Paul Daugherty - How to Build This Year
Summary
Man, this message really hits home—building on Psalm 127, the preacher stresses that unless the Lord builds your house, all your hard work is in vain, especially after seeing those heartbreaking California wildfires wipe out so many homes. He ties it back to Genesis creation, reminding us we’re God’s masterpiece with purpose, and urges letting God shape a lasting life through materials like Jesus as foundation, faith, joy, conviction, fear of the Lord, grace, and grit. The bottom line? Surrender to God as the builder this year, so your life stands strong when tests and fires come.
Recap: God’s Masterpiece
All right, everybody, say «In the beginning.» Well, last week, we kicked off this series looking at the beginning of God’s creation in Genesis chapter 1. We talked about how God was creating things; He was building the universe, breathing life, separating darkness from light, and giving things order.
We discussed how the Holy Spirit was hovering over what was yet to be, how the Holy Spirit, before God spoke, «Let there be light, ” hovered over chaos and disorder, waiting for God to speak so He could move. The Spirit was voice-activated, moving as God spoke, and the Spirit would begin to create things, responding to the voice of God. When God spoke, light would respond, Earth would respond, seeds would respond.
Then God created His masterpiece—you and me. He said, „Let us make man and woman in our own image, let us make humankind in our own image.“ God was speaking to the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, speaking together at the start of creation.
Humans: Created on Purpose
Let’s make humans with the same power, the same DNA, the same divine inspiration, the creative artistic expression to see things in the world, to speak things into existence, to create things. God put that inside of us. He made us male and female. By the way, God does not make accidents; He doesn’t create multiple genders—just male and female.
You are not an accident; you are here on purpose because you have a purpose. You may not always feel like yourself, but God sees the real you. He looks deep inside you and says there’s more potential in you than you’ve seen. There are more miracles, greater things than you’ve witnessed.
I believe God speaks over years in our lives. In Genesis chapter 1, God said, „I want to create seasons: summer, fall, winter, spring. I want to create days, months, and years.“ So God created the sun and the moon—the sun for the day and the moon for the night, 24-hour periods. He created the idea that things can happen in a day, things can happen in a year.
As I look over 2025, at the start of this year, as a church, we’ve decided to fast, pray, and read the Bible together, to go through the Bible and hear from God. What is the Spirit speaking over your life this year? What does God want to write this year?
Building a Life That Lasts
I want us to go to Psalm 127:1. Yeah, you can shout for the word of God! Psalm 127:1, and I want to title this message: „Building a Life That Lasts.“ David was writing and he spoke these words: „Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.“ Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards watch in vain.
In vain, you rise early, working hard on the house, building with all kinds of materials and tools. You can work really hard on a house that can be gone in an instant. Then he says this: „You stay up late, toiling for money to eat; you live with a constant sense of striving and toiling, but God grants sleep to those He loves.“
I believe God wants to orchestrate your life this year and build a life that doesn’t burn out, collapse, or burn up. Build a life balanced with truth and grace, with love and character, that God would build your life as a house that can stand the test of time.
I look at Victory, and this year we’ll celebrate 44 years as a church—this house has stood for over four decades. Coming up soon, we’ll be at the 50-year mark. I think about why certain churches last, why certain houses last.
Lessons from the Wildfires
What really inspired this message is that last week I was watching the news, on social media, as wildfires spread across California. I was watching on my phone, then I turned on the TV and saw these fires spreading from house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood, ravaging these houses, just burning them to the ground.
This fire was intense: over a thousand firemen deployed, helicopters dropping water from the sky. As our nation began to critique why this was happening, people were saying, „Well, they brought this upon themselves.“ Y’all, California needs our prayers; they don’t need our judgment right now.
If you’ve ever walked through anything painful in your life, the last thing you need is someone telling you why it happened. Like when Job lost everything, he didn’t need his three friends to come and say, „Well, Job, you brought this upon yourself.“ What he needed was compassion.
I’m thankful for a church that moves with compassion and prayer. Put yourself in their shoes. I mean, our state has been through tornadoes, and snowstorms. This last week, when our state walked through hard things, we don’t say, „Well, some people were sinning, so God hit us with the tornado!“ No, we don’t do that.
We’re not going to look at California and say, „Well, they were sinning, so God punished them.“ No, the Bible says that rain falls on the just and the unjust, that trouble and difficulty fall on good people and people that haven’t been doing good things.
Build on the Rock
Here’s the truth: we’re all going to be tested at some point to hold on to our hope in Jesus Christ, to not build our house on sinking sand but to build our house on the rock. Jesus tells this parable in Matthew 7:24. He says a foolish man built his house on the sand.
