When the Empire State building was being planned, there were cynics who said that you can’t build a building out of concrete and steel 102 stories high. It is impossible. The whole thing will come crashing down! However, engineers said that there is virtually no limit to how high you can build, providing the foundation is deep enough and strong enough.

Jesus was a builder. He understood the importance of foundations. That is why he painted the vivid picture contrasting sand and rock as foundation materials. Obviously, the point is that some materials make better foundations than others. Jesus was saying that if you want to build durably, you had better build on Christian foundations.

This word of Jesus is relevant for us as we think about the family, because the family has foundations to…