Because you give, more than 678 people gathered in person for the inaugural AI Revolution, a four-night event designed to help followers of Jesus navigate the rapidly changing world of artificial intelligence and emerging technology. Nearly 1,000 additional people tuned in through replays on YouTube, expanding the reach of this important conversation far beyond those who attended in person.

Throughout the series, knowledgeable speakers explored the opportunities and challenges presented by AI, equipping attendees to think critically and biblically about technology that is becoming an increasingly significant part of everyday life. Rather than approaching these changes with fear or uncertainty, the event encouraged participants to consider how Christians can respond with wisdom, discernment, and faithfulness.

The AI Revolution provided a valuable platform for asking important questions: How should followers of Jesus evaluate new technology? What opportunities can emerging tools provide, and what challenges should we be prepared to recognize? And most importantly, how can our faith guide us as technology continues to evolve?

This enlightening series was about more than understanding artificial intelligence—it was about learning how to engage with a changing world while remaining grounded in biblical truth. Because of your generosity, CityRise was able to create a space where people could learn, ask questions, and be encouraged to approach technological change thoughtfully and faithfully.

Dear Church Family,

This summer, we have seen significant progress in our Pathways efforts across CityRise, and in just over a week we will celebrate an especially meaningful milestone.

On Sunday, September 13, our CityRise Missouri City and CityRise Missouri City Español church families will celebrate New Beginnings Sunday as they reopen the sanctuary and building for worship after four years of perseverance. I am grateful for their faithfulness and patience along the way—with special thanks to the excellent efforts of our Facilities and Production teams—and I hope all of us across CityRise will celebrate and pray with them as this important day approaches.

Work continues on the Missouri City parking lot, and it looks fantastic! While it won’t be ready by September 13, we anticipate its completion in the weeks that follow and are grateful for the additional parking it will provide.

We are also seeing progress at the West U Baptist campus: the renovated Milton Street parking lot is expected to be available for Sunday worship starting this weekend! During the work week, parking will still be relegated to Milton Street itself and elsewhere while remaining work continues on the lot.

As we see these plans taking visible shape, I am reminded of the Scripture that has helped guide Pathways from the beginning. David prayed, “Everything comes from Your hand, and everything belongs to You” (1 Chronicles 29:16).

Everything we have is from the Lord, and we want to steward faithfully what He has entrusted to us. As we move toward CityRise’s 100th birthday in 2028, this three-year generosity journey is helping prepare our church for the next century of ministry—honoring God’s faithfulness in the past while creating opportunities to welcome people, serve our communities, and share the gospel for generations to come.

I encourage you to stay connected to all that is happening through Pathways—including parking updates, helpful resources, and the latest campaign progress—at cityrise.org/pathways.

As we prepare our campuses for the ministry ahead, I am also grateful for the ways God continues to provide leaders to serve our church family. I want to share an important update from our CityRise Students Team.

With Tim Yeager’s recent transition from Global Student Pastor to Campus Pastor at CityRise Bellaire, Alberto Avila will now serve as our Global Student Pastor, providing vision and leadership for CityRise Students across our campuses while continuing to give particular leadership to our West U Baptist students on Sundays.

I am also excited to welcome Max Brown to our staff as Student Pastor! Max will serve alongside Alberto and give primary leadership to our students at CityRise Bellaire.

Our goal is to remain one united CityRise Students ministry while providing students and families consistent, trusted leadership at their local campus. I am grateful for Alberto and Max and excited about this next chapter for our student ministry. Please pray for them, for Tim in his new role, and for the students, families, and leaders they serve.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed, given, and made a commitment to Pathways. Your generosity is helping make this work possible. If you have not yet joined us, there is still an opportunity to participate. You can learn more and make a commitment at cityrise.org/pathways.

Please continue to pray for wisdom as the work moves forward and especially for our Missouri City church family as they prepare for New Beginnings Sunday. What an encouragement it is to see the Lord’s provision and the generosity of His people taking visible shape across CityRise.


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

Jesus is the Passover Lamb. That is the claim He made at His final meal with His friends, and it is the reason the last pages of the Bible return to a Lamb seated on a throne. The story that started in Egypt does not end in Egypt. It ends with Him.

If you have ever sat through communion and quietly wondered what the bread and the cup are actually for, or why a church would keep repeating a ritual borrowed from an ancient Jewish feast, you are asking a fair question. The answer is not sentimental. It reaches back into a night of judgment in Egypt, forward to a Roman cross, and further forward still to a promise that the curse hanging over this world will one day be lifted for good. Here is the thread that ties all three together.

What Was the Passover, and Why Does It Still Matter?
Long ago, God promised His people a land He cared very deeply about. Famine drove them into Egypt instead, and Pharaoh held them there in captivity. That is where the story of Moses begins, with a demand delivered to a king: let My people go. Pharaoh refused. Plague after plague came against Egypt to break his grip, and still he would not release them.

The final plague was God's wrath and judgment. But God gave a warning first, and inside that warning He gave a way out. Find an unblemished lamb, sacrifice it, and paint its blood on your doorpost, and His judgment would pass over that household.

Notice what did not factor into that promise. It did not matter who was inside the house. It did not matter what they looked like, what they did for a living, or what sins they had already committed. It did not even matter what sins they would go on to commit after that night. The only thing that mattered was whether the blood of an unblemished lamb was painted on the doorpost. Where the blood was, the wrath of God passed over.

Then came the rescue. God's people walked out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, and the sea itself parted in front of them. That deliverance was real, and it is worthy of worship. Afterward they kept an annual meal to remember it, gathering friends and family around a table to look backward at the Exodus and the night judgment passed them by.

What Did Jesus Mean When He Said "This Is My Body"?
Every part of that Passover meal was a symbol pointing backward. The bread, the cup, the order of it, all of it faced the past. Which is what makes what happened in Mark 14:22 so startling.

"As they were eating, He took bread, and after blessing it, He broke it, and He gave it to them, and said, 'Take, this is My body.'"

That went completely against the script. A Passover meal was not supposed to be about the man hosting it. Jesus took a meal built to look backward and turned it to face Himself. No longer are we looking back, He was saying. You are looking at Me now. This is My body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.

In effect, He was telling them that the bread meant to remind them of Israel's suffering and deliverance from years past was pointing at Him all along. I am the one who will suffer for you. I am the one through whom God will bring a greater deliverance. Pharaoh once held you captive. Now sin holds you captive, and I will free you from that.

The rescue out of Egypt was real, and it deserved celebrating. It was also a picture of a greater rescue still to come.

Why Is Jesus Called the Passover Lamb?
Because He said so, and He said it while holding the cup. In Mark 14:23-24, He took the cup, gave thanks, and passed it to them, and they all drank from it. Then He told them, "This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."

Follow the logic of that sentence. A lamb had been sacrificed in Egypt so that death would pass over the doors of God's people. Jesus, sitting at a table commemorating exactly that, says the blood in question is now His own. I am the Passover Lamb. My blood will be shed to cover your sin, and it will make a binding covenant between you and God.

That is the shift. The meal stopped being a backward glance at something that happened a thousand years earlier. Its center became Jesus Himself, and it has stayed there ever since. When we come to the Lord's table today, what we are saying is that His body was broken on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, and we take the bread and the cup as a remembrance of Him.

Why Does the Bible End With a Lamb on the Throne?
Turn to the final chapter of the Bible and the Lamb is still there. In Revelation 22, the Lamb who was at the cross is the Lamb seated on the throne. The one who shed His blood to remove the curse is the one who will one day remove the curse completely.

The cross is where the victory was secured. Revelation 22 is where the victory is completed. Those are not two different stories with two different heroes. They are one story, and He is the reason it resolves.

This is why the ending matters for a Tuesday. It is not only a destination waiting somewhere out ahead of you. It changes the ground under your feet right now, because the outcome is already settled by the one who settled it.

Do You Have to Be Worthy to Take Communion?
No, and that is the whole point. We do not come to the Lord's table because we are worthy. We come because Jesus alone is worthy, and because He made a way for sinners to be forgiven, welcomed into God's presence, and brought near enough to see His face.

If you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, receive this meal as two things at once. It is a remembrance of His sacrifice, and it is a public proclamation of your faith in Him.

Scripture does call us to examine our hearts before we come, so take the moment. Sit with your own sin honestly, confess it to the Lord, and profess Him as Lord and Savior. That examination is not a worthiness test you might fail. It is what it looks like to come to the table awake.

What If You Have Not Placed Your Faith in Jesus Yet?
Then this meal is not for you yet, and there is no shame in that word "yet." Watch instead. Pay attention to what is happening around the table and consider the grace that Jesus is offering you, freely, without first requiring you to clean yourself up.

Remember what did and did not matter on that night in Egypt. Not the résumé, not the record, not the reputation. Only the blood of the lamb.

