Snapshots of the Kingdom
The Parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector Every Christian story begins with God’s gracious forgiveness that we don’t deserve. And, frankly, that story never ends. Yet our performance as religious people can tempt us to think God now accepts us based on the good things we do, rather than on the gracious work […]
The Parable of the Ten Virgins Have you ever found yourself under-prepared for something really important? Maybe it was a presentation, a trip, an athletic event – but as it arrived, you realized that you were not even close to being ready for it. While we may be able to “wing it” or “make due” […]
The Parable of the Prodigal Son We’ve been learning a lot about God’s kingdom through the parables haven’t we? In this short series, we’ve learned about the nature of parables, about the worth of God’s kingdom, about things we should value as citizens of God’s kingdom, and about the perspectives we should have as God’s […]
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant What would you say is one of the hardest things about living in our fallen world? We experience plenty of daily frustrations of living in a world broken by sin and its effects, but probably one of the hardest things for most of us is the pain of being […]
The Parable of the Lost Sheep At our church, “Lost & Found” isn’t just a place to search for misplaced items. It’s actually the name of our Wednesday evening program for children. We chose this name because of this very passage – Matthew 18:10-14. This story, best known as “The Parable of the Lost Sheep,” […]
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure In November of 1986, the Chicago Tribune covered a story that quickly gained national attention as a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Brothers Jonathan and Stephen Whetstine (ages 11 and 4) each gave their dad $5 to buy them a sapphire. Their father, Roy Whetstine, was a gem dealer who had an […]
The Parable of the Sower Growing up, we likely all heard stories that were intended to teach a lesson. Think of “The Tortoise and the Hare” or “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Those stories weren’t intended to teach us about a slow turtle, a fast rabbit, or the dietary habits of wolves. Rather they were […]