Dare to Hope Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Most of us agree that focus is important.  Focus impacts our direction in life and can often shape decisions we make along the way.  That is true in our spiritual walk as well.  Right concentration helps keep us on track.  But maintaining focus is not always easy.  No matter who we are, there is always the tendency to be distracted if we’re not careful.  Today, with regard to our...

Send us Fan Mail Speaking of our place in God’s family, Paul said to the Ephesian church, “You…are no longer strangers and foreigners.”  You belong. “You are members of God’s family.”  In other words, you have been chosen! Today's message will help you rejoice in the benefits of belonging to the family of God. Ephesians 2:19-22 www.dare2hope.life   "Yet I still dare to Hope..." - La...

Send us Fan Mail One day Jesus told a story about a man who had planned a banquet for his friends.  At the appropriate time the invitations were issued.  The problem was that the majority of those who had been invited decided not to come. When that happened, the host issued more invitations.  He determined that the preparations he had made, would be available to all who desired to come no matter w...

Send us Fan Mail There is evidence all around us that we live in a fallen and thus imperfect world.  Surely that is not what God intended at creation.  While we recognize all this, as Christians we do not despair over our present earthly state.  Rather, we put our trust in the promises of God for a better world to come.  www.dare2hope.life "Yet I still dare to Hope..." - Lamentations 3:2...

Send us Fan Mail This is the second part of a three-part series of messages we have called “Life On the Other Side.”  We are exploring the Bible for some of the glimpses God gives us into what happens after we die.  Hebrews 9:27, states clearly that “…each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment…” (NLT).  That sounds ominous, and a little intimidating. But, because of another...

Send us Fan Mail We have a lot of misconceptions and uncertainties when it comes to heaven.  Though the Bible tells us a great deal about it, there is still much speculation and many questions that are hard to answer.   During this series, we will look closely at what the Bible has to say about “Life on the Other Side” of death’s door. These messages will remind us of eternity, motivate us to exam...

Send us Fan Mail Psalm 51:10-11; Hebrews 6:9-20; 11:13-16 I’ve never been a sports team die-hard fan.  However, there are teams I like more than others.  If my particular team is doing well, I’m a fan; but if they are having a tough season, then not so much.  Mostly, I guess, you’d consider me a fair-weather fan.        Today’s message centers on this same kind of idea regarding our relationship t...

Send us Fan Mail Unfortunately, too many Christians never launch out into any kind of deep conversation with God.  It’s all just surface stuff.  In today's episode we explore six kinds of prayers that have the potential for drastically transforming our prayer life. Psalm 139:23-24; Psalm 143:8-12 www.dare2hope.life Email: Hope@dare2hope.life "Yet I still dare to Hope..." - Lamentati...

Send us Fan Mail 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” The Greek word translated “new” means that a life “made fresh, unused, unworn, unprecedented, uncommon, unheard of -- an absolutely new kind of life is possible in the power of the resurrected Christ.  In Jesus, there is hope for a new b...

Send us Fan Mail SERIES: Scandalous Grace In my life, I have had many times when mercy was extended to me, even though I certainly didn’t deserve it.  That is never more true than when I find myself having to confront my sinfulness in the light of God’s holiness.  I do not deserve mercy and forgiveness, but that’s what God offers us all at the foot of the cross. In this final message of our series...

Send us Fan Mail SERIES: SCANDALOUS GRACE One of the benefits of God’s scandalously amazing grace, is the provision for an intimate relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.  The term Paul uses to describe this relationship in our text today is the word “Abba.”  www.dare2hope.life "Yet I still dare to Hope..." - Lamentations 3:21 (NLT) PODCAST HOME: daretohopepodcast.buzzsprout.com/ EM...

Send us Fan Mail SERIES: SCANDALOUS GRACE No matter who we are, we all deal with the weakness of our human efforts in one form or another.  Often, human weakness is used as an excuse to justify some questionable action or embarrassing failure that has resulted from our human efforts.   But our humanity doesn't have to be an excuse for unacceptable behavior or giving in to failure.  In the mes...