Where This Leaves You Today
The Bible has one ending, and Jesus is it. He is the unblemished Lamb whose blood was painted over a doorway in Egypt, the Lamb who took bread and called it His body, the Lamb slain at the cross, and the Lamb on the throne in Revelation 22 who finishes what He started.

That is why Jesus is the Passover Lamb, and why the table still matters. The victory is secured. One day it will be completed. Between those two points, you have every reason to live like the outcome is already sure, because it is.

This blog is based on the message shared by Campus Pastor Tim Yeager at our CityRise Bellaire campus on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. Check out the full message below!

This summer, we have seen exciting progress across our Pathways efforts, and we are grateful for the ways God continues to open doors and move these projects forward!

At CityRise Missouri City, we are on target to reopen the sanctuary building on September 13 for their New Beginning Sunday. This is an especially meaningful milestone after four difficult years of persevering. What once seemed like a distant possibility is now becoming a reality, and we are looking forward with great anticipation to seeing the church gather again in this renewed space.

The CRMC parking lot is also well underway! While we do not expect the project to be completed by September 13, we anticipate the work being finished within the following few weeks. We are excited about the relief these additional parking spaces will provide and the opportunities they will create for the church and its ministry.

Looking ahead, we are also on target church-wide to bring details forward in October as we seek approvals for the next steps in all of our Pathways projects. We are thankful for the continued progress and for everyone who has prayed, given, and helped make these efforts possible.

Thank you to everyone who has given to Pathways and helped us continue moving forward. It is not too late to join our Pathways efforts! Visit cityrise.org/pathways to learn more and make your commitment.

We are grateful for what God has done, and we are excited to see what He will continue to do through Pathways!

Dear Church Family,

With the official end of summer about a month away, I am grateful for the opportunity to look back at the many ways God has allowed our church family to participate in His work around the world.

Since late April, CityRise has sent teams on 14 mission trips to 14 different countries. From Belize and Ireland to England, Germany, South Africa, Benin, Togo, Zambia, and beyond, our students, families, adults, ministry leaders, and medical professionals have served alongside local churches and ministry partners to share the gospel, encourage believers, meet practical needs, and strengthen the work God is already doing.

And the stories below from this summer are encouraging.

On CityRise’s first mission trip to Zambia, our team partnered with Judea Harvest for a two-day medical clinic and VBS. They provided medical care for 332 people—including one man who walked five hours to receive treatment—while 450 children attended VBS. Forty-two people made professions of faith, and three were baptized.

In Belize, we saw a different kind of fruit: children who attended VBS when CityRise first began serving there seven years ago are now helping lead worship in their own church. And in Benin and Togo, pastors and worship leaders received biblical training designed not simply to encourage them, but to equip them to train and strengthen others.

I also had the privilege of joining one of our family mission teams in London this summer. It was encouraging to see firsthand the value of coming alongside a local church—serving children and families, building relationships, and creating opportunities for conversations about Jesus that continue after our team comes home.

Our Global Outreach Pastor, Rynie Badenhorst, summarized the summer well:

“We are incredibly grateful for everyone who prays, gives, serves, and goes. Your generosity makes it possible for CityRise to send people across the world to serve others, share the Gospel, and build up the local church—while growing in their own faith and calling.”

Thank you for being part of that work.

And even as we give thanks for where God has sent us, we are already looking ahead. We are tentatively planning a Bible Land Trip to Israel in late April 2027. If you are interested in learning more, join us for an informational meeting on Sunday, September 20, at 7P in the Loft at CityRise Bellaire. Come hear about this exciting opportunity to experience the land of the Bible together.

There will also be many other opportunities to go and be deployed. Visit cityrise.org/missions to learn about upcoming mission trips and prayerfully consider where God may be calling you to serve.

May we continue to be a church that prays, gives, serves, and goes—joining God in His work here in Houston and among the nations.


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

P.S. Thank you to everyone who joined us throughout August for The AI Revolution. Those four evenings gave us much to consider about technology, wisdom, faith, and following Jesus faithfully in a rapidly changing world. Dr. Jeff Frey will return Thursday, October 1, for our Lunch & Learn, AI + Human Intelligence: Working Smarter Without Becoming Less Human. Sign up now to receive details and a save-the-date reminder.

What heaven is like is far more concrete than the clouds and harps most of us picture. According to Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, the eternal state includes a renewed physical creation, the end of pain and death, meaningful work, one unbroken family, and everlasting joy in the presence of God. Five things to expect, and not one of them is vague.

If you've buried someone you love, one of those five matters more than the others right now. We'll get there. But start with the one most people never see coming.

A New Heaven And A New Earth
Revelation 21:1 opens with this: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more."

You shouldn't be surprised by that. If Scripture promises us resurrected bodies, then creation gets the same treatment. What's coming isn't an escape from the physical world. It's the renewal of it.

Randy Alcorn makes the point that the earthly beauty we see now won't be lost. We won't trade earth's beauty for heaven's. We'll keep earth's beauty and gain a deeper beauty on top of it, and we'll enjoy it forever alongside the redeemed people of this world.

That's number one. Heaven is a place, and it's this place made new.

Will There Be Pain In Heaven?
No. And the promise is more specific than a general absence of suffering.

Revelation 21:4 says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning or crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

I've officiated a couple hundred funerals across my ministry. I've buried a baby who lived one day, and I've buried a woman who lived 107 years. Recently I led the service for a woman named Ruth who was 104. Think about what she saw in 104 years. She lived through the Great Depression. She was a World War II veteran, and there was a veteran honor flag ceremony at her service. She also lost two children, and she buried two husbands.

Can you imagine the mourning, the crying, and the pain in a life like that?

Here's what I believe with everything in me: one second in heaven will wash away a lifetime of tears on earth.

Think about what that actually means. Everything that causes pain and suffering in this life is no more. You want to know what isn't in heaven? Cancer isn't in heaven. Neither is abandonment, abuse, war, addiction, mental illness, hunger, racism, or terrorism. The old order of things has passed. It's gone. It's removed.

Alcorn describes these as the tears of people who suffered under sin and death, the cries of the poor, the widow, the orphan, the unborn, and the persecuted. That crying is finished.

And notice how personal it gets. Isaiah promises that God will wipe away His people's tears, and John picks up that same language in Revelation. The picture isn't a policy announcement. It's Jesus walking up to each one of us individually. Imagine standing in that crowd, tears still on your face, waiting, and He comes to you personally. Everyone is watching, and He begins to minister to you, and He wipes them away.

Life is hard here. Nobody needs convincing of that. But hang in there, because "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can conceive what God has in store for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Will There Be Work In Heaven?
Yes, and you may not love hearing it at first.

Revelation 22:3 says, "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him." That's the New International Version. The English Standard Version renders that last phrase as His servants will worship Him. In other words, serving is worship.

Sit with that, because it changes your Monday. If you want to transform your work right now, view it as an act of worship offered to God rather than something you're obligated to do to put food on the table. "Whatever you do in word or deed, do it all to the glory of Christ."

The curse in that verse is the fall of mankind, and it's worth noticing what the curse did and didn't do. Work existed before the fall. Go back to Genesis. Adam was given dominion, told to rule and to exert authority over the garden, to till it and take care of it, to name the animals. Adam was busy working. Then came the curse, and God said the ground itself would resist him. His work would be hard.

Work was never the punishment. The difficulty was. As Alcorn puts it, the new heaven will include work, and we have to remember that work wasn't part of the curse. What the curse did was make work menial, tedious, and frustrating. On the new earth, work gets redeemed and transformed back into what God intended, because no longer will there be any curse.
There's a beauty to the work God created us for, and there's worship inside it.

Will You See Your Family Again?
This is the question that shows up in hospital rooms and funeral homes, and Revelation answers it.

One writer describes it this way: heaven won't be without families, but we'll be one big family in which all family members are our friends and all friends are family members.

The older you get, the more goodbyes you have.

Julee and I met our little granddaughter, Margaret Adair Patterson, a couple of months ago. What a gift. We preached on a Sunday morning, flew out, and saw them late that Sunday night. We helped get them out of the hospital on Monday and had a little time with them Monday evening. Tuesday morning we had a quick visit with Brady and Emma, and then we had to get to the airport. We left their apartment around 11:30 or noon. We prayed together. And we cried.

Julee and I were quiet the whole drive. Not much conversation. We were going down the escalator toward security and I finally said, "That was a little harder than I thought." She said, "Yeah, it was." That little girl had opened a part of her heart she didn't know was even there. Leaving our son wasn't the hard part. We've done that before. It was the baby.

Every reunion we experience here is temporary. Somebody eventually gets on a plane. Somebody eventually goes home. And ultimately, death separates every earthly family.
But here's what Revelation teaches us. There's a coming reunion that nobody ever has to leave. Heaven isn't less relational than this life. It's more relational. We don't lose the people of God. We finally get the family of God without distance, division, dysfunction, or death.

