No one likes a person who "toots their own horn"; not even God. In this parable, Jesus reveals to us what kind of heart attitude impresses God and earns his approval, and what kind comes up short.

More. It's the culture we live in - we always want more. And sometimes, we actually get it. In this week's parable, Jesus challenges us to rethink the reason that we have in the first place, and what we ought to do with more.

Love. It's a word that means an awful lot of things to us today. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus not only redefines who we're called to love but clarifies what love really is.

Forgiveness. Most of us want it. But giving it can be difficult. Who do we have to forgive? How often? And, is forgiveness solely on us? Jesus' parable of the unmerciful servant challenges us to redefine what we understand about forgiveness.

Fruit. It's what everyone who plants a seed is after. What's the secret ingredient to getting it? Soil. It's all about the soil.

This week's message examines the "Parable of the Sower," sometimes called the "Parable of the Four Soils," and links fruitfulness in a spiritual sense, to our heart prep.

The Kingdom of God. What is it? What's it like? Jesus used vibrant language to describe it as a rapidly advancing, vigorous, unexpectedly potent thing that is shockingly resilient, invasive, and aggressively expanding.

Jesus was a storyteller. But his stories weren't just teaching illustrations. They were a verbal game of hide and seek. What did Jesus have to hide? What do we have to seek?

Can you be good without God? While the question on its surface might seem to have a simple answer: yes...this question forces us to ask an even bigger question: without God, what is "good"?

Utopia. It's a beautiful dream, but whenever anyone has attempted to get us there...it goes badly. Very badly. What gives? Why do we dream of a perfect world if its unattainable?

"All roads lead to God." When it comes to religious beliefs, this is the popular narrative. But, isn't it missing something? After all, history is witness to the belief in literally hundreds of thousands of gods. So...which God?