Build by Faith | Generation to Generation | Ps. Mark Tumney

Hebrews 11 sets Abraham beside a church that began with 22 ordinary people in a living room. God saw what those founders could not see: a church family, children finding Jesus, missionaries being sent, seekers gathering, and generations being shaped by faith. Faith obeys without a map because faith knows the One who is calling is trustworthy. Abraham left his country, community, and father’s house without an address, a schedule, or any guarantee that the road would make sense.

Abraham’s story also shows that faith continues when the promise looks unlikely. The promised land still found him living in a tent, a temporary place that kept reminding him he was not settled. The church building is also a tent, not the final destination or the source of God’s security. God calls his people to be rooted in him rather than in a building, a season, or a memory of how things used to be.

Sarah’s laughter, Abraham’s questions, and their long wait keep faith from becoming a polished story about people who never struggled. Faith does not rest in human ability to understand the promise, make the promise happen, or believe without wavering. Faith rests in the One who made the promise. Abraham kept pitching his tent because God had called him forward, even when the journey was longer and harder than expected. The long middle between promise and fulfillment is not proof that God has left.

Hebrews 11 finally presses faith beyond one lifetime. Abraham received Isaac, but he did not see descendants like the stars, the coming of Christ, the cross, or the resurrection. God’s promise was bigger than Abraham’s personal timeline. The 22 founders likewise did not get to see all that God would do through one gathering in a living room. Their prayers, giving, serving, and persistence became shade under which later generations could sit.

Psalm 78 calls each generation to tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. God sees the late-night meetings, the quiet prayers, the sacrifices, the disappointments, and the simple choice to keep showing up. Faithfulness cannot always be measured within one lifetime, but God faithfully brings beauty and glory to Jesus through every investment. Faith obeys without a map, continues when the promise looks unlikely, and invests in promises larger than one lifetime.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith obeys without a map. Faith does not require a detailed plan before taking the next step. Abraham did not know where the road would lead, but he knew the God who called him. Trust grows when God’s character becomes more certain than personal control. [10:53]
• 2. Keep pitching the tent. The tent represents a life that is not settled by present circumstances. Abraham kept setting it up because the promise remained ahead of him, not because the journey felt easy. Persistence in a hard and unfinished season can be a deep act of faith. [19:58]
• 3. Faith rests in God’s faithfulness. Sarah and Abraham did not earn God’s promise through flawless confidence. Their doubts and delays did not cancel God’s ability to fulfill what he had spoken. Faith finds its footing in the faithfulness of God rather than the strength of personal belief. [17:43]
• 4. Plant for generations yet unseen. God often works through investments whose fullest fruit comes after a person is gone. Abraham welcomed the promise from a distance because he knew God’s purposes were bigger than his lifetime. Prayer, generosity, service, and witness matter even when their results remain hidden. [25:36]
• 5. God sees the whole story. A discouraged servant can rarely see what God is doing through ordinary faithfulness. The founders could not see the generations that would follow, just as the present generation cannot see all that lies ahead. God receives faithful investment and brings beauty from it in his time.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [05:50] - Twenty-Two Ordinary People Begin
• [07:25] - Faith for the Next Seventy-Five Years
• [09:15] - Faith Obeys Without a Map
• [10:53] - Trusting the One Who Calls
• [13:08] - Living Like Strangers in Tents
• [15:25] - Waiting for the Promised Family
• [17:20] - Faith Rests in God’s Faithfulness
• [18:44] - The Faith to Keep Going
• [20:48] - Investing Beyond One Lifetime
• [22:40] - Welcoming the Promise From a Distance
• [24:09] - Abraham’s Promise Fulfilled in Jesus
• [26:45] - Longing for a Better Country
• [28:32] - Telling the Next Generation
• [30:38] - God Sees the Whole Story
• [32:48] - Keep Going by Faith

Bible Reading

Hebrews 11:8-16
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” [09:06] [13:08] [17:37] [22:40] [26:47]

Psalm 78:4
“We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” [04:17] [30:05]

Genesis 12:1-4
“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” [09:36] [10:02]

Genesis 15:5-6
“And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” [16:13] [22:51]

Observation questions

1. What specific things did Abraham leave behind when God called him in Genesis 12, and what information did God not give him before he went? [10:02]
2. According to Hebrews 11:9-10, what was Abraham’s living situation in the promised land, and what future city was he looking for?
3. What details in Hebrews 11:11-12 make God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah seem humanly unlikely? [17:37]
4. In Hebrews 11:13-16, what language describes how Abraham and the other faithful people viewed their place on earth, and what kind of country were they seeking? [26:47]

Interpretation questions

1. Abraham obeyed without knowing his destination. What does this show about the difference between trusting God and simply having a detailed plan for life? [10:53]
2. Abraham lived in tents even while in the land God promised him. How does his temporary living situation help explain why God’s people must not place their deepest security in a building, a season, or familiar circumstances? [14:57]
3. Sarah’s doubts and Abraham’s long wait did not cancel God’s promise. What does it mean that faith rests in the faithfulness of the One who promised rather than in flawless confidence from the person who believes? [17:46]
4. Abraham received Isaac but did not live to see the full number of his descendants, the coming of Jesus, or the worldwide reach of God’s promise. How does this reshape the way believers should measure whether a life of prayer, service, generosity, and witness is fruitful? [25:30]

Application questions

1. Is there an area of life where God seems to be asking for a next step, but the full map is still unclear—such as a relationship, a ministry opportunity, a decision, or a hard conversation? What would faithful obedience look like this week? [12:43]
2. Where are you most tempted to look for security in something temporary: a familiar routine, financial stability, a church building, a past season, personal health, or other circumstances? How might you become more rooted in God himself? [15:22]
3. What “tent” are you being asked to pitch again in this season—an act of prayer, service, reconciliation, generosity, parenting, or simply continuing to show up—when quitting feels easier? [19:58]
4. When a hoped-for outcome has taken longer or become harder than expected, what doubts or discouragements tend to surface in your heart? How can Abraham and Sarah’s story help you bring those struggles honestly before God without walking away from him? [19:26]
5. Who in the next generation could benefit from hearing about God’s faithfulness in your life? What is one specific story of God’s power, help, provision, or grace that you could share with a child, younger believer, friend, or family member? [30:05]
6. What is one investment you can make now whose fullest fruit may be seen by others rather than by you—through giving, serving, welcoming, discipling, praying, or sharing Jesus? What would make that investment more intentional? [25:36]
7. Where might disappointment with the past or anxiety about the future be making it difficult to notice what God is doing today? What would it look like to keep going in faith while trusting God with the whole story? [31:28]