Valley Hope Church

Week 2 in our series on the Five Solas of the Reformation: Solus Christus. What did the Reformers mean when they insisted on Christ Alone? What were they getting at?

We all know what we celebrate on October 31st. Reformation Day, right?! Ok, maybe that's not on most people's minds, but this year marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. There are some undesired negative consequences to the Protestant Reformation, but there are also many real and beautiful truths that the Reformers celebrated and elevated. For the next five weeks, we'll mark a few of them and recapture the beauty of these truths. First up: Sola Scripture. What exactly does this mean for the Protestant Reformation? Is this saying that everyone sits alone with their Bibles and does what they want?

Buried treasure. That's what the Kingdom is like. We close our series on the parables with a look at two short parables that speak of the exceeding value of Jesus' kingdom.

Last week, we saw the picture of God as wastefully loving father. This week? A king who burns the city down and kills guests to his party. How do we make these images fit? Do we have to choose? Or is the father from Luke 15 somehow also the angry king?

In Luke 15 Jesus tells us of the character of our King, one who pursues his lost children with a passion. A father who is outspends our sin with his generosity and love.

Luke 16 is a story of who winds up in the Kingdom. There's a rich man and a poor man and there's judgment and vindication. What does this parable tell us about Kingdom identity? And where are we in this story?

Our second week in the parables is the strange story of the Unjust Judge. How does this story of a reluctant, selfish judge encourage us to "not lose heart?" What does this say about the nature of the Kingdom and the place of prayer in it?

Today we start our new series on the parables. First up? A couple short parables that talks about how Jesus' kingdom grows: Slowly and quietly. Agonizingly slowly, it seems!

"Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil." Evil within and evil without. Our stories prime us to look for the Hