Stories Jesus Tells
The Parables of Jesus
The Good Shepherd
April 14, 2024 • Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs • Luke 15:1–7
We have come to the last sermon in our parable series—the Good Shepherd—and https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+15%3a1-7&version=niv is a great place to stop: with a story about our Lord and Savior, Jesus. He knows, he cares, he owns, loves, seeks, finds, and celebrates. May FCCH walk in his steps by seeking the lost and introducing them to the Shepherd.
The Posture of Christian Forgiveness
April 7, 2024 • Matthew Schuberth
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35, challenges us to consider God's great mercy that He extends towards us and how that impacts our lives together as God's family. The gospel calls us to a posture of forgiveness towards one another, seeking to absolve, reconcile and restore a repentant brother or sister with all our hearts. As we come off Easter Sunday, let us consider how reconciliation with God should motivate us to have a Posture of Christian Forgiveness.
Do You See Jesus?
March 24, 2024 • Kevin Baird • Luke 13:31–35
Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week and we will gather as the church to remember and proclaim all that Jesus did for us in our Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday services. As we come to worship together, consider what is most important to you? What do you proclaim with your life, what is the celebratory focus of your soul? This Sunday we will look at the passage that follows Jesus’ parable about the narrow door and consider how we include Jesus in our lives and our hopes. You can read https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2013%3a31-35&version=niv in preparation and let me encourage all of you to go out of your way to attend as many of the services this week as you can, and if possible bring others with you. We know you will be blessed by these opportunities to worship together.
The Narrow Door
March 17, 2024 • Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs • Luke 13:22–30
“Are only a few people going to be saved, or will there be many?” That is the question that drives Jesus’s parable of the Narrow Door in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2013%3a22-30&version=niv. But he turns the speculative question into personal exhortation” “Strive to enter through the narrow door.”
The Parable of the Sower and the Four Soils
April 1, 2020 • Dr. Eckhard Schnabel • Mark 4:1–20
The Parable of the Four Soils in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%204%3a1-20&version=niv helps Jesus’ followers understand the varying reactions to Jesus, which range from explicit hostility to Jesus’ claims, enthusiastic reactions to Jesus’ exorcisms and healings to robust decisions to follow Jesus as disciples being trained by him.
The Pharisee and The Tax Collector
March 3, 2024 • Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs • Luke 18:9–14
In the kingdom of God, the way up is the way down. That’s a bedrock fact for disciples. As Jesus says in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+18%3a9-14&version=niv, the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector—whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Lord, help us to put off pride and put on humility!
The Persistent Widow
February 25, 2024 • Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs • Luke 18:1–8
The topic of justice is a hot topic today, and it deserves to be because it is close to the heart of our Lord. But in our concern for social justice, something may be missing—prayer. In https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2018%3a1-8&version=esv, the parable of the Persistent Widow, Jesus teaches us to pray for justice, pray without ceasing, pray and do not lose heart.
Learning from the Crooked
February 18, 2024 • Pastor Kevin Baird • Luke 16:1–9
Sometimes a first reading of scripture can make us scratch our heads, but when we take a closer look it yields spiritual riches that inform our lives. My hope is that our learning together this Sunday will remind us of God’s priorities for serving and investing in God’s kingdom for the benefit of others and for our good. It may be a bit of a head-scratcher because Jesus tells a parable using someone dishonest to reveal God’s good plan for his followers. As you prepare, read through https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2016%3a1-13&version=niv. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday.
The Two Builders
February 11, 2024 • Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs • Matthew 7:24–27
The parable of building on rock or sand in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%207%3a24-27&version=niv - one message, two builders, two foundations, one storm, two outcomes—that’s how Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount. Will your house stand when the storm strikes?
The Good Samaritan
February 4, 2024 • Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs • Luke 10:25–37
The expert in religious law asked Jesus to define “neighbor” in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2010%3a25-37&version=niv. Was he obligated to love only the Jews, or maybe his fellow religious scholars? Just who does God command us to love? When Jesus answered, he turned the conversation upside-down. He says that we are the neighbors. We make neighbors by acting neighborly with compassion.
Job Description for Followers of Jesus
January 28, 2024 • Dr. Eckhard Schnabel • Luke 19:11–27
Jesus explains to his followers in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2019%3a11-27&version=niv, that their life's mission is to attentively listen to his words and put them into practice, which guarantees that he will entrust us with the treasure of eternal life in the new creation.
Becoming Rich - Towards God
January 21, 2024 • Dr. Douglas Birdsall • Luke 12:13–21
This week the World Economic Forum, a meeting of so-called elite business and political leaders, is taking place in Davos, Switzerland. The increasing global wealth gap is on their agenda. On Monday, Oxfam published a report that the wealth of the world’s five richest men had more than doubled in the last two and a half years from $405 billion to a staggering $869 billion! Jesus had compassion for the poor. He also was concerned for the rich. This Sunday we will listen to Jesus’ teaching in the Parable of the Rich Fool, Luke 12:13-22. In this parable, Jesus issues an unambiguous warning and a tacit admonition – for all of us. Let us listen carefully and grow rich – towards God!
The Patience of God
January 14, 2024 • Pastor Kevin Baird • Matthew 13:24–30, Matthew 13:36–43
We eagerly begin our new series focusing on Jesus’ parables. Each week we will examine the way Jesus used stories and puzzles to remind, challenge, and teach his listeners about the Kingdom of God. This is the “told” part. We will also look for the ways these parables remind, challenge, and teach us today. This is the ongoing gift of our savior’s teaching, the “tells” part. To start getting your mind prepared to think through the parables, read https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2013&version=niv, where you will see long and short parables pointing to the reality of the Kingdom of God in the person of Jesus.