In fact, he says in the Message version, „The words that I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life.“ These words are not just like a good TED Talk for you to think about. He says, „These aren’t just homeowner improvements to your standard of living. These words are foundational words, words to build your life on. This is the material that will hold your house together.
If you work these words into your life, ” Jesus says, „you are like a smart carpenter.“ By the way, note-takers are history-makers, world-changers, culture-shapers. I’ve got a question for you to write in your notes: Who’s building your house?
Unless the Lord builds the house, he that labors labors in vain. Here’s the next question: What kind of material are you using to build your house? Jesus says these words are good material. If you work these words into your life, you are a smart carpenter who built his house on a solid rock.
Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit, a wildfire swept through, but nothing could move that house. Nothing could burn that house to the ground. Nothing could stop it. Listen, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church that Jesus Christ has built because it is fixed to the rock.
The rock is not Peter; the rock is not the pope; the rock is not Paul the Apostle; the rock is not Victory; the rock is Jesus Christ. I’m telling you this is a year to build your life on the rock because every house will be tested.
A House Under Construction
So, Lord, I pray that you would speak to us today. God, I pray, Lord, that You would lead us to a place of healthy reflection, that we would inspect our own hearts and ask ourselves what we are building our lives with. God, that You would have Your way today. In Jesus' name, amen.
I want to show you a quick video that our team made about what a house is supposed to be like. Check it out. A home begins as a blank canvas of walls, ceilings, and floors. Each room is precisely measured; angles and archways, plaster, brick, wood, and glass—beautifully rendered surfaces effortlessly hide the strength of the solid foundation within.
Yet, a home is more than a design of rooms and things. Home becomes the unacknowledged witness to the ebbs and flows of our living, breathing humanity. These walls know the first tentative steps of infancy, the stampede of youthful play, doors that observe good night kisses that welcome and bid farewell to life’s many seasons.
Dark corners watch sorrowful tears and hear desperate prayers. A home experiences much as its inhabitants sculpt it with their living. As life’s journey unravels, a home is shaped with human lives clutched close to heart. A home speaks. This home speaks of us.
The house we are building together every day. Each of us is building memories, a life, a future, building what your children will live in and what your grandchildren will remember. The question is not „Can you build?“ but „What will you build?“ This is a house we have built together. This house has many rooms, and every room has a purpose. The architect is calling us to expand this house.
It’s time to build. It’s time to unite and see what this home can become. Who knows what is waiting on the other side of what we can build together? We are called to build this house. Come on, church, everybody say „Build this house!“
When our team made that video, we began to cast a vision about all parts of our ministry where we were building. The thing that I kept thinking about is more important than what we build out here because our church is almost complete with the brand new Victory Athletic Center.
That center will serve teenagers and children learning sports, but more importantly than the kids that will go to that athletic center, more important than the materials that make up that athletic center are the materials that the actual house within the house is being built with.
See, inside that athletic center, houses will walk in every Sunday. Houses walk into this house. You are a house. Paul the Apostle says your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In other words, God looks at you, and He sees a living, breathing house made up of many rooms, made up of many parts.
Under Construction with God
I heard one person say this is why it’s so easy for certain people to compartmentalize because they go, „Well, that’s a room that I don’t go into; that’s a room I don’t think about.“ But the truth is all of us in this room are building a house with our lives.
We have to ask ourselves, „Am I building a life in this house? Am I building a house that will last? Am I allowing God to shape me and form me? Am I allowing God to do the improvements in the rooms—the kitchen, the bathroom?“ Am I allowing God to come into all the spaces to do the work that needs to be done?
All of us in this room are under construction, whether we admit it or not. None of us in this room are a finished product. One thing I’m thankful for in Genesis chapter 1 is that even in the process, before God even completed creation, He called the process good. On day two, on day three, He would look at the progress and say it is good.
You might be at the creation point and say, „Well, God, You haven’t finished yet. You haven’t got to day six or day seven. You haven’t finished.“ God looks at the process of who you’re becoming; He says you are good, even the unfinished you, the you that’s still a work in progress. God says you are good as you are making progress.
At the start of your year, God looks at the progress; even you coming to church, opening your Bible, taking notes—God says stay on that process. Stay in that place of making progress because it is good.
Here’s the question we have to ask: Are we letting God build the house? Are we allowing the Lord to build our lives? Are we building with good material?
Laying Down Ambition
I remember in college when I was a senior, I was getting ready to graduate, and I had all these dreams and plans and big ambitions. I hadn’t really laid these ambitions at the altar. I was more like one of those extremely excited, hyped-up Christians, saying, „I’m going to change the world, and I’m going to do it my way, ” you know?
