This week, we’re beginning a new message series where we’ll go through the parables of Jesus and learn from Him how to truly live life to its fullest.

A parable is a simple story that illustrates a moral or spiritual lesson.

Jesus used many different methods to teach, but His use of parables is by far one of the most common. He would take ordinary things and situations from the culture around Him and use them to teach about God’s Kingdom. Jesus was quite intentional about teaching through parables more than any other method recorded and He gave us the reason why:

Matthew 13:10-12

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

You may have heard it said that the best place to hide something is right there out in the open. This same principle applies to why Jesus taught using parables. To those who hungered and thirsted for God’s Kingdom, the parables made sense and they received their fill of revelation. These parables were seeds that fell deep into their hearts and brought incredible life transformation as a result. To those who were indifferent, that same deep revelation went in one ear and out the other without any affect.

To some who heard these parables, Jesus was the long awaited Messiah and satisfied the longing of their souls. To some who heard these parables, Jesus was a good teacher and nothing more. To some who heard these parables, Jesus was a blasphemer, drunk, glutton of a demon who must be stopped. Using parables to teach ensured that those with right hearts who had ears to hear them and eyes to see what they were teaching benefited from them.

We’re starting this week with a parable about building.

Luke 6:46-49 (Matthew 7:24-27)

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Well, isn’t Jesus’ question right there an entire sermon of itself? If we just ponder this verse daily and adjust our lives according to it, we’d all be set!

47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Whether we realize it or not, we are all constantly building. We’re building our own personal lives, our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our schools, our animals, our friends, the businesses we patronize. Wherever we go and whatever we do, we are constantly building.

We build with the words that we speak, with our body language that speaks louder, and with our actions that speak loudest of all. We physically work and toil away to earn finances that we use to build many things. We use our hands to literally build whether it be an essay, a shed, a circuit board, a road, or any other thing that we set our minds to.

The question is never what or whom we are building, but:

1. What we are building on?

2. What we are building with?

3. How are we building?

Every area of life is ministry. Everything that we do everywhere matters to God. Whether we are working on a multi-million dollar project at work or a Lego plane at home, it matters to God. His desire is that whatever we do, we do it with all our heart and with excellence because it is ultimately Him that we are serving through it (Colossians 3:23-24).

1. What are we building on?

As Jesus taught in His parable, whatever we are building, we are to be building it on the foundation of His wo