YOU Podcast

Imagine an inexperienced hiker taking a trek on a mountain trail. The hiker notices a sign expressing the need to stay on the marked path, but he chooses to ignore it. Overestimating his abilities and sense of direction, he goes off the path and ends up getting himself lost. After a while, a park ranger finds him and escorts him back to safety, explaining that this is not the first time this type of situation has occurred. Fortunately for the hiker, the ranger is aware of individuals’ propensity to ignore instructions and thus get themselves into situations from which they cannot get themselves out. This story provides a glimpse into God’s relationship with humanity. In dealing with His chosen people in ancient Israel, God understood the people were prone to deviate from the standards He had laid out for them. Because of this, God put a system in place by which the people could be restored and have their sins removed.

God put a system in place by which the people could be restored and have their sins removed.”

On the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the people’s religious observance, an elaborate ritual by the High Priest ensured the people’s forgiveness. This annual observance demonstrated God’s mercy in offering a way for people to be forgiven.

The post THE BEAUTY OF FORGIVENESS – The Picture of Forgiveness (YOU-Fall’26, Study 2, Session 3) appeared first on YOU.

In many cases, people’s view of God is influenced by their relationships with other people, particularly authority figures. The impression people have of authority figures with whom they have interacted is then projected onto God. If parents, teachers, or church leaders were harsh to them at some point in their lives, they may view God as being a harsh, disciplinary figure as well. This image does not reflect the character of God we find revealed to us in the Bible. Rather than waiting to catch us doing wrong, God desires to forgive us. Forgiveness is not just a piece of God’s character, though. Forgiveness is at the heart of how God interacts with people.

God offers forgiveness that is abundant and freely given.”

Our lesson today provides one example that can help correct misunderstandings about how God relates to us as human beings, God already knows us and desires to forgive and restore us. If we want to know what true forgiveness looks like, we can look at God as a model. While people in our culture may want to attach conditions to forgiveness, God offers forgiveness that is abundant and freely given. This level of forgiveness gives us reason to praise God and remember His goodness to us.

The post THE BEAUTY OF FORGIVENESS – The Source of Forgiveness (YOU-Fall’26, Study 2, Session 2) appeared first on YOU.

Do you remember the last time you left your phone unplugged when you thought you had plugged it in? You may have bumped into it, knocking the cord loose or failed to plug it in correctly and probably did not notice until you grabbed it on your way out of the door to go to work, school, or to run errands. The phone still looked good on the outside, but it was lacking the benefit of connecting to its
power source.

As important as our phones are to our daily lives, our relationship with God is much more important. Unfortunately, when we sin, we break the fellowship connection we have with God. We may think everything is okay until we are confronted with the reality we cannot ignore. In our lesson for today, we will consider how David responded when he found himself in this situation, While David’s sin broke his fellowship with God, all is not lost,

We have assurance that God will forgive us as well when we cry out to Him.”

As David cried out for forgiveness, God was ready, willing, and able to forgive him. We have assurance that God will forgive us as well when we cry out to Him. He patiently waits for us to desire to be made right.

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Often when we have friends over, they will introduce my family to a new board game. I have learned to only be mildly competitive. If I have never played a specific board game before, and I do not know the rules; I will request a practice round before the “real” game begins. But even afterwards, the rules still have not sunk into my memory, I participate and enjoy the fellowship, I almost never win. Once we get to the end of the game, I find out that I would have been closer to winning had I remembered one of the rules. The saddest part is that everyone else will be ready to move on to another game and | never get the chance to improve.

We can trust that once we have “learn the rules of the game,” once we have grown in Christian maturity, we will be able to obey God in ways that bring blessings to ourselves, our families, and people in our local communities and churches.”

When it comes to listening to God, we might find ourselves feeling the same way at the beginning or when hardships come. However, because God is consistent, we can trust that once we have “learn the rules of the game,” once we have grown in Christian maturity, we will be able to obey God in ways that bring blessings to ourselves, our families, and people in our local communities and churches.

The post HOW GOD SPEAKS – God Speaks and We Respond (YOU-Fall’26, Study 1, Session 6) appeared first on YOU.

I have listened to several podcasters, preachers, and political pundits explain how Americans have become more tribal over the last few years. They have all pointed to social media as the culprit because it provides us with a sound board for our own thoughts. When social media connects people around something that is sinful, we grieve over their lostness. But social media can also point people towards the direction of Jesus and the Church.

