Striving for Great Faith

June 20, 2021
There are only a whopping two times in the gospels when Jesus takes note of a living person's remarkable faith, and it is in these two stories of the centurion and a Canaanite woman. She is certainly a Gentile and the Roman soldier is quite possibly a Gentile also, which sticks out like a sore thumb, since it was the Jews that should be the examples of faith.

Parables on our Will

May 23, 2021
Three parables are discussed: (1) A father asks his two sons to do something, with mixed results; (2) a landowner's servants and son are murdered; (3) a king holds a wedding feast. Part of a series in the parables.

Parables on Grace

May 16, 2021
Jesus teaches about grace and mercy. The main point: God's grace and mercy are astronomically larger than anything we could do. Yet we should still be thankful and practice grace and mercy toward others. Part of a series in the parables.

Parable of the Sower

April 11, 2021
Probably the most famous parable, Jesus compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a farmer with seeds. What is unusual about this parable is that it does not actually begin with "The Kingdom of Heaven is like...." It can be argued, though, that all parables are about the kingdom, and even this one is explained as relating to the kingdom eventually, in verse 19.