Not from Around Here
Supergirl looks like she belongs here — she lives among us, makes friends, even has a dog. But underneath is a truth she can't shake: Earth was never really her home. That leaves her with a longing most of us recognize. Not to be from another planet, but the sense we were made for something more — the ache we feel when the world is wrong, and the ache we feel when a moment is so right we don't want it to end.
C.S. Lewis named it: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." That longing isn't a glitch. It's a signpost. And Hebrews 11 says Kara isn't the only one who's not from around here — the Bible says the same about you.
Your longing for home isn't a problem to fix. It's a signpost pointing to the One who built the city you're actually looking for.
We Follow God's Promise
"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." — Hebrews 11:8 (NIV)
Abraham's faith wasn't just something he believed — it moved him to act. And leaving home was no small thing. In the ancient world, home was your security, identity, and survival, and Abraham and Sarah had no children, no obvious future. He wasn't changing zip codes. He was letting go of everything we spend our lives building, and trusting God with a future he couldn't see.
We Wait for God's City
"By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents... For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." — Hebrews 11:9–10 (NIV)
Abraham stood in the land God promised — and lived there in a tent. No dream house. Because he was waiting for a city: not just shelter, but a world finally made right. That's where Scripture is headed — the New Jerusalem, "coming down out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:2).
Right before this, another city appears: Babel, where people said "let us build ourselves a city... so that we may make a name for ourselves" (Genesis 11:4). Same longing, different faith. Babel trusted what people could build; Abraham trusted what God promised. We still do it — pouring ourselves into a career, a relationship, a bigger house, believing the project will finally feel like home. The problem isn't the project. It's asking it to be what only God can be.
We Keep Walking by Faith
"Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." — Hebrews 11:16 (NIV)
When Abraham died, the only land he owned was the field where he'd buried Sarah. The promise barely looked started — but his faith wasn't rooted in what he possessed. Faith has never been about perfect faith; it's about placing imperfect faith in a perfectly faithful God. So we don't stop loving our neighborhood. We serve it and pray for it — we just refuse to ask it to become what only heaven can be. Faith keeps walking: it won't build Babel, and it won't run back to Ur.
The Bigger Story
The Bible tells one story, and it's about home — a garden lost, and God bringing His people back. At the end, John sees the holy city come down, and a voice says, "God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them" (Revelation 21:3). That's the home your longing has been pointing to all along.
So faith changes how we live today because it trusts God's future. We obey when it's costly, hold this world with open hands, and keep walking — like Abraham.
Share This With Someone This Week
You probably know someone who's exhausted from building — pouring everything into a career, a relationship, a house, or an image, convinced the next milestone will finally settle their heart. This message is for them. Not as a lecture, but as good news: the longing they can't satisfy isn't a defect. It's a signpost. Passing this along could be the moment a friend stops trying to build Babel and starts to breathe. Sharing it is an act of love.
What Are You Going to Do About It?
This week, read Hebrews 11:8–16 slowly — out loud if you can — and don't rush it. Then sit with two honest questions:
- What am I building right now that I've quietly asked to be my home — a career, a relationship, a level of security — that was only ever meant to point me to God, not replace Him?
- Where is following Jesus costing me something right now, and am I tempted to go back to "Ur" — to an older, safer way of finding my identity?
Pick one thing you're holding too tightly, and this week practice holding it with open hands. Talk to God about it honestly — Abraham and Sarah laughed, doubted, and stumbled too, and God was still "not ashamed to be called their God."
About Our Sermon Series
At the Movies uses the films we love as a jumping-off point to explore the bigger story God is telling. Every great movie echoes something true about longing, home, redemption, and hope — and every week we trace those echoes back to Scripture, where the fullest version of the story is found. Join us in person Sundays at 9am and 11am,