When you’re being bullied, it can feel like your world is shutting down. Abusers have a way of making you feel as if there’s no escape. They make you doubt yourself, your view of reality, and your hope. Faith may not remove bullying, but it can give you solid reasons for hope when everything around you tells you to despair.

You can be in a room full of people and still feel completely alone. Sometimes, even our closest relationships leave us feeling unseen or misunderstood. The Bible helps us understand why that kind of closeness can be so difficult to find and shows us what we can do to build it.

Sometimes the best lessons on sharing your faith come from the most unexpected places. This one came from a high-wire performer.

Anyone who has watched someone close to them experience loss has felt the struggle of not knowing what to say. And listen to grieving people, and you realize that people’s well-intentioned words can cause real damage in times of loss. We need to tread lightly on the sacred ground of grief, and the Bible gives principles that can help guide our steps. Let me share four.

Serving overseas brought both joy and crushing discouragement. Projects failed, people walked away, and loneliness weighed heavy. Yet one simple practice gave me perspective, lifted my hope, and kept me sane in the darkest stretches of ministry.

Many people think that it’s the leader who makes or breaks a small group. But a great small group is usually the result of one or two group members who make the difference. The Bible’s one another commands lay out practical steps that can help you turn your group into the community it’s designed to be.

Have you ever been in a small group discussion that was more awkward than awesome? You look around and see silence, rambling, confusion, and irritation. Maybe you’ve been the one leading and wondered what went wrong. Consider these pitfalls that can make even the best of Bible studies less than they were intended to be.

Starting a small group is fun, but what started as a great thing can easily become a tired thing. While God is the one who builds community, there are practical steps you can take to keep your small group thriving over the long term.

Joining a small group for the first time can feel intimidating, but it’s one of the best ways to grow in your faith. Here’s what to expect, how to prepare, and why it’s worth showing up.

When people think of church, they usually think of the place where you sit, listen, and sing on a Sunday morning, but church was intended to be much more. Church can be a lonely place if you never get past the crowd. You need relationships with other Christians you can invest in and be supported by. You need people to pray for and who will pray for you. You need a place where you can experience the family of God, not just a meeting with God. Small groups, or what we call life groups, are where those things happen.