Many believers in all seasons of life understand what it feels like to fervently pray for the desires of their hearts. One listener wrote to us about the sorrow he endured due to childlessness despite his prayers, and the isolation and stigma he experienced in church as a result. He asked us to talk more about what it means when God says no to our prayers. This is a sensitive topic, but important to discuss, and we’re grateful to him for bringing it to our attention. Sharing our experiences and testimonies gives hope to others in similar situations. It calls for accountability in our words and actions. Together, let’s dig into Scripture for biblical insight and comfort as we discuss the pain and struggle of unanswered prayer in the lives of individual believers and in the community of faith.

Many believers in all seasons of life understand what it feels like to fervently pray for the desires of their hearts. One listener wrote to us about the sorrow he endured due to childlessness despite his prayers, and the isolation and stigma he experienced in church as a result. He asked us to talk more about what it means when God says no to our prayers. This is a sensitive topic, but important to discuss, and we’re grateful to him for bringing it to our attention. Sharing our experiences and testimonies gives hope to others in similar situations. It calls for accountability in our words and actions. Together, let’s dig into Scripture for biblical insight and comfort as we discuss the pain and struggle of unanswered prayer in the lives of individual believers and in the community of faith.

Many believers in all seasons of life understand what it feels like to fervently pray for the desires of their hearts. One listener wrote to us about the sorrow he endured due to childlessness despite his prayers, and the isolation and stigma he experienced in church as a result. He asked us to talk more about what it means when God says no to our prayers. This is a sensitive topic, but important to discuss, and we’re grateful to him for bringing it to our attention.&nbsp;Sharing our experiences and testimonies gives hope to others in similar situations. It calls for accountability in our words and actions. Together, let’s dig into Scripture for biblical insight and comfort as we discuss the pain and struggle of unanswered prayer in the lives of individual believers and in the community of faith.&nbsp;

The Pain and Struggle of Unanswered Prayer

Listeners like you send us their questions about theology and faith as they study God’s Word. Was Judas saved even though he betrayed Jesus? How do I share my faith with non-believers? What if people I love are resistant to hearing about Jesus? How should I pray for people who are unsaved? Join us as we dig into Scripture to discuss what we know about Judas, learn about the Great Commission Jesus gave us, evangelism, and intercessory prayer for non-believers.

Listeners like you send us their questions about theology and faith as they study God’s Word. Was Judas saved even though he betrayed Jesus? How do I share my faith with non-believers? What if people I love are resistant to hearing about Jesus? How should I pray for people who are unsaved? Join us as we dig into Scripture to discuss what we know about Judas, learn about the Great Commission Jesus gave us, evangelism, and intercessory prayer for non-believers.

Listeners like you send us their questions about theology and faith as they study God’s Word. Was Judas saved even though he betrayed Jesus? How do I share my faith with non-believers? What if people I love are resistant to hearing about Jesus? How should I pray for people who are unsaved? Join us as we dig into Scripture to discuss what we know about Judas, learn about the Great Commission Jesus gave us, evangelism, and intercessory prayer for non-believers.&nbsp;

Your Questions about Judas, Salvation, Sharing Faith, and Praying for Nonbelievers

As humans, we are uniquely aware of time. We talk about the passing of time, we think about the end of time, and we often wish for more time. Sometimes it feels like time is fleeting and sometimes feels like time drags on. Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes contains one of the book’s most well-known passages. The Teacher opens “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” He then goes on to share a well-known list of life’s seasons. He  calls time a burden, but also says God has “set eternity in the human heart.” Join us as we discuss the association between wisdom and recognizing the seasons of life, as we seek to understand what it means to have eternity in our hearts, and as we receive the Teacher’s encouragement and advice for finding hope and meaning in life.

As humans, we are uniquely aware of time. We talk about the passing of time, we think about the end of time, and we often wish for more time. Sometimes it feels like time is fleeting and sometimes feels like time drags on. Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes contains one of the book’s most well-known passages. The Teacher opens “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” He then goes on to share a well-known list of life’s seasons. He calls time a burden, but also says God has “set eternity in the human heart.” Join us as we discuss the association between wisdom and recognizing the seasons of life, as we seek to understand what it means to have eternity in our hearts, and as we receive the Teacher’s encouragement and advice for finding hope and meaning in life.