Will We Be Married In Heaven?
Jesus tells us we won't be. He said that at the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage (Matthew 22:30).

Many people are surprised by that, and I understand why. But remember what earthly marriage is for. The one flesh union we know here is a signpost pointing to our relationship with Christ as our bridegroom. Once we reach the destination, the signpost becomes unnecessary. That one marriage, our marriage to Christ, will be so completely satisfying that even the most wonderful earthly marriage couldn't compete with it.

That's the theology of it. Practically speaking, if you can't find me at my place in heaven, I'm going to be hanging out with my wife.

Everlasting Joy In The Presence Of God
This is the most significant of all five, and it's the completion of a story that started back in Genesis.

Scripture opens with God creating everything perfect and dwelling with man. Then man rebelled, and brokenness and the fall came in. At that fall God said He would raise up One who would restore all things. The whole Bible tracks the story of Jesus, and it ends where it began, except renewed.

Revelation 21:3 says, "Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God." That's how it was designed all along. Our rebellion and our sinfulness separated us from a holy God, and this is God closing that distance permanently.

I'm often among the first few calls someone makes when a loved one dies. That's a humbling thing, and walking a family through a memorial service, a funeral, and a burial is a humbling responsibility for me and for our pastors. One of the things I love most is ministering hope in that moment, and Psalm 16:11 is the verse I keep going back to: "You make known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Maybe you're reading this while wandering through life trying to figure it out. Life hasn't gone the way you wanted. You're angry at God, you're not in relationship with Him, and you're trying to sort this out on your own. Hear this: He makes known to you the path of life. Your Creator knows how He made you and how He built you, and He wants you to call out to Him for help.

And for those already in Christ, here's the good news. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Look again at what that presence contains. Fullness of joy. Pleasures forever. Jesus Himself called it paradise.

So, when I sit with a grieving family, this is what I tell them. To be in the presence of Jesus is to be in the presence of fullness of joy. Your son, your daughter, your husband, your wife, your grandmother, your grandfather: they are better off than we are. Paul said to live is Christ and to die is gain, and that departing is better by far (Philippians 1:21-23). Gain is profit. They're more alive now than they've ever been. That's not sentiment. That's what the Word of God says.

What Awaits
Isaiah 65:17-18 puts the whole thing in God's own voice: "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness."

That's what heaven is like. A new heaven and a new earth. A place of joy and gladness. A place where the celebration never ends.

Life is hard here, and no honest pastor pretends otherwise. But if you belong to Jesus, everything painful about the old order has an expiration date, and everything good about this world is waiting for you renewed. If you don't know where you stand with Him yet, that's the place to start, and it can start today.

Can you even imagine?

This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson at our CityRise Bellaire campus on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026. Check out the full message below!

Dear Church Family,

Tonight brings us to the final evening of The AI Revolution. Over the past three Mondays, I have been grateful to see so many people gathering to learn, ask thoughtful questions, make new connections, and consider together how followers of Jesus can engage a rapidly changing technological world with wisdom.

Tonight at 6:30P, Dr. Laura Murray will conclude our series with From Fragmented to Integrated: People, Technology, and a New Way to Think About Mental Health Care.

Dr. Murray is a Faculty Member at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Founder of CETA Global Inc., and Head of Global Mental Health at Google. Tonight gives us an opportunity to consider another important dimension of this larger conversation as we think about the role technology can play in addressing deeply human needs.

I hope you will join us at CityRise Bellaire for this final night. Whether you are an entrepreneur, business leader, professional, or simply someone interested in these issues, come ready to learn, participate in the Q&A, and connect with others who are asking many of the same questions.

And if you cannot be with us in person, join us live for free through GLU, the God Loves You Network. You can watch on your phone or tablet, or search for GLU on your smart TV or streaming device, download the app, and search for The AI Revolution.

While tonight concludes this four-week series, the conversation will continue! Dr. Jeff Frey will return for a special Lunch & Learn, AI + Human Intelligence: Working Smarter Without Becoming Less Human, with practical guidance for using AI well while discerning what we should automate, augment, and deliberately keep human.

Sign up here to receive the Lunch & Learn save-the-date and additional information.
Thank you for being part of these conversations throughout August. I hope you will join us for one more important evening tonight—in person or through GLU—and invite someone to join you.


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

Because you give, the gospel is reaching communities around the world. Last month, 13 CityRise team members traveled to Wiesbaden, Germany, to serve alongside Immanuel Baptist Church and host a Vacation Bible School for the very first time.

What began as a new opportunity to serve quickly became a meaningful week of ministry, fellowship, and gospel-centered connection. Fifty-five children participated in VBS, where they experienced Bible teaching, worship, activities, and the opportunity to learn more about who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him. Most importantly, 11 children became new believers!

The team’s ministry extended beyond the children’s program. Each morning, the team provided a Bible study specifically for parents, creating another opportunity to share God’s Word and encourage families. Team members also participated in outreach prayer, intentionally connecting with people in the community and praying for their needs.

One incredible story came from this trip: Many of the VBS kids were from a military base since Wiesbaden is home to a US base. One family in particular had eight children attending. The father of the family is deployed. The wife learned he would not return for another nine months. Two of her kids raised their hands to accept Jesus. What an honor and gift to share the Good News of Jesus with the children of those serving the country!

The team was also able to encourage and strengthen the local church through Christian fellowship. Serving alongside Immanuel Baptist Church provided an opportunity to build relationships, share in ministry, and encourage local believers as they continue faithfully serving their community.

This first VBS in Wiesbaden is a reminder that God can use a willing team to open doors for the gospel. The impact of the trip reached children, parents, church members, and the community—and the 10 new believers are a beautiful testimony to God’s work.

Dear Church Family,
 
With schools in full swing again, many of us are returning to those familiar schedules. Wednesdays will soon be active across our campuses, new classes and studies are beginning, Community Groups are gathering and growing, and there are many opportunities to connect, learn, serve, and grow together. (Just check out our cityrise.org/fall page!)
 
All of those opportunities point to the truth that we were not created to follow Jesus alone. Throughout Scripture, God continually draws His people into community. We worship together, pray for one another, encourage one another, carry burdens, celebrate joys, serve side by side, and help one another remain faithful.
 
Hebrews 10:24–25 reminds us, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together . . . but encouraging one another.”
 
A few weeks ago, I encouraged us to cultivate a culture of invitation, to consider who God may be prompting us to invite to “come and see.” In that same vein, I also want to encourage each of us to consider where we ourselves are connected.
 
Maybe that means returning to a Community Group after a summer away. Maybe it means joining a Bible study or class for the first time, serving alongside others in a ministry. Or maybe it means simply making the decision to be more intentional about the relationships God has already placed around you.
 
Interestingly, the importance of genuine human connection has also been part of the conversation surrounding The AI Revolution this month. Technology can increasingly help us communicate, create, analyze, and accomplish work more efficiently. But greater capability does not lessen our need for wisdom about what technology should assist us with—and what we should deliberately keep human.
 
Our final night will be this coming Monday with Dr. Laura Murray, but the conversation will continue this fall with a special Lunch & Learn on October 1. Dr. Jeff Frey, who joined us for the first night of The AI Revolution, will return for AI + Human Intelligence: Working Smarter Without Becoming Less Human. He will offer practical guidance for using AI in real-world work while also helping us think carefully about what should be automated, what should be augmented, and what should remain distinctly human. You can sign up now to receive the save-the-date information.
 
Whether in our homes, workplaces, classrooms, neighborhoods, or church family, we need one another. My prayer as this fall begins soon is that we would become more deeply connected to our Lord and Savior and to the people He has placed around us.
 
 
Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

When Jesus returns, He does not close the story. He begins a new chapter of it. Scripture describes a thousand year era, often called the Messianic Age or the Millennial Kingdom, in which Jesus physically rules from Jerusalem, the promises made to Israel come due, creation starts to heal, and nations stop training for war.

If you have ever wondered what happens when Jesus returns, the Bible is more specific than most of us expect. Here are seven features of that age, each one anchored in a passage you can read for yourself.

1. Jesus Physically Returns and Establishes His Kingdom
The return is physical, and it comes before the millennium rather than after it. Zechariah 14:4-9 and Revelation 19:11 give the picture, and Zechariah's language is geological: "On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward."

The passage keeps going, and it captures two events at once, the battle of Armageddon and the inauguration of the Messianic Age. "Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him. On that day there shall be no cold or frost, and there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light."

Notice that phrase, "a unique day." Whatever else is true of that age, it will not run on the rhythms you and I currently know. The passage closes with living water flowing out of Jerusalem toward both seas, continuing in summer as in winter, and this declaration: "The Lord will be king over all the earth."

2. God Keeps Every Promise He Made to Israel
The millennium fulfills the covenants, particularly the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant.

