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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Welcome to the Sandals Church podcast. My name is Celeste, and I am part of the team here at Sandals Church. We are so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this message with pastor Fredo Ramos teaching from our gospel of Matthew series. If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. But for now, let's get into the message.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:A few days ago in what felt like a normal summer day in my house, I was kinda in between chores and responsibilities going around. And I happened to walk through my hallway at one point and I took a step that sounded really weird. When I stepped it sounded like something squishy was down there. And so I took another step and then I thought to myself, why does it sound like there's water underneath the wood flooring of my home? And so I, you know, do what I typically do when I see potential problems, I ignored it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Went about my day and hoped it would just resolve itself. And then of course it didn't and I walked back through my hallway, took another step and heard the sound again. And of course, at this point, I kinda look like Indiana Jones as he's, like, going through the temple, you know, carefully stepping so he doesn't, trigger the booby trap in there. And all the while, I'm denying the reality of what's happened in my house. That a number of weeks ago, a pipe in my wall cracked and water began to just build in the walls of my house filling my bathrooms.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I say bathrooms, we got two, we got a tiny house, into my hallway, into our kids bedrooms, into the living room, into the kitchen, and for weeks this slow steady water has just been flooding into the house. And at that moment I realized that the foundation of my home was compromised. And I don't know if you've ever had that that moment where you have like that pit in your stomach when you realize that what's supposed to kinda hold your whole life together is now compromised. It's so disorienting. It's expensive.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Hello, somebody. It's a wake up call. And then of course I realize this makes perfect sense from God's perspective because I'm teaching on foundation and what our lives are built on. And I'm walking in what appears to be a flood in my own home. And I think to myself, man, what happened what what's happening in my home currently right now is is really a metaphor of what can happen in all of our lives.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You know, you don't always see it right away, but there's cracks that are forming. You're kinda living your life. You're going through the motions. Everything seems fine until something kinda shifts, and a water leak hits. A storm hits.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Relationship breaks. A loss comes. You lose money, and suddenly your foundation is being tested. And the question that's before you and I when that happens is what is my life actually built on? Not what I say it's built on, not what I post about, but what is actually there at the foundation of my life.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because when the rain comes and and the winds blow and the storm rolls in, which it will, Everything in your life, the decisions you're making, the the choices that are in front of you, your faith, all of that becomes exposed. And you have got to wrestle with that with what's at the foundation. Like, what's at the very bottom? And it's been astounding to me as as I've been in my home, and my own home's been preaching to me. Because if you're a pastor and you preach, you gotta let life preach at you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's how you get better. And this water leak has been preaching to me. Because what I've realized is I've I've been having to clear out my cabinets. My my whole family's scrambling right now to get out of the home and pack and leave. And and what I'm realizing is you have to like clear out the clutter to get to the root what's at the bottom.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And I hope that this word today, this word from Jesus is an invitation for all of us to clear the clutter and be honest about what's at the foundation of our lives. Because the storm will come. So we're gonna continue in the gospel of Matthew as we have all year, and we now come to the very end of the sermon on the mount, and we listen to Jesus talk about and help us navigate the question of what our lives are actually built on. So with that in mind, I'm gonna ask if you are willing and able that you would stand with me for the reading of God's word. If you've got your Bibles, you can turn to Matthew seven starting in verse 24 and hear the words of Jesus, then I'll pray for us.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He writes or Matthew writes, anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against against that house, it won't collapse because it because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish. Like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching. For he taught with real authority quite unlike their teachers of religious law. This is God's word. Let's pray together. Heavenly father, as we gather together, we pause in prayer to acknowledge that you have gathered with us too.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so we ask now that you would speak to us from your word. And that as Jesus said, you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see so that we might become all that you desire desire us to be in him. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You guys may be seated. It's no secret that the greatest, human teaching ever given in the history of the world is from Jesus, the sermon on the mount. Greatest thing that anyone has ever taught is the sermon on the mount that we've been studying over the last few weeks. And when you think about this sermon and kind of, like, this moment that he's had as he's been explaining these various things about life and what what it's like to follow him in his kingdom, this is just world changing truth. How is he going to end it?