Sunday service

Jesus told a story about some tenant farmers who rejected the owner's son when he came to collect some of the crop. Those farmers rejected the son's authority, just like the religious leaders of his day rejected Jesus' authority as God's son. They saw Jesus as a troublemaker, while the crowds embraced him as a wise teacher and a miracle worker. But who do you say Jesus is?

Ever feel like the storms of life are about to blow you over? Jesus said that those who heard his words and responded were like a wise man who built his house on a rock and whose house stood strong despite wind and rain. Guest speaker and campus minister Alyssa Stroh shares her story of an unshakeable life built upon the foundation of the love of Jesus.

Theologians have spent centuries defining what Jesus meant when he talked about the Kingdom of God. One thing, however, was clear: it starts out looking as small and insignificant as a mustard seed, but grows into something as large and undeniable as an enormous tree.

Thousands of people who listened to the teachings of Jesus thought he was a rock star (translation: prophet sent from God), but many religious leaders thought he was a heretic and plotted to kill him. Both the crowds and the leaders saw the miracles, heard the teachings, witnessed the healings, but some grew in hate for Jesus while others grew in love. Through a story about a farmer sowing seed on different kinds of soil, Jesus explains why his words inspire different responses in different people--it all depends on the "soil" of the heart.

The religious leaders of his day objected to Jesus' welcome of those who lived far from the religious center. But Jesus knocked some sense into religious folks with the stories of a shepherd going after a lost sheep and a widow searching high and low for a lost coin. Like the shepherd and the widow, God goes after the precious ONE,

Wealth, material prosperity, and the American "Dream" can be capriciously elusive to many people, but we can long for them all the same. Jesus told the story of a rich man who stored up wealth only for himself, but at the end of his life all that extra did him no good. Tune in to think about what it would mean to stop chasing the "dream" and be rich toward God instead.

When we don't see an immediate answer to our big prayers, it's easy to shrink down our requests and assume God is not listening. But through a story about two neighbors, some bread and and a disruption at midnight, Jesus showed how God will always respond to us when we pray big hair audacious prayers.

Staying "woke" to injustice in the world is something we can only do if we're also paying attention to the resentments that have a tendency to creep into our hearts and embitter us against others. Forgiveness turns out to be the antidote to our bitterness, but forgiveness doesn't mean excusing wrongdoing and injustice. Listen in to reflect on how forgiveness can help you stay in good soul health.

To be human in this world is to become, at some point, soul-weary and soul-wounded. Caring for our soul, then, means seeking restoration when we're broken. King David the psalmist writes of God as a good shepherd who leads him to stillness, rest, and refreshing on that journey. Where is the Good Shepherd leading you?

Are you living an authentic life? Over and over the Bible writers express how authenticity (confession, honesty, truthfulness about the good, bad, beautiful and ugly in our lives) has the capacity to restore our souls and even our bodies. #SundaySoulCare #TheNewRebellion