Dear Church Family,

Last week, I encouraged you to stay connected over the summer. With changing schedules, travel, and all the good activity this time of year can bring, it’s easy to drift from the steady rhythms that help keep us grounded in worship, community, and spiritual growth.

Along those same lines, I also want to mention a powerful and visually striking film releasing in theaters next Thursday, April 30 called The Story of Everything: The Science that Reveals a Mind Behind the Universe. The film explores the order and wonder of creation, and our own Dr. James Tour is featured in it (along with John Lennox, Dr. Stephen Meyer, Peter Thiel, Brian Keating, amongst many others). As Dr. Tour shared with me, this could be a meaningful film for anyone with children or grandchildren heading to universities, for anyone who knows someone who is persuaded that science points away from God, or for anyone trying to think more clearly about the relationship between faith and science.

You can watch the trailer below, then visit thestoryofeverything.film for showtimes, locations, and tickets (even for groups). It will only be in theaters for one week initially, though if it performs really well, they may push for a second week.

Thankfully, the God who speaks through the vastness of creation is not distant from our tiny placement in the universe. He is at work all across this planet, drawing people to Himself through the gospel of Jesus. At CityRise, we are grateful to be part of that work through strategic partnerships, ongoing prayer, generous giving, and many opportunities to go.

With that in mind, I encourage you to visit cityrise.org/missions this week.

There, you’ll find upcoming mission trips, missions-focused gatherings, and training opportunities that can help you take a further step. Whether that means learning through one of the UBA Missions Cohort Trainings, exploring opportunities presented through the MedAdvance conference in Florida, or considering the Zambia mission trip coming July 2–12, there are practical, specific ways to generously give the gospel of Jesus Christ and even learn how to do it effectively.

We are thankful for partners like the Union Baptist Association (UBA), the North American Mission Board (NAMB), and the International Mission Board (IMB), which help strengthen and expand gospel-sharing ministry in so many different ways. Through these partnerships and others, our church family has opportunities to give and pray as well as learn, prepare, and go.

Perhaps the summer is a season for you to pray more intentionally for the nations; perhaps it’s a time to explore how the Lord might use your gifts, profession, generosity, or even your willingness to go. However He leads, let’s remain a church family connected and ready to say yes here and everywhere.

We’ll see you on Sunday, Church Family.


Expecting Greater,
Pastor Roger

P.S. Those of you attending CityRise Bellaire this coming Sunday, I hope you’re as excited as we are to install Pastor Tim Yeager as our new Bellaire Campus Pastor. Give Tim and his family some love and encouragement this weekend!