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Surprisingly, he doesn't end it with a pep talk. There's not like a warm feel good story at the end. Something that really like lifts us up, know, has us clap at the end of the credits. No. He gives us warnings.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Warnings. That's right. The greatest teaching ever given, think about that, ends with a warning. Right. Why?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:There's a warning about two roads, two gates to enter, two kinds of trees, and then this warning that we get in this parable, two different kinds of builders. Two different kinds of homes. This warning is important for us. You'll notice there in verse 24 where he says, anyone who listens to my teachings and follows it is wise. And then later on in verse 28 where it says when Jesus had finished giving these teachings, he's kinda giving us a a certain thing to to pay attention to.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And let me help us kinda just understand the weight of what's going on in this moment because I gotta just be a nerd for a second. So if you could just humor me for about, you know, a minute or so and let the inner private schooler come out and help explain just the literary genius of the bible because sometimes we just we miss these little details. But the gospel of Matthew is broken into five literary blocks. So Matthew's got 28 chapters. It's broken into five blocks of critical teaching about his life.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And these five blocks of teaching all end with Jesus giving a particular message, and then it ends with that phrase that we read in verse 28 where it says, when he finished saying these things. That's a literary clue from Matthew to pay attention to what just happened. And these five blocks mirror the Torah, the old testament, the five the first five books of the bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and what? Deuteronomy. Good job.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And then the five teachings mirror the five sermons that Moses gave. And so Matthew, with his literary genius, is explaining to the readers that there is a new and better Moses here with us today. Amen. Who's Jesus. And he's leading a new exodus and he's given a new word, a new law, and there is a new kingdom coming.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:So pay careful attention so that when we read the words, anyone who hears these words of mine what are these words of mine? It's the entirety of the sermon on the mount. It's the entirety of what he just said. Right? And so he says, in summary translation it goes, for anyone who has heard these words of mine then, That's a transitional phrase that's meant to anchor everything that's just been said to the point of everything that's just happened.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:So he's trying to summarize and bring together this massive weight on the beatitudes. Jesus is teaching on the word of God, salt and light, what we do with our anger, what we do with our sexuality, what we do with our money, our worry, materialism, treating other people the way we wanna be treated, prayer, forgiveness, the narrow road, all of that stuff. The weight of all of that he's bringing to this moment saying pay attention. Notice how he closes. For anyone who listens to these words and what follows them.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Follows them. That word is used 20 times in the end of the sermon on the mount. Take note of that, 20 times. In the original language it's poeo which means to act upon or put into practice or do or simply obey, which is a word that we're kind of allergic to in the American church, obedience. We kinda sneeze at that, we we wrestle with that.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But this running theme at the end of the sermon on the mount with the gates and the trees and the two homes is giving us a clear warning that when it comes to Jesus is not just enough to listen to what he has to say. That's right. It's not enough just to listen to what he has to say. We have to take it further than that. And to help us do that, he drills down with this beautiful parable about two builders.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:One wise, one foolish. The wise person can be, translated as intelligent, or smart. The fool can literally be translated as a moron. And so the way that Jesus is going to distinguish between a smart person and a moron is where they build their home. Notice both the wise person and the foolish person, they could both build homes.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Don't miss that. They're both good at building. They can both do it, but where they put it distinguishes whether or not they are wise or foolish. Now a home in Jesus' day is a little bit different than our day. In other words, you know, today homes are kinda like single family homes.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? Back then, it was multigenerational. So in your home, whether you liked it or not, you had that crazy uncle. Right? Everyone was in your home.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Secondly, it wasn't so much the case that back then they bought and sold homes. Rather, your home was your ancestor's home. It was an ancestral place, so it was passed down to you. It was multigenerational. So it was land that you've had in your family for years.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Thirdly, unlike today where homes are kind of like for r and r, you did your whole life out of your home. Your your business, your work flowed out of your house. So if you were a farmer, you farmed out of your house. If you were a fisherman, you would do all that out of your house. And then if you were a trader, you would trade out of your house.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? So much of your life Jesus' point is simply this. Your entire life was your home, which is why I was kinda panicking as I see a water leak. Man, this is my whole life. I love my home.