Then I would maybe say, „But His kingdom come, ” but, „My agenda be done, ” you know? I was full of so much selfish ambition. The summer of my senior year, I felt the Lord saying, „You need to get away and pray and lay your plans at the altar.“
So I got in my car; I had this 1997 black Avalon, and I drove that Avalon to my friend who lived in Colorado. I knocked on his door. Daniel Groh said, „Hey, can I spend a couple of days with you?“ He said, „Sure! You just drove ten hours to get here? I got a guest room; come stay! You should have given me a heads-up.“ I said, „My bad.“
He lets me stay, and I said, „I just want to hike Pikes Peak. I want to hear from God; I want to explore Colorado.“ So he was like, „Okay.“ I went hiking for the next couple of days, listening and asking God, „God, what do You want to do with my life? What kind of career path am I supposed to choose?“
I had studied business, music, and theology, and I was asking God for direction. I came back to his house and said, „Man, I’m bummed; I feel like I don’t have any answers. I haven’t heard the voice of God.“ He said, „Paul, open your Bible to Psalm 127.“ I said, „Okay.“ I read it.
He said, „Look at that first verse and read it out loud to me.“ I said, „Unless the Lord builds the house, he that builds builds in vain.“ He said, „Paul, everything I’ve heard you say you want to do—it sounds good, but it sounds like it’s coming from a selfish, vain ambition.“
He said, „How many people have built a life, made a lot of money, built certain things, but they haven’t built for the glory of God? They get to the hospital bed laying in that room at the end of their life regretting that they spent so much time focused on vain ambition rather than letting God build their house.“
He said, „Paul, whether you’re a missionary to Africa, whether you work at Home Depot, whether you work at Quick Trip, whether you serve the teenagers at Victory Church, whatever you do, let God build your life. Because at the end of your life, it’s not how much money you make; it’s not how pretty your house looks on the outside; it’s what does the house look like on the inside? What is your character like? What is your integrity like?“
You can gain the whole world but lose your soul. Jesus says, „If you’re going to build a house, don’t build it on sand; don’t build it on money; don’t just move to where the money is; don’t just move to where your friends go; don’t just move because of the fear of man or the fear of failure or the fear of the economy. Move because of the fear of God.
Let the fear of God, the awe and the reverence and the honor of God shape who you are. Let God build your house, otherwise you’re building in vain.“
Fireproof Materials
As I watched the wildfires this last week, I started thinking about how we’re at the beginning of a year, and every year is an opportunity to build. To let God build and shape your calendar; to let God fill your life with good things; to let God work on certain rooms in your life. Every year is an opportunity. It’s like a clean slate.
The snow that fell this last week was beautiful, and all I could picture was the grace of God covering 2025, saying it’s a new year. How will you build this year? What material will you work with this year? Who will you be this year? You have a brand new, fresh, clean slate. What kind of footprints in the snow are you going to leave this year? Who’s going to build your house?
I remember leaving Colorado and I had a lot of work to do. I began to pray and read; I began to fast. I began to really allow the Lord to speak to me and shape who God had called me to be.
I was watching the fires this last week burning, and something interesting stood out to me. There were certain houses that didn’t burn down, certain houses that made it through the wildfire in the midst of neighborhoods that were wrecked. It was like one house out of a hundred houses was still standing—not just still standing, but didn’t even look impacted by the smoke. I thought, „This is interesting.“
I was watching as, you know, celebrities were crying. Mel Gibson was literally preaching the gospel on The Joe Rogan Podcast. Listen, this is the year Joe Rogan gets saved. I believe this man is this close to giving his heart to Christ. Joe Rogan. I’m not promoting this podcast; it’s full of a lot of bad words.
But here’s what I’m saying: Mel Gibson’s on there, and Joe Rogan says, „Tell me the truth—did the resurrection happen?“ He’s itching for truth, and Mel Gibson’s like, „Yes! The resurrection is not a fairy tale; it’s a fact! Jesus rose from the grave, and I’m making the next Passion of the Christ movie to tell the whole world Jesus rose!“
I’m like, „Let’s go, Mel!“ As he shares this, he goes, „Hold on; I just got a text alert—my house just burned to the ground.“ He said, „I’m getting text messages from my friend Billy Crystal, who’s lived down the road for 45 years in the same house; his whole house just burned to the ground.“
I’m watching as people’s houses, worth millions of dollars, burned in hours. What you spend a lifetime building can burn up like that. I do not believe that God was punishing these people, just like I don’t believe God was punishing Oklahoma with tornadoes. Listen, the world is an evil world, but God is a good God! Every good and perfect gift comes from above.
I truly believe that. I believe the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I don’t believe that’s the title of Jesus; that’s not the title of God. He’s not the author of killing, stealing, and destroying.