The Abrahamic Covenant
God promised Abraham land, descendants beyond counting, and blessing to all nations through his lineage. The Messianic Age is the full realization of that promise, not a spiritualized substitute for it.

The Davidic Covenant
God promised David that his descendants would rule on his throne forever, and Jesus, as the descendant of David, fulfills that covenant by reigning as king. You already know the passage, because it shows up every Christmas and in Handel's Messiah. Isaiah 9:6-7 says, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore." That is the kingdom coming and the will of God being done, exactly as we pray for it.

The New Covenant
The Messianic Age is also when God fulfills the New Covenant with Israel, giving new hearts, forgiveness of sins, and nearness to Himself.

Does Israel Still Matter in God's Plan?
Let me say a word here, especially to young adults. One of the pastors in our city reached out and asked me what I was seeing in how young adults view the nation of Israel. I told him what I have observed, which is that they have been shaped heavily by social media and they carry real and severe frustration with the secular state of Israel.

So, hear me carefully. Israel remains a massive part of God's plan even if you disagree with the government of Israel and its actions. I do not agree with everything my own government does, so I certainly will not defend everything a foreign nation does. That is a separate question from the covenant. The promise God made to Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you" in Genesis 12:3, is eternal and unconditional. You would be wise to read what Scripture actually says about Israel, about what will take place there, and about how Jesus will rule and reign from there. Whatever a given administration does, be a person who blesses the people of Israel and the Jewish lineage, because God blesses those who bless Israel.

What Israel needs is a heart transplant, and that is precisely what God promises in Ezekiel 36:24-28: "I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God."

The first shall be last. The gospel went first to the Jew, then to the Gentiles, and most Jewish hearts have been hard through the centuries. Romans 11 says that all Israel will be saved after the gospel goes out to the nations, after the tribulation, when they cry out for Messiah's salvation. Then He comes, and the heart transformation happens. That transplant belongs to the Messianic Age.

3. Jerusalem Becomes the Center of the World
Jerusalem will be the political and spiritual center of the earth, the seat from which Jesus rules. Isaiah 2:2-4 describes it this way: "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it. And many peoples shall come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

Read it literally and there is a geographic change involved. The city of God already sits high on a mountain, and at the coming of Jesus it rises higher still. Then the nations come, because this becomes the political and spiritual center of the world, and people from every nation arrive to learn from the Lord. Global peace is the result. Micah 4:1-4 says the same thing, nations streaming to Jerusalem to be taught by God, and weapons reforged into tools.

4. Worldwide Peace and Righteousness Finally Arrive
Think about the prayer again. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, as Matthew 6:10 puts it. That is peace and righteousness on a global scale, because Jesus reigns in righteousness. Isaiah 11:1-9 describes a future in which Messiah judges rightly, and the peace extends past human society into the animal kingdom.

I have a specific reason to look forward to that part. The neighbors behind us and I share a back fence. We both have dogs, and we also have possums that visit. When one of those possums starts across, my dogs go nuts, then the neighbors' dog joins in, and there is this whole choir of barking. I cannot wait for the Messianic Age.

Look at what Isaiah 11:6-9 promises: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

That is the Millennial Kingdom, and you and I get to experience it.

5. Creation Is Partially Restored
The curse on creation is partially lifted in that age, which produces abundance, productivity, and renewal across the earth. Isaiah 35:1-7 speaks of deserts blooming and wilderness turning fertile, and that flourishing symbolizes the restoration of the natural world. Romans 8:18-22 shows the other side of it, creation groaning right now, crying out for liberation from the effects of sin.

6. People Live Long Lives and Real Prosperity Returns
People in the millennium will live long lives and enjoy unprecedented prosperity, though mortality still exists. This is renewal, not yet the final state. Isaiah 65:20-25 describes people reaching old age, enjoying the fruit of their own labor without fear, alongside that same peace running through nature.

7. The Nations Bring Tribute to Jesus in Jerusalem
Gentile nations will come to Jerusalem and pay tribute to Jesus. Zechariah 8:22 and the verses that follow describe many peoples from all nations seeking the Lord and asking to be led by the people of Israel. Psalm 22:27-28 anticipates the same outcome, all the nations turning to the Lord and acknowledging that He rules.

Where to Go From Here
Seven features, one direction. Jesus returns physically, God keeps His word to Israel, Jerusalem becomes the world's center, peace and righteousness govern the globe, creation begins to heal, life stretches long, and the nations bow.

Take the passages one at a time and read them for yourself. Zechariah 14, Isaiah 9, Ezekiel 36, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 35, Isaiah 65, and Zechariah 8 were written to be studied, not skimmed. And the next time you pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," know exactly what you are asking for.

This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson at our CityRise West U Baptist campus on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. Check out the full message below!

Dear Church Family,

We have had two tremendous nights of The AI Revolution, and I am grateful for the conversations that have continued well beyond our time together on Monday evenings. Tonight at 6:30P, we continue with Peter and Misty Phillip and a particularly timely topic: The Trojan Horse of The Digital Age: Why Christians Must Discern AI.

Peter and Misty bring years of experience at the intersection of technology, business, and faith. Tonight they will help us consider the importance of discernment as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in our lives, workplaces, churches, and culture.

If you are an entrepreneur, business leader, professional, or simply someone trying to understand these changes through the lens of faith, I hope you will join us in person at CityRise Bellaire. Come ready to learn, ask questions, meet others navigating many of the same issues, and continue building the kind of community we hoped these evenings would create.

And if you cannot be with us in person, join us live for free through GLU, the God Loves You Network. You can watch on your phone or tablet, or search for GLU on your smart TV or streaming device, download the app, and search for The AI Revolution.

We have only two nights remaining in this series. Whether you join us at Bellaire or through GLU, I hope you will be part of tonight’s conversation. And make sure to invite a friend, coworker, or someone in your professional network to join you!


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

Because you give, 28 students and seven adult leaders recently traveled to Belize for CityRise’s seventh-annual mission trip, continuing a long-standing relationship that has already produced incredible spiritual fruit.

For seven years, CityRise students and adults have traveled to Belize to lead Vacation Bible School and share the love of Christ with children and families. What makes this friendship especially meaningful is seeing how God has used these trips to create a lasting legacy in the local church.

At Ebenezer Evangelical Church, children who attended VBS seven years ago have grown up in their faith and are now serving the church themselves. Some of those same children who once sat and listened during VBS are now leading worship each Sunday. Their stories are a beautiful reminder that ministry is about more than what happens during one week—it is about investing in lives and watching God continue that work for years to come.

The team also expanded its reach this year by implementing a second VBS in a different town. This new opportunity allowed the team to support an additional church with which Pastor Pedro is connected, extending the impact of the trip to another community. Through VBS, the team was able to come alongside local believers and help them reach children and families in their area.

The Belize mission trip is a wonderful example of how giving to CityRise helps equip the next generation to live on mission. Students are not only learning about serving others; they are actively participating in God’s work around the world. At the same time, long-term collaboration with local churches provide opportunities for continued discipleship and ministry long after a mission team returns home. The students are making an eternal impact in Belize.

Dear Church Family,

We are halfway through The AI Revolution, and I am grateful for the response we have seen over these first two Monday nights.

More than 200 people have joined us in person each week, with hundreds more watching through the livestream and replays. While these numbers are great, it’s even more encouraging to witness conversations taking place—about artificial intelligence, certainly, but also about faith, leadership, work, humanity, and how followers of Jesus can approach such rapid technological change with wisdom rather than fear.

Lauren Jefferson, organizer and host of The AI Revolution, describes it this way:

“It has been remarkable to see CityRise engage so deeply with this topic. Dr. Jeff Frey and Dr. Tour have opened vital conversations about faith, technology, and humanity—shifting our focus toward discernment and Kingdom impact. I’m eager for everyone to join us for these final two nights.”

Dr. Jeff Frey opened the series on August 3 by helping us consider human intelligence, emotional intelligence, and wise leadership in an increasingly artificial world. This past Monday, Dr. James Tour brought the perspective of a renowned scientist and committed follower of Jesus to some of the larger questions surrounding technology, knowledge, and our understanding of the world.

One of our hopes for this series has also been to create a place where entrepreneurs, business leaders, professionals, and others navigating these changes can learn together, build relationships, and consider how emerging technology can be used thoughtfully and faithfully.

And we're not finished yet!

This coming Monday, August 17, Misty and Peter Phillip, founders of Trilogyworks and authors of The Trojan Horse of the Digital Age and Upskill or Die: Thriving in the AI Revolution, will help us think about digital transformation, discernment, and how Christians and the Church can engage a changing technological landscape rather than be left behind.

Then, on our final night, August 24, Dr. Laura Murray—a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, founder of CETA Global Inc., and Head of Global Mental Health at Google—will help us explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology, and mental health.