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I love being inside of it. I'm an introvert. I don't wanna go outside. Now the whole thing is underwater. And so here's, in this warning, the first invitation I want us to take note of.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Jesus invites me to examine my real foundation. If the home is a metaphor for all of life, Jesus is inviting us to examine what is our real foundation. Because whether you realize it or not, everyone is building their life on something right now. All of us, every single one of you right now, underneath your feet is either rock or sand. Underneath what you're doing is either something solid or something that's shifting.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so you might, you know, know, be getting into relationships and you're growing up, you're raising a family, you're going to school, you're looking for a spouse, you're you're pursuing your vision of life, maybe you feel like you're just surviving like you're barely making it. Listen, whether you realize it or not, you are building your life on something. Underneath your feet right now is either the solid rock of Jesus or the seeking sand of something else. And in the mind of Jesus, what is sand? Sand for some of us can be success and achievement, where you build a foundation on the phrase that you are what you accomplish.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Sand for many of us is our wealth and our financial security in which we build a foundation of our lives that says if I have enough, I'll be safe. Sand for some of you is romantic love and relationships where you build a life on the foundation that says if I find my soulmate, I will be made whole. For some of us, sand is personal authenticity and autonomy. I just wanna be free in which you build your life on the foundation that I need to be true to myself and nothing else. Sand for some of you is comfort and control where you build your life on the foundation that I am meant to avoid pain and pursue things that make me feel okay.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Friends, in the words of Jesus, that is all sand. There is this beautiful but haunting prayer, Psalm one twenty seven, where the psalmist opens with this phrase, unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in what? Vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In other words, there is a way to live our lives and to work hard, but to have it ultimately be built on a foundation that doesn't last.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You know, one of the most iconic buildings in the world is also one of the most broken, the Leaning Tower Of Pisa. This thing draws millions of tourists every single year, not because of its beauty, but because of its flaw. This thing started construction in November, and by the time the builders had reached the third story, the tower had already begun to tilt. Do you know why? Because the foundation only went 10 feet down, and it was built on clay, unstable, soft ground.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:So for over eight hundred years, contractors have been trying to stop it from falling. And it's interesting and ironic that one you know, this old ancient building that was meant to be a a symbol of strength now stands today as a warning to all of us. The Leaning Tower Of Pisa is Jesus' sermon put the picture in real life. And some of your lives right now are leaning and falling in that same direction. Because you've decided, excuse me, you have decided to build it on something that won't last.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Amen. It won't last. So just think, what what are you building your life on right now? What is your life built on? Come on.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:One of the distinguishing ways that I think will help us start to understand whether we find our feet standing on solid ground or on sand is as we continue to process what Jesus is inviting us to do in the sermon. In this parable, notice the difference between the wise and the foolish. One chooses the rock, the other chooses the sand based on what? What they have done what they have done with the words of Jesus. Meaning the invitation that he makes to us is to evaluate the place his words hold in my life.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's one thing to hear him. It's another thing to both treasure his words to the degree that it leads you to act on his words. Amen. To actually be obedient to what he's saying. The foolish person in this story has heard everything but does nothing about it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now before we, as good American readers, cast judgment on the foolish person and be like, well that'd never be me. Let me tell you why today it is so easy to be just like the foolish builder. We live in a world that's defined as the age of information. Meaning, we have more information than we have ever had before in the history of mankind. People who are much smarter than me would describe it to us like this.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:They say in the time of Jesus, if you were to accumulate all of the known facts in the world, it would take over a thousand years for that information to double. Fast forward to today. If you were born this morning, before you went to bed on your first day on this earth, all of that information would have doubled in twelve hours. That is an astounding thing to think about. Information doubles every twelve hours in our world today.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:We live in the age of information. Secondly, what this causes all of us to do is to feel like we are always behind with the information. There's always a new restaurant to find on Yelp. There's always a new place to vacation. There's always a new fact to learn about why your stomach won't shrink.