Let Christ Shape Your Life

Have you ever watched a video of a potter at their wheel? They start with a spinning lump of clay that doesn't look like much at all. But with skilled hands and a clear vision, the potter shapes that formless lump into something amazing — something both useful and beautiful. The prophet Isaiah used that exact picture to describe our relationship with God: “O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isa. 64:8). So when we ask, “What’s next?” after deciding to follow Jesus, the answer is simple: we climb onto the potter’s wheel, trusting the hands of the Potter as he begins to shape us. 

Jesus challenged his followers, saying, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). The goal isn't just to be a student who knows a lot about Jesus, but to become a person who lives and loves like him. It’s a hands-on apprenticeship with the master craftsman, and it requires a lifelong commitment.

Become a Light to the World

Have you ever started a new job where nobody gave you a clear job description? You show up ready to work, but you have no idea what you're actually supposed to be doing. It’s confusing, and you probably spend most of your time just trying to look busy. We all crave purpose, and we want to know what our “job” is here on earth. The good news is that God doesn't leave us guessing. He gives every Christian a special role and a divine job description — and it’s not about blending in or staying quiet.

In his most famous sermon, Jesus gives us two powerful images for this new job. First, he calls us “the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). Salt’s whole purpose is to bring flavor and preservation. If we, as Christians, lose our distinctiveness and completely blend in, Jesus says we become as useless as flavorless salt. Then, he says we’re “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14-16). You don't light a lamp just to hide it. The whole reason light shines in the dark is so people can see. He tells us to let our good works shine, not for our own glory, but so that others will see our actions and give glory back to our Father in heaven.

Learn To Walk With Other Christians

Imagine packing up the car for the ultimate cross-country road trip. You’ve got the perfect playlist, a full tank of gas, and a map pointing toward incredible destinations. But who are your travelling companions? As much as we all need our “alone time,” we’re wired for companionship. The best parts of any adventure are the people we share them with. That’s why it’s no surprise that for the most important journey of all — our walk with Christ — our Lord never intended for us to go it alone.

When the New Testament talks about the “church,” it never means a building. The Greek word, ekklesia, literally means an assembly or gathering of people. The church is Jesus’ followers. But how do we walk together without stepping all over each other? From the beginning, God’s design was for us to live out our faith in unity. Jesus himself confirmed this in a prayer to God, pleading for a “oneness” among his followers that perfectly mirrors his own relationship with the Father. He prayed, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us ...” (John 17:21-23). This wasn’t just a nice idea; he explained this radical collaboration can lead the world to believe he’s God’s Son.

Make a Decision About Jesus

It’s crazy how many decisions we make every day, from what kind of milk to buy at the grocery store to which career path to follow. When the stakes are high, it can involve pros and cons lists, long discussions, and some real soul-searching. But eventually, you come to a fork in the road, and you have to make the call.

We’ve looked at the brokenness of sin and the incredible love that sent Jesus to save us. But as that reality sinks in, now what? We now stand at a fork in the road of faith, and we have to make a decision about Jesus.

Trust God's Transforming Power

If you’ve ever tried your hand at a backyard garden, you know it takes patience. You can stare at a plant for hours and see nothing, but a time-lapse video reveals the miracle — a seed sprouting, growing, and bearing fruit. Our spiritual transformation can feel slow, too, like watching a tree grow. But make no mistake, God does make the tree grow, and he brings new life to those who walk with him.

Let’s get into it and put our trust in God’s transforming power. We’ve seen that in following Jesus, we die to our old life and are buried with him in baptism. But what’s next? By the same power that raised Jesus from the grave, we rise to a new life. We are born again — of the Spirit — and everything starts fresh.

See How God Washes Your Sins Away

If you grew up playing video games, you know the feeling of getting frustrated and hitting the reset button to just start over. In real life, those game-changing “reboot” moments are rare but even more important. As we’ll see, our most important reset comes in an act of spiritual rebirth, as we bury our old self and rise to a new life.

