By faith, Abraham obeyed when God called him to go out — “not knowing where he was going.” He traded the certain for the promised: a homeland for a tent, the seen for the unseen.
This Sunday, Bill Wright continues our Faith Beyond Sight series with the pilgrimage of Abraham. From the call that launched him to the tent-life that marked him, Abraham lived as a stranger in the very land God promised him — because he was looking further, to “the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
Come ready to consider: what is God calling you to leave behind — and what city are you looking for?
Class doesn’t have to end at noon. Join us this Sunday after class for our monthly after-class lunch at Los Tios — good food, unhurried conversation, and the easiest way to turn a Sunday visit into a friendship.
Whether you’ve been coming for years or this is your very first Sunday, there’s a seat for you. No RSVP needed — just come hungry, bring a friend, and stay a while.
One verse summarizes four chapters of Genesis and 75 to 100 years of obedience. Last Sunday Ed McMichael opened our Faith Beyond Sight series’ fourth portrait with a question: what was the author of Hebrews’ chief concern for his readers? His answer, from Hebrews 6:11–12: perseverance — that they would “show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end” and run through the tape. His favorite definition, from the 1956 dictionary’s entry for perseverance: continuance in a state of grace until it is succeeded by a state of glory.
Ed traced the pattern (crediting John Piper): God communicates — Noah’s internal response was reverent fear; his external response was obedience: “Noah did this. He did all that God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22). Faith in action is always countercultural — building an ark where it had never rained. And obedience always brings blessing: a present peace the world cannot buy, and the future blessing of becoming “an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
Then the warnings — the author’s four alarms for drifting believers: don’t drift from God’s Word, don’t disbelieve it, don’t become dull of hearing, don’t discard it. It’s a staircase that’s easy to walk down and hard to climb back up. Solid ground, Ed said, is Psalm 1 ground: delighting in God’s Word daily. Noah stayed on solid ground for up to a century. And the first thing he did stepping off the ark? He built an altar God never commanded — because reverence does what it isn’t told to do, and “the Lord always provides.”
Missed Sunday? Watch the full lesson here.
We complain 15 to 30 times a day — up to 11,000 gripes a year. In the newest message of his Trusting God series, Pastor Gregg Matte calls complaining what it is: one of our most common habits and one of our most spiritually dangerous. “Complaining is contagious.”
Israel had manna falling daily, yet they wept for meat — “we forgot the slavery, but we remember the fish.” Their problem wasn’t wanting more; it was wanting different. Pastor Gregg drew the line that unlocks the whole message: gratitude is the measure of the heart for what you have; contentment is the measure of the heart for what you don’t. The more genuinely thankful you are, the less power discontentment holds.
God gave Israel exactly what they demanded — quail, more than they could stand — outside His will. “Give me manna in God’s will in the wilderness,” Pastor Gregg said, “over quail outside of it.” And when complaints rise, he gave four ways to complain biblically: come humbly, with pain not pride; pray the Bible, using the Psalms and laments; be honest without accusing God; and don’t just complain — keep moving, solve the problem, ask God for the solution. “Complaining is different than praying — which one do we do more?”
He closed with four Nigerian men who rode a ship’s rudder 3,500 miles to Brazil — one literally named “Thank God.” Thanking God, he said, is what carries you through trials. When your deepest desire is to walk with the Lord, the manna becomes sweet — and even the wilderness becomes meaningful.
Join us as we pause together for the Sweet Hour of Prayer every Wednesday at noon. Please send your prayer requests to Karen at 713-204-8384 by Tuesday so they may be included.
Encore is our church’s ministry for adults 55+, with trips, retreats, and gatherings all year long. Coming up: the Hunt Retreat Day on October 22 and the Monday Morning Mingle on October 26.
For Encore information click here →
We’ve created a Foundations Class GroupMe message center as a convenient, real-time way to share prayer requests, announcements, and encouraging messages. Join or leave anytime — no pressure. Mute notifications if you prefer silence, or jump into the conversation when something grabs your heart.
Sign up here: https://3zs8.short.gy/FoundationsGM →
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