“Without a solid foundation, you’ll have trouble creating anything of value.” – Erika Oppenheimer
The Millennium Tower in San Francisco is the tallest residential building in San Francisco. The luxury condominium high-rise was opened in 2009 to residents. It’s a 58-story, 645-foot-tall skyscraper. And, it’s leaning. Not only is it leaning, it’s sinking. Engineers determined in 2016 the building had sunk by sixteen inches and was leaning two inches at the base and six inches at the top of the tower. The problem is the foundation. The concrete slab foundation is built on top of 60-90-foot deep pilings embedded in dense sand. Some buildings in the area use a similar system, while other developers chose to place their pilings 200-feet-deep into bedrock. The Millennium Tower developer blames the problem on a building project next door, but the sinking had begun well before that project was started. Tenants and the city of San Francisco are suing the developers. It’s a mess and it’s going to be a bigger mess in the future because the cost to fix the problem may very well be more than the liability insurance held by the owners of the building.
Jesus said, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” (Matt. 7:24-27 NLT). Jesus wants us to prosper and enjoy a fulfilling life and he knows we can have that life if we build it on the rock of his truth rather than the shifting sands of cultural norms and expectations. Trust in his teaching as the bedrock on which you must build your life and you’ll never look back with regret.
Make It a Great Week,
Pastor Chris