Citizen | Week 1 | Bill Bush

Pastor Bill Bush · Mar 7, 2021

Big Idea

Quoting the message: My homeland determines where my heart lands, end quote. — since believers are citizens of heaven, our true home should shape every decision we make here on earth.

Faith isn't a feeling of wishful thinking, it's an inner conviction based on the word of God that lets us see the reality of what we hope for, even when we can't see it yet. Because our real homeland is heaven, our hearts should never fully settle here, and our future destination should determine how we live right now instead of us drifting back to the comforts of this world.

Key points

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1Faith is not wishful feeling, it's an inner conviction based on the word of God
Pastor Bill works through Hebrews 11:1, explaining that faith shows the reality of what we hope for and is evidence of things we cannot see. He warns that most people substitute 'feelings' for faith, but true faith comes from the Holy Spirit illuminating the word of God, giving proof and conviction rather than emotional hype.
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2The heroes of Hebrews 11 died without receiving the earthly promise because the real promise was bigger than this world
Reading Hebrews 11:13, Pastor Bill points out these believers died still believing but never received what was promised in this life. He explains this isn't tragic like a hall-of-fame athlete who never won a championship, because their true promise was eternal, tied to the coming Savior and a heavenly city, not earthly blessing.
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3They agreed they were foreigners and nomads, and that's what let them keep moving forward instead of turning back
Pastor Bill unpacks Hebrews 11:13-16, showing that these people never went back to their old home because they had embraced their true homeland. He contrasts this with the Israelites who wanted freedom from slavery but still longed for Egypt, showing how we do the same when we want God's power without giving up our attachment to this world.
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4Our desire for more is really a God-given longing for eternity that this world can never satisfy
Quoting C.S. Lewis and Ecclesiastes 3, Pastor Bill explains that God planted eternity in our hearts, so we keep chasing more money, more experiences, and more achievement trying to fill an eternal desire with temporal things, which never works.
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5My future destination should decide my present determination, not my feelings in the moment
Using the illustration of mapping a route by starting from the destination, Pastor Bill contrasts 'then and now' thinking with 'when and then' thinking, applying it to baptism, serving, giving, and time, showing how we delay obedience by waiting to feel ready instead of letting our eternal home shape today's choices.
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6We're not called to be a prisoner or a tourist here, we're called to be a missionary
Pastor Bill corrects the popular phrase 'in the world but not of it,' showing Jesus actually prayed the Father would not take us out of the world but send us into it. He describes the prison mindset (just surviving until heaven) and the vacation mindset (enjoying the world since we're just passing through) as two sides of the same escape, when God has sent us on a mission instead.
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7Paul wept over believers who lived like this world was home, and calls us to decide where our home really lands
Walking through Philippians 3, Pastor Bill shows Paul weeping over people in the church whose conduct made them enemies of the cross because their god was their appetite and they only thought about this earthly life, contrasted with our true citizenship in heaven awaiting Christ's return.

Application

Decide where your home lands, and let that decision, not your feelings, drive what you do today.

Stop waiting for the feeling before you obey
Pastor Bill challenges those delaying baptism, giving, or serving until they feel ready or have more time and money to instead let their eternal destination determine today's decisions now.
Step up to serve in kids' ministry
He directly calls out those in the room who know they're gifted to serve with children but haven't, asking them to stop waiting for busyness to calm down and actually volunteer.
Examine your own accent, whether you sound like the world
Using the story of the woman who picked up a Scottish accent in three months, he asks believers to notice if their goals and desires are identical to those who don't know Christ.
Ask God to search your heart like David did
Reflect using Psalm 139:23-24, asking God to point out anxious thoughts rooted in living for this temporary life instead of the everlasting one.
Decide, or re-decide, that Jesus is your first love and true home
For those who haven't trusted Jesus, put your faith in Him; for those who have, continually reflect on whether your heart has drifted back toward making this world home.

Take it into your week

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Day 1

Pastor Bill made a distinction worth sitting with: biblical faith is not optimism dressed up in religious language. It is not telling yourself things will work out, crossing your fingers, and calling it trust. According to Hebrews 11:1, faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen — a substance, an evidence. That word 'evidence' matters. Evidence belongs in a courtroom, not a daydream. It implies that something real is being pointed to, even when it cannot be seen yet. The Holy Spirit produces this kind of faith through the Word of God. It is not manufactured by willpower or conjured by emotional intensity. That is actually a relief. You do not have to feel certain in order to be walking in genuine faith. The conviction that Hebrews describes runs deeper than feeling — it is an anchor set in unseen reality. This week, the devotional will walk through the full arc of what Pastor Bill unpacked: what faith is, how the saints before us lived it out, what God planted in the human heart, and where all of it is meant to land. Start here, with the foundation. Before any of the 'how' questions get answered, it helps to be clear on what you are actually dealing with when Scripture talks about faith.

For reflection

Where in your life right now are you relying on optimism or emotion rather than the kind of rooted, Spirit-given conviction Hebrews 11:1 describes?

Pray

Pray for the Holy Spirit to deepen your understanding of what genuine, Word-rooted faith actually feels like from the inside.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message asked a simple but searching question: what does it actually mean to live as a citizen of a place you haven't arrived at yet? Let's spend a few minutes sitting with that idea together.

Discussion questions

1
Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as 'the evidence of things we cannot see.' How is that different from what people often mean when they call something 'faith'?
2
In Hebrews 11:13, the people in what's sometimes called the Faith Hall of Fame are described as 'foreigners and nomads on earth' who welcomed God's promises from a distance. What do you think it looked like practically for them to live that way — and what made it hard?
3
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God has 'planted eternity' in the human heart. The message drew a distinction between the desire for 'more' itself and where people try to satisfy it. How does that distinction change the way we might understand restlessness in people around us?
4
Pastor Bill described two failure modes: treating this world as a prison we endure, or a vacation we indulge — and said neither one sends us into the world as missionaries. What gets lost when a community of believers falls into one of those two traps?
5
In Philippians 3:17–21, Paul warns — with tears — about people whose focus is entirely on earthly life, and then immediately points to believers' citizenship in heaven. Why do you think Paul pairs those two ideas so closely together?
6
Pastor Bill challenged us to practice 'then and now' thinking — letting our heavenly destination shape present decisions about time, gifts, and next steps like baptism or serving. What would it look like for a community of people to actually encourage each other in that kind of thinking week to week?

Pray together

Ask God to search our hearts, surface whatever anxious or earthly-fixed thinking is pulling our focus away from Him, and lead us back onto the everlasting path — as Psalm 139:23–24 invites

Topics

Anxiety and Trust Citizenship in Heaven Eternal Perspective Faith as Conviction Living as Missionaries

Citizen | Week 1 | Bill Bush

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together