If you have not joined us yet, you haven't missed your opportunity. Bring a friend, coworker, or someone in your professional network. Bring your questions. Come ready to listen, learn, and continue the conversation.

And if you cannot be with us in person, you can join us live through GLU.

Artificial intelligence will continue to shape the ways we work, communicate, create, lead, and relate to one another. My hope is that these evenings help us become people who engage those changes with wisdom, discernment, and a desire to honor Christ in the opportunities before us.

I hope you will join us for these final two nights! Learn more at cityrise.org/ai.


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

The marriage supper of the Lamb is the wedding celebration described in Revelation 19, where Jesus the groom is joined to His church, the bride. If that language feels foreign, it is because almost none of us have been to a wedding like the one John's first readers had in mind. Understand how weddings worked in first-century Judaism and the passage opens up, starting with the price the groom paid.

Why the Bible Calls the Church the Bride of Christ
You and I in the church are called the bride of Christ. There is marriage language woven through the New Testament. When Paul writes in Ephesians 5 that husbands are to love their wives the way Christ loves the church, and that wives are to respect their husbands, he says plainly that he is speaking of a mystery, and that the mystery is Christ and the church.

So, the interchange between husband and wife on one hand and Christ and the church on the other is baked into the New Testament. Here in Revelation 19, that thread arrives at a wedding feast.

Weddings in first-century Judaism unfolded in three phases, and every phase tells you something about Jesus.

Phase One: The Covenant, the Dowry, and the Cup
The first phase was entering the covenant, the betrothal. We tend to read that as engagement, but it was more than engagement. The covenant actually got established.

Here is how it worked. The groom had to step up. He went to his bride-to-be's home, he had dinner with her father, and he brought a dowry for the right to take her hand in marriage.

I have two sons and a daughter, so let me tell you: if you want to marry my daughter, you had better bring a high price. Do not come with anything less than your best. There is no negotiation. If you want her hand in marriage, it is going to cost you a great deal.

So, what was the dowry Jesus paid? His own blood. He paid it to redeem us, to purchase us, and to enter into a covenant relationship with us.

After the covenant meal came the cup. There was a special chalice, probably the one a mother had set aside years earlier while telling her daughter she was not to touch it, because it had been set apart for this one purpose. They brought that chalice down, filled it with wine, and the groom and the bride both drank from the cup of the covenant.

Then the groom looked at her and said, "I am going away to prepare a place for you, and I will come again to receive you to myself, so that where I am you may be also." That is the same language Jesus uses in John 14 when He tells His disciples He goes to prepare a place for them.

Phase Two: The Groom Builds the Wedding Chamber
With the covenant established, the groom entered the second phase. He went home and began building the wedding chamber onto his father's house, constructing what would become their wing of the family home.

And you know that young man was eager. He was throwing it together as fast as he could. His father would walk in and say, stop. Start over. Understand what you are doing here. This is where your wife is going to live. We had better build this right. So, the father gave guidance while the son did the building, and he built it onto his father's house.

Here is the part that matters most. The son could not go get his bride until his father said so. It was not the groom's timetable. It was at the father's word. But when the father said, son, you are now ready, go get your bride, he sent out what amounted to a mass text message. All right, boys, get ready to roll. Bring your trumpets. Be ready to shout. Bring lamps. We are getting the bride tonight.

They often went in the middle of the night, to surprise her and sweep her off her feet. They shouted, they sounded trumpets, they sang, they rejoiced, and they marched through the town. People heard it and knew: somebody is getting married.

What Was the Bride Doing While She Waited?
It was never all on the groom. Once the covenant was established, the bride had responsibilities of her own.

Anytime she left the house, she wore a veil. That veil communicated something about her identity. It said, I am in a covenant relationship. I am set apart, I am taken, and I belong to another, someone who paid a high price to be in relationship with me. My wedding ring does the same work today. It tells anyone who looks that I am in a covenant relationship with my amazing bride.

She also had to stay ready. She kept her lamps ready in case he came at night, and she was making herself ready the entire time, because he could come at any moment.

Phase Three: The Wedding Feast
When the procession arrived, they whisked her away. The bride and groom went into the wedding chamber and consummated the marriage. The next morning, the wedding feast began.

It ran seven days. Seven days of singing, dancing, eating, drinking, feasting, and celebrating two families becoming one. This was the marriage supper, and for the families involved it was the highlight of their lives up to that point.

Why This Picture Matters
So, why walk through all of that? Because this is the picture the gospels teach.

We have a groom who paid a high price to enter into relationship with you and me, and He paid it with His own blood. He said, I am going to prepare a place for you, and I will come again and receive you to Myself. He told His disciples that in His Father's house are many rooms, that if it were not so He would have told them, and that He goes to prepare a place. One translation calls them mansions. I do not know what it will look like.

What I do know is the price. Jesus went to the cross and took the wrath of God upon Himself. The wrath stored up for sin was poured out on God's only Son. 2 Corinthians 5:21 puts it this way: He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. There is no better deal going in all the world.

We come by faith, receiving that gift. Yes, Lord, thank you that you paid this high price to be in covenant relationship with me. By His blood our sin is forgiven. Our trust rests in the cross and in the fact that He rose from the dead. And there is a coming celebration.

In the meantime, what is happening right now? You and I are delivered, veiled, set apart, waiting, expectant, trusting, and believing, knowing that the groom is coming for His bride at any point. And we are to make ourselves ready.

What Does "Fine Linen, Bright and Pure" Mean in Revelation 19:8?
One of the ways we make ourselves ready is right there in the text. Revelation 19:8 says, "It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints."

It is incredible to think about. The fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Did you know that you and I get to pick out our wedding attire for that great celebration?

Dr. G.K. Beale makes two observations about the bride's clothing here. First, it is fine linen, bright and pure, and the linen is identified as the righteous deeds of the saints. Second, the text notes that the bride has prepared herself. Beale reads that against the backdrop of ancient Jewish weddings, where after the betrothal, at which point the couple was already legally married, the bride continued living in her father's house and prepared herself while awaiting her husband's arrival at a future date to bring her to his house. The bride of the Lamb is clearly preparing herself for this extraordinary moment, and Beale notes that the white linen represents two matters bound tightly together: human faithfulness and good works on one side, and on the other, the vindication and acquittal accomplished by God's judgment against the enemy on behalf of His people.

Here is the idea. Because we have been acquitted by Jesus, because He paid the high price so that our sin would be forgiven through His death on the cross, we now live lives set apart to Him, given to good deeds that bring Him glory.

Saved to Serve, Never Saved to Sit
None of that is a back door to earning salvation. We have been saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves. It is the free gift of God, not the result of our work, so no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). But look at the very next verse. Ephesians 2:10 says we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He prepared in advance for us to do.

We are saved to serve. We were never saved just to sit. We serve the purposes of God in our families, on our streets, in our apartment complexes, in our dorm rooms, in the marketplace, at the office, in the classroom, and on the athletic fields.

As we do those good works, we are being fitted for something. That service is part of the adornment we will be wearing at the wedding feast.

Where to Go From Here
The marriage supper of the Lamb is the celebration a covenant has been moving toward all along. A groom came, paid a high price with His own blood, and promised to return and receive His bride to Himself.

If you have received that gift by faith, you are part of that bride. The covenant is established. The place is being prepared. The word will come from the Father. And in the meantime, you get to make yourself ready, which happens through the good works He prepared in advance for you to do.

So, the question is a practical one: what good work has God already put in front of you, right where you live and work and study, that you could take up this week?

This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson at our CityRise Bellaire campus on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026. Check out the full message below!

Dear Church Family,

What a great beginning we had last Monday night to The AI Revolution! I am grateful for everyone who joined us at CityRise Bellaire and those who watched online as Dr. Jeff Frey helped us begin this month of important conversations.

Tonight at 6:30P, we continue with our own Dr. James Tour who will speak on Building New AI Computational Devices and the Downstream Moral Implications.

Dr. Tour will explore the development of new AI computational devices and the moral implications that may follow—questions that invite followers of Jesus to think carefully about wisdom, responsibility, and faithful engagement with rapidly advancing technology.

I hope you will join us tonight at CityRise Bellaire. One of our goals for these evenings is not only to learn together, but also to build community among entrepreneurs, business leaders, professionals, and others who are navigating these changes in their work and leadership. Come ready to listen, ask questions, and connect with others who are thinking seriously about many of the same opportunities and challenges.

And remember, you do not have to be in the room to be part of the conversation! The AI Revolution will again be livestreamed tonight for free through GLU, the God Loves You Network app. Watch from your phone, tablet, or TV.

Whether you join us at Bellaire or through GLU, I hope you will be part of tonight’s conversation—and consider inviting a friend, coworker, or fellow business leader to join you.


