SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11: 29 - 31.

This week we jump back into our summer series called Forward-Looking Faith. We have focused on Old Testament people like Abel, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Joseph, and Moses. Focusing on each individual’s faith has certainly been a challenge. These people weren’t perfect, but how they looked forward to a hopeful future does give us great hope for today. We must be a forward-looking people, because when we do, we see Jesus as the Victor, King, Healer, and Savior.

As this famous chapter concludes, the author presses upon his audience a sense of urgency. Belief is truly a matter of life or death. Faith is the ticket to freedom and to everlasting peace. Hebrews 11:29-31 may be a short passage, but it serves to make an urgent point: Faith gets us to the other side! Faith is the ticket away from slavery, the enemy, and destruction and onto freedom and victory!

SCRIPTURE: Genesis 16.

This week, we welcome a dear friend, Jonathan ("Jono") Darville, back to the podcast. Jono has recently accepted a new call, leaving Peace Church to plant a new church in Pittsboro. We are grateful that he has the time to be with us as he prepares for this new ministry adventure.

Jono's message is from Genesis 16, focusing on Hagar. Pastor Mark touched on Hagar's story a few weeks ago while preaching through the faith of Abraham and Sarah in Hebrews 11. It is fitting that Jono will take us on a deeper dive into this complex story.

SCRIPTURE: Luke 18: 1 - 8.

This Sunday, we were privileged to have Pastor Doug Domin preach. Coming as the associate pastor at Peace Presbyterian, Doug has been one of our greatest advocates over the past few years. He has served on our temporary session before we ordained our own elders and deacons. It is an honor to welcome Doug to our podcast to preach on Luke 18:1–8 as he continues to support us through the Word of God.

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11:23-28.

This week, we examine the crux of faith through the lens of Moses’ "Forward-Looking Faith." True faith demands a deliberate choice to follow the Lord—a decision that impacts every area of life. Despite hardships, family tension, persecution, and opposition, faith consistently chooses what is better. Saving faith fixes its eyes on the eternal: a better Family, Kingdom, and King.

Now, some of you might be wondering: "Does this sound classically Reformed? We don't choose faith, do we?" Pastor Mark addresses this tension directly, unpacking human responsibility and our call to eternal belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:25-26.

This week, we welcome one of our own to the podcast, Benjamin, a former missionary to Taiwan, who brought us a powerful message for our anxiety-riddled lives and world. Do you struggle with fear and worry about life, family, and the world around us? Benjamin gives us the antidote in From Fear to Family: The Gospel Cure to Worry.

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 7:24-27.

This week, while Mark is on vacation, we welcome back Rev. Steve Jessen of the PCA's Ministry to North America Disaster Response team to the podcast. Steve is the Disaster Response Specialist for the Carolinas, and he brings us a message on faith called A Firm Foundation.

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11:17-19.

This week, we move between two passages that describe the same event. Genesis 22 recounts God's call for Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Hebrews 11:17–19 sheds light on Abraham's perspective throughout this entire episode. Abraham's faith was so unshakable that, even in the face of death, he fully trusted in the power of the resurrection. His faith challenges us today to trust the Lord with our past, our future, and the entire journey in between.

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11: 9-16.

This week, our Forward-Looking Faith series focuses on the faiths of Abraham and Sarah. In Hebrews 11, the author uses Abraham and Sarah to make an important point: We are but pilgrims called to believe and receive God’s promises. Along this journey of faith, we are to look at God’s upcoming promises of eternal security and salvation like a warm greeting to a friend approaching your home. This is a challenge to all of us who rest in the security of our stuff, who place stability in temporal comforts, and who doubt God’s assurance for us.

SCRIPTURE: HEBREWS 11

This week, we begin a new summer sermon series through Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 records several Old Testament men and women of faith who had assurance in things hoped for. That’s why we’re calling this summer sermon series “Forward-Looking Faith.”

Each of those listed in Hebrews 11 lived many years before Jesus was born. However, their faith still points us to the greater realities of faith that we experience in our post-Resurrection lives. This week, we focus on the faith of three very early men of faith: Abel, Enoch, and Noah. These men lived so long ago that they exercised faith even before God chose Abraham and his descendants, the people of Israel.

And yet, these very ancient examples of faith point us to wonderful realities today. I’m looking forward to journeying through this sermon series and considering what God is doing in our hearts now, and how that work anticipates a future filled with eternal hope in Jesus.

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 10:1-18.

This week, as we continue in the Book of Hebrews, it feels a little like a broken record. Over and over again, the author reminds us that in the old covenant, sacrifices were offered over and over again. In contrast, he compares them to Jesus’ once-for-all and forever sacrifice on the cross. What’s behind this repetitious tension between the many and the one? We'll unpack that question on this podcast.