Jesus redefined the Passover meal to symbolize His ultimate sacrifice for our salvation, demonstrating faith-filled thanks in the face of impending suffering.

Gratitude should precede receiving from God, acknowledging His constant provision. God hears our prayers, not based on our goodness, but His love for us. Our prayers should align with God's glory and others' good, not just personal desires.
John 11:41-42

Many Christians approach God as though He's never satisfied. Like God in heaven is just constantly looking at you and shaking His head. But when God looks at you He's not looking at your failure, your faults, your lack of faith, He's looking at a child He desperately loves. We need to see our relationship with God differently if we're going to be able to express thanks to God joyfully.

We're headed into Thanksgiving and Christmas and it's really easy to focus on our lack. We look at others and then look at ourselves and all we can see is what we don't have. But if we can't be grateful for what we have, even if it's only our life... this breath... the leaky roof over our head, if we can't be grateful for what we have we won't be grateful even if we have it all.

Why did God get so mad when Aaron made a gold calf and called it Israel’s god at the foot of Mt. Sinai? Or what was the big deal when King Jeroboam set up two gods in the Northern kingdom of Israel after their civil war? There’s a reason God instructed humanity not to create any gods in His image and it may not be the reason you think.

We should actively cooperate with God by sacrificially reaching out to others with the Gospel, being willing to go to great lengths to share the love of Christ.

Abandon distractions like the desire for wealth, living in the past, worrying about others' opinions, and focusing solely on our own plans. • Cooperate with God by committing fully to His mission and sharing the Good News. • Anticipate God's help in meeting our needs as we prioritize His Kingdom.

We're putting into practice what we've learned over the last 9 weeks as we tackle what Jesus was saying when he quoted from the Torah, "love your neighbor as you love yourself." Are we simply to love all the time no matter what? Is that love? Is it okay to hate someone or not and how we do we get to love if we start with hate? This should be fun!

If it’s true that the Bible doesn’t tell us what to think but how to think then maybe we need to rethink the letters of the apostles (Romans - Jude). These letters were written to specific people in specific places (most often) for a specific purpose. They are inspired conversations that help us apply Kingdom principles in the everyday places we find ourselves. They are not to be used as a way to support our side or our position but are to help us look more like Jesus.
This message covers chapter 8 of Marty Solomon’s book, Asking Better Questions of the Bible.

Most people today believe that prophecy is about the future and uncovering some hidden information before it happens but that's not how the vast majority of prophets operated. The prophet most often showed up and shared a possible future outcome should the king or country continue their current course of action. That's not prophetic, it's perceptive. Understanding the original author, the audience and their application will help to keep us grounded when studying and applying prophecy to our own lives.