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? That's just me maybe. But there is constantly a flood of facts coming your way every single day. And what that does to us, the best sociology will tell us, is it makes us feel overwhelmed with the data. And then thirdly, it leads us to become numb to it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:So just think today, when you opened your phone, how much new information did you come across? How did it make you feel? And then lastly, think about the fact that you have done nothing with that information you learned. Like you opened your phone, scrolled through some stats, heard more about the war in The Middle East, what's happening in our own country, probably, you know, scroll past the sermon clip from Sandals. I hope you liked it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But we regularly come across information every day that a, is something new, b, makes us feel a certain way, and then c, leads us to do nothing about it, which is why it is very easy for every single one of us to become like the foolish person. The other observation that I think is fascinating about this builder is that Jesus never says why the fool doesn't do anything with his teaching. Why does he do that? Because I think he lets us find ourselves in the story. Why would you not do something with this information?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Why would you not build? It could be, sorry Jesus, I heard what you said, but my life is busy. Sorry Jesus, I heard the teaching on generosity, but I just I'm going here, I'm going there, I gotta I gotta do this, I gotta pay bills. Sorry Jesus, I, you know, I heard your teaching on following you, but like, I gotta get a career, I gotta get stuff going. Right?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He doesn't say why the foolish builder didn't do anything with his words because he wants us, the hearers and the readers, to find ourselves in the story and to ask the question, in what ways am I like the foolish person? Doing very little with the teachings of Jesus. Especially in a day and an age where you and I listen to sermons as forms of entertainment. Like y'all fall asleep to sermons and like white noise. Hopefully it's a Matt sermon and not me sermon when you put it to bed.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But it is out of control the amount of Christian content that is out there in the world today, which makes me regularly think about the words from Jesus. Luke chapter six, look at this phrase. Why do you keep calling me Lord, Lord, when you don't do what I say? Why do you keep binging sermons, but you don't do what I say? Why do you keep liking sermon clips, but you don't do what I say?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Why do keep listening to Maverick City, but you don't actually go out and love your neighbor? Why? Jesus has very little room and time for lip service discipleship. Very little room for it. And we live in an age where we are swimming in Christian content and doing very little about it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And what's even more scary about this particular vision and parable that Jesus gives is not just we don't know why the foolish person didn't do anything, but secondly, you can't tell the difference between the homes yet, can you? Both the wise and the foolish person, they're building. And on the outside from a distance, they're both Christian, they both attend a local church, they're both in small group, they both raise their hands when pastor Moy tells us to lift our hands and worship. Right? It's easy to conclude that Jesus is maybe talking about believers and nonbelievers, but he's not.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He's addressing two groups of people who would say that they follow and listen to the teachings of Jesus. But then one has decided that there is no place for his words in their life. And before you think that this could not be you, let me take you to John chapter five where Jesus has a challenging conversation with both the crowds, disciples, and the religious leaders of the day who are challenging where his authority should have a place in their life. Notice this conversation. John chapter five.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And the father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. So they're questioning where Jesus has come from. You have never, you've never heard his voice nor seen his form nor does his word dwell in you. Pay attention to that. For you do not believe the one he has sent.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In other words, they're rejecting the father and his words because they are rejecting Jesus. Listen to this part. You study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. What I'm trying to simply convey is that it is very possible to be very close to scripture, very close to church, but to still have very little place and room in your life for the words of Jesus.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Just because you hear them doesn't mean you've acted upon them. And according to Jesus, there is no neutral ground when it comes to this. You either are a hearer and a doer, or you are someone who hears the words, and then you build on sand. How do we know the difference? Because again from a distance, both these people, they go about their lives, they both got nice homes, both got a dog, maybe a cat.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:They both go to their favorite place for lunch, and then all of a sudden, the water leak comes. The storm hits. And what looked like the same exact house from a distance, one becomes incredibly clear, won't last. And the poignant word of Jesus is not if the storm comes, but what? When the storm comes.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Amen. Amen. When the storm comes. In other words, no one is immune to this. And and even the person who follows Jesus is going to go through difficult things.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And this is actually why I find Jesus to be so compelling as as both a teacher and a savior because he's brutally honest about life. He just keeps it real. He's very honest. Storms, life will be hard. And the more you expect life to be easy, the harder it actually gets.