Key points
- 1
1Saved people serve people — followers of Jesus don't merely consume; they pick up bricks and build, starting with family, then their community, then the local church.
A story from life
Pastor Rocky describes his own kids' separation anxiety at church drop-off and how a volunteer named Manuela transforms the experience for his family
- 2
2Do what others won't and experience what others want — those who participate in God's work, like the servants at the wedding in Cana, get to witness miracles that bystanders never see.
“The life that you want is hiding behind the work you're avoiding”
A story from life
Pastor Rocky recounts growing up in a conservative home without jeans, movies, cards, or music, then buying an $800 guitar after a four-month Metallica phase in college and returning it after one hour
- 3
3If you are going to build for God, you cannot be controlled by other people — let neither praise get to your head nor criticism get to your heart.
“If you're sitting here going, wow, never felt opposition, that's because the enemy doesn't go after comfortable Christians, because you're not very effective”
A story from life
A woman in the lobby told Pastor Rocky his preaching has gotten 'a lot better' — which he used to illustrate the danger of letting either praise or criticism take hold
- 4
4This short life builds a long eternity — you are a soul that for a brief season has a body, and what you build now with God's gifts has eternal consequences.
“If you and I are gonna build for God, we cannot let praise get to our head and criticism get to our heart”
“You are not a body that also has a soul. You are a soul that for a very, very, very short season also has a body”
“Why would we build our kingdom knowing his kingdom lasts forever”
- 5
5God will never assign a calling without supplying a gifting — Nehemiah's story proves that when God puts a mission on your heart, He equips you to see it fulfilled.
- 6
6Don't bury what God has given you on earth — the Parable of the Talents warns that investing God's gifts in our own kingdom rather than His is the height of foolishness.
Related passageA story from life
A video message from Lead Pastor Bill, filmed in Cobway, Zambia, reporting that a church building was dedicated and people came to faith — funded in part by Rock Point's generosity
Illustration
A Marine Corps recruiter on a college campus in the 1960s gives a brutally honest pitch about the hardships of military service and draws the longest line of interested students
Application
Pastor Rocky closes with a pointed question: How has God blessed you — financially, with influence, with gifts, abilities, or connections — and why? The answer, he insists, is not to build a comfortable life for yourself but to pick up bricks and invest in God's kingdom. Practically, that means serving your family with your best energy, not the leftovers; looking for the coworker or neighbor who needs to see Jesus in you; and stepping off the sidelines at your local church to volunteer, give, and participate. The life you actually want — the deep sense of purpose, community, and meaning — is not found by avoiding the hard work but by stepping into it. As Jesus promised, take up your cross, and you will experience things that those who play it safe will never know.
