Israel has finally reached the edge of the land God promised to Abraham generations earlier.

The spies return with evidence that the land is everything God promised. But they also report fortified cities and powerful inhabitants. Ten spies become convinced that Israel cannot overcome what lies ahead. Joshua and Caleb see the same obstacles, but their confidence comes from somewhere else: “The Lord is with us.”

In Week 6 of The Story, John Gunter explores how fear changed Israel's view of both their circumstances and God's faithfulness. Instead of remembering the God who delivered them from Egypt, brought them through the sea, provided for them in the wilderness, and led them to the land, they focused on what they believed they could accomplish on their own.

Their decision had consequences. Forty years later, a new generation stands ready to enter the land.

Moses' message to them isn't that the road ahead will be easy. It's that they will not travel it alone:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear...for it is the Lord your God who goes with you.”

Fear itself does not mean we have no faith. The question is what we do when fear comes. Will we measure the situation only by what we believe we can handle, or will we remember the God who has been faithful and who goes before us?

The obstacles may be real. But God is with us.

Key Scriptures: Numbers 13:26-33; Numbers 14:1-11; Deuteronomy 8:2-5; Deuteronomy 31:6-8

Series: The Story
Week 6: God Goes Before You
Speaker: John Gunter

Eagle Community Church of Christ
Mont Belvieu, Texas

Loving God. Loving People. Following Jesus.

After more than 400 years in Egypt, Israel is finally free. But God did not rescue His people simply to remove them from slavery.

He tells them at Mount Sinai, “I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.”

In Week 5 of The Story, John Gunter explores what happens as Israel learns to live as God's people. God establishes His covenant with them, calls them His treasured possession and a holy nation, and gives them the Ten Commandments. These commands show Israel what life with God should look like, both in their relationship with Him and in the way they treat one another.

But Israel quickly struggles to remain faithful. While Moses is on the mountain, the people build a golden calf and credit it with the deliverance God Himself accomplished.

Even after their rebellion, God reveals His character to Moses as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Moses pleads for God's presence to remain with Israel, and by the end of Exodus, God's glory fills the tabernacle and He dwells among His people.

Israel's story reminds us that grace and obedience belong together. We do not obey God to earn His rescue. We respond in obedience because of what God has already done for us.

From Eden to the tabernacle and throughout the rest of Scripture, God's desire remains the same: God wants to be with His people.

Key Scriptures: Exodus 19:2-6; Exodus 20:1-17; Exodus 32:1-8; Exodus 34:4-9; Exodus 40:34-38

Series: The Story
Week 5: Brought to God
Speaker: John Gunter

Eagle Community Church of Christ
Mont Belvieu, Texas

Loving God. Loving People. Following Jesus.

What happens when God answers your prayer, but the answer doesn't look like you expected?

After generations in Egypt, the Israelites cried out under the weight of slavery. God heard their cries, remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and called Moses to lead His people to freedom.

Through the plagues, the Passover, and the crossing of the Red Sea, God demonstrated His power and faithfulness. But Israel soon discovered that being delivered by God did not mean the journey would be easy.

They faced Pharaoh's army. They became hungry and thirsty. They complained about their circumstances and even wondered whether they would have been better off in Egypt.

Yet they were still exactly where God had led them.

In Week 4 of The Story, John Gunter explores the tension between what we experience in the Lower Story and what God is accomplishing in the Upper Story. We don't always understand God's timing or where He is leading us. Difficult circumstances do not necessarily mean we have taken a wrong turn.

In fact, we can be living inside an answered prayer and still have days where we question what God is doing.

God hears. God sees. God knows. And when He calls us to walk through an open door, we can move forward in faith even when we cannot see how the journey will unfold.

The journey may not be easy, but God is faithful.

Key Scriptures: Exodus 2:23-25; Exodus 3:7-12; Exodus 6:6-8; Exodus 12:21-32; Exodus 14:10-31; Exodus 16:2-15

Series: The Story
Week 4: The Journey Isn’t Always Easy
Speaker: John Gunter

Eagle Community Church of Christ
Mont Belvieu, Texas

Loving God. Loving People. Following Jesus.

God called Abraham to leave his country and go to a land He would show him. There was only one problem: Abraham didn't know where he was going.

Then God promised to make a great nation through Abraham and Sarah. There was another problem: they had no children, and years continued to pass.

In Week 2 of The Story, John Gunter follows Abraham's journey from uncertainty and impatience to a growing trust in the faithfulness of God. Abraham asks questions. Abraham and Sarah try to help God's plan along through Hagar. Yet God remains faithful to what He promised.

