Title: Persisting in Prayer Through the Trial of Your Faith
Speaker: Pastor Peter Moore
Date: 7th May 2023
Location: Central Coast, Australia

Summary:

“He prayed seven times not because it didn’t work the first time. He prayed seven times because he believed.”

Elijah is one of the most dramatic figures in the Old Testament, but James holds him up as an example of something every believer can relate to: ordinary, persistent prayer. This episode takes a close look at 1 Kings 18, where Elijah prays seven times for rain before even a small cloud appears on the horizon. The lesson is not about spiritual superpowers. It is about staying in faith when nothing is visible yet.

A key question worth sitting with is this: what exactly is the trial of your faith? The answer is broader than most people expect. The trial of faith is not just the dark seasons or the crises. It is every part of life, from the first moment of new birth. Whether circumstances are painful, enticing, boring, or even going really well, the trial of faith is present and active.

Underneath all of this is a vital reminder about identity. Because of Christ, we are not the ones on trial. It is the faith of Jesus Christ living in us that is being proved, and his faith has already won. That truth reshapes how we pray, how we persist, and how we face whatever is in front of us right now.

Key Points:

• The trial of your faith is not limited to hard times. It covers every part of life from the moment of new birth.
• Elijah’s seven prayers for rain show that persistence in prayer is not a sign of doubt. It is a sign of belief.
• God’s plan includes our prayer. Even when God has promised something, he invites us to pray it through.
• The faith being tested is the faith of Jesus Christ living in us, and his faith has already overcome.
• Our identity in Christ remains unchanged by circumstances. We are the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.

Reference Scriptures:

• James 5:16-18
• 1 Kings 17-18
• 1 Peter 1:6-7
• Job 23:10
• Galatians 2:20
• Romans 8:16-17
• Isaiah 55:11
• Ephesians 2:6

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Title: What It Really Means to Wait on the Lord
Speaker: Pastor Jeremy Archer
Date: 12th April 2026
Location: Bristol, UK

Summary:
Waiting on the Lord is not standing still. It is standing firm. That distinction sits at the heart of this episode, which takes one of the most quoted verses in scripture and roots it back in the ground it came from.

Isaiah 40:31 is familiar to most people who have spent time in the Bible. But familiarity can strip a verse of its weight. The people who first heard those words were Jewish exiles in Babylon, thirty-five years into what would become a seventy-year captivity. They had lost their king, their temple, their language, their culture, and their homeland. They were exhausted, displaced, and mocked. When Isaiah wrote that those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength, he was not writing an inspirational caption. He was writing to people in the middle of a crisis with no visible end.

The Hebrew word translated “wait” in this passage is qava, and it carries none of the passivity the English word suggests. The picture behind it is a rope pulled taut in a tug of war, an archer drawing a bowstring, a runner braced on starting blocks. The episode also looks at how Jesus opened his public ministry in Luke 4 by reading from Isaiah, applying the same captivity scriptures to a new generation living under Roman rule. That connection shows how these words keep speaking across centuries to people in remarkably similar circumstances.

Key Points:

• Reading scripture without knowing its context risks turning the Bible into a collection of slogans or proof texts
• The Hebrew word qava, translated “wait” in Isaiah 40:31, means active, tensed readiness, not passive inactivity
• Isaiah 40 was written to Jewish exiles thirty-five years into a seventy-year Babylonian captivity, a people stripped of everything familiar
• That exile forced Jewish people to develop a portable, personal faith, one no longer grounded in the temple but carried individually
• Jesus opened his public ministry by reading from Isaiah 61 to Jews under Roman rule, showing how captivity scriptures keep speaking to new generations in similar circumstances
• Waiting on the Lord means standing firm under pressure and serving faithfully while trusting God to complete what he has already started

Reference Scriptures:

• Isaiah 40:27-31
• Psalm 130:5
• Isaiah 61:1-3
• Luke 4:14-20
• Haggai 2
• Ezra 3
• Micah 6:8
• Habakkuk 3:17-18
• Matthew 23:37
• Hebrews 10:10

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Title: Better Things Concerning You
Speaker: Pastor Colin Tan
Date: 7th June 2026
Location: Singapore, Singapore

Summary:
“We are confident of better things concerning you”. That phrase from Hebrews 6:9 sets the tone for this episode, which takes a direct look at what it actually means to grow up spiritually. The episode opens in Hebrews 6, where Paul urges believers to move beyond the basics of salvation and press toward maturity. The point is not about performing better, but about developing a faith that is genuine, active, and oriented toward others rather than self.

Three vivid examples from Scripture bring this to life. David facing Goliath shows what it looks like to act from real faith when everyone around you is paralysed by fear and unbelief. David’s response to Absalom’s rebellion demonstrates something harder still: trusting God completely when betrayal comes from your own family, and choosing not to take revenge when you easily could. These are not feel-good stories. They are practical pictures of what it looks like to lead rather than bleed, and to see the bigger picture when others have lost the plot.