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

Because you give, fourteen members of CityRise had the opportunity to serve in Honduras earlier this summer, bringing both compassionate medical care and the hope of the gospel to hundreds of people.

Throughout the week, our team collaborated with local ministries to host a medical clinic and Vacation Bible School, meeting both physical and spiritual needs in the community. While medicine opened the door to conversations and care, prayer remained at the heart of every interaction, as patients were reminded that doctors treat illnesses, but God is the ultimate healer. Throughout the week, doctors witnessed moments of peace, hope, and healing that could only be attributed to God's presence. Each patient who came through the clinic was not only treated medically, but was also prayed for by members of the team, reminding them that God sees them, knows them, and cares deeply about every part of their lives.

By the end of the trip, more than 640 people had received medical attention through the clinic. For many, this was a rare opportunity to receive healthcare, encouragement, and prayer all in one place. Whether providing medicine, listening to stories, or offering a simple word of hope, our team witnessed firsthand how God works through acts of compassion to draw people to Himself.

At the same time, the team welcomed 530 children to Vacation Bible School, where they experienced the love of Christ through Bible lessons, worship, games, and fun activities. The laughter and excitement throughout the week created opportunities for meaningful conversations about God's love and the life-changing hope found in Jesus.

Most importantly, God moved in powerful ways. During the week, 22 people made decisions to place their faith in Christ. We celebrate each of these salvations, knowing that every number represents a person whose life has been forever changed by the gospel.

Dear Church Family,

August in Houston may not feel like fall is any closer, but the rhythms of the next season are certainly beginning. Students are returning to school in Houston on Monday, regular gatherings across our ministries will recommence in the near future, and many of us are reconnecting with neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and friends after the summer.

This time of year gives us a natural opportunity to cultivate a stronger culture of invitation.

When Philip told Nathanael about Jesus, Nathanael responded with skepticism. Philip did not argue with him or try to answer every question. He simply said, “Come and see” (John 1:46).

We might sometimes assume that people aren’t interested in church or that they’ll just come when they’re ready. Yet many people are waiting for someone they know and trust to invite them. A sincere invitation can open a door for someone who is searching for community, returning to church after time away, or beginning to ask deeper questions about faith.

An invitation is also about more than asking someone to attend a service. It means making room for them: offering to meet them when they arrive, sitting with them, introducing them to others, helping them feel at home. Christian hospitality begins before a guest enters the building and continues long after the service ends.

Our Fall Kickoff will be an especially good opportunity to extend that kind of invitation. On Sunday, August 16 at our West U Baptist and Bellaire campuses, we will gather in the gyms during Community Group meeting times to celebrate the season ahead, connect with one another, and learn more about Community Groups, serving opportunities, discipleship, and the many ways we can participate in the life of our church.

At Bellaire
9:30A & 11:00A • Bellaire Gym

At West U Baptist
9:45A • West U Baptist Gym

Prayerfully consider one person you could invite. It may be a neighbor, a coworker, another parent from school, someone new to Houston, or someone you haven’t seen at church in a while.

You don’t need the perfect words. You can simply say, “Come with me and see.”
Let’s be a church family known for noticing people, opening doors, making room, and inviting others to come and see what Jesus is doing.


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger


P.S. Make sure to join us this Monday evening (at CityRise Bellaire or online through the GLU app) for the second night of The AI Revolution with Dr. James Tour and his topic, Building New AI Computational Devices and the Downstream Moral Implications. Learn more at cityrise.org/ai.

Who will be in heaven? According to Revelation 7:9, a crowd so large that no one can count it, gathered from every nation and from all tribes and peoples and languages, "standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands."

If you have ever quietly wondered whether the story of Jesus was really meant for people like you, whether your language or your background or your corner of the world sat somewhere outside its reach, this verse is the answer. The crowd John sees is not narrow. It is global.

A Crowd No One Could Number
Look at the language in that verse. Every tribe, every nation, every people, every language. This is not casual phrasing. Seven different times in the book of Revelation you find this same pattern of all tribes, all peoples, all languages, and all nations. The order shifts, but the pattern holds. Seven times, because we are meant to understand something about the reach of the gospel. It goes to all the nations.

Jesus said as much in Matthew 24:14, that the gospel would go out to all the nations, and then the end would come.

So, the gospel has gone out. Many have been saved from all over the world. Every ethnic group, every language group, and every category of human identity will be found around that throne.

Babel Was the Original Fracture
What makes this scene remarkable is what happened in the first book of the Bible.
At a place later called Babel, people gathered to build a tower up to heaven so they could be like God. They had one common language, and they used that unity to rebel. Genesis 11:1 records that "the whole earth had one language and the same words." Then verses 8 and 9: "So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth."

This is where God scatters the nations. He changes their languages as an act of judgment. From that day forward there have been language barriers, ethnic divisions, and cultural struggles. Babel was the original fracture.

Revelation 7 Is That Fracture Permanently Healed
Revelation 7:9 is the image of Babel undone.

Ephesians 2:14 says that Christ breaks down the dividing walls of hostility through the cross. That is why people from all over the world, and right here in our own homeland, can gather together as one in Christ now, in spite of cultural divisions and language barriers. The reason is Christ's cross, which reconciles us to Himself.

What we experience in part now becomes permanent there. Every language that was divided at Babel stands together before the throne, not silenced, but unified in one declaration. Notice what they say: "Salvation belongs to our God."

Will We Still Have Our Own Languages and Cultures in Heaven?
Yes. That is what makes the scene so striking.
John does not see a crowd that has been flattened into sameness. He sees people from different languages. The multitude is not homogeneous. There is a beauty gathered around that throne, distinct peoples still recognizable as themselves, all of them saying the same thing about the same God.

The Promise God Made to Abraham Ends Here
This scene is also the fulfillment of a promise made to one man in a tent. Genesis 12:3 says, "and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Revelation 7 is where that promise lands. Gathered around the throne, people from every language, tribe, tongue, and people group stand there as descendants of Abraham.

That is no accident. It was the plan from the very beginning, because God made a promise, and He cannot and will not break His promises.

Who Can Stand? Look at the Posture of the Crowd
Revelation 6 ends with a question that hangs in the air: who can stand?

Then notice the posture of this multitude. They are standing before the throne. They are not cowering from the wrath of the Lamb. They stand before the throne of grace in white robes with palms in the air.

What Are You Doing With the Time You Have?
That posture raises a question for the rest of us. What are we doing with the time we have on this earth to advance the story of Jesus and the Great Commission, so that other people would come to know Him? People from every language, tribe, tongue, and nation.

What are we doing with our lives so that our friends, our family members, our neighbors, and our coworkers can also stand?

Are we giving our time to go on mission? Are we supporting the missionaries who have been sent out from us, making sure they have the resources, the encouragement, and the prayer they need? Are we participating in these things with the time God has given us, or are we leaving our talent buried and quietly assuming somebody else will get it done?
We have a window of time. The gospel goes to all the nations, and then the end will come. Let us use the time we have.

Romans 10:14-15 presses the same point. How can they hear unless someone goes, and how can anyone go unless they are sent? How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. Your effort matters. Being a partner in the Great Commission matters.

Why Missions Will One Day Be Finished
John Piper, in his book Let the Nations Be Glad, argues that missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. As he puts it, "missions exists because worship does not." He grounds that in the nature of God rather than the ambition of people, and he says that when this age is over and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. Worship abides forever.

Where to Go From Here
Who will be in heaven? A crowd too big to count, from every nation, tribe, and language, standing in white robes before the Lamb.

What a privilege we have in this season, in this fascinating moment in the history of the world, to advance the gospel of Jesus. It is a global crowd gathered around that throne, and the people in your life can be part of it.

So, give your time to going, to sending, to supporting the missionaries already sent, and to praying for the friends, family members, neighbors, and coworkers you want standing in that crowd.

This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson at our CityRise West U Baptist campus on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. Check out the full message below!

Dear Church Family,

Tonight at 6:30P, we begin The AI Revolution: Four Nights with Global Experts on Technology, Mind, and Faith at CityRise Church | Bellaire.

Opening this series will be Dr. Jeff Frey with Human Intelligence in an Artificial World: AI, Emotional Intelligence, and Leading with Wisdom in a Changing World. Dr. Frey will invite us to look beyond the technology itself and consider how wisdom, emotional intelligence, and faithful leadership can help us navigate the changes already emerging around us.

I would love for you to join us in person tonight at CityRise Bellaire, but I especially want to make sure you know that tonight’s event—and every night of The AI Revolution—will be livestreamed free on mobile devices and TV through GLU, the God Loves You Network!

You can easily watch on your phone using the link below to download the GLU app:

Alternatively, for TVs and other streaming devices, search in your device’s app store for “GLU God Loves You,” download the GLU app, and search for “The AI Revolution” or our CityRise GLU channel.

