Black Church Life

08/31/2026

HOW GOD SPEAKS – God Speaks to His People (YOU-Fall’26, Study 1, Session 1)

Relationships require effort and the people involved must agree to communicate regularly. The same conditions are needed for a good company to thrive, for a church to prosper, and for married couples to be joyful. But these conditions do not just appear out of thin air. Someone must take the initiative and vulnerably communicate, hoping their efforts are reciprocated. I find myself doing this every time I visit a new church or get invited to a social event.

In my younger days, I would often think that no one cared about my presence at church or the gathering because no one came and spoke to me. I would hang around, endure some of the awkwardness for a while, and swiftly exit once I felt it was appropriate, I have learned that situations like this can often be avoided when I take the initiative and engage with people. But I must force myself to act lovingly for the benefit of my neighbor. God always takes the initiative and does this for our benefit. He is not distant. He desires to bring us closer to Himself. Moses is just one of the many individuals who have experienced God’s loving initiative.

In my younger days, I would often think that no one cared about my presence at church or the gathering because no one came and spoke to me. I would hang around, endure some of the awkwardness for a while, and swiftly exit once I felt it was appropriate, I have learned that situations like this can o...

08/24/2026

https://you.lifeway.com/essentials-for-christian-living-a-love-for-others-you-sum26-study-2-session-7/

When an epidemic hit the Roman Empire around 260 AD, it was horribly bad. The only thing people could do to avoid getting sick and dying was to run away, literally. Dionysius, a third-century bishop, wrote this about “the heathen,”

“At the first onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away and fled from their dearest, throwing them into the roads before they were dead and treated unburied corpses as dirt, hoping thereby to avert the spread and contagion of the fatal disease,”

Christians, on the other hand, took a wholly different approach, Dionysius wrote, “Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty … They took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ,
and with them departed this life serenely happy; for they were infected by others with the disease … Many, in nursing and curing others, transferred their deaths to themselves and died in their stead,”34

A major key difference between Christians and those of other faiths is the expression of love and the willingness to love unconditionally, faithfully, no matter what, In this final session, we will see how we are to love even as Christ has loved us.

When an epidemic hit the Roman Empire around 260 AD, it was horribly bad. The only thing people could do to avoid getting sick and dying was to run away, literally. Dionysius, a third-century bishop, wrote this about "the heathen," "At the first onset of the disease, they pushed the sufferers away a...

08/12/2026

We love hearing how God used your VBS ministry to reach your community! Report your numbers today! http://lfwy.co/VtPr50ZvX21

08/12/2026

08/11/2026

ESSENTIALS FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING – An Outward Focus (YOU-Sum’26, Study 2, Session 5)

In February 2015, a user from Tumblr, a social media platform, posted a photo of a dress with the question: “What colors do you see?” The image went viral as people perceived different colors; some saw blue and black, while others saw white and gold, I remember seeing a blurry white color, Within hours, family, coworkers, and friends were arguing over the color of the dress, Over 11 million tweets in 24 hours surrounding the hashtag generated many heated discussions.

There is a scientific explanation that a person’s brain interprets ambiguous lighting differently based on individual perception patterns, However, the emotional response revealed a deeper human nature that we want to defend our perspective, even when it’s meaningless, If we fight over trivial dress colors, imagine how much more insistent we are on matters that will affect our lives,

Sometimes, we insist that others see things our way, Paul understood this nature and taught the Corinthians an alternative: sometimes we are to voluntarily set aside what we want for the sake of others, In this passage, we will discover that one of the essentials for Christian living is doing what benefits others and letting go of what we want.

https://you.lifeway.com/essentials-for-christian-living-an-outward-focus-you-sum26-study-2-session-5/
"YOU" Bible Study