But I started to pray, and I had a friend who lived near this area who graduated from Victory and used to help lead worship here. He said, „Pray for my house; it’s right in the neighborhood where the fires are blazing.“ By the grace of God, his house was spared.
He said, „I don’t know why; there was one man who said it’s like a horror show out here. The whole neighborhood burned to the ground, but my house still stands.“ He said, „I honestly feel guilty that my house is untouched.“
He said, „I know that at the beginning of building my house, the builder asked me: Do you want to build with these materials or these materials?“ He begins sharing this on The Daily Beast. They were interviewing him; this was in all kinds of articles online. You can find this.
He said, „I chose the more costly materials. They cost me more upfront because they were fireproof materials.“ I thought, „This man is preaching and doesn’t even know he’s preaching.“
They interviewed a man who goes by the title „building resilience expert.“ His name is Ais Papius, and he said this: „It’s not the—he said the inside of a home is like a fuel tank; it has to be protected; because if fire gets on the inside, it’s going to blow up.“
He said, „If a hot ember makes it inside the house, it’s likely filled with clothes, furniture, carpet, couches—everything that can burn—it’s a sure goner.“ He said, „The high winds of California deliver hot embers well before the wildfire flames even arrive, making it all the more important to build a home that is fireproof on the outside.“
He said, „My suggestion is that these people who’ve had houses survive learn the lesson around them to install fire-rated, non-combustible siding, roofing, windows, doors, vents, desks, fences, and create a defensive nonflammable space—a fireproof space.“
I kept thinking about these scriptures. I kept thinking about my own life, watching all around me, not just the wildfires in California, but the wildfires that have impacted ministries around the world. I started thinking, „How do you stand? How do you build something that lasts when the fire shows up?“
Materials That Last the Fire
This is what 1 Corinthians 3:10 says. Paul, the Apostle, was preaching to the church, and he was talking to them about building a house, a life that lasts. He said, „I feel like I’m an architect, someone who’s building a house. I know what my job is; by the grace of God, I’m here to help lay the foundation. Someone else is going to preach, and they’re going to help build upon it.“
He says, „Please be careful how you build. The foundation is already laid, and no one can lay another foundation, for the foundation is Jesus Christ Himself.“ Church, can I tell you? Jesus is our foundation. That is our only foundation. It’s not a preacher; it’s not a pope; it’s not a pastor; it’s not a person; it’s not Peter, right? It’s not Paul the Apostle; it is Jesus. He says, „I am the rock.“
But any man who builds on the foundation using as his material gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble must know that each man’s work will one day be shown for what it is. One day, our work will be revealed; the day will show it plainly enough.
For the day will arise in a blaze of fire, and that fire will prove the nature of each man’s work. If the work that the man has built upon the foundation will stand the test, he will be rewarded. But if a man’s work be destroyed under the test, he loses it all. He personally will be safe; he will be like a man rescued from the fire.
What he’s saying is you could build a life that doesn’t last, and it burns up. You could live your life for yourself, and in your dying breath, like the criminal on the cross next to Jesus, you could call out, „Lord, remember me.“ He says, „Not only will I remember you, but you will be with me in Paradise.“
God can save you from the fire at your last breath, and I am so thankful for the mercy and grace of God that saves us in the eleventh hour, in the final hour. But I believe we’re called to live a life that brings glory to Him—not to wait until our last breath to finally wake up and go, „Man, I regret 50 years of how I lived.“
I was talking to someone at the altar in the last service, and they said, „I spent a lot of time doing things my way. I’ve been through failed marriages, abusive behavior, all kinds of stuff, and I’m ready to build a house where God is on the foundation.“ I said, „Praise God.“
I said, „The past is washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.“ When that snow fell this year, it was a reminder that God’s mercy and grace covers your sin as far as the east is from the west; He remembers it no more. When you repent, times of refreshing can come.
When we surrender our lives to Jesus, our best days are on the other side of repentance and receiving God’s mercy and grace and walking in His purpose. I said, „If you’ll make this decision…“ They said, „I’m ready to make that decision. I am tired of doing things my way.“
How many of y’all want to let the Lord build your house this year? That’s the only way! If the fire is going to come, Paul says the fire will come, and it will reveal what kind of materials we’ve built with.
Building Materials for a Lasting Life
I want to give you some building materials for your house today. Number one: Build with Jesus as your foundation. Build with Jesus. How about that? That’s the best building material right there! Let Jesus be the builder of your house. Let Him come with His word and begin to show you His will, His way.
When I look at Jesus in the Word of God, I see the goodness of God, the compassion of God, the truth of God. Jesus came and said, „I didn’t come to do away with the commandments of Moses or the commandments that God gave in the Old Testament; I came to fulfill them.“ Through Jesus, He fulfills the commandments.