The episode closes by working through James 3 and Proverbs 26-27, with a sharp look at how the tongue reveals the condition of the heart. It also draws on Acts 15 and 16 to show how Paul knew which battles were worth fighting and which ones to let go. Maturity is not about being right in every argument. It is about caring enough for people to speak the truth, keep your eyes on what really matters, and trust God with the rest.

Key Points:

• Salvation is the foundation, not the finish line. God calls every believer to press on toward genuine spiritual maturity
• Real faith is visible in how you live and respond, not just in what you say you believe
• Spiritual maturity means seeing the bigger picture, choosing the right battles, and not letting emotions or offences cloud your vision
• The heart is revealed by the tongue. Flattery and manipulation are signs of spiritual immaturity, while honest and caring speech reflects a heart aligned with God
• Trusting God with outcomes, even painful ones, is central to the kind of faith David demonstrated throughout his life

Reference Scriptures:

• Hebrews 6:1-12
• 1 Samuel 17:28-29, 33 (David and Goliath)
• 2 Samuel 15:25-26 (David trusts God during Absalom’s rebellion)
• 2 Samuel 16:5-9 (Shimei curses David)
• 2 Samuel 19:9-13 (David’s return to Jerusalem)
• Joshua 5:13-15 (commander of the Lord’s army)
• James 2:18 (faith shown by works)
• James 3:5-6 (the tongue as fire)
• Proverbs 26:23-28 (flattery and deceit)
• Proverbs 27:5-6 (open rebuke)
• Acts 15:7-12 (Jerusalem Council)
• Acts 16:1-5 (Paul and Timothy)
• 2 Corinthians 5:12-14 (the love of Christ compels us)

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Title: The Sure Mercies of David
Speaker: Pastor Mark Wattchow
Date: 10th May 2026
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand

Summary:
“Hear, and your soul shall live” – these words from Isaiah 55 sit at the heart of this episode, pointing to promises that are not just old covenant history but a rock-solid foundation for every believer today.

The episode unpacks the phrase “the sure mercies of David,” beginning with what the word “sure” actually means. Drawing from Psalm 136, Hebrews 6, Luke 1, Psalm 89, Isaiah 55, and Acts 13, it traces how God’s covenant promises to David and Abraham were never about an earthly throne alone. Every promise points forward to Jesus Christ, who brings them all to completion. His resurrection from the dead, never to die again, is the fulfilment of the sure mercies in the most literal sense.

The episode closes with 2 Peter 1 and a reminder that believers today have been given exceeding great and precious promises. We receive the sure mercies of David when we receive the Holy Spirit, entering into an everlasting covenant that includes freedom from condemnation, eternal life, and a place in a kingdom that will never end.

Key Points:

• The word “sure” in the phrase “the sure mercies of David” carries the meaning of a foundation or pillar – something permanent, established, and impossible to move
• Every promise God made to Abraham and David throughout the Old Testament finds its fulfilment in Jesus Christ, and in particular in his resurrection from the dead never to return to corruption
• We receive the sure mercies of David when we receive the Holy Spirit, which brings us into the everlasting covenant and its promise of eternal life

Reference Scriptures:

• Psalm 136
• Hebrews 6:16-19
• Luke 1:30-33, 54, 67-75
• Psalm 89:19-28
• Isaiah 55:1-8
• Acts 13:22-38
• 2 Peter 1:3-4

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Title: Joanna
Speaker: Jacob Riggs
Date: 9th June 2026
Location: Adelaide, Australia

Summary:
She only gets two mentions in the entire Bible, but dig a little deeper and Joanna’s story is remarkable. This episode takes a close look at a woman named in Luke 8 and Luke 24 who travelled with Jesus throughout Galilee, supported his ministry out of her own wealth, and was among the very first to encounter the risen Christ.

Joanna was the wife of Chuza, the personal steward of Herod Antipas. That placed her in a world of money, influence, and social standing. Choosing to travel with Jesus and fund his work was no small thing. She was putting her husband’s career and her family’s reputation at risk. Yet she went anyway, serving faithfully and generously across at least a year and a half of Jesus’s ministry. In a sense, Herod unknowingly helped fund it all.

From the crucifixion to the empty tomb, and very likely through to the Day of Pentecost, Joanna’s presence is woven through the most critical moments of the Gospels. Her story raises a direct challenge: when we recognise how precious Jesus truly is, are we willing to count the cost the way she did?

Key Points:

• Joanna came from wealth and high social standing as the wife of Herod’s steward, yet she chose to follow and financially support Jesus at real personal and professional risk
• She was one of the first people to encounter the risen Jesus, and he told her and the other women to go and tell his disciples
• Two lasting lessons from her life: she valued Jesus above status and comfort, and she served with genuine humility, using what she had for the benefit of others

Reference Scriptures:

• Luke 8:1-3
• Luke 24:1-12
• Luke 23:46-56
• Matthew 28:1-10
• Matthew 13:45-46
• Acts 1:13-14
• Acts 2:1-4
• Romans 16:7
• 2 Corinthians 9:7
• 1 Peter 4:10
• Revelation 21:27

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