We all live for something and we all seek approval. The question is what do we live for and who do we seek approval from. In this passage, we encounter a stranger story that contrast two different type of people living for two different kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man.

Jesus has always been offensive in different ways to different cultures. This leads to many people rejecting Jesus. In turn, he prepares his disciples to anticipate rejection. But while people may reject the message of Jesus, we must work hard to make sure it is the message they are offended by rather than the conduct of the messenger. We must aim to live beautiful + offensive lives.

We often find ourselves in situations where it seems like God is delaying "What could possibly be taking him so long?" we ask. Or "Why isn't he answering my prayers?" In this story, we see the unhurried life of Jesus and that he is always doing something in the midst of waiting even we can't discern what.

What seems to be one of the strangest stories in the Bible, is actually a rather beautiful and moving story of the son of God who came to pursue the lost, set captives free and establish a truer and more powerful kingdom, the kingdom of God.

When the throes of suffering hit, the underlying question ascends to the surface: God, don’t you care? Like the disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee, our fear and hurt quickly turns to accusation. When the storm comes and the waves rage they put Jesus on trial asking, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”

We are all impacted by others when it comes to our faith. Paul writes that even Timothy inherited his faith from the faithfulness of his grandmother. In this message, Jerry Hicks unpacks the formative opportunities that mothers can have by planting seeds of faith.

It's no secret that the church in America is in sharp decline. We are seeing the fastest religious shift in our country's history, and in the wrong direction. What hope do we have? Jesus explains that the kingdom of God starts as mustard seed but will one day tower over the earth. The reality is the church isn't shrinking, but it is shifting.

We all want to grow, Christian or not. But for many of us, growth is either short-live or painfully slow. In this passage, Jesus teaches that despite the power of the seed, the growth depends on the condition of the soil.

All through the biblical narrative, God has been pursuing relationship with people. Jesus didn't come with a new mission, but to continue that mission. While his earthly family doesn't understand what he's doing, he teaches that his truest family are those in the family of God.

Who are the type of people that God uses? In this passage we see Jesus appoint ordinary, reluctant and broken people to do extraordinary things in building the Kingdom of God. We look at who he calls, how he calls them and what he calls them to.