Each night of The AI Revolution is also designed as a standalone event, so you are welcome to attend whichever sessions fit your schedule. Plus, the series is free and open to everyone, so consider inviting a coworker, friend, neighbor, or family member to attend or watch with you.

For the complete schedule, speaker information, frequently asked questions, and other event details, visit cityrise.org/ai.

I hope you will join us tonight, whether in person or through GLU!


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

Because you give, lives were transformed in a remote region of Zambia through the faithful service of a mission team from CityRise. Eleven members of CityRise joined three team members from Judea Harvest to bring the hope of the gospel and the love of Christ to a community where access to medical care and biblical teaching is limited.

Throughout the trip, the team had the opportunity to serve both the physical and spiritual needs of the people they encountered. They hosted a medical clinic that cared for hundreds of individuals while also sharing the message of salvation with every person who came. In total, 332 people received medical treatment and heard the gospel, opening the door for conversations that pointed them toward the hope found in Jesus.

At the same time, the team led Vacation Bible School for local children, creating a joyful environment filled with worship, Bible lessons, games, and activities. More than 450 children attended VBS, where they learned about God's love in a fun and engaging way. Seeds of faith were planted in young hearts that will continue to be nurtured by local believers long after the team returned home.

God moved powerfully throughout the week. Forty-two people made professions of faith in Christ and three new believers publicly declared their faith through baptism. These decisions represent changed lives and the beginning of new journeys of discipleship within the local church.

One encounter especially reminded the team of God's perfect timing and relentless pursuit of every individual. A man suffering from medical needs and demonic oppression heard that the mission team was coming to the area. Determined to find help, he walked five hours to reach the clinic. There, the team was able to care for him medically, pray with him, and share the hope and freedom found in Christ. Before leaving, they connected him with local church leaders who will continue walking alongside him through discipleship and ongoing care. It was a powerful reminder that no one is beyond God's reach and that He often prepares hearts long before His people arrive.

There were more impactful stories from the trip from team members: "While packing prescriptions prior to the clinic opening, I told Justin that I felt nervous about sharing the gospel for the first time, even though I really wanted to. I felt afraid I would mess up. Justin told me that was the devil talking so he and Rynie prayed with me. I also prayed to God that He speak through me and the result was I gave the believers prayer five times that first day. The first time I'm leading the prayer, I'm holding in the tears, thinking 'is this really happening? Did I lead someone to Christ? No I didn't; God did.'

"Everywhere I go, I try to learn the language. The Lozi language is very hard to find, but I found how to say 'God loves you,' which is 'mulimu wa mi lata.' I would say this to everyone in the gospel sharing tent. Even when there wasn't a connection with some people, I would say that to them and their eyes would light up and they'd smile. There is the hope that saying that planted a seed in their heart to turn to Jesus."

Another team member says, "The Lord blessed me to extend His healing touch upon many of His people using my medical knowledge. I had a great opportunity to share the gospel with so many. The Lord blessed me to baptize a middle aged lady, which was beyond my comprehension; I was absolutely overwhelmed by this blessing. Now the Lord is using me to take me to places to serve His people. This is my passion now until I can no longer do it physically."

Dear Church Family,

One of the joys within a season like this is seeing our Lord working through our prayers, planning, and generosity and seeing things take visible shape.

Pathways has always been about more than construction. As we move toward CityRise’s 100th birthday in 2028 and our next century of ministry, this three-year generosity journey is helping us honor the past, extend the gospel, and create lasting ministry impact. This summer, we have seen encouraging progress across several of our campuses.

At CityRise Bellaire, we have presented our proposed landscape improvement project to the city’s ZBA and are now awaiting its decision, which we expect in mid-August. Please pray that the Lord would grant favor, give wisdom to the city officials considering the plans, and clear the way for this project to move forward.
 
At CityRise Missouri City, work inside the main building is nearing completion as we prepare to worship in the new space this September. Construction on the parking lot has also begun, bringing us another step closer to making the expanded campus ready to welcome and serve our growing church family.
 
And at CityRise West U Baptist, construction on the Milton Street parking lot is well underway. We are also working to secure the remaining approvals for the Amherst Street project, which will expand our parking and provide a new playground for our preschool ministry.

It is encouraging to see these projects moving from being plans on paper to visible progress! We are grateful for every individual and family who has prayed, made a commitment, and faithfully given toward Pathways. As David prayed, everything we offer ultimately comes from the Lord and belongs to Him (1 Chronicles 29:16).

There is still an opportunity to join us. You can learn more, make a commitment, or give toward your Pathways commitment at cityrise.org/pathways.

Before I close, let me offer one final invitation to The AI Revolution: Four Nights with Global Experts on Technology, Mind, and Faith.

Artificial intelligence is already shaping the way we work, learn, communicate, create, lead, and care for one another. These conversations will help us approach those changes with wisdom, discernment, and faith. The series is open to the public, so please consider inviting a coworker, neighbor, student, business leader, educator, or family member to join you.

Beginning this coming Monday, August 3, we will gather for four free Monday evenings at 6:30P at CityRise Bellaire. Our guests will include Dr. Jeff Frey, Dr. James Tour, Peter and Misty Phillip, and Dr. Laura Murray. Learn more about our amazing speakers and the topics they will address at cityrise.org/ai.

Thank you for continuing to pray, give, serve, and prepare the way for the ministry God has placed before us.

We’ll see you on Sunday, Church Family!


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

Have you ever wondered whether you could waste your life, even while doing everything right? It's an uncomfortable question, but according to the Bible, it's one everyone will eventually answer. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:10 that every believer will one day stand before what Scripture calls the judgment seat of Christ, and what gets evaluated there might surprise you. It's not a courtroom deciding whether you go to heaven. It's an inspection of what you actually did with the life you were given, and that life can still count as wasted even if you never did anything you would call sinful.

Will Christians Be Judged for Their Works?
Yes, according to 2 Corinthians 5:10, which says that everyone must appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each person may receive what is due for what they have done, whether good or bad. Three words in that verse carry the weight of the whole idea.

The first is all. There is no exemption for seniority, title, reputation, or years of faithful service. The apostle Paul stands before that judgment seat. A brand new believer stands there too. Nobody skips the line.

The second is each. This is not a group evaluation. It is not a review of how well a generation of believers performed collectively, or how any single church or movement did. Each person gives an account individually, for their own life.

The third is bad, and it's the word most people misread. In the Greek, this is not the word for moral evil. It's the word phaulos, which means worthless, of no account, without lasting substance. So, at this evaluation, the question isn't whether you were a criminal. The question is whether you invested in anything that actually mattered. That reframes everything. This is not a virtue versus vice test. It's a test of substance versus a hollow life.

Paul's application, in the verse just before this one, isn't fear. In 2 Corinthians 5:9, he writes that whether at home or away, believers make it their aim to please Him. The phrase carries a competitive edge in the original language, describing an ambition to please Christ the way someone chases a goal they genuinely care about. Knowing his life would be evaluated didn't paralyze Paul with anxiety. It gave him a clear, purposeful reason to live well.

What the Parable of the Talents Reveals About Wasted Potential
Jesus told a story in Matthew 25 that pictures exactly this kind of evaluation. A master goes on a journey and entrusts money to three servants before he leaves: five talents to one, two to another, and one to the last. A single talent in that culture represented roughly twenty years of wages, so even the servant who received the least was trusted with a fortune.

When the master returns, he inspects what each servant did with what they were given. The first two had invested what they received and doubled it, and each one hears the same response: well done, come and share your master's joy. The third servant did nothing. He buried what he was given and returned it exactly as he received it, then blamed the master for being too demanding to risk anything for. He wasted an opportunity most people would consider life-changing, out of fear and neglect rather than any active wrongdoing.

Scripture elsewhere puts it plainly, in Hosea 4:6: people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Not necessarily for wickedness, but for failing to learn, grow, and actually use what they were given. That's the danger in the parable. The third servant wasn't corrected for committing a crime. He was corrected for wasting an opportunity through neglect.

What You Build Will Be Tested by Fire
1 Corinthians 3:12-13 adds another layer to this picture. Paul writes that whether someone builds their life with gold, silver, and precious stones, or with wood, hay, and straw, a day is coming when fire will test the quality of what they built and reveal it for what it truly is.

Fireproof materials like gold and silver don't fear the fire. They come through it purified, more valuable than before. These represent the parts of a life built by God's grace, for God's glory, with right motives. Wood, hay, and straw are different. Fire doesn't refine them. It consumes them. Here's the part that catches people off guard: these aren't necessarily sinful things. They can be sincere, busy, even outwardly religious activities done for self-promotion, human applause, or without any lasting spiritual weight. A person can stay extremely busy doing good-sounding things and still be building with the wrong materials.

The New Testament scholar Gordon Fee makes an important observation about this passage. The fire here isn't a purifying punishment that drags on. It's a single, all-revealing disclosure that shows the true quality of what was built, all at once. The test is never about how much someone did. It's about what kind of work it actually was.

