In last Sunday's teaching, we saw Jesus tell his disciples that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. So we decided to dig deeper into that idea today. In this third episode of Season 2 of Park Hill Conversations, Evan Wickham caught up with well-known author, speaker, and podcaster Dr. Preston Sprinkle. Preston has committed his life to helping Christians think deeply about the most difficult questions in Western culture. One of those questions is whether violence as a response to evil is compatible with the Way of Jesus.

A community of Jesus followers doesn’t just believe what Jesus said. A community of Jesus followers also commits to doing what Jesus did, together by the power of the Spirit. In today's teaching, Jesus gets betrayed by his friend and arrested by his enemies. As this dark moment unfolds, we discover Jesus is calling his disciples to love our worst enemies, to rest in the Father's goodness when we are wronged, and to trust the Scriptures even when the things the Scriptures call us to do makes no sense to us.

A community of Jesus followers doesn’t just believe what Jesus said. A community of Jesus followers also commits to doing what Jesus did, together by the power of the Spirit. In today's teaching, Jesus gets betrayed by his friend and arrested by his enemies. As this dark moment unfolds, we discover Jesus is calling his disciples to love our worst enemies, to rest in the Father's goodness when we are wronged, and to trust the Scriptures even when the things the Scriptures call us to do makes no sense to us.

"It's not possible for a Christian to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature." – Pete Scazzero. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shows us how to deal with emotional pain. He doesn't stuff it. He doesn't pretend everything is ok. Instead, he brings his raw feelings and desires to God and his trusted community. This is the way forward into mature discipleship for followers of Jesus.

"It's not possible for a Christian to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature." – Pete Scazzero. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shows us how to deal with emotional pain. He doesn't stuff it. He doesn't pretend everything is ok. Instead, he brings his raw feelings and desires to God and his trusted community. This is the way forward into mature discipleship for followers of Jesus.

It's the night before the cross. Jesus is betrayed and abandoned by his followers and arrested by his enemies. When push comes to shove, without the power of the Spirit, Jesus's disciples prove undependable in crisis. The disciples' story is our story. Independent from Jesus we are totally undependable. Thankfully, Jesus knows this. He sees our flakiness and failure coming from a mile away. Jesus faithfully steps into our mess to forgive and transform us into his faithful partners he sees us becoming. Jesus enters the fog of our brokenness to lead us into the sunlight of his healing love. Now it's up to us to admit our need of his healing.

It's the night before the cross. Jesus is betrayed and abandoned by his followers and arrested by his enemies. When push comes to shove, without the power of the Spirit, Jesus's disciples prove undependable in crisis. The disciples' story is our story. Independent from Jesus we are totally undependable. Thankfully, Jesus knows this. He sees our flakiness and failure coming from a mile away. Jesus faithfully steps into our mess to forgive and transform us into his faithful partners he sees us becoming. Jesus enters the fog of our brokenness to lead us into the sunlight of his healing love. Now it's up to us to admit our need of his healing.

Jesus didn’t leave behind any letters like Paul. He didn’t leave behind a piece of clothing or a statue of himself. The only thing Jesus directly gave his church was a meal. Commonly referred to as the last supper, Jesus left this meal as a means by which we are formed. In this week's teaching, Scott Curran leads us in looking at the meal Jesus gave us through the lens of formation. Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples as an image of his body as well as an image of our discipleship to him. Through the act of communion and apprenticeship to Jesus, we become a community blessed, broken, and given to the world for the sake of the kingdom of God in our city.

Jesus didn’t leave behind any letters like Paul. He didn’t leave behind a piece of clothing or a statue of himself. The only thing Jesus directly gave his church was a meal. Commonly referred to as the last supper, Jesus left this meal as a means by which we are formed. In this week's teaching, Scott Curran leads us in looking at the meal Jesus gave us through the lens of formation. Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples as an image of his body as well as an image of our discipleship to him. Through the act of communion and apprenticeship to Jesus, we become a community blessed, broken, and given to the world for the sake of the kingdom of God in our city.

In today's teaching, Tinika Wyatt unpacks the story of an unnamed woman who pours out a costly sacrifice of love at Jesus' feet. It cost her ridicule. It cost her being misunderstood. It cost her wages. She risked being rejected and discarded. But nothing was going to keep this woman from pouring everything she had at the feet of Jesus. FD Bruner says this about this story: “Few stories in the Gospel encourage devotion to Jesus as much as this story. It is a portal leading into the Passion that says in summary, ‘The way to enter this holy ground is like this woman – with a heart full of devotion for Jesus.’ It is a call to worship.” – F.D. Bruner