This week, Pastor Shaq Hager walks through the parable of the unforgiving servant, a parable that asks, “How extravagant is our king’s forgiveness?” A servant owes an astronomical debt and the kind forgives all of it. That servant, then, turns around an requires someone repay… Read More »Extravagant Forgiveness
This week, Dr. Rafael Rodriguez explores Jesus’s parable of the vineyard and its tenants. Jesus tells the parable in the temple courts one day after overturning the tables. It’s a parable he shares in response to the question, “By what authority are you doing these… Read More »Ridiculous Grace
This week, Pastor Dennis Allan walks through the parable of the bags of gold (also known as the parable of the talents). Too often, we read this parable and think it’s about money, that it Christianizes the American Dream. That, in the kingdom, Jesus distributes… Read More »Stewarding Jesus’s Mission
A rich man, dressed in purple and fine linen lived in luxury every day. At his gate laid a beggar, longing to eat the food that fell from the rich man’s table. Then, both the beggar and the rich man die. The beggar is carried… Read More »When Wealth Makes People Invisible
This week, Dennis Allan walks through the Parable of the Barn Builder (or, the Rich Fool). In the kingdom, Jesus makes clear that the life that is truly life is now found in an abundance of possessions. The life that is truly life—namely, Jesus himself—is… Read More »Tear Down Your Barns
In the Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector Jesus upends his original audience’s understanding of righteousness and justification. The Pharisee, who modern Christians view as being hypocritical and self-righteous, was a person revered by most ancient Jews. He was faithful, meticulous about his… Read More »Humility and Justification
When Jesus tells the Parable of the Great Banquet he is sitting at a table, at a Sabbath-day banquet, hosted by a prominent Pharisee. It’s in that context that he warns the Pharisees, the people who assume because of their religious performance, or because of… Read More »The Way Up is Down
A group of workers are hired in the morning and agree to work for a particular wage. Later the same day, a second group of workers are hired and agree to work for the exact same wage. However, the second group only had to work… Read More »He’s a Generous King
In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus tells a story about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep, all of which are exactly where they should be and doing exactly what they should be doing, to look for one sheep that’s lost. Then, in Luke’s… Read More »None are Expendable
This week Pastor Shaq Hager explores two parables: the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven. The Kingdom of God doesn’t announce itself in grand or triumphant ways. It starts imperceptibly small and if we’re not careful, if we’re not attuned,… Read More »I Almost Missed It