This week, Pastor Dennis Allan began our new series, "Parables of the Kingdom." In the Parable of the Sower Jesus tells a story about a sower, four types of soil, the three soils that do not receive the Gospel, and the one that does, producing a large harvest. But this parable isn't meant to be read as a diagnostic, where we determine which of the four soils we are and then try to make ourselves into the good soil. This is a parable that tells the story of a Sower who is already walking the ground of our lives, sowing the Gospel wherever He goes. We, like Jesus's original audience, are invited to "listen" and "look" with our whole lives, taking in and wrestling with Jesus's teaching, and what it means for how we're supposed to live. If we will draw near to the Sower, if we'll be patient, if we'll persevere, if we'll allow the Gospel to do its work in our lives and hearts over time, our lives just might produce a harvest.

This Easter, Pastor Dennis Allan reflects on the way that Jesus, in his resurrected body, appears to Mary Magdalene, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and Thomas. They had seen Jesus had die. They knew his body had been buried. And then, on the third day, in the midst of the fear, confusion, worry, and doubt Jesus appeared to them, moving towards them in relationship, meeting them right where they needed to be met, and inviting them to believe that, just as he'd said he would, he overcame death and the grave. It's a story of profound hope. The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega is everything he'd said he was. And in his resurrection we can trust that, just as he did with the disciples, Jesus will move towards us, invite us to believe in him, and invite him into his world-changing mission. Because Jesus isn't done yet with us and he's not done yet with the world.

This week, Pastor Dennis Allan walks through the story of Jesus's final week from the perspective of the crowd who received Jesus with shouts of "Hosanna!" as he entered Jerusalem and, less than a week later, shouted "Crucify Him!" How does one crowd receive Jesus as a king and another crowd condemn Jesus as a criminal? What happened in that one week that moved people from believing Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah who would sit on David's throne, overthrow Rome, and restore Israel to its rightful place in the geo-political order to thinking He was just another pretender? The Jewish people had been taught be their religious leaders to expect a particular kind of Messiah. They weren't prepared for a king who told them exactly who He was by riding a donkey, a symbol of humility and peace, into the city. When Jesus doesn't do what we want and when He doesn't perform how we expect we can, like the crowd, turn on Him. But, if we lean in and listen as Jesus tells us who He is, we will discover a person who can transform us.

When Jesus is crucified there is a group of women who position themselves near the Cross and bear witness to Jesus's agonizing death while all the other disciples are in hiding. These women show up at Jesus's tomb, ready to tend to His body, only to become the first witnesses to the resurrection and the first to proclaim the good news to the rest of Jesus's disciples. These faithful women who were almost certainly part of the larger group of disciples who followed Jesus, learned His teachings, and participated in His ministry demonstrate how we can, in the midst of hardship, suffering, and doubt serve as a faithful witness. In liturgical church traditions, Holy Saturday is the day in between Jesus's death and His resurrection. It's a day when no one knows what will happen. Has all hope been lost? Might Jesus somehow come back to life? It's in these in-between, Holy Saturday places where we can show up for one another, see and listen each other, and serve as a faithful presence of God's goodness and faithfulness.

This week, Pastor Dennis Allan continues our Lent series by talking through a story found in John 18-19. Jesus is brought by the Jewish religious leaders to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor in Jerusalem, in the hopes that Pilate will condemn Jesus to death. The religious establishment doesn't have the authority to execute Jesus on their own, and they're hoping to coerce Pilate into doing their bidding for them. Despite Pilate saying multiple times he finds no reason to condemn Jesus, he still relents, giving the assembled mob exactly what they want. It's a story where we see Pilate, seemingly the most powerful person in the story based on his political position, overlook what is obviously true and good and, instead, participate in injustice. The same temptation Pilate faced is one many Christians face today. If we speak up or act up we might get cast out by people we once considered friends. What are we to do and how are we to be truth tellers in a world that needs people who are both unafraid and courageous?

This week, we trace Peter's story from the moment Jesus first called him while he was fishing in the Sea of Galilee to the moment Jesus restores Peter, after he had denied Jesus three times, over a meal while. In Peter we see a person who is bold and who also makes mistakes. He walks on water, but then sinks. He declares Jesus to be the Son of God, and then rebukes Jesus. And, in his worst moment, Peter does the very thing he promised Jesus he'd never do: deny Him. But then Jesus, in His resurrected form, comes looking for Peter. He searches for Peter, sits with him, and asks him three times, "Do you love me?" And then, Jesus invites Peter back into His mission where Peter will play a pivotal role in the growth and development of the early church. Through Peter's story we see the way that Jesus comes looking for him when Peter was certain he'd disqualified himself, and we're assured that Jesus will pursue us with the same kind of extravagant grace.

We know how Judas's story ends before it even begins. The first time Matthew introduces Judas in his gospel, he does it by naming him this way: "Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him." But what if we slowed down long enough to see Judas as something more than his worst moment? In this first sermon of our Lenten series, Pastor Dennis Allan traces the arc of Judas's life alongside Jesus: chosen, trusted, empowered, and yet somehow unable to let the grace he witnessed up close actually reach him. Like so many of us, Judas's tragedy wasn't that grace was unavailable to him. Judas's tragedy was that he couldn't bring himself to believe it was for him. This Lent, we're invited to stop watching from a safe distance and step into the one thing Judas never could: the scandalous, excessive, awaiting grace of Jesus.

In Deuteronomy 5, Moses is reminding the Israelites to follow the Law and, in particular, the Ten Commandments. When Moses speaks the command to observe the Sabbath, the reason he gives for observing it is different than the reason God gave to Moses in Exodus. There, the command was connected to the Creation. In Deuteronomy, it's connected to liberation. Moses says, "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day." It's an instruction that extends not just to the people hearing Moses, but to their children, their workers, their animals, and even the immigrants residing among them. The Sabbath is for everyone. And until everyone can experience rest unto the LORD, it's only a privilege for some, rather than a gift for all.

Why is it so hard for many of us to stop and rest? Sabbath is a good gift that God has given to His people, a gift that Jesus and His disciples embraced, and yet many of us either won't rest or feel like we can't. There's a pervasive thought in American culture: "time is money." It's almost like all of our time needs to be allocated to productive activities, things that earn money or check tasks off our to-do list. Why is it that even the idea of stopping for an hour, for an afternoon, or for a day can produce anxiety in us? This week, Pastor Dennis Allan walks through how making the decision to stop and rest is an act of trust in God's goodness and faithfulness, a declaration that we believe He really is the One who provides for us.

This week, Dennis Allan explores the way that practicing Sabbath is a form of active resistance against dehumanizing systems and structures. We're immersed in a culture that values productivity, efficiency, and seems to reward exhaustion, almost like it's a badge of honor. We're told time is money, encouraged to have side hustles, and implored to always remain engaged. Even in times marked by great evil and injustice, figures like Dietrich Bonhoeffer teach us that the spiritual practices, things like prayer, Scripture reading, and Sabbath are necessary. If we refuse to rest, if we refuse to practice God's good gift of rest, we're likely to burn out. Jesus, Himself, affirms the goodness and necessity of the Sabbath, and the pattern of Creation teaches us that all of our labor is meant to be an outgrowth of our rest.