He says, „Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.“ What is Jesus doing? He’s setting you up for a house that can last. Jesus says, „Forgive those who sin against you.“
When you pray, pray these words: „My Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done.“ What is Jesus doing? He’s building the foundation something that can handle storms, that can handle the wildfires. Build with Jesus as your foundation—His will, His way, His word.
1 Peter 2:6 says this: „He is the cornerstone, chosen for great honor. Anyone who puts their trust in Him will never be disgraced.“ If you want to live a life without disgrace, put Jesus as your foundation.
Secondly, build with faith. I started reading again my mom and dad’s book that came out many years ago, Led by the Spirit. As I was reading it, I started getting teary-eyed just listening to the stories my dad shared about moving to Tulsa with no money except for just enough to pay for his first semester at school. His girlfriend was back home in Arkansas—Sharon. That was his girlfriend.
By faith, he came here not knowing how he was going to have enough. But he wrote these words: „While I was here, God was speaking to me before I was ever a pastor. God was showing me that when He guides, He provides and when He directs, He protects.“ God was speaking, and he said, „Many nights I would walk around the campus of ORU and just ask for faith to stay where God had called me to stay, to believe for miracles along the way.“
To ask for faith. Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things we do not yet see. Faith is like Noah building an ark when it hadn’t rained for centuries. They didn’t even know what rain looked like. His generation wasn’t even aware that rain was a thing.
But God says, „No, I want you to build an ark. I want you to build something your family can live in, build something you’re proud to bring your kids into, build a life of integrity.“ Build an ark that can handle the storms that you’re about to face. What are you building with?
So Noah built by faith—for a hundred years, he built, from age 400 to 500, and then after 100 years, the first raindrop started to fall. God said, „Get into the ark; get into the place that you built.“ Noah wasn’t just building an outside ark; he was building an inside ark. He was building something that would preserve him from all the moral decay in the world. Noah wasn’t perfect, but Noah was surrendered to God.
When I look at people that build with faith: Abraham, right? Abraham chose to go into a land that he didn’t know how it was, but he was looking forward to a city whose architects were beyond this universe. Abraham moved by faith.
Rahab was a prostitute, but she started hearing about the children of God coming into Jericho, and she lets down a scarlet rope to the ground to let the Israelites into Jericho. What was she doing? She was grafting herself into God’s future plan.
She wasn’t going to let her past dictate her future. She was building with faith. She said, „I may not have made the best decisions in my past, but from this day forward, I’m getting my family in the house of God. I’m getting my family in the plans of God. I’m done being the prostitute; I’m ready!“ Listen, this is your year to be done with your past and step into your future. Build with faith.
Thirdly, build with joy. When Nehemiah started rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, they had been burned to the ground by arsonists—people who wanted to destroy Jerusalem, people who hated the Israelites, who hated the Jews. Nehemiah’s heart was burdened with compassion.
He prayed; he fasted; he asked the king, „Can I go and serve the people of Israel?“ He serves, and in 52 days, they rebuild the walls. But they had to have a secret sauce; there was something that kept them building and battling as people came against them left and right. And here it was: it was joy.
Nehemiah 8:10 says, „Go and celebrate; have a feast! This is not a day to be gloomy. For the joy of the Lord is your strength.“ Friends, this is not a time for us to lose our laughter.
You know, I was with a group of pastors this last week, and they were all local church pastors like Bill Shear from Gut, Matt Nelson from City Church. There was a group of us, and we were talking together, praying together, laughing, and then we were sharing our burdens and opening up, asking for prayer.
I was talking about how much I love what we get to do but how sometimes it can feel like so much pressure. This pastor who’s twice my age comes over to me and says, „Paul, look out the window.“ I looked out and said, „Yeah.“ He said, „Go home and play with those kids.“
I said, „Okay.“ He said, „Don’t go into the office tomorrow; don’t go into the office on Friday. Just go have fun with your kids.“ You know what? God loves when we just enjoy His creation!
I said, „I’m going to take that permission slip.“ So I went home, y’all—we played in the snow, made snow angels, went sledding. I tied a water hose to a kayak to the back of my car. Don’t do this—but I was pulling them through the field. It was safe; we fireproofed it. Nobody got hurt. But we laughed and enjoyed it!