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:So just, you know, kind of take a deep breath. You realize a lot of things are just gonna kinda stink. But there is something to be said about trusting his words and learning to build on the rock. Now for many years, people have understood storms as we should. Hardships.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? A death in the family, bad news, a friendship that has ended, a relationship that you thought would last for a long time has ended. All of these are good examples of what happens when storms come. But the good news of Jesus is that following him does not mean that you avoid hardship, it actually means that you can find life through the hardship. That's what's happening to all of us.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You don't have to avoid it, you find life through it. Now the great challenge though, as we begin to think about, okay, what have I done with his words? I wanna just pose this question to you. And it has to do with this idea of either agreeing with the words of Jesus versus obeying the words of Jesus. One of the things I'm coming to, face and deal with my own life currently is all the ways that I find myself agreeing with the words of Jesus, but not necessarily obeying them.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Agreeing with him and obeying him are two very different things. Two very different things. And so in what ways do you maybe agree with Jesus, but you have not obeyed him? You agree with him when it comes to, forgiveness, but where have you obeyed him in that area? You agree with Jesus that, you know, eternal life is is going to be beautiful, but in what ways have you lived like that's true today?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It is one thing to agree, it is another thing to actually obey. And so his third invitation as we think about this this significant warning is this Jesus invites me to actually obey him and build a foundation that lasts through storms. Amen. I would imagine that all of you at some level long to have a life that's resilient. I I I would imagine that it's not so much that you don't wanna go through storms, but you wanna be the kind of person who's able to stand in storms.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's the kind of people that we actually wanna become. And the key to experiencing that is simply obedience. Obedience. Obedience on days when the sun is up, and obedience when it's raining. Obedience when you can live in your house, and obedience when you gotta pack everything up.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Obedience is the key to learning to stand in storms. Jesus' half brother James understood this really well. Beginning in James chapter one, many of us know this passage. Don't merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Do what it says. Anyone who listens he says, anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he is like. In other words, you saw yourself, alright, kinda bad today. And then you go away and you immediately forget. Like you have you have zero ability to to transfer what you know to be true into your actually daily living.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Into actual daily living. Doing what Jesus says or not doing it makes a complete difference on whether or not your life is built on a rock or sand. And whether you experience the ability to stand through a storm or you have what Jesus calls a mighty crash. And the challenge for a lot of us is this, understanding that we are educated in biblical truth beyond our ability to obey biblical truth. All of us at some level are educated beyond our ability to actually obey.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so we gotta think about what's going to actually help me get to a place where I can obey. And I know for like a good twenty five minutes, I've been kinda hard. I'm just sorry. It's just the passage. Right?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's not my fault today. But this is a sobering sobering warning for all of us to think about the ways in our lives that we have carefully disobeyed Jesus. Carefully disobeyed him. Carefully agreed with him, but not allowed certain parts of our lives to actually become obedient to him in those things that we agree on. And so this is not so much an opportunity for us to kinda stand in judgment of other people, but to honestly assess where am I at when it comes to obedience in my life.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And I wanna say this in a way that actually, you know, I know it's been kinda doom and gloom, but gets us to a point and lifts us up. And and here's how I think we can do that. For a lot of us today, whether it be Christians or people who are just trying to do things in life, when it comes to you actually changing and experiencing the life you wanna have, we generally follow a formula that kinda goes like this. Information plus inspiration plus my willpower will get me to transformation. And we treat church like this.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:If I can be told the right thing, a little bit inspired, you know, Fredo's teaching, we'll see if we get there, willpower, which is what you can muster up on your own, then I'm gonna get to a place of transformation. And that's that's just not how it works. And so please don't hear this last point about obedience, and then think to yourself, okay. I just gotta try harder. I went to church today.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Try harder. What a word of grace. Just try harder. This formula will not work in your life. Information plus inspiration plus willpower will only get you so far.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The key, I think, to learning, to experience a life of obedience, and and having a life that's built on rock, on solid rock, is found in the fact that when Jesus says you, almost every time he says you in the sermon on the mount, do you know that it's not singular? It's plural. Meaning, you all. Meaning, he's speaking to a community of people. Meaning obedience is a community project.