Harbor, Pepperdine Bible Lectures

Finding Your Home in God’s Neighborhood

Some read the Sermon on the Mount as a list of impossible standards. Others see it as an essential blueprint for obedient discipleship. But what if it's really an invitation to come dwell in God's neighborhood? Drawing from the witness and wisdom of Mr. Rogers, this class helps us envision the Sermon on the Mount as a creative imagining of life in God's neighborhood. From the Beatitudes to the concluding proverbs, the Sermon on the Mount asks us: "Won't you be God's neighbor?"

Patience That Does Not Compel

The current landscape of many churches is one of uncertainty, anxiety, and anger about a changing world. How should the church respond to these difficult times? In this class we will explore how the early church navigated a similar landscape. Instead of choosing panic they chose a posture of patience. That attitude changed everything for the church then and has the potential to do the same for us today.

Una Iglesia que se relaciona con la cultura

La espiritualidad es un mosaico de historias de la comunidad a través de varios contextos. Aprender cómo la Iglesia puede ganar perspectiva cuando se trata de emprender en una espiritualidad adecuada en la cultura, sin trivializar la fe.

Listen and Make Room: Joining God in Welcoming Children

Jesus listened to those who had no voice and made room for the vulnerable. This class calls us to do the same. Vulnerable children are at the core of God’s mission. Those who adopt God’s mission will listen and make room. Taking up that mission will prompt a revival in the contemporary church.

The Indwelling of Deity in the Believer

How is the Father in the Son? How is the Son in the Father? How is Jesus one with the Father? The answers to these questions are bold and confident revelations which were made by Jesus. The answers to these questions reveal for the understanding of the saints in Christ how and when deity, that is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit came to dwell in the believer. This is the boldness, confidence, and joy of the children of God.

Navigating the Challenges of Faith

For years we have heard about faith that can move mountains. What was Jesus talking about when He told His disciples to have faith and what was the reason He called them to this kind of faith? We will study this passage from Mark 11.

My Week with Francis Chan

Jacob Parnell attended the We Are Church one-week intensive in San Francisco and came home with a lot of information, a lot of conviction, but not a lot of direction. Do their practices translate to an established church that isn’t ready to completely jettison its church building, paid ministers, and creature comforts? Is it an all-or-nothing model? What am I supposed to do now? This session will share some of the principles and practices learned from Chan’s house-church network and his reflections on which ones have impacted a 70-year-old California Church of Christ. The session will also share some encouraging guidelines for how to process and apply (or not apply) information learned at any conference or training session.

Reading Scripture with the Ancient Church

This session will explore how ancient Christians interpreted Scripture theologically and what we can learn from them. Early Christians took Jesus and Paul as models for how to read Scripture, but modern believers have often been trained to avoid such approaches. For premodern interpreters, everything in Scripture, even in the Old Testament, points to Christ. In modern times, especially among scholars, Christian and non-Christian alike, the Bible became more of a dead letter than a living word. What are those different approaches, and what can we learn from each? This session is based on the speaker's book, "The Letter and Spirit of Biblical Interpretation: From the Early Church to Modern Practice" (Baker Academic, 2018).

Undivided: One Spiritual Practice That Breaks Down Walls

Increasingly, we live in a world of walls. Divided and disconnected from our fellow humans, from our loving Father and even from our true selves, we need practices that can lead to wholeness, healing and integration. This spiritual practice is a step toward tearing down the walls between you, your neighbor, your God, and yourself.

Dysfunctionality, Denominationalism, Division, and Dirty Bath Water, Part 1

Fate Hagood 

Can the Church of Christ Be Saved?, Part 2

Richard Hughes 

Frank and disturbing conversations based on the second edition of Hughes' book, Reclaiming a Heritage: Reflections on the Heart, Soul, and Future of Churches of Christ in light of current trends in American culture, white evangelicalism, and Churches of Christ.

Keynote: David and Bathsheba

Sara Barton 

Men and Women Sharing Church Leadership, Part 3

Kindy De Long

A three-day session considering a biblical "big picture" of how God creates, sees, and interacts with people not as genders, but as unique human beings. The first session explores men and women created in the image of God in partnership with each other and redeemed into a community of Christ that fulfills this creation ideal. The second session focuses on women in the Bible who used their God-given gifts to lead God's people. The third session investigates the "limiting" passages in Paul's letters in light of this larger picture of Scripture.