People are losing their joy; people are taking themselves too seriously. I remember meeting with another group of pastors several years ago, and this older pastor stands up to talk. He reads a scripture out of Psalms, saying, „David said, 'I will play before the Lord.'“
He starts laughing. This man was Bishop Garlington, and he says „I’m still laughing. I’m 85 years old, and I’m still laughing! I still play before the Lord.“ We were all kind of listening. He said, „Most people think David was talking about playing his harp, playing that ten-string lyre.“
He said, „I think David was just playing.“ We were all kind of listening to him. „Too many pastors have lost their play. They’ve lost the child in them—stiff-necked Mr. Serious Man walking around, taking themselves so seriously. They don’t know how to laugh, running their house like it’s some militaristic organization.“
He said, „I just decided if I’m going to make it, I’m going to make it with joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength.“ If this is a year to build, this is a year to build with joy! Let joy fill your house.
Build with conviction. Build with conviction. Conviction means character, not condemnation. Condemnation leads to regret, but conviction leads to repentance and refreshing from God.
Conviction is character, integrity, doing it with excellence, setting boundaries for your life. Letting the Holy Spirit lead you and show you areas you need to work on.
I heard this story about this rich man who had built ten houses that he lived in all over the world. He was ready to build his eleventh house, so he called up this construction builder guy in his hometown, where he already lived. He already owned two houses in his hometown—a house where he would go and have fun and a house by a lake where he would write and study; that was really pretty.
He calls up this home builder. The home builder said, „I was just upset! I was jaded! I didn’t want to build for him, because I built homes for everybody, and I’d never built my own house. Now this man wants me to build him his eleventh house?“ He didn’t want to do it. He was angry at the man.
The rich man said, „If you do this, I will pay for whatever house you want to build next. I will build for you your dream. I need you to build my dream house.“ The builder thought, „Well, if he’s going to pay for it, I’ll do it.“ He was done building everybody else’s houses.
This rich man wasn’t even going to be out here, so he cut some corners and did some shortcuts. He used the cheapest material, but he charged that rich man what he would charge for the most expensive material. He thought, „I’m going to get all this money and build my dream house.“
So he built it to look pretty on the outside but extremely cheap on the inside, with a lot of cut corners—things that wouldn’t hold together. He finishes it fast, takes the keys to the rich man, and says, „All right, here’s your eleventh house.“
The rich man says, „As a payment back to you, I want to give you the house.“ He said, „Instead of paying you with money, I decided you were building your house the whole time.“ The construction guy was like, „What? I thought you said you were going to pay me to build my house!“
He said, „I was paying you the whole time to build your house! You were building the house you would live in. You were building the house your kids would live in.“ Build with integrity. Build with character. Your kids will live in the house that you build.
Proverbs 22:1 says, „A good name is worth more than anything.“ Build with a desire to do things with excellence. Build with a desire to please God. If you’ve missed it, don’t let it bring condemnation. Let it bring you to the altar to say, „God, I’m ready to start building with conviction.“
I want the band to come out. Build with the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is not being afraid of God. The fear of the Lord is a deep reverence, an awe, a respect for God’s authority. It’s knowing God sees all; He is the undercover boss.
Proverbs 1:7 says, „The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.“ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, adding youth, adding energy, adding vitality, turning the person from the snares of death, leading them down the paths of life.
Psalm 34 says, „The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear God.“ Again, I’m not saying being afraid of God; I’m saying having such an honor and a reverence for God that you want to live your life for Him, that you want to build your house for Him.
Next, God calls us to build with grace. Build with grace. Don’t burn yourself out this year; don’t burn your house down this year, toiling all night, toiling all day. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, „Are you tired? Are you worn out?“ If your answer is yes, twelve days into the year, it’s a good thing you are in church today because God wants to give you rest.
It’s crazy how you can go on vacation and then need a vacation after the vacation because the vacation was stressful. It’s like that wasn’t a vacation! Jesus says, „Let me show you how to get real rest, ” and it doesn’t include you having to fly to some other state or some other place. You don’t even have to go to the beach even if you want to.
Jesus says, „Get away with me, and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.“ He says, „Walk with me; work with me.“ Jesus wasn’t saying you wouldn’t have to work for this; Jesus wasn’t saying you wouldn’t have to carry anything. Jesus wasn’t saying this wouldn’t require energy from you.
Jesus was saying, „Let me show you how to do this without it feeling heavy.“ This year, let me show you how to build your family without feeling stressed out all the time. Let me show you how to work on your marriage without feeling like you’re missing it all the time or that you’re not good enough.
Let me show you how to work at your job and your career where you don’t always feel like you’re behind everybody, always trying to make up. Let me show you the pace of grace; let me show you the materials that will help your house last when those who are working really fast burn out really quick.
He says, „Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.“
I’ve talked about this before, but I think about how if I were to carry this podium around… Okay, there we go. This thing is heavy, guys! This is like a hundred pounds! Okay? This is what we need to give the audio-visual team a big hand because they carry this out every week, the stage—the guys serve behind the scenes.
