Sermon – Pentecost 16 – "The Embodied Christian Life" – Romans 12:9-21 – 8/31/08
August 31st, 2008 | Tags: Pentecost, RomansClick play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.
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Laying a solid foundation is crucial to building a solid building. Get the foundation wrong and the rest of the building is going to be wrong. If the foundation is not deep enough, the building will not stand. If the footers aren't spaced exactly right the building will not fit together right. As Jesus puts it, "everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand." (Matt.7:24,26). In either case, the Word of God is the foundation for the doing of the one who hears that Word. First comes the hearing of the Word, then comes the doing. Apart from the hearing of the Word of Christ, our doing is built on a poor foundation.
Of course, the two always go together. As James puts it, "faith without works is useless." (James 2:20). Hearing and no action is no good, just as action without hearing the Word is no good. One makes for a well-informed couch potato and the other is a heresy or disaster waiting to happen.
So, it's always God's Word AND faith in action. It's always God's Word that directs and motivates our faith in action. And I do think that the stronger and deeper the foundation, the more solid the building. The better you learn and know God's Word the more solid will be your faith in action. (more…)





