Hello and welcome to the Faith First Podcast where we are finishing our series on Forward. In today’s episode, we declare that we have made it to the finish line! Well, almost. Let me ask you, what do you do when you come upon an obstacle while pursuing your God-given dream? Do you give up? Or do you persevere and have your eye on the prize at the finish line? We will talk about all these things in today’s episode as I am joined by our Lead Pastor Steve Darr.

In this episode you'll discover:

• What “Around the World in 80 Days,” tell us about crossing the finish line
• Why your eyes must be fixed on Christ until you cross the finish line
• How to prepare yourself to be one of those that will invest in the Kingdom and give your all
• How to strengthen your faith
• What is the prize we inherit at the end of the race

The race of faith is ours to take hold of to complete the work God has for us to do. It will take great faith, endurance, and complete focus on the creator and finisher of our faith, Jesus. Giving all to Him we will see every weight of sin fall off. We will be set free from every sin that would tangle us. Each time we look to Him will give us the strength we need to endure and finish the race well.

Running a race alone is tough, that’s why we produce the Faith First Podcast so you don’t have to go it alone. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, I encourage you to hit the subscribe button to be notified when a new episode will be ready until then, keep focused, and run the race to finish it faith first.

You are listening to the Faith First Podcast and in today’s episode, we will be listening to our Lead Pastor on sticking the course by crossing the finish line. What we do when the chips are stacked up against us often is a telling sign of how we would respond in our faith and growth as followers of Christ. Let’s get started and listen in…

In this episode you'll discover:

• Why we face huge obstacles in our faith journey
• How our decisions often affect our ability to finish
• What worldly thinking can do to us and our race
• How to be prepared to run the race and finish the course

We are faced with the decision to finish the race and move forward in life on a daily basis. We encounter obstacles as we run the race and seek to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. The question then becomes are we going to let doubt and fear stop us from moving forward or will we finish the race and fulfill the dream God has placed within our hearts?

 Every episode of the Faith First Podcast is put together to assist you in walking your faith out in the world. We hope that it has been a blessing in your life and if it has, would you kindly hit the notification bell below so that you can stick with us when a new episode launches. Until next time, keep focused on that finish line faith first. 

You have happened upon the Faith First Podcast, we welcome you if you are new to us, and for those who have been listening for a while now, Hello to you as well. In today's episode, I sit down with our Lead Pastor Steve Darr and get back on track with the Forward Series. Today we will be diving deeper into the topic of Chasing our Dreams. 

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Can dying to self and chasing dreams fit together
• What dying to self truly means
• How to make God a priority in your life
• What you may have to do in order to let go of your dreams and allow God to work in them

You and I can do it. We can lay our dreams before God and ask God to give us wisdom and discernment. His answers to our questions will affirm our dream and may sometimes reveal our waywardness. Yet, the good news is that God knows our hearts and is not surprised. Chasing our dream means pursuing it for His glory and honor.

This just may be the first time you listened to the Faith First Podcast, well, once again welcome. We encourage you to hit the notification button below for when a new episode is launched and until then, go ahead, chase that God-given dream faith first.

You are listening to the Faith First Podcast and in today’s episode, we will be listening to our Lead Pastor Steve Darr on just how to chase our dream when God is in it. We’ve got to trust Him with our dreams and their outcome. So, let’s get ready and listen in…

In this episode you'll discover:

• What it means to die to self
• Where our dreams are rooted
• How we need to evaluate our priorities to be aligned with Christ's dream for us
• Why we must trust God with our dreams and their outcome

As long as our dream doesn’t compromise our faith or conflict with what is in Scripture, we do have the freedom to chase our dreams. The difference between being a Christian dreamer and a worldly dreamer is that we are to seek to make Jesus’ name known. That must be the motivation for our dream-chasing.

We try to help you walk in faith one day at a time. That’s what the Faith First Podcast is all about. If you enjoy the content, please hit the notification button below and it will alert you to when the next episode will launch. So, until that time, go and chase your God-given dreams faith first. 

Hello and welcome to the Faith First Podcast. In this episode, we take a little diverted course off of the Forward series and talk about a lifelong pursuit. I am joined by our Lead Pastor Steve Darr this morning as we get started. 

You'll discover through listening:

• What joy brings to persevere the race of faith
• How satisfaction in our souls for Christ brings joy
• Why joy is deeper than the emotion of happiness
• How joy is connected to the plan and purpose of God

Our lifelong pursuit is to be satisfied in Christ so that we rejoice in the Lord, and then we will find safety and strength in our fight against sin. Let Scripture remind us all to Rejoice in the Lord always and again we can say Rejoice!

Well, we hope that you are filled with joy each time a new episode of the Faith First Podcast becomes available. If this is your first time connecting with us here, you can be notified when a new episode is launched by hitting the subscribe notification bell below. Until next time as we get back to the Forward series, pursue God’s dream with joy faith first.

Hello and welcome to the Faith First Podcast. You and I are in pursuit of a variety of things throughout our lives. In today’s episode, we are going to listen to a message that diverts a bit from the Forward series and yet is connected to our ability to look forward by being in a lifelong pursuit of Christ. If you’re ready, let’s listen in on our lead Pastor Steve Darr.

