During this week of giving thanks, it's also the time of year where we spend...on a little of everything. How can we truly live a life of being thankful when we are constantly striving to keep up with the world of consumption around us?

Jesus' early followers were on hand for the miracles. They saw Him feed thousands with a little bit of bread and fish. They saw Him heal the sick and raise Lazarus from the dead. Still, they were tempted to unfollow Him when things got rough. Even today, this same temptation to doubt exists, so how do we work through that?

In this world, there are going to be times, when it feels like not everyone has your back. Even Jesus sat at a table with those closest to Him, who would turn Him over to authorities, deny Him and doubt Him. Still He chose to love them.

Jesus, knowing the reputation of Matthew, still sought him to be one of Jesus' followers. Without a pause and despite his circumstances, Matthew chose to follow. The decision shocked everyone except Jesus. But is choosing to follow that simple? Let's talk about this in today's lesson.

This week we start a new series about When Jesus started his ministry, He didn't seek the most powerful, the most popular, or the wisest. Still today, He seeks us, no matter our status.

Life is hard. It's even harder if you don't have people to share it with. Are we truly being the BFFs - the best friends forever - to the people around us? Are we surrounding ourselves with the best people who will make us better?

Jesus came along and introduced the idea that God loves everyone. And if we call ourselves Christians, we are called to love everyone, too. We aren't on our own here, and we shouldn't leave others to handle life alone either.

Anxiety. Fear. Depression. Sometimes the people with the brightest smiles are fighting the toughest battles inside. Where do we turn when those seasons of doubt creep into our lives?

When life gets difficult and we go through hard times, we tend to struggle with being authentic to everyone around us. We put on a happy face, reply to the text with a goofy emoji, or pretend to be better than we are.

We all have fears. And if we give in to them and let them rule our lives, those fears can rob our peace and our joy. Let's talk about how to deal with them in today's lesson.