As we conclude the "You Heard It Said" series, we will be talking and learning about The Good Shepherd. Jesus said this: "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me ...." Christians are known as followers of Jesus, but do we live as we are known? Join us Sunday as we discuss why our lives need to reflect who we profess to follow. 

You may have heard someone correctly say, "Jesus didn't come to bring us religion; rather He came to offer us a relationship." This is what Jesus was saying when He told the religious leaders the parable of the wineskins. This Sunday, we will unpack how we "can’t mix old religious rituals with new faith in Jesus."

Jesus tells our parable this week as a way to describe to the crowd the events that were about to take place. While Jesus knew that some of the people wanted to crown Him as king, He also knew that He would be despised and rejected by others. So Jesus tells this story as a warning of things that were going to happen, including His return and the final judgment that awaited. It is a sobering parable that urges us to stay loyal and devoted to the King of Kings, no matter what.

This Sunday we will study an interesting parable that, at first look, tugs at our sense of fairness, and maybe even a little of our humanity. But Jesus tells this parable—not as a lesson in the humane treatment of employees, but as a description of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus says in Matthew 20:1, "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard." What we will discover together is that God's Kingdom is not necessarily focused on fairness—as we see fairness—but is focused on grace and mercy. So join us Sunday as we look to the incredible love that our Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us.

Our Heavenly Father loves to include us in His work. In fact, in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam to be fruitful and multiply (and He wasn't just talking about having lots of children). He gave Adam charge over the earth; Adam was the caretaker, the steward. This Sunday we will unpack a parable that highlights how all of us are stewards or caretakers over certain areas of God's Kingdom. Join us as we discover our role in God's incredible Kingdom.

Jesus used a repeated phrase in the Sermon on the Mount, "You've heard it was said." In Jesus' day, there were a lot of teachings, myths, theories, assumptions and traditions that weren't truthful. Jesus came to set the record straight and give us the truth. In fact, John 1 says that Jesus came "full . . . of truth." Over the next few weeks, we will look at the truths that Jesus packaged in the simple form of a story, or parable.