In this episode, Haley and Dustin sit down with Afshin Ziafat, the lead pastor of Providence Church in Frisco, TX.
Afshin shares his story of how he came to faith in Christ growing up in a Muslim family and how he found hope in Christ during a series of trials during the pandemic. With biblical insight and pastoral guidance, he also shares how we can persevere through trials and ministry while maintaining hope in the gospel.
Subscribe to the podcast and tune in each week as Haley and Dustin share with you what the Bible says about real-life issues with compassion, warmth, and wit.
So you have every reason for hope, for every challenge in life. Because hope means everything.
Hope Talks is a podcast of the ministry of Hope for the Heart.
Listen in to learn more :
(17:59) Strength and Encouragement in Ministry
(22:46) Embracing Weakness
(27:36) Embracing Vulnerability in Pastoral Ministry
(30:22) Importance of Faithfulness in Ministry
(41:07) Listening to Sermons by Afshin
Helpful links and resources
Listen to sermons from Afshin Ziafat at Providence Church in Frisco, TX: https://www.providencefrisco.com/resources/messages/
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Bible verses mentioned in this episode
Matthew 10:37-39 – “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Luke 18:29-30 – “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God.”
Romans 1:1 – “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God”
Romans 8:24-25 – “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
1 Corinthians 2:2 – “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
1 Corinthians 4:7 – “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”
1 Corinthians 15:19 – “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 – “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Ephesians 2:12 – “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.”
Philippians 2:3-8 – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.”
Hebrews 12:6 – “the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
James 1:2-4 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
1 Peter 1:3-7 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 4:19 – “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
1 Peter 5:10 – “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
