Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Parables of Jesus: Open Our Eyes, Lord

Anyone who wants to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus needs to study his teachings often. Jesus is our savior. That means he is the one who knows how to save us from going down the wrong paths in life, the paths that lead to failure and misery. A savior is a teacher, because knowledge about how to live saves us. Our Teacher gives us the truth about who God is and what God expects of us.

The parables of Jesus are his attempts to bring the truth to us when we resist seeing the truth. His model was the way Nathan approached David with a parable in order to break through his defenses and force him to face up to the truth about his sins against Uriah and Bathsheba. Parables are stories or comparisons that sneak the truth past our defenses. I look forward to preaching a series of sermons on the parables and pray that God will open our eyes to the truth we most need to see.

Here is the schedule.

February 1 The Return of the Prodigal: Two Sides of the Father’s Love Luke 15:11-31
February 8 The Midnight Request: Prayer Luke 11:5-13
February 15 The Pharisee and the Tax Collector: Humbling Yourself Luke 18:9-14
February 22 The Good Samaritan: Who Is Our Neighbor?
Luke 10: 25-37
March 1 The Rich Fool: On Being Rich Toward God Luke 12: 16-21
March 8 The Talents: Use or Lose Matthew 25:14-30
March 15 The Sulky Children: Being Open to the Truth Matt. 11:16-19
March 22 The Great Banquet: Responding to God’s Generosity
Luke 14: 15-24
March 29 The Sheep and the Goats: The Final Judgment Matt. 25:31-46

I hope you will be in worship each Sunday and invite friends to come and join us in seeking the truth through the parables of Jesus.

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