Let’s get into it and see how God washes our sins away. Jesus himself said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). But what does that really mean?

Turn Your Life Over to God

Did you ever get grossed out by the mere mention of a food like Brussels sprouts or lima beans? Then one day, you tried them roasted with a little bacon, and — BAM! — they're your new favorite. They say people don’t change, but our tastes and habits can evolve. The same goes for our old ways of thinking — when we decide to follow Christ, we begin a total life transformation.

Let’s get into it and see the need to turn your life over to God. Following Jesus isn’t just about adding a new belief; it's about a complete change. The Apostle Paul described it as dying to your old self so that Christ can live in you (Gal. 2:20). He taught that when you learn Christ, you "put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires... and... put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph. 4:22-24). It’s like taking off your old, filthy clothes and putting on a whole new wardrobe — Jesus himself.

Grow Closer to Jesus

Why do we love stories about friendship? Whether it’s Samwise refusing to let Frodo carry his burden alone, or the way Watson and Sherlock work together to solve a case. Don't we all want a friend like that? Someone who offers a shoulder to cry on, someone you can laugh with, or just call when you need a little help. A good friend is one of life’s greatest blessings.

Let’s get into it and grow closer to Jesus. What’s so great about him? He wants a deep, personal relationship with each of us, and he elevates the very meaning of the word “friend.”

Rejoice at Jesus' Incredible Salvation

When you’re having a bad day, you might hear someone say, “Turn that frown upside down,” or “Look on the bright side.” They probably mean well, but sometimes it takes more than cliché phrases to pull us out of a real funk. But maybe you have that one person in your life who truly “gets” you — someone who knows just what to say to part the dark clouds. When someone like that steps in, it changes the game in a substantial way.

We’ve already seen how desperately we need someone to rescue us from our brokenness. People try their best with self-help and diversions, but God has acted in a real, historical way to answer our deepest needs.

Develop Your Faith in Jesus

Time travel movies tease us with the idea that you could step into a phone booth and witness history for yourself — play piano with Mozart or listen to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. If we could see these things with our own eyes, they’d feel more real than they do in a history textbook. But until someone breaks the laws of physics, we’re left to study the past through historical evidence. As we’ll see, those same rules apply when we study Jesus.

So let’s travel back to the first century. Why should you believe in Jesus — someone you’ve never seen? How can you trust what the Bible says about him? This isn’t about taking a “leap of faith” or acting on “blind faith.” The Bible itself describes faith as “the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” (Heb. 11:1, CSB). It’s a trust based on evidence.

Know Jesus Through Scripture

We all have “that friend” who loves to ruin the ending of a great story. Before you can figure out who-dunnit on your own, they swoop in and spoil the whole thing by revealing the twist. It’s pretty annoying! But once you know the spoiler, there’s no escaping it — you see the clues everywhere. The surprise vanishes, but a new kind of understanding takes its place.

Spoiler alert: We’re about to reveal the plot twist of the greatest Book ever written. And once you know it, you’ll never see the story the same way again!

Let’s get to know Jesus through the Scriptures. What can seem like a big tangle of stories and teachings actually has one thread — one singular focus — tying it all together. The Bible is a guidebook, and like any good map, it’s not just leading us somewhere; it’s leading us to someone.

Trust the Origin of Scripture

It’s hard to get far into a new Bible study without establishing why we look to the Bible. Answering that question requires explaining what the Bible is and how we got such a special book from God. In our second Square One session, we focused on some of those issues, asking, “What does the Bible have to do with me?” To support you in questions that might arise in leading that conversation, we wanted to give a little more information on how we got the Bible.

How did God inspire the Bible?

Here’s the Bible’s description of how God wrote the Old Testament: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets ...” (Heb. 1:1). The culmination of God’s revelation came in his Son (Hebrews 1:2) but Jesus never wrote any books. Instead he gave the church apostles and prophets (Eph. 4:12ff) as the church’s foundation (Eph. 2:20).

