I know it’s bad gardening advice, but as we prepare to launch Aura Church, we want to make it clear that we’re going to be Planting on the Rock.
Jesus once told a story about two different men. BOTH men were builders. BOTH men wanted to build themselves a house. BOTH men chose a building site. BOTH men built their homes. BOTH men moved into their homes. But then one day, BOTH men looked out their windows to see a massive storm rolling in. Driving rain, gale force winds – BOTH houses copped a beating.
There were so many similarities between these two men!
But as the storm passed and daylight came, it became obvious that for all the similarities, there was one very big difference. One house was still standing, while the other was lying in a mangled heap.
What had gone wrong? Had one builder used quality materials, and the other dodgy factory seconds? Was one builder a master craftsman, and the other a shonky con man? Surprisingly, no! Jesus tells us that the foundational difference between these two men was, just that, the FOUNDATION. One man had wisely built his house on rock, while the other man had foolishly built his house on sand!
The meaning of Jesus story is clear. Just as a house is only ever going to be as strong as the foundation it’s built on, so too OUR LIVES will only ever be as strong as the foundation that they’re built on.
Here’s how Jesus Himself explains it, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
The only stable foundation to build our LIVES upon is the rock of Jesus and his word! Everything else will ultimately crumble! In the same way, the only stable foundation to build a CHURCH upon is the rock of Jesus and his word.
So, at the risk of mixing metaphors, we’re going to be Planting Aura Church on the Rock!