Seeking God Through the Arts

Jennifer Rundlett, Adam Nettesheim

"Cultivating the Heart of the Artist in Your Fellowship"

Join author/musician Jennifer Rundlett and author/media artist Adam Netteshiem as they share their experiences of using paintings, poems, music, and storytelling to create devotional tools for greater connection with Scripture and in turn more imaginative prayer. Guided experiences and resources to revitalize the childlike wonder and imagination in your individual quiet time and corporate worship will be offered. Come and see what the Lord has done, is doing and may yet do as we allow God to speak to our hearts while we learn to seek him through the arts.

Optimism vs. Pessimism

Robert Brock

Trying to find balance in today's life through contemplation.

The Two Greatest Things, Part 2

Landon Saunders

"How to Save Your Day, Your Life, Your Children, Your Church, Your World"

Who are we as human beings? Christians, world religions, humanists, the sciences, artificial intelligence advocates—all weigh in. People of faith are in great need for a vision that meets the challenges of our time, that is intellectually and existentially defensible, and that captures our passion, hopes, and dreams.

The Incredible Shroud of Turin

Larry Stalley

"A Neglected Witness for the Resurrection of Jesus?"

After 40 years of extensive research, the Shroud of Turin has become the most scrutinized artifact in history. What fascinating discoveries have scientists from numerous disciplines, historians, and theologians learned from their diligent research? Does the Shroud provide remarkable evidence of the most significant event in all recorded history: the resurrection of our Lord? Might the Shroud be the “sign of Jonah” Jesus promised (Mt. 12:38-40; 16:4)? Might it have been used as an evangelistic tool by the earliest Christians? “O foolish Galatians! Has someone cast the evil eye on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as having been crucified?” (Gal. 3:1). An extensive PowerPoint presentation will supplement the speaker’s talk.

Help Our Unbelief

Mitch East

"The Glamorization of Doubt Among Millennials"

If you have doubts, are you no longer a Christian? Are you an immature Christian if you don't have doubts? Is there any help for doubters or are they stuck with doubts forever? We’ll distinguish between different kinds of doubt in order to best serve doubters. Through the lens of the Psalms, we'll see the benefits and limits of doubt.

No Longer Slaves, Part 2

Josh Graves

"What Am I Supposed to Do With My Life?"

This class will explore the freedom and liberation promised by Jesus and taught by Paul.

Equipping the Next Generation of Worship Ministers

Lauren Begert

Join a discussion of three core ideas for raising up emerging adult worship ministers and equipping them for successful ministerial leadership.

Christ, Culture, the Campus, and Your Church

Dave Clayton

Spiritual Breakthrough, Part 2

Buddy Bell

Most of us stay frustrated by lack of spiritual growth. Even if we are growing, we find it frustrating to foster that growth in others. In this class you will be introduced to some simple spiritual tools called Lifeshapes. They will not only spur your own spiritual growth, but will give your church a common language to spur that same spiritual growth in others, especially in discipleship groups.

All Hands On Deck

Loretta Hunnicutt

"Women in the Stone-Campbell Movement in the 1940s"

El Vergonzoso Silencio Del Rey David

Javier Villa

David experimenta el privilegio del perdón y explica el profundo sentimiento de su silencio sin darle honor a Dios ni dándole Su gloria. El también explica el remordimiento de su espíritu quebrantado, reconociendo su culpabilidad. Perdón es un alivio, es una bendición que nos trae paz a nuestro corazón avergonzado. Selah es un silencio, una pausa, es el tiempo de meditación antes del arrepentimiento. (David experienced the privilege of forgiveness and explained the deep feelings of his silence, not honoring God or giving Him praise. He also explained the remorse of his broken spirit, recognizing his guilt. Forgiveness is a relief, it is a blessing and brings peace into our ashamed hearts. Selah is a silence, a pause, it is a time for meditation before repentance.)

COC & ICOC, Part 2: The Repair

Doug Jacoby, Nick Zola 

In the late 1980s, the International Churches of Christ (ICOC or Boston Movement) formally split from the Churches of Christ (COC). In 1992, the ICOC was labeled by Time magazine as one of the world’s fastest growing church movements. But by 2000, the ICOC was experiencing an internal upheaval that forced it to reevaluate its identity. Today dialogue and cooperation have reopened between the COC and ICOC. This series explores reasons behind the rift and recent moves towards its repair.