Making and maturing disciples remains the church's core mission. Each generation must consider how to advance the gospel and adapt to changing cultural trends without compromising the power of the cross and the inspiration of the gospel. This class will share what is working and what is not based on ministering to the Westside of Los Angeles over the past 7 years.

This class is will explain, historically and theologically, why we consider the Bible as our "final authority" in the Churches of Christ.

Have you ever heard a prayer that felt more like a verbal billboard for a particular ideology rather than an authentic expression of petition, intercession and thanksgiving from a believer to the Lord? Or, have you ever been the one praying such a prayer? We certainly need to have grace for ourselves and each other as we fumble our way towards a deeper prayer life, but one particular area that is difficult is praying for kings and rulers. Paul clearly instructs early believers to pray for “kings and all those inauthority,” but how exactly are we supposed to do that today in our agenda driven polarized culture? This class will explore 1 Timothy 2:1-7 in its context and move towards how we might apply it to our prayer lives today.

Christians can fall into a life of practical deism. We should be aware that the Gospel is the message of Jesus and should be accompanied by the power of Jesus.

With the love commands to love God (Deut 6:5) and neighbors (Lev 19:18), Jesus distills the heartbeat of God’s will for flourishing relationships. We’ll look at how these commands are reflected in prayer life and embody the ten commandments. We will learn some challenging and surprising things about these commands. For example, Jesus wasn’t the only one who believed this – according to Luke 10:25-28, it was his opponent, the lawyer, who brought these two commands together when testing Jesus. We’ll also see how Luke illustrates these commands with the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) and the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). 

When we consider God, we often think in terms of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However, growing up in our Restoration Heritage, I rarely heard teaching on the Holy Spirit. This third person of the Trinity was a mystery and a concept I rarely gave much thought to. When it did come up, it seemed to be more eery and something we were leery of. This class will take a practical, biblical look at how God reveals himself to us and within us through His Spirit.

This workshop will equip participants with Christian contemplative meditation practices derived from the African American experience that can enrich everyone's intimacy with Christ.

Boundaries are not barriers to love—they give relationships shape and direction, allowing room for clarity, respect, and life-giving connection. Yet many Christians struggle to set limits because of confusion about forgiveness, self-sacrifice, or what “loving like Jesus” really requires. In this 50-minute session with the Boone Center for the Family’s Relationship IQ Program, we will explore how boundaries function across the major relationships of life. Using Scripture and insights from Dr. Henry Cloud’s Boundaries framework, we’ll explore how unhealthy dynamics can lead to harm, and how wise, loving boundaries bring clarity, protection, and growth. Attendees will gain practical tools to recognize unhealthy patterns, communicate limits with grace, and distinguish Christlike love from codependence.

Love is often misunderstood as passive or permissive, yet Scripture presents it as the most demanding and transformative path of all. This session reframes biblical love as the foundation for faithful presence, resilient relationships, and gospel-centered influence. Discover why love remains God's chosen way forward—especially when the path is costly.

Why do we create new translations of the Bible? This workshop will bring out rare Bibles from Pepperdine’s Special Collections (including the first edition of Campbell's 1826 version) for an interactive discussion on how translations not only affect the way we interpret the Bible, but are acts of interpretation themselves. Join Jamey and Nick as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Alexander Campbell’s New Testament translation and explore how we shape the text even as the text shapes us.