But if I had to preach with this thing, this would get heavy! If I had to carry this down to the altar to pray for you like, „Well, doing the work of the Lord is really burdensome.“ Working for God, just trying to be the best husband I could be, just trying to be the best dad I could be, just trying to pray for people—guys, this thing has pinned me to the ground!
Yes, I need help! Thank You, Jesus! Thank You—let’s back up! No, we’re going to leave this down here; we’re not carrying that thing back up! I feel like I’ve got to pop my back after that. There we go. This thing will get you out of alignment; this will mess up your spine. No wonder you have so many back problems!
Maybe you’re carrying burdens that are heavier than God intended for you to carry. Maybe the heavy load isn’t from the Holy Spirit. If it’s heavy, it’s not holy. He says, „My yoke is easy, my burden is light.“
You’ve got to work, but you don’t have to work with such a heaviness that you’re crushed, that your house is collapsing, burning to the ground, and your family’s like, „Dude, can you take a break? Can you take a day off? Can you just be happy? Can you be good with a win?“
I heard this story from Rich Mullins—one of my favorite old worship leaders. He wrote that song, „Our God is an Awesome God; He reigns.“ Rich Mullins said, „My whole life, I performed for people.“ He said, „I would get up, play guitar, sing, write songs. They were Christian songs, but I wasn’t living a Christian life.“
He said, „I was carrying this pressure, and I never felt good enough.“ He said, „I would drink alcohol after shows; I would worship, and then I would go and drink alcohol after leading people in worship.“ He said, „I wouldn’t just drink a little bit; I’d drink a lot. Then I would start to get into drugs—then sleeping around.“
He said, „I was living a very bad life off stage. The behind-the-scenes Rich Mullins was a rough guy.“ He said, „It all came from a very bad relationship with my dad. I grew up with an abusive father. I grew up with a father who never called me good enough.“
So he said, „I never felt good, no matter how many hand claps I got, how successful I was in the Christian music world. It was never enough. I was always hard on myself until one day, Brennan Manning took him in The Ragamuffin Gospel.“
He said, „This man, this older man, starts teaching me the way of the Father—how to see God as Aba Father, an intimate relationship with the Lord as my dad, not an abusive dad, not an absent dad, not a demeaning dad, not a condemning dad, but a dad who loved me.“
He said, „It was finally near the end, ” and you know the story of Rich Mullins is tragic, how his life ends, but finally—he didn’t know it was the end; it was in that season before his life would tragically be lost. His heart finally came alive to the grace of God, and he was freed from the alcohol, freed from the sex addictions, freed from the darkness.
You know what? Freedom—the grace of God leads men to repentance. It’s His mercy that draws me to His side. See, religion says, „You ought to, and if you don’t, you’re toast.“ That’s religion. Religion always has this extreme harsh language.
But grace is this: „No more should haves, no more could haves, no more would haves.“ Jesus Christ paid the price on the cross; the most costly materials build your house. You know that man who said, „I paid for the costly material“? It was the costly materials that saved my house from the fire.
Friends, we have costly materials, but we didn’t pay for those—God did. He sent His Son on the cross. He carried a heavy cross; He died a heavy death. He died for your addictions; He died for your sins; He died for your kid’s sins; He died for your kid’s kid’s sins; He died for all the twisted stuff the world would do.
He nailed it to the cross, and by His blood—listen, we overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb, not by our good deeds, but by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!
Build your life this year with grace! Every day when you’re tempted to just get angry at yourself, call yourself a failure, and feel like you’re not good enough, remind yourself, „No, no, no. The grace of God has empowered me to be a good dad today. The grace of God gives me a brand new start as a mother.“
The grace of God says that He is good with the progress. I know I’m not perfect, but He’s good with the progress. I’m in a process, and He’s making progress. He’s making me more like Him. When you miss it, get back up, repent of your sins, receive His forgiveness, and keep building.
The last point I’ll say is this: Build with grit. You go, „Well, what about grace?“ You need grace, and you need grit. Grit is the combination of passion and perseverance. Grit is that overcomer mentality. Right?
I asked last week what people’s words for the year were, and one of the guys on our staff, Ron Macintosh, said this: „I feel like this year is a year of a window of opportunity where there’s going to be great opportunity for the body of Christ, but also great adversity.“
In other words, we’re going to have to be filled with faith, but we better have the grit to handle the adversity. We better have the stamina.
I remember serving during Hurricane Katrina in 2008 or 2007 back in New Orleans. I remember there was this man who was leading the outreaches, and we were rebuilding houses. There were people angry and upset, depressed.
