Church On The Rock-Abilene
Sunday Morning Service - 11/8/2026
  • I Speak Jesus
  • The Lord Will Provide
  • Elohim
  • GREAT ARE YOU LORD
  • Holy Forever
  • Matthew 7:24–27 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.”
    Opening Prayer:
    Father, We come to you with gratitude, we thank you for the life we have, and the fact that we are gathered in your house singing your praises— We come in need of you. We need you now more than we ever have. Holy Spirit you are welcome in this place. Please have your way in us, Help us to be the people you have called us to be— In Jesus name.
    Introduction:
    What is your life built on?
    Jesus describes two people who hear His words. Both hear the same truth. Both face the same storm. The difference is what each person does with what he has heard.
    One hears Jesus’ words and puts them into practice. The other hears those same words but does not obey them. When the storm comes, the foundation is revealed.
    In the immediate context, when Jesus says “these sayings of Mine,” He is speaking about the teaching He has just given. We can also apply this principle to the Word of God as a whole. The Lord’s Word is not merely something to hear or admire. It is truth to receive, trust, and obey.

    Opening Prayer

    Father, thank You for giving us Your Word. Open our hearts to hear what You are saying, and give us the grace and power of the Holy Spirit to obey. Show us where our lives are firmly built and where we need to make changes. Help us to be doers of Your Word and faithful witnesses of the hope we have in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

    Introduction

    What is your life built on?
    Jesus describes two people who hear His words. Both hear the same truth. Both face the same storm. The difference is what each person does with what he has heard.
    One hears Jesus’ words and puts them into practice. The other hears those same words but does not obey them. When the storm comes, the foundation is revealed.
    In the immediate context, when Jesus says “these sayings of Mine,” He is speaking about the teaching He has just given. We can also apply this principle to the Word of God as a whole. The Lord’s Word is not merely something to hear or admire. It is truth to receive, trust, and obey.

    The Word of God Stands Forever

    Isaiah 40:8 NKJV
    8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
    Joshua 1:8 NKJV
    8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
    Romans 15:4 NKJV
    4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
    God’s Word stands forever. It teaches us, gives us hope, and shows us how to live. Joshua was told not only to meditate on the Book of the Law, but to observe and do what was written in it.
    To obey God’s Word in our daily lives takes knowledge of the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.
    Most of us are good at obeying the parts that come naturally to us. We struggle more with the parts that challenge us.
    A generous person may have a hard time saving, even though Proverbs 13:22 says: “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…”
    A person who is gifted in mercy may find it easy to forgive, but have difficulty setting healthy boundaries.
    Wherever our strength is, there can also be a weakness. That is one reason we need the power of the Holy Spirit. He helps us obey the parts of God’s Word that do not come easily to us.
    None of us was born saved, and the struggle to obey is real. We need the Word of God, and we need the Holy Spirit to help us live it out.

    What We Do Builds Our Lives

    James 1:22–25 NKJV
    22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
    The Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” He warns that a person who hears the Word but does not do it is deceiving himself.
    The Greek word translated “deceiving” is paralogizomai. It carries the idea of reasoning wrongly or reaching a false conclusion. James is saying that we can mislead ourselves when we hear the truth but refuse to act on it.
    James compares that person to someone who looks in a mirror, walks away, and immediately forgets what he looks like. The Word of God is like a mirror: it shows us the truth about ourselves. But if we walk away without responding to what it shows us, we have missed its purpose.
    We might say, “If a person looks in the mirror and cannot remember what he saw five minutes later, something is wrong!” James is using that kind of picture to show how foolish it is to hear God’s Word and then live as if we never heard it.
    The primary problem is that we can quote the truth without putting it into practice. Until we practice the truth, we are not becoming steady in it.
    What we do builds our lives more than what we say.
    That is why we need to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

    Obedience Requires Trust and Courage

    The Lord and the people around us are counting on us to show the hope we have seen. We need to become an expression of the hope we claim to possess.
    Is obedience scary? Yes, it can be. When we are walking through something and do not know how it will end—or whether it will work out the way it did for someone else—it can be frightening. But sometimes the Lord calls us to obey even when we are afraid.
    When we find ourselves on the edge, or out on a limb, we have to press into the Lord. We pray. We remember His promises. We speak His Word—not because God has forgotten what He said, but because His Word anchors our faith.
    Most of us want more. We want more faith, more power, and a closer walk with God. We want it to happen. But if we are going to grow, we are going to have to put our faith into practice.
    Often, we hesitate because we are afraid we might fail. But if we are sincerely trying to obey God, is that failure? No. We may not know how everything will turn out, but obedience is still the right response.

    Our Choices Shape the Life We Live

    Galatians 6:7–8 NKJV
    7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

    God Uses Our Everyday Lives as a Witness

    The Lord wants to use this church and its people to show forth His glory.
    When I say “this church,” I do not mean only the things we do together as a congregation. I also mean the way we live as individuals. God wants to use your everyday life as a witness that He still has the power to change things.
    Our witness is more than the testimony we give about what God did one time. It is also the life we live today: how we forgive, how we serve, how we handle difficulty, how we treat people, and how we obey God when obedience is hard.
    For me, one of the greatest privileges is to be used by God to bless others.
    Conclusion
    Storms are going to come. Jesus did not say the rain would avoid the wise person’s house. He said the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds beat against it. The difference was the foundation.
    If we are putting God’s truth into practice, then when the waves crash and the wind blows, our lives are grounded on the rock. Our foundation is not our own perfection. Our hope is in the Lord, and we show our trust in Him by hearing and obeying His Word.
    So ask yourself: What is my life built on? What truth have I heard that I need to put into practice?
    Do not settle for hearing the Word and walking away unchanged. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you obey. Then take the next faithful step.
    The Word of God stands forever. The storms will come. But the life built on the rock will stand.

      • Matthew 7:24–27NKJV

      • Isaiah 40:8NKJV

      • Joshua 1:8NKJV

      • Romans 15:4NKJV

      • James 1:22–25NKJV

      • Galatians 6:7–8NKJV

  • Thank You
Church On The Rock-Abilene
churchontherockabilene@gmail.com
3256725446
https://church-on-the-rock-abilene-tx.faithlifesites.com
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