In this episode you'll discover:

• What Christ's lifelong pursuit was
• Why you have lost your joy
• How to notice when joy has been replaced with silence
• What ties joy and obedience together

Maybe we need to ask ourselves, what was Christ pursuing in His life? Through the greatest example of love for His people, God sent His Son to redeem the world. Jesus had a lifelong pursuit that drove Him forward to complete His mission. He pursued the greatest imaginable joy. The joy of being exalted to God’s right hand— for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, so that you and I might be redeemed.

We launch a new episode of the Faith First Podcast every Tuesday so make sure you hit the subscribe button and be alerted to when the next episode is ready for listening. Until then, pursue with earnest the joy God gives by being faith first.

Hello and welcome, you’re listening to the Faith First Podcast. We are in the midst of listening to the series of messages and conversations on the topic of Forward. And in today’s episode, I sit down with our Lead Pastor as we talk about whether or not we are going to reside in the safe zone or step out into the faith zone. Risk comes with every decision we make and stepping out and following Jesus is a decision that takes a risk. 

In this episode you'll discover:

• How faith is an investment
• Where we draw the line when it comes to stepping out for God
• What attributes are necessary in our lives to take a risk toward God's dreams for us
• How to continue to move toward the Faith Zone and away from the Safe Zone

When we are excited about our future believing God’s best is yet to come and we continue to take risks of life, we move further into our faith zone. We then become even more excited about the dream God has placed in our hearts and we remain motivated to keep taking the risks necessary to fulfill that dream.

If you’re new to the Faith First Podcast, we want you to know we care about you and your walk with Jesus. Please be sure to hit the notification button below and be alerted to when the next episode launches. Until next time, step out of your safe zone and into the faith zone faith first 

Hello, and Welcome, you’re listening to the Faith First Podcast. In this episode, we will be listening to the next in the series of messages by our Lead Pastor Steve Darr on the topic of Forward, but first, let me ask you whether or not you like to take risks? I am a calculated risk taker where I weigh out the positives and negatives before taking the plunge. Having in faith in God’s promises for us often requires us to move out of the safe zone and into the faith zone. Get ready to be challenged to step outside the comfort of where you are with this message, let’s listen in…

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Knowing where you'll draw the line when walking toward Christ
• Where our hope and dreams are truly rooted
• Why it's not good to stay in your safe zone
• Why when we trust God's faithfulness we will be greatly used
• How exuberance is part of stepping into our faith zone

When it comes to our desire to fulfill the dream God has given us we must also look at where we draw the line. What risks are we willing to take to follow Christ, to love as He loved, in fulfilling our purpose for His kingdom? We must choose. Will we make the decision for Christ to step out of our safe zone and move into our faith zone?

 We hope you’re getting something out of the Faith First Podcast and for those who have been listening for a while now, we thank you. For you who might be new, we say thank you for stopping by and to be notified when a new episode is launched, just hit the subscribe or bell button below. Until the next time, think about stepping into the faith zone faith first. 

You are listening to the Faith First Podcast.  In today’s episode, I sit down with our Lead Pastor Steve Darr to talk about how we can remain focused on trusting our lives, and our dreams to Jesus. 

In this episode you'll discover:

• What are some of the reasons that keep us from getting out of the boat
• Why looking behind often derails our progress toward what God wants us to do
• How we can continue to view the world from God's perspective
• What we ought not to ignore in order to become more Christ-like

We hear it often— work-life balance. Balance allows us to keep the big picture in mind as we focus on our lives from God’s perspective. Balance and focus will come when we keep life in the proper perspective and that is God’s perspective by putting His kingdom first.

We hope that you enjoy listening to the Faith First Podcast. We’d love to connect with you so head on over to our website www.firstcong.com and there you can listen to past sermons, check out what we are up to and send an email to either myself or Pastor Steve. With so many things vying for your attention, focus may seem hard, but the only one who you need to remain focused on is Jesus and you do that by being focused faith first 

You are listening to the Faith First Podcast. In today’s episode, we will be listening to our Lead Pastor on just how to remain focused on what God has called each of us to do. Our focus must not waver, we must not doubt, but move forward in faith and concentrate on what lies ahead. So, let’s get ready and listen in…

 In this episode you'll discover:

• How do we remain focused on Jesus if we want to complete the task
• Why looking to the past can often cripple us to remain focused ahead
• Why control is difficult to let go of when being focused on Jesus
• How balance in our lives is essential to being focused

Did you hear Pastor Steve ask the question, What is it that is keeping you from stepping out of the boat? Out of your comfort zone and into the dreams God has given you? The voice of the world will be telling you to sit down, don’t rock the boat, everything is fine. While the voice of the Holy Spirit that says press on, reach forward, take hold of the promises of God. I ask you, which voice are you going to listen to?

We try to help you walk in faith one day at a time. That’s what the Faith First Podcast is all about. If you enjoy the content, please hit the notification button below and it will alert you to when the next episode will launch. So, until that time, focus on moving forward faith first.