Look to the Bible for Answers

Ever since a blurry photo was printed in 1933, people have wondered if a Scottish lake called “Loch Ness” has a sea monster. It’s the kind of mystery that fuels TV shows and supermarket tabloids. As a classic sci-fi show loved to tell us, “The truth is out there!” But we’re not talking about Bigfoot or the Bermuda Triangle. What concerns us are the bigger questions — questions science can’t solve. Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we going? These are the significant questions that should affect how we live.

So, where do we look for answers? Science can’t tell you what your purpose is or what happens after you die. To find meaning, we have to look elsewhere. Is there a God behind everything we see? If so, what’s God like? Aren’t those questions worth pursuing, even if the pursuit leads us to reconsider everything we thought we knew?

Guide Someone on Their Journey to Jesus

We’ve worked the past few months to create a series that can take someone from square one — knowing next to nothing about the gospel — into discipleship. As we launch our Square One series, I want to share a few suggestions on different ways you can use these resources.

Reflect on What’s Not Working in Life

If you told your doctor it hurts when you touch your arm, the last thing you'd want to hear is, “Then don’t touch it.” A dad joke is a terrible remedy for a real ailment. When we’re trying to get to the root of our aches and pains, we need a real diagnosis, not a clever deflection. This is true for our physical health, and it's even more true for the deeper issues we face in life.

Let’s reflect on what’s not working in life. Maybe it’s personal issues with money, relationships, or health. Perhaps it’s a constant anxiety about the future or a bitterness about the past that you can't seem to shake. Beyond our own lives, we see the brokenness in the world: poverty, disease, hatred, political unrest, and war. These are all real, significant problems, but they’re symptoms, not the root cause. We have a long history of misdiagnosing our condition, treating the surface-level problems while ignoring the chronic disease that lies just beneath it all.

Celebrate the Bible’s Impactful Verses

This year’s Bible Bracket featured 64 beloved verses. After all the matchups and votes, one verse was left standing. All of our one seeds — the “chalk” favorites to win, John 3:16, Genesis 1:1, Matt. 7:21, and Ps. 23:1  — went down early, some in the first round! It left us with a surprising but fantastic Final Four. 

But the point of all this isn’t the fun of drafting and voting. It’s an opportunity to engage with each other and ourselves in reflection on the Word of God. Let’s meditate at the Final Four and consider why they hold such meaning for so many people.

Set Yourself Up for a Successful Study

Just when you thought we were done with our Getting to Square One Guided Study, in Episode 226, we’re back at it, diving deep into some practical stuff about leading gospel studies. We hope this will be helpful as we gear up for our full Square One Guided Study this season. Think of this as a little behind-the-scenes chat about how we approach guiding these conversations.Here are the seven key questions we tackled:

1. How Do You Get Started?

2. How Much Should You Prepare?

3. What If They Ask a Hard Question You Don't Know the Answer To?

4. How Do You Set Expectations?

5. How Do You Guide the Conversation?

6. How Do You Ask and Answer Questions?

7. How Do You Conclude a Study?

Choose Your Favorite Bible Verses

In Episode 225, "Okay, So We Need to Talk" we dove headfirst into our annual Bible Bracket draft, and this year, we tackled Favorite Bible Verses. It's always a fun and challenging process to narrow down the vastness of Scripture into a bracket-style competition, but we think we came up with a pretty solid list this time around.

For those new to the Bible Bracket, here's a quick rundown of how it works:

• Four Regionals: We've divided 64 verses into four thematic regionals:

  • Timeless Wisdom

  • Precious Promises

  • Hard Truths

  • Trust Builders

• Single Verses Only: This year, we decided to make things extra challenging by only allowing single verses. That means no multiple verses strung together.

• Snake Draft: We take turns picking our favorite verses in a snake draft format. And even though we're not competing against each other, we tried our best to get the ordering right (this time)!

• Voting: Once the draft is complete, we open up the voting to you, our listeners! You can head over to biblegeeks.fm/bracket to cast your votes and help determine which verse will "reign supreme."

Rejoice in the Good News Today

Endure Through Difficulty