Can You Be Saved and Still Suffer Loss?
According to 1 Corinthians 3:15, yes. Paul writes that if someone's work is burned up, they will suffer loss, though they themselves will be saved, but only as one who has come through fire. The salvation isn't in question. What can be lost is everything that person spent their life building on top of that foundation.

Charles Spurgeon described it as being like a man pulled alive from a burning building. He survives, but everything he thought was permanent and valuable is gone.

My brother told me about his father-in-law, Fred, who fell asleep for an afternoon nap while workers were doing electrical repairs in the house. A spark reached the insulation in the attic, and the house caught fire. Fred woke up in time to get out safely, but by the time it was over, plenty of things the family had treasured for years were ruined. The house didn't burn to the ground and could be repaired, but plenty was lost that would never be replaced.

That's the picture. The foundation, faith in Christ, holds. The person is safe. But what they built on top of that foundation, chasing their own agenda instead of His, can still be lost in a moment.

Living With Purpose Instead of Fear
None of this is meant to produce dread. The goal isn't to leave you anxious about a future evaluation you can't control. The goal is clarity. Every gift, every skill, every relationship, and every opportunity you've been given is meant to be invested, not buried out of fear or neglect.

You already have something worth investing. A story of change in your own life. A desire to help someone else. A skill nobody else in your circle has. The question the parable of the talents and the judgment seat of Christ both raise isn't whether you're a good person. It's whether you're actually using what you were given, or setting it aside out of fear, distraction, or your own agenda.

The day is coming when the quality of what you built will be tested. Some of it will hold. Some of it won't. That shouldn't paralyze you. It should focus you, the same way it focused Paul, on living with a clear, purposeful aim to please the One who gave you everything you have in the first place.

This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson at our CityRise West U Baptist campus on Sunday, July 26, 2026. Check out the full message below!

Exciting progress is happening across our CityRise campuses through our Pathways initiative! Every step forward represents more than construction—it represents creating welcoming spaces where people can encounter Jesus, build community, and grow in their faith for years to come.

This summer has been filled with important milestones, and we are grateful to share how God continues to open doors.

At our Bellaire campus, we recently reached an encouraging milestone by successfully passing the first hurdle in the city's approval process at the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing. While there are still important votes ahead, we are thankful for this positive step toward our landscape improvement project. Please continue praying with us that God would grant wisdom to city leaders and continue clearing the way for this project to move forward smoothly.

At our Missouri City campus, the vision is becoming reality as the building continues to take shape. Fresh paint is going on the walls, new flooring is being installed, and beautiful tile work is transforming the interior spaces. Outside, work is also ramping up as excavation begins for the new parking lot. With construction gaining momentum, we're excited to see these spaces come together to better serve our church family and the surrounding community.

Meanwhile, at West U Baptist, construction on the Milton parking lot is well underway, providing much-needed parking improvements. At the same time, we are working to secure final approvals for the Amherst portion of the project, which includes expanding parking and building a brand-new preschool playground. These improvements will help us better welcome families and create safe, engaging spaces for children to learn, play, and experience God's love.

Every milestone is possible because of the faithful support of people like you. Your generosity is helping prepare our campuses to serve future generations, strengthen our ministries, and create places where lives will continue to be transformed by the gospel.

Thank you to everyone who has already committed to the Pathways initiative. If you haven't yet had the opportunity to join us, there's still time to be part of what God is doing. We invite you to learn more about the vision and make your commitment by visiting cityrise.org/pathways.

Dear Church Family,

As summer begins to wind down and the fall semester draws closer, returning to familiar routines is not that far on the horizon. Schools will reopen, ministry calendars will fill, and our campuses will once again become busy with children, students, families, guests, and neighbors.

This is a good time to prayerfully consider where God may be inviting each of us to serve.

Serving is one of the ways we follow the example of Jesus, care for one another, live the gospel, and use the gifts God has entrusted to us. As Peter reminds us, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace” (1 Peter 4:10).

This may mean continuing in a place where you have served faithfully for years. For others, it may mean returning after a season away or even taking a first step into something new.

As fall approaches, there will be meaningful opportunities to serve in ministry areas such as Kids, Students, ESL, Hospitality, Audio/Video, and many other areas across CityRise. These roles are different, but each one helps create an environment where people can encounter Jesus, grow in community, and feel welcomed.

I encourage you to pray about where the Lord may be leading you. You don’t need to have everything figured out before responding! Our CityRise Serve form is simply a way to let us know where you may be interested and to begin a conversation with one of our ministry leaders.

Speaking of serving and ministry, we are grateful for members of our church family who have been serving beyond our city throughout the summer. A mission team is currently ministering in Germany, and another team will travel to London tomorrow. I will be preaching at our West U Batist campus this Sunday and flying out to join them afterward. Please pray for safe travel, unity, wisdom, and fruitful opportunities to share the love and hope of the gospel of Christ.

Whether across an ocean or across a hallway, God uses willing people to accomplish His purposes. May each of us remain attentive to the places He has prepared for us to serve.

Have a great weekend, Church Family!


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

Most of what you build in this life will not survive you. The career, the house, the accounts you have worked to grow, all of it eventually passes to someone else or simply fades. So, the real question is not how much you can accumulate, but what you can actually keep. Jesus put it plainly: store up treasure for yourselves in heaven. Not treasure that depreciates. Not treasure someone else can take. Treasure that lasts.

What Does It Mean to Store Up Treasures in Heaven?
Paul picks up the same idea in his letter to Timothy, urging believers to "do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share," thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life (1 Timothy 6:18-19). The phrase sounds abstract until you ask a simple follow up question: if you made a list of everything in this life that actually lasts forever, what would be on it? Not much. Nothing material survives. What lasts is spiritual, namely the soul. That reframes the whole idea. Storing up treasures in heaven is not religious activity for its own sake. It is investing in the one thing that outlives everything else: people's souls.

The Story Jesus Told About a House That Would Not Stay Empty
Jesus illustrated this with a story in Luke 14:15-24. A man once threw a great banquet and invited many guests, then sent word that everything was ready. One by one, the invited guests made excuses. One had just bought a field and needed to inspect it. Another had just bought oxen and needed to test them. A third had just gotten married and could not be bothered. Every excuse was tied to something ordinary, a purchase, a job, a relationship, and every excuse cost that guest a seat at the table.

When the host heard the excuses, he did not cancel the banquet. He sent his servant into the streets and lanes of the city to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Even after that, the servant reported there was still more room. So, the host sent him out again, this time to the highways and hedges, with instructions to compel people to come in so that the house would be full.

That last detail is the point of the whole story. The host wants a full house. That is God's heart for heaven. He does not want empty seats. So, when Jesus talks about storing up treasure in heaven, He is describing the work of filling that house, of getting more people into it.

Why Evangelism Is the Real Treasure
That is the center of this teaching. The number one way to store up treasure in heaven is to invest in the things that get more people into heaven. Not generosity for its own sake, not religious performance, but the actual work of introducing people to Jesus. Serving, giving, and teaching only count as treasure in heaven when they move someone closer to knowing Him.

How to Actually Store Up Treasures in Heaven
The idea can stay theoretical unless it gets specific. Here is what that looks like in practice.
Start with the people already around you. Spend intentional time with your neighbors and coworkers, not as a project, but as a relationship, so that sharing the gospel with them becomes natural rather than forced. It is worth asking honestly whether you actually know the people next door, or whether the only interaction you have is watching a garage door go up and down.

Consider starting a small Bible study or prayer group where you already spend your time, including at work. One man moved to a new city, took a job at a manufacturing plant, and after a couple of weeks asked his boss if he could start a short prayer group before the shift began. The boss said yes. A group of coworkers started showing up 45 minutes early, and over time some of them came to know Christ.

Serve together as a family through a local mission partner rather than defaulting to a normal Saturday routine. Taking even one Saturday a month to serve locally, whether that means supporting refugees, helping single parents, or working alongside an anti-poverty ministry, turns an ordinary weekend into something that outlasts it.

If you have young children, consider supporting a child overseas through a reputable child sponsorship program. It gives your own kids a tangible connection to someone their age in a different part of the world, and an early picture of what it means to care about someone else's relationship with Jesus.

Closer to home, teach a class, disciple one person, or simply invest consistently in your local church. None of these require a platform or a title. They require showing up for people.

Where to Go From Here
Nothing material survives you. Not the accounts, not the house, not the career. The only thing you own that will actually outlive you is the impact you have on another person's soul. That is what Jesus meant by storing up treasure in heaven, and it is available to anyone willing to spend their time, attention, and relationships on getting more people through that door.

This blog is based on the message shared by Campus Pastor Ben Hays at our CityRise West U Baptist campus on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Check out the full message below!