As humans, we are uniquely aware of time. We talk about the passing of time, we think about the end of time, and we often wish for more time. Sometimes it feels like time is fleeting and sometimes feels like time drags on. Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes contains one of the book’s most well-known passages. The Teacher opens “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” He then goes on to share a well-known list of life’s seasons. He&nbsp; calls time a burden, but also says God has “set eternity in the human heart.” Join us as we discuss the association between wisdom and recognizing the seasons of life, as we seek to understand what it means to have eternity in our hearts, and as we receive the Teacher’s encouragement and advice for finding hope and meaning in life.

Finding Meaning in Life and the Passing of Time

Do you find joy and satisfaction in your work? Or do you consider work a necessary evil? Many of us spend huge portions of our life working, sometimes doing paid work, other times unpaid. You might say that work is a common theme in each of our lives. It’s also a common theme in the book of Ecclesiastes. In his writings, the Teacher repeatedly comes to the conclusion that work, labor, and toil are meaningless. But is it really that simple? If we carefully study the Teacher’s conclusions, we’ll discover some insightful wisdom about work and our identity, about why our motivation for work matters, about work/life balance, and about the secret for finding joy and satisfaction in our work.

Do you find joy and satisfaction in your work? Or do you consider work a necessary evil? Many of us spend huge portions of our life working, sometimes doing paid work, other times unpaid. You might say that work is a common theme in each of our lives. It’s also a common theme in the book of Ecclesiastes. In his writings, the Teacher repeatedly comes to the conclusion that work, labor, and toil are meaningless. But is it really that simple? If we carefully study the Teacher’s conclusions, we’ll discover some insightful wisdom about work and our identity, about why our motivation for work matters, about work/life balance, and about the secret for finding joy and satisfaction in our work.

A Wise Perspective on Work

What is the role of the Church in seeking justice? How do we balance our calling to save souls with our justice calling? Learn what it means for us as God’s church to seek biblical justice.

God's Church Seeks Biblical Justice

Recognizing Christ as prophet, priest, and king encourages us in our pursuit of justice.

Justice, Heroes, and Jesus

How do we incorporate a sense of longing for justice into our prayer life? How do we look and work for it in our communities and our world?  Find out how we can participate in God’s design for justice and flourishing.

How do we incorporate a sense of longing for justice into our prayer life? How do we look and work for it in our communities and our world? Find out how we can participate in God’s design for justice and flourishing.

Justice, Lament, and Flourishing

Discover why righteousness is intricately connected to justice in God’s eyes and learn what this means for how we live faithfully as followers of Jesus Christ.

Justice and Righteousness

See how God answers Job's lament, and discover what God’s response teaches us about why bad things happen to good people.

God Answers Job

When we have every right to lament and despair, what is the source for our continued hope? Listen to Job’s laments, and find out what he declares is the source of his continued hope at a time when all hope seems lost.

Choosing Hope in Suffering

Studying the efforts of Job’s friends as they endeavor to comfort him helps us be aware of where we might run into trouble in similar circumstances. It also shows us how we can more faithfully represent God and more lovingly comfort the suffering.

Consoling the Suffering

As Job’s friends enter into his suffering, they too try to explain why bad things happen to good people. In their explanations, we recognize many of the same rationalizations and questions we have as we try to make sense of undeserved suffering.

Is God Punishing Me?

The story of Job gives us a place to wrestle with one of life’s most difficult questions: the problem of suffering. It also reassures us that it’s possible to maintain a strong faith, even as we express these questions and lament our circumstances to God.

Why, God, Why?

Learn to cultivate wisdom and live wisely by God's standards.

The Way of Wisdom

Groundwork is a half-hour conversation that digs deeply into Scripture, the foundation for our lives. Each week, pastors Dave Bast (president of Words of Hope) and Scott Hoezee (director of CEP at Calvin Seminary) cultivate our understanding of God's Word by unpacking the richness of the Bible and applying it with insight to today's world.

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