When counting our blessings, it's important to give thanks for the people in our lives.

God uses our friendships to communicate His love to us, and true friends can help us to see God at work in us.

Through those friendships, we also learn that we can have no closer friend than Jesus- are you his friend today?

In Thessalonians 3, the apostle Paul shares his thanks for the local churches that support him.

In any season of personal spiritual growth, it's important that we show thanks for the community of believers around us.

The local church is important in building up Christians, new and old, and in reaching the community with the gospel.

The New Testament letter of 1st Thessalonians gives us one simple command about thankfulness: rejoice always.

But how are we supposed to rejoice ALWAYS? Especially when we face hard times?

Thankfulness is a habit we create, and our goal is to learn how to be thankful beyond our circumstances.

Complaining about our circumstances always seems easier than being thankful.

The Israelites in the Old Testament often were the same way, complaining against Moses and God.

We as the church need to learn from the Israelites' mistakes, and trash our complaints in favor of living thankfully.

In John 8, the religious leaders of the Israelites want Jesus to condemn a woman in adultery.

Instead, Jesus calls the woman out of her sin, and calls her to restoration.

When we approach others about the sin in their lives, do we approach them with the same grace and humility as Jesus?

In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve get busted by God when they eat the forbidden fruit.

Failing to follow God's instruction led them down a path of punishment and destruction, but God did not abandon them.

In the same way, when we get busted, God doesn't give up on us. Instead, He wants us to turn to Him.

The Old Testament story of King Uzziah shows us a man who achieved great power and reputation, but lost it all to pride.

We often chase after wealth and status without truly weighing our ambitions against God's will for our lives.

God calls us to give our ambitions over to Him, to follow His will, and to trust in His promise to care for us.

What does it mean for us to give a tithe or offering to God? What spiritual value does tithing have?

When we read the story of Abraham, we see that he was the first man to ever tithe, which taught him to trust God.

Then, when he faced a test of faith, he knew that God would provide for Him, and he trusted God all the more.

There is a dangerous myth that has taken over our culture, and often times we fall victim to it.

The myth goes like this: the more we have, the happier we will be.

However, we learn from the story of King Solomon that God calls us to bust the "myth of more."

How do we learn to live with less in a day and age where we are told we need more and more?

It starts with recognizing where all that we have comes from: from a generous and giving God.

When we recognize that what we have comes from God, we learn to live with a greater sense of appreciation.