Send us Fan Mail SERIES: SCANDALOUS GRACE In his letter to the Galatians, Paul expresses his grave concern that anyone would believe there was more they needed to do in order to be saved.  Some were beginning to think the good news of God’s grace was incomplete and needed to be supplemented somehow by additional requirements.        In today’s message we see that Paul is crying out against such an...

Send us Fan Mail SERIES: SCANDALOUS GRACE The concept of grace is often difficult to articulate.  One of the more practical helps in understanding grace is a book called "The Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning.  From that book we are reminded that often well-intended religious leaders have added requirements for salvation, which God never intended humanity to meet.  Manning strongly c...

Send us Fan Mail The classic battle between good and evil is still raging, and God is looking for contemporary heroes of faith to champion His cause of righteousness in our world today.  He is looking for men and women who will be engaged in the battle, by demonstrating genuine faith in their everyday circumstances of life. www.dare2hope.life "Yet I still dare to Hope..." - Lamentations...

Send us Fan Mail Knowing how important it is for humans to have examples to follow; God has given us in Scripture a number of heroes to emulate.   A substantial number of such heroes can be found in Hebrews 11, which is often referred to as the faith chapter.  Herein we find a list of faith heroes, with brief descriptions of the faith they demonstrated in their life.  However, God doesn’t give us...

Send us Fan Mail One of the best examples of God’s love for us is the focus of today’s message.  It comes from the prophet Hosea, specifically the first three chapters of that book.  In the story, Hosea answers our question, “what kind of love does God have for us?”  His answer is the main purpose of the whole book.  Hosea is saying, “God loves us with ‘love like that.’” www.dare2hope.life "Y...

Send us Fan Mail In thinking about our spiritual lives, sometimes we refer to seasons that roughly correspond to the seasons we experience in nature..  For instance, there are those times of severe trial and or darkness that may be described as a “winter” season in our spiritual journey.  And sometimes we get the idea that this winter experience is never going to be over.  But, we must never forge...

Send us Fan Mail We need to remember that not one person around us is insignificant to God.  Nobodies are important to God, and often substantial contributors in the work of God around the world.  Today’s message is taken from Acts chapter 9 and centers on the unlikely character known as Ananias.  His is just one small example of the fact that in God’s mission of saving the world, nobodies matter....

Send us Fan Mail Hope is not a concept that is easily explained.  Many have tried with varying degrees of success.  The fundamental thing to remember about Christian hope is that it is focused on the person of Jesus Christ.  Today’s message is yet another attempt to explain this unexplainable hope we have as Christians.   www.dare2hope.life "Yet I still dare to Hope..." - Lamentations 3:...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to have the favor of God on our life?  1 Kings 15, states that God acted in a certain way, “out of respect for David.”  What was there about David’s life that brought about God’s respect and favor?  Are there characteristics we see in David’s story that we could imitate today?  That’s what we are going to explore in this episode as we listen to part 2 of “Living...

Send us Fan Mail I don’t think I’m far off when I suggest that most of us, humanly speaking,  would rather be the  favorite.  So it brings up the question, is it possible to be on God’s favorite list?  Scripture suggests that we are the “apple of God’s eye,” which our English language understands as being in a position of favor so far as God is concerned.  Can that be true?  The message today make...

Send us Fan Mail We often hear people say, ”there are no guarantees in life.”  In fact, most of life is lived in the “maybe zone.”  Maybe or maybe not.  We might, but we might not.  Life is uncertain.  Perhaps the author of Hebrews was thinking about the uncertainties of life when he wrote, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).   Script...

Send us Fan Mail Lighthouses often mark dangerous coastlines, and can help guide large ships safely into harbors.  That’s why a lighthouse is a wonderful metaphor to illustrate what Christians should be in our culture.  As followers of Jesus Christ you and I are sent into the darkness of our world with the light.  Indeed, one day Jesus called His followers “the light of the world.” www.dare2hope.l...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever felt like God just wasn't answering your prayers--at least not the way you expected?  The temptation is to think somehow you and God have gotten disconnected from each other.  In this episode we explore what to do when it seems as though God isn't answering our prayers. www.dare2hope.life/podcasts "Yet I still dare to Hope..." - Lamentations 3:21...