Stories - Mercy Road Church Northwest

Get Off Your High Horse

April 2, 2023 • Luke Edgerton • John 12

For better or for worse, your family of origin and its unique circumstances formed for you a perception of Jesus. As to whether that perception is something that brings you life and freedom, or something that brings you pain and heartache, is something different entirely. The Israelites awaiting Jesus’ decent from the Mount of Olives, on what is now known as Palm Sunday, had a perception of Jesus based on their own origin story and their unique circumstances at that time. The expectations they placed on the Messiah were, well…off. Way off. Palm Sunday invites us to discover that the closer we come to the presence of Jesus, the further He distances us from our presumptions of Him. Can you imagine how it might feel to discover that Jesus never abused His power? Never manipulated His followers? Never gas-lighted His friends? It feels like freedom. Freedom from my presumptions of Jesus. Freedom to let Jesus be Himself. Freedom to know you are loved by Him. There’s a lot more to Palm Sunday than you might think.

The Widow and Her Impatience

March 26, 2023 • Luke Edgerton • Matthew 18

The Parables of Jesus had the power to shape a generation then, which means they have the power to form a generation now. Parables have a mysterious power to understand you better than you understand the parable. These parables invite us into a journey of exploration and discovery leading to life change. Waiting can be exhausting and stressful, but under that same formula of time + pressure, coal will turn into diamonds. Here’s the deal - we hate to wait. In our give it to me and give it to me now culture, we have come to believe that God is also someone who, like a genie in a bottle, will grant our every wish and at a moment's notice. But what about when He doesn’t? What then? We are often left with a sense of confusion and doubt: “Did God not hear my prayers? Did I not pray the right prayers? Does God not care about what I’m going through?” In our last Parable we will enter the world of the Persistent Widow - someone who remained persistent while waiting. Honestly, this Parable feels like a diamond in the rough of sorts. With so much pain and darkness in the world; with so much need; with so much longing for meaning and love, we believe the time is now to rend our hearts and cry out to God both day and night.

The Unmerciful Servant

March 19, 2023 • Mady Wise • Matthew 18

The Parables of Jesus had the power to shape a generation then, which means they have the power to form a generation now. Parables have a mysterious power to understand you better than you understand the parable. These parables invite us into a journey of exploration and discovery leading to life change. This Sunday we are studying Matthew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksra16m2fek&t=1101s-35 - the parable of the Unmerciful Servant. We will step into the shoes of each of the character to discover what Jesus may be teaching us about our own self-righteousness and what forgiveness looks like even in the most difficult of circumstances. Forgiveness is a hot topic issue and often makes us uncomfortable because we are forced to deal with the things that hurt us, but I am praying that the Spirit will rend our hearts and open our minds as we look at what Jesus says about forgiveness.

The Father and His Sons

March 12, 2023 • Nick Wise • Luke 15

The Parables of Jesus had the power to shape a generation then, which means they have the power to form a generation now. Parables have a mysterious power to understand you better than you understand the parable. These parables invite us into a journey of exploration and discovery leading to life change. Have you ever wronged someone so deeply that you didn’t think they’d ever forgive you? Have you ever hit rock bottom and needed help? Have you ever been wronged by someone and struggled to forgive them? Have you ever been frustrated when someone was undeserving of a reward but they got it anyways? Our culture has been trying to solve these problems for generations. But what if we told you Jesus has given answers to all of these situations by telling just one story 2,000 years ago? Just as this story shaped the generation then, it can and should shape our generation today.

The Farmer and The Field

March 5, 2023 • Luke Edgerton • Matthew 13

The Parables of Jesus had the power to shape a generation then, which means they have the power to form a generation now. Parables have a mysterious power to understand you better than you understand the parable. These parables invite us into a journey of exploration and discovery leading to life change. Jesus answers life’s most puzzling questions not with data, but with stories. Stories that offer a multi-dimensional reality that invites us to look around. In the first Parable we will look at Matthew 13, where a story is told involving a Farmer & a Field. The Farmer has the opportunity to sow good seed on good soil. The field has the opportunity for God to grow great things in. Spoiler alert: we are the farmer or we are the field. Both are good, but need different things. The economy of growth is the way the Kingdom grows and lost souls are saved. There is a new generation of farmers and fields God is raising up. Are you one of them? I think so.