Everyone has something that they are afraid of-from heights, to spiders, to uncertainty. Sometimes we grow out of our fears, but as we grow older we often fear more. We can fear war and violence, financial downturns, or living up to expectations.

Sometimes we fear where following God's plan will take us or what we will have to give up to follow Him.

In our text, we will learn about Mary. Out of everyone-she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus. She faced an uncertain future, an impossible situation, and overwhelming responsibility, yet she chose to trust in God and surrender to His plan.

In today's lesson we will learn that even when we are fearful, God favors us, He is with us, and He blesses us-and because of that we can trust in Him.

Waiting is one of the hardest things in life for us to do. We often feel like waiting is a waste of our time. Yet, we often find ourselves in these waiting moments. Plans don't work out, we don't know what our purpose is, and we don't know what to do next.

Simeon and Anna experienced these types of times, and they show that waiting times are not wasting times. In today's lesson we will learn that waiting times are not wasting times because God has a plan, a purpose, and a process. We will also discuss that during those waiting times we should live justly, serve faithfully, and proclaim joyfully.

Isaiah 9 is written to a people living in difficult times. The nation and the people overwhelmingly rejected God. They were facing times of war, discouragement, and despair. It was to these people that the promises about the Messiah-about Jesus-found in Isaiah 9:1-7 were written to.

Many people around us today reject God, and we all face times of discouragement, despair, and hopelessness. The same promises of Jesus that encouraged the people then, can encourage us today. In today's lesson, we learn that Jesus brings light, liberation, leadership, and a legacy.

Christmas is a time that many look forward to. We look forward to the lights, fun with friends and family, the joy of the season, and most of all celebrating the birth of Jesus. It is a time filled with traditions, memories, and worship.

Some feel something quite different at this time of year. Some long for moments of Christmas past. Others feel sorrow about loss or disappointments during this time.

Many times in the Bible-when Christmas-the promise of a Savior is given-it is given to people feeling like things are difficult and like there is no hope.

The very first time the promise of a Messiah is mentioned-it comes after a tragic moment-when sin and the consequences of it are at their worst.

In today's lesson, we will study the deceit and tragedy of sin, but we will also see the promise of a Savior that brought hope, victory, and redemption. We will be reminded that because of Jesus, no matter what we are facing we can find hope, victory, and redemption.

The key to understanding any concept is making sure that you define the terms. When we hear the word worship, we immediately think of things like singing or praising God. As we will see later, those are expressions or presentations of worship, but not what worship actually is.

In this lesson, we will define worship. We will see that it comes as we give God His proper worth, and we will learn how to demonstrate worship in our lives.

Our society has never been more connected. We can call someone anytime we want. We can instantly send a message to someone or see them on a FaceTime call. We can see what people are doing on social media. We are extremely connected, but we are experiencing loneliness and depression at levels that have never been seen. 

In the book of Acts, the church functioned the way that church was made to be. They went through success and suffering. They spread the Gospel and endured persecution. And they didn't just survive, they thrived. How were they able to do this? Because of their relationship with God and the community they experienced from each other.

In today's lesson, we learn from Acts 2 on how to experience and participate in Biblical community.

Contentment is something that easily eludes us in the twenty-first century. The average person in America moves every three years. Most jobs last less than that and some marriages are even shorter. We are not happy with the weather, our jobs, our houses, our politics, our and a host of other things too.

We live in a culture that has plenty of entitlement and a lack of thanksgiving. Why? Because contentment is the base of Thanksgiving. 

Contentment is necessary for thanksgiving. The most content person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least. 

In today's lesson, we will learn how to have contentment from Philippians 4:10-13.

From time to time life beats us down. We make mistakes, relationships are broken, and things that were once strong in our life are destroyed.

The most valuable things that we have in life are worth rebuilding. No matter what has been torn down in your life, God can rebuild it.

In today's lesson, we will learn about how to rebuild from Nehemiah. We will see that rebuilding is difficult, rebuilding is doable, and rebuilding is dynamic.

Many times in life we struggle. At times we struggle with seeing how God will work things out in our life, and sometimes we struggle with our identity or feeling like we don't have a clear purpose.

Faith in Who Jesus is and what Jesus can do allows you to see clearly, overcome adversity, and changes your life. When we clearly see Who Jesus is and place our faith in Him our lives are transformed. 

In this lesson, we will learn about a man called Bartimaeus. We will see how his faith in Jesus changed his life, and how Jesus can change our life as well.

All of us have attempted to do good things and ended up facing discouragement and fatigue. We have all been tempted to give up on a goal that we have had. The most fulfilling things in life are usually the hardest to accomplish.

In Mark 2, we see four friends that above all else want to get their friend to Jesus. And when it gets difficult, when things seem impossible, they find a way, they keep going. In today's lesson we see that big faith is faith to do what it takes.