God designed His Church to be a place where people from every tribe and language could gather and discuss the wonders of God.”

Not every tribal commitment is bad. God designed His Church to be a place where people “from every tribe and language” (Rev. 5:9) could gather and discuss the wonders of God. Imagine being at a family reunion where everyone’s favorite food is prepared, no one is tired from the preparation because everyone helped, and the conversation is lively since everyone wants to talk to everyone else.

This might sound like a fairy tale or a dream, but this is what the Church can be, When we focus on listening to God’s voice, as we engage with His word, empowered by His Spirit; we can evaluate our circumstances in Christian community-God speaks through His Church.

The post HOW GOD SPEAKS – God Speaks through His Church (YOU-Fall’26, Study 1, Session 5) appeared first on YOU.

As the father of four children, I challenge my children to consider their circumstances, I often allow a particular situation to play itself out to see where they are on the pathway to maturity, I am always surprised when one of them wants their siblings to share something and then they are unwilling to share with another sibling, I intervene when I think it is appropriate to remind them of the earlier circumstance and challenge them to consider how they felt. I am cautious about comparing my own fathering techniques to God’s but even Jesus compared the innate nature of human fathers to that of our heavenly Father (see Matthew 7:7-12).

God the Father orchestrates the circumstances of our lives with a similar, but greater, purpose in mind.”

Every good father wants to see how their children will respond to their situations in the hope of congratulating them because they have listened to the instruction they were given, I am cautious about comparing my own fathering techniques to God’s but even Jesus compared the innate nature of human fathers to that of our heavenly Father, God the Father orchestrates the circumstances of our lives with a similar, but greater, purpose in mind. He wants to give us opportunities to grow and implement what we have learned about His nature into our lives and communities, He is on our side and knows which circumstances will help us thrive. He always intervenes at the right time.

The post HOW GOD SPEAKS – God Speaks through Circumstances (YOU-Fall’26, Study 1, Session 4) appeared first on YOU.

Have you ever wished life came with clearer instructions? Maybe you’ve stood in the middle of a big decision-whether to take a job, repair a relationship, or just figure out how to get through the week-and thought, “I just need to hear from God.” You’re not the only one. Surveys show that most adults feel unsure about the “right next step” in daily life, even though we’re surrounded by more information and technology than any generation before us. Phones track our habits, watches monitor our sleep, apps guide our diets, and yet people still feel spiritually directionless.

Have you ever wished life came with clearer instructions?”

And that’s where a deeper question emerges: How is the Holy Spirit superior to any technology we can comprehend? For all our devices can do, none of them can comfort us in grief, convict us of truth, or whisper wisdom into the quiet places of our hearts. In this session, we’ll discover how God still speaks today-and why the Holy Spirit offers guidance no technology could ever match.

The post HOW GOD SPEAKS – God Speaks through His Holy Spirit (YOU-Fall’26, Study 1, Session 3) appeared first on YOU.

Imagine getting a meaningful text from a close friend-something you read twice because it hits you at just the right moment. Messages like that help us feel connected, understood, and grounded, God designed us for that kind of connection. Communication and community are at the heart of our human experience. We constantly seek conversations-at events, over lunch, through messages-because they make us feel known. But even in our best efforts, we forget things. That’s why we write them down.

God gave us Scripture so we could clearly hear Him. His written Word guides us even better than an audible voice ever could.”

In the same way, God gave us Scripture so we could clearly hear Him. His written Word guides us even better than an audible voice ever could. When we talk about hearing God, many of us wish He would just speak out loud and make things simple. But one of the clearest, most consistent ways God speaks is through the Bible. Scripture isn’t just an old book-it’s God’s voice captured in words we can return to again and again. As we read, reflect, and apply what we learn, we begin to recognize how God guides, encourages, and shapes us through His Word.

The post HOW GOD SPEAKS – God Speaks through the Bible (YOU-Fall’26, Study 1, Session 2) appeared first on YOU.

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.

God always takes the initiative and does this for our benefit. He is not distant. He desires to bring us closer to Himself.”

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.

The post HOW GOD SPEAKS – God Speaks to His People (YOU-Fall’26, Study 1, Session 1) appeared first on YOU.

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 key difference between Christians and those of other faiths is the expression of love and the willingness to love unconditionally, faithfully, no matter what.”

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.

The post ESSENTIALS FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING – A Love for Others (YOU-Sum’26, Study 2, Session 7) appeared first on YOU.