Matter of the Heart

The Parables are instructive stories that Jesus told while teaching His disciples and the crowds who came to hear Him. Memory can be fickle. Facts and details fade despite our efforts to keep them fresh, but when they are wrapped in an exciting story we can recall them with clarity. Consequently, Jesus taught using stories - parables - so that our memories would be invigorated and we would remember these lessons for years, if not for a lifetime. In A Matter of the Heart we will study eighteen parables Jesus taught. These are some of the most important, if not the most important lessons He wants us to understand and remember. We will study the parable of the Prodigal Son wherein we will come to know the meaning of sin, of repentance, forgiveness, and the grace of a loving father. In the parable of the Good Samaritan we will see that God's desire for mercy trumps obligation and duty, and we will see through this man a model of Jesus, our Good Samaritan. We will study the Kingdom of Heaven parables for a picture of the kingdom that Jesus established, and come to understand what it means to be a citizen thereof. We will explore the parable of the Wedding Feast which reveals an awesome future event wrapped around a marriage that God the Father arranged for Jesus, His son. We will look at the wise and the foolish, the just and the unjust. We will get a glimpse of heaven itself through the lens of Jesus' teachings. We will study His instruction about prayer, the dangers of ingratitude and a cold heart, the true measure of success, and the meaning of stewardship.