By Genesis 22, Abraham has learned something through those years of waiting. When asked to offer Isaac, the son through whom God promised to build a nation, Abraham still doesn't understand what God is doing. But now he trusts that God can accomplish what seems impossible.

His answer is simple: “God will provide.”

Faith does not require us to know the how, when, or why. It calls us to trust the God who has proven Himself faithful and take the next step He places before us.

Scripture: Genesis 12–35; Hebrews 11:8, 17-19
Series: The Story
Week 2: Trusting God When You Can't See the Way

Eagle Community Church of Christ
Mont Belvieu, Texas

Loving God. Loving People. Following Jesus.

What do you do when you cannot understand what God is doing?

Joseph's story is filled with dramatic highs and lows. His brothers turn against him and sell him into slavery. He finds success in Potiphar's house, only to be falsely accused and thrown into prison. Eventually, Joseph stands before Pharaoh and rises to a position of authority over Egypt.

Throughout every change in Joseph's circumstances, one truth remains: the Lord was with him.

In Week 3 of The Story, Sherard Romar follows Joseph's journey and reminds us that God's work is often difficult to recognize while we are living through it. Joseph eventually understood that God had used his journey to put him in a position to preserve his family during the famine.

We may not understand the chapter we're living in right now, but God sees the whole story. We don't have to know everything God has planned in order to follow Him, trust Him, and believe that He is with us.

Our greatest hope is not simply that God will change our circumstances. Our hope is Jesus Christ, who saves us, walks with us, forgives us, and gives us eternal life.

Key Scriptures: Proverbs 3:5-6; Genesis 37–45; Hebrews 13:5; Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 41:10; Romans 8:38-39

Series: The Story
Week 3: The Lord Was With Him
Speaker: Sherard Romar

Eagle Community Church of Christ
Mont Belvieu, Texas

Loving God. Loving People. Following Jesus.

The Story begins where everything begins: “In the beginning, God.”

In Week 1 of our journey through The Story, John Gunter explores creation, the fall, Cain and Abel, and Noah. God creates humanity in His image and provides everything they need, yet humanity chooses its own wisdom instead of trusting Him. Sin enters the world and quickly spreads, bringing shame, brokenness, violence, and death.

But underneath the Lower Story of human failure, something bigger is happening. In the Upper Story, God continues working. He does not abandon the people He created. He pursues relationship, provides a way forward, and establishes His covenant with Noah.

From the opening chapters of Genesis, we begin to see the heart of the entire biblical story: even when humanity walks away from God, God continues working to bring humanity back to Himself.

The question Adam and Eve faced is still ours today: Will we trust God's wisdom, or will we choose our own way?

Scripture: Genesis 1–9
Series: The Story
Week 1: In the Beginning, God

Eagle Community Church of Christ
Mont Belvieu, Texas

Loving God. Loving People. Following Jesus.

What do you expect to happen when you encounter the Word of God?

As Eagle Community Church prepares to begin a 31-week journey through The Story, John Gunter challenges us to approach Scripture as more than information to consume or another spiritual task to complete.

Isaiah 55 reminds us that God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours. We see only part of the story, but God sees the whole. And He promises that when His Word goes out, it will not return empty.

That means our goal isn't simply to finish each week's reading. We want to encounter God, discover what He is revealing about Himself, see what He is showing us about our own lives, and allow His Word to transform us.

God's work in us may sometimes happen slowly, like rain bringing life from the ground. We may not immediately see the growth. But we can faithfully put ourselves in a position to encounter His Word and trust God to do what only He can do.

Key Scriptures:
Isaiah 55:8-11
2 Timothy 3:14-17

Eagle Community Church of Christ
Mont Belvieu, Texas

Loving God. Loving People. Following Jesus.

What does life look like after someone responds to the gospel?

Acts 2 tells us that after 3,000 people came to Christ at Pentecost, the new believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer. Their faith wasn't limited to a weekly gathering. They began sharing life.

In the final message of The Invitation series, John Gunter explores the importance of Christian community and the relationships that form when believers intentionally spend time together, encourage one another, meet needs, and pursue God together.

This kind of community also changes the way we think about evangelism. We don't need the perfect program or all the answers. We can simply live faithfully, invite others into what God is doing, and trust Him with the results.

We plant. We water. God gives the growth.

Key Scriptures:
Acts 2:42-47
Hebrews 10:23-25
1 Corinthians 3:5-7

Eagle Community Church of Christ
Mont Belvieu, Texas

Loving God. Loving People. Following Jesus.