christianity.

Jim