Portraits of Faith

We all have faith. We exercise it everyday. Faith that the light switch will illuminate a room, that the bus will get us to the grocery store, and even simple faith that a chair will support us. This kind of faith has no consequence for eternity, like Christian faith does. This series explores great biblical Portraits of Faith from Hebrews 11. We pray that this careful look into wonderful biblical characters will strengthen the foundation of your Christian faith.

7 June 2026.  We claim a church home, we carve out time for some Christian activity, but do we actually have faith in God. This first week in our series defines faith and sets our course to learn and apply faith teachings from the great faith characters of the Bible. Hebrews 11:1-6; Galatians 2:20

14 June 2026.  Sure, Father Abraham. He was the father of all the Jewish people. But how about Father Isaac? The ten verses on Hebrews 11:20 is powerful reminder of the influence of a father. Hebrews 11:20; Genesis 27.

21 June 2026. It is fascinating that on the subject of us and God, that we would have any pride at all. But of course we do. Abel expressed his -Hebrews commendable- faith in God in three ways. We still can do the same thing, Are you Abel? Or Are you Cain? Hebrews 11:4; Genesis 4:1-10

28 June 2026. The suffix “ian” means resembling; if there were someone to resemble, it would be Enoch. Of course he was a great example of faith (so says Hebrews 11), and he was therefore a remarkable example of walking with God and pleasing God. Relax, no pressure, all we need to do is understand where we are to go and continue to head that direction. Let’s all walk like an Enoch-ian.  Hebrews 11:5-6; Genesis 5:21-24; Jude 15-16.  

5 July 2026. I imagine an old flannel graph, cartoons and a gathering of children when I hear the name Noah. Today we speak more of the adult version of Noah, and actually more of his own self and character than the infamous large boat story. He was strong, alone, victorious and faithful…. All when the world was not. I think that we too live in a corrupt culture and are well equipped to be Noah-like, to "Noah" how to best live in an unscrupulous society. Hebrews 11:7; Genesis 6-9.  

12 July 2026.  What is unique in the great faith chapter of Hebrews 11 is the complementary angles of the life of faith. Each ordinary person’s faith listed in the chapter has jewels of insight for all believers, all the time, and for all ages. Today’s example is clean and crisp. We can all leave today with a clear path to strengthen our faith.  Hebrews 11:8-10, 17-19.  

19 July 2026. We all have certain things in common. We all laugh, we are all self-critical, we all want to be liked, and we all have good days and bad days. This morning, let’s talk about the similarity that we all have, we all fail. Sarah, in the Old Testament, is as real God follower as anyone could be and she had a remarkable failure to success story. This is why I love Sarah so much (also the Sarah in the Bible), she looked and acted just like us. Let’s live encouraged by someone known for faith, but also failed miserably. Hebrews 11:11-12; Genesis 16:1-6

26 July 2026. Joseph stood at the end of his life and refused to let Egypt be his final resting place. By giving instructions concerning his bones, he gave his children a tangible reason to keep looking toward the Promised Land during their hardest years. His final act of faith teaches us that a father’s greatest legacy is not a comfortable present, but a hope-filled future rooted in the faithfulness of God. Hebrews 11:21-22; Genesis 48:1-22; 50:22-26. 

2 August 2026.  Moses is a fantastic example of faith and by many considered one of the greatest Jewish persons ever. In the brief section on Moses (yet a long section as compared to others in chapter 11) there are five mentions of “by faith”. Let’s look at them and mark some “by faith” applications for our own lives. Hebrews 11:23-29.

9 August 2026. Rahab was truly remarkable and her story leaves us in wonder. She had a long distance to go in order to be a hero; she had to overcome her past, to make up for her career, and to embrace a totally new way of life. She did all of that while rescuing the people of Israel from an otherwise likely defeat. It seems that we can all be greatly encouraged by the story of Rahab. The lower you have gone in life, the greater distance God is willing to take you… by faith. Hebrews 11:31; Joshua 2:1-24.

16 August 2026.  We have studied many wonderful faith characters and now we come to the end. After all the lessons, tips and significant examples everything comes down to you. Would you like to improve your life of faith? Here are three exceptional next steps for you, a great champion of faith.  Hebrews 12:1-3.