He said this: „Rhino hide!“ He was like, „Repeat after me: Rhino hide!“ We were like, „Rhino hide!“ He said, „Heart of a dove!“ He said, „I purpose in my heart to walk in love.“ I was like, „I’m a love creature!“
He said, „You’ve got to have thick skin, but you’ve got to have a soft heart.“ He said, „Out here, Paul, you’ve got to have thick skin because not everybody’s going to like you; not everybody’s going to love you. There are going to be people that leave you, stab you in the back, and you’ve got to have thick skin.
But you’ve got to have a soft heart. Don’t lose the innocence; don’t lose the pure Paul; don’t lose that tender voice to the Holy Spirit! Don’t put up walls around everybody and stop loving people.“
He said, „You’ve got to have rhino hide, but you’ve got to have the heart of a dove.“ I remember hearing this story about bison, buffalo, and the difference between buffalo and cows.
When storms come, cows get spooked, and the fear is contagious. The cows start running from the storm because they’re afraid of it. But God created animals in Genesis with unique characteristics. Think about it—God created snow animals, animals that could handle extreme cold temperatures, like the snow leopard that lives in the upper part of the Himalaya Mountains. God created the gray wolf that lives in Alaska and parts of Canada.
They can handle freezing cold temperatures—you’re like, „I am not a freezing cold creature that God created; I’m warm-blooded; I need warm air!“ But God made buffalo to handle cold and hot temperatures. It’s interesting. The most crazy thing about buffalo is when they sense a snowstorm or thunderstorm coming, or something intense is coming, instead of getting spooked and running away from it, they actually unite and run into it.
They have such grit, such passion, such perseverance. They know that the more we run into this storm, the faster we’ll get through the storm. If we run away from the storm, it only lasts longer. It only chases us further; it only depletes more energy.
But if we go head into the storm, we will come out stronger; we will come out more unified; we will come through that storm purified. This is the story of Victory.
Invitation and Altar Call
Stand to your feet right here. Listen, God is leading you into victory this year, but God says, „I need you to build with grace. I need you to build with grit. I need you to build with Jesus as your foundation. I need you to build with character. I need you to build with conviction. I need you to build with the fear of the Lord. I need you to build with joy.“
Don’t forget to rejoice in the Lord. Don’t forget that this year, as you’re building, as you’re setting goals, as you’re filling your calendar, as you’re choosing where you’re going to spend your time this year, let God build your house!
I want us just to close our eyes all over this place. Lord, I just pray right now for every person in this room. God, I pray, Lord, any person who’s been building, carrying a heavier load than You’ve called them to carry, that today they would cast their cares on You.
That today they would release the pressure off themselves as if the whole world is sitting on their shoulders, as if it all depends upon them. No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t all depend upon you! I know the weight you carry; I know the pressure you have. But you aren’t going to make it until you give it over to the Lord and say, „God, I cast my cares upon You. God, I lay my burdens down.
Lord, this year, I want to build with Your grace. Lord, I want to build with You, Jesus. I want You to be the general contractor. I want You to determine who builds what and what materials we use. God, I want You to determine how this thing looks. Lord, I want You to shape and form; I need You to remodel the kitchen.
God, Lord, I need You to work on some areas where there’s been strife in our house! I need You to, Lord, cut out some areas where there’s been shortcuts in my life. God, show me how to live with excellence and character! Lord, show me what it looks like.“
Maybe you grew up with a father that didn’t set the example for you. Maybe you grew up in a house that was a rough house. Today, you can determine we are building our house from this day forward on the rock. We are letting God build our lives to be fireproof, to handle the storm, to handle the fire.
With heads bowed and eyes closed, if that’s you, if this word was for you, I want you to raise your hand. I don’t know who I’m preaching to—maybe you’re here all by yourself; maybe you’re here with your family; maybe you’re here with your spouse, your boyfriend, your girlfriend.
But you go, „Man, I needed this; this is me. There are some things I need to surrender; there are some areas I need to invite the Holy Spirit to work on in my life. I want Him to shape me this year; I want Him to build me this year; I want Him to discipline me to show me how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I need to grow this year in the fruits of the Spirit. I need to grow in the joy of the Lord. I’ve lost my life; I need God’s help to build a life this year that I am grateful to live in.“ If that’s you, just keep your hand raised; I want you to leave your seat, come and join me at this altar.
Just step out boldly, open your eyes, just move out from your row, come and join me. If you’re here today and you say, „I just need to get down to that altar for a miracle; I need a breakthrough, ” come and join us! If you need to give your heart to Jesus, come and join us!
This is an altar call to say, „God, I surrender to You! Lord, I want You to build my house! I want You to build my life! God, I want You to have Your way in me! Lord, I want You to move in me and through me!“