Jesus was a storyteller. The stories, or parables, that He told were to teach and illustrate something about God, His character, and His kingdom. Throughout June, we’ll take an in-depth look at a few of them.

Faith is difficult. It's tough, frustrating, and seemingly contradictory, and while the Bible has all the answers, finding them is another story — a vast, complicated, intimidating story. Thankfully, we don't have to figure it all out on our own. Not only do we have leaders in church to guide us, but we have each other. When we join together in community, we learn from others who are further along in their faith journey. As we worship and learn together, we allow others to speak into our lives. So this month, join the conversation as we discuss some of the greatest, simplest, and most ridiculous questions — directly from Wellers.

Faith is difficult. It's tough, frustrating, and seemingly contradictory, and while the Bible has all the answers, finding them is another story — a vast, complicated, intimidating story. Thankfully, we don't have to figure it all out on our own. Not only do we have leaders in church to guide us, but we have each other. When we join together in community, we learn from others who are further along in their faith journey. As we worship and learn together, we allow others to speak into our lives. So this month, join the conversation as we discuss some of the greatest, simplest, and most ridiculous questions — directly from Wellers.

Faith is difficult. It's tough, frustrating, and seemingly contradictory, and while the Bible has all the answers, finding them is another story — a vast, complicated, intimidating story. Thankfully, we don't have to figure it all out on our own. Not only do we have leaders in church to guide us, but we have each other. When we join together in community, we learn from others who are further along in their faith journey. As we worship and learn together, we allow others to speak into our lives. So this month, join the conversation as we discuss some of the greatest, simplest, and most ridiculous questions — directly from Wellers.

Faith is difficult. It's tough, frustrating, and seemingly contradictory, and while the Bible has all the answers, finding them is another story — a vast, complicated, intimidating story. Thankfully, we don't have to figure it all out on our own. Not only do we have leaders in church to guide us, but we have each other. When we join together in community, we learn from others who are further along in their faith journey. As we worship and learn together, we allow others to speak into our lives. So this month, join the conversation as we discuss some of the greatest, simplest, and most ridiculous questions — directly from Wellers.

Baptism is more than a symbol. Worship, evangelism, social justice, and even suffering have value and meaning in that they reflect the life and nature of God that is being formed in us. And baptism is an outward demonstration of that inward reality. We are not our own, and our lives are not our own. In baptism, we willingly lay them down and come up from the water dead to ourselves, alive in Jesus.

The promise of the Holy Spirit was a promise of something better, and yet Jesus’ followers mourned, because they didn’t understand. How often does God try to do something wonderful in our lives, but we resist and mourn, because it isn’t what we wanted or asked for? The Holy Spirit was given so that we would never lose our intimate connection with God in the midst of our confusing and broken world. So stop and breathe — let’s wait to sense God’s Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts and leading us toward Him.

Even after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” (Acts 1:6b, NLT) They were still expecting something that simply wasn’t going to happen. Why are our expectations so often in stark contrast to our experiences within the Kingdom of God? Jesus has given some pretty clear promises through his life and word — so why are they so hard for us to figure out and apply to our lives? Perhaps a fresh look at the trial, torture, execution and resurrection of Jesus will help us cast a new vision of what life can be, should be, and what we can expect.

It’s amazing the difference a week can make. One week for Jesus started with a proclamation, “Hail the King of Israel!” It ended with, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” How quickly people’s attitudes shift with circumstances and situations. If Jesus had said something — anything — would they have listened? Would we?

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus was the fulfillment of all that God had planned, promised and foreshadowed. This news — these stories of a savior — can bring us life-altering, life-forming lessons and insight. Too often, though, they only evoke memories of Sunday school, coloring pages and Christian cartoons. As we approach Easter, let’s slow down and look more closely at the classic stories of Jesus, and how they can impact the course for our lives and give us confidence to face our circumstances and future with hope.