Luke is not alone in sharing the extended simile we find in the passage today. Matthew and James also use this comparison between those who hear and obey, and those who hear and disobey. Tangible pictures are a blessing as we navigate the timeless truths and teachings of Jesus across generations, culture, and geography. Paul also goes way back to Moses to show a picture of a Rock who is timeless, can never be moved, and is worthy of our wholehearted love and joyful obedience...One who is a sure foundation...One we can come to when we are thirsty, in need, and unsure: Jesus, Himself. These Scriptures are listed below for your reference. Feel free to jump to Luke if you don’t have time, but dig deeper if you do!

[I Corinthians 10:1-4]

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

[James 1:22-25]

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

[Luke 6.46-49]

46 Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

[ WHAT ] is this passage saying and what is a key truth or thought that we learn?

+ Who is Jesus talking to when he shares this truth? [Luke 6:17-18]

+ Who is the antecedent of “you?” [v. 46]

+ Where is Jesus as he is talking? [Luke 6:17-18]

+ Does this teaching apply to you and I today? Why or why not?

+ How does Jesus say the people are addressing Him? [v. 46]

+ What would one expect from one who addresses another like this?

+ All of the teaching Jesus does in today’s passage stems from one question. What is it? [v. 46]

+ Where should “everyone” go? What should they hear? [v. 47]

+ The person who hears and obeys this teaching is compared to ______________? [v. 48]

+ What happens to the house WHEN the flood comes? Why did the house NOT fall?

+ The person who hears and does not obey this teaching is compared to _____________? [v. 49]

+ What happens to the house WHEN the flood comes?

+ What are our actions in response to Jesus’s Words compared to in this passage?

+ How is the watching world most impacted for Christ? By words or by love-propelled action?

[ HOW ] is the Lord calling me to action/obedience?

+ Is there sin to confess or a next step to take? How has it gone since last time?

+ Have I called Jesus, Lord?

+ Do I come to Jesus daily, to a physical location, to hear His teaching?

+ Do I listen intently to hear His Words? What do I do with Jesus’s Words? Am I propelled by His love for me to obey them? Do I obey out of guilt? Do I obey out of my own righteousness? Am I rebellious?

+ How has “my house” been affected by the floods of life?

+ Where in my life can I “repent and believe” again, dig deep into the Rock of Christ and establish a sure foundation?

[ WHO ] am I walking with and praying for to discover Jesus?

+ What is my next step?

+ Does my life reflect a house built on The Rock?

+ If so, who is knocking at the door of my house when theirs is washed away?

+ Do I receive them? Do I make time to point them to the Master Builder and the Rock?

+ Whose kingdom am I seeking to build? Why?

+ Who's watching how I walk out my faith through love and obedience to my Lord? A parent? A spouse? A sibling? A friend? A colleague?