Preaching from the Parable of the Talents, Daniel shows us the heart of Christ regarding the gifts he has given us. Jesus is the Master who will return to judge and reward his servants.

The great need of the church today is the need for the Spirit to be in our midst. Joey preaches about how the Spirit makes us God's temple, gives us power God's mission, and is God's down payment on a renewed world.

Jacob returns home with a family of his own after 20 years in exile. The night before seeing Esau again, Jacob is left anxious and alone when a mysterious man wrestles him until daybreak.

On the run from Esau, Jacob comes to his uncle Laban. It was here that Jacob the deceiver gets deceived himself. When everything seemed to fall apart for Jacob, it turned out that God was actively working to fulfill his promises.

Jacob goes on the run, fearing Esau's wrath for getting his birthright and blessing. On the journey to his uncle Laban's, Jacob has a dream of a stairway reaching to heaven, and Yahweh himself appears to him.

This week Jacob once again trips up his older brother, as he deceives his father Isaac into giving him the firstborn's blessing. This is a story about the power of our words and the grace of God in our weakness. And most of all, it's a profound portrait of the gospel.

We are diving back in to the Story of God series, exploring the grand narrative of the Bible from the beginning. This story is the true story of the world.

We are picking up the story with Isaac and his wife Rebecca, and their two sons Hairy (Esau) and Heel (Jacob).

A suffering one is surrounded by violent enemies. He is pierced in the hands and feet. People mock him. They cast lots for his clothes. The suffering one says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

That suffering man is David in Psalm 22.

These hyper-specific parallels to Jesus' suffering on the cross reveal what was on Jesus' mind as he died. Far from crying out in despair, Jesus knows the story is already written, that he will be vindicated, and that through his suffering all nations will turn to the Lord.

Something happened to Jesus in the days before his death: a woman named Mary poured out an entire bottle of perfume on him. Many saw it was a waste, but Jesus was so moved by it he said that wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, this story would also be told in her memory.

Jesus' plan to redeem the world involves kids. In this story from John 6, Jesus uses a boy's lunch to feed a crowd. We need adults like Andrew who will identify young disciples and bring them to Jesus. Their little lunch may not be much in the eyes of the world, but in the hands of Jesus it's everything.