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You need other people to be obedient in your individual life. You need other people. There's no way around you trying to imagine and muster up the strength to be obedient apart from the help of Christian community. Secondly, you need also the work of the spirit. It is no accident that in Matthew chapter seven, Jesus says ask, seek, knock, and then he goes on to say, my father will give you plenty of what you need in the holy spirit.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? The holy spirit will enable you with his loving presence to do in you and through you what you cannot do on your own. You need the spirit of God in your life. That is the key forward. Both community and the spirit have a vital role to play in you and I learning to be obedient.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Amen. The presence of God's spirit and grace does not mean that obedience isn't necessary. It actually means it's finally possible in our lives. Yes. Because some of you treat grace as an opportunity for you just to worry about obedience tomorrow.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And that is sinking sand, friends. Yes. Some of you treat the holy spirit as just a rescue agent to make you feel good. That is sinking sand, friends. Both the grace of God and the spirit of God are meant to make obedience possible and real in your life.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so as we close, let me just get incredibly practical with all of you right now. When it comes to the role of obedience and obedience being in your life or out of your life, is there anything happening right now in your life that God is calling you to that you have not acted on? Is there an invitation waiting for you? A conversation, a next step, a person maybe even where it's time for you to actually act on your obedience? Like just think for a second about what you're missing out on because you refuse to obey every day.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:This has been a wake up call for me in my own life over the last few months. I have found myself journaling more than I ever have before, and I'm not, you know, a wordsmith by any stretch of the imagination. And I I take about an hour to find one feeling. Right? Some of you know exactly how you're feeling in ten seconds.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It takes me a good hour of a lot of Psalms and just sitting there and a lot of coffee. Right? But two things that I have found myself journaling more and more, are these two statements. Jesus, today I hear you telling me this. Why do I do that?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because I understand that the disciplines of obedience are all relational. So prayer, scripture reading, it's a way for me to respond to what I hear Jesus telling me. And then I often will end my journal entry by saying, father, what act of obedience can I do today that would bring you joy? First, Jesus, I hear you telling me this. Father, what act of obedience can I do today that would bring you joy?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I want you to be open to the possibility of learning to pray like that more often. When it comes to understanding what it means to build your life on a rock, what's it going to take just to practice simple obedience? And oftentimes these are not heroic things. Oftentimes when I ask God that, you know, it's a simple nudge to to text my wife that day, an encouraging message, which I'm trying to do more. Oftentimes, it's it's a it's a nudge to go talk to your neighbor.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Check on check-in on her. How's she doing? She lives by herself. Right? When I ask God that that question of obedience, it doesn't come in the form of something heroic.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It comes in the form of something really simple, And I wonder if if that's what's waiting on the other side of us, for all of us, learning to think about simple acts of obedience. Amen. And I promise you, something beautiful will come out of this. You know, if you ever seen someone have a shovel, dig through sand, dig through rock, you get very different sounds. When you take a shovel to sand, you start you move that thing.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I mean, you get tired. Like I lie, you get tired. But when you see someone dig through rock, you hear it clank, clank, clank. It's hard work. It is hard work.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But a house that is built on a rock is hard for a reason because it's it's going to last. It's going to last. And I would imagine all of you at some level of your soul long to take the harder route because you know you wanna last. You wanna last. Let me pray together.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Father, ask that you would help all of us now at some level to think about what obedience looks like for us. Would you through the presence and power of your Holy Spirit speak to each one of us as to how we might learn to obey you this week so that we might become a wise person. Jesus, we wanna follow you, but not just with our lips, but with our hands, with our feet, with our hearts, with our bodies, with our jobs, with our families. And so lead us to a place of obedience, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I just wanna take a quick second to say thank you for all of you who joined us today here at Sandals Church online, and we pray and ask that God would bless you in your journey of obedience. And part of that means giving to your local church. And I realize many of you maybe watch our sermons, you enjoy our church content, and you attend and give elsewhere, and that is a sweet and beautiful thing. But for those of you who maybe watch online and you call Sandals Church your home, this is an opportunity for you now to support the work that God is doing in and through us. And so to help us do that, you can go to sandalschurch.com/support.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Grace and peace with you all next week.
Morgan Teruel:Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from this series, we have the YouTube playlist linked in the description. And if you want more information about who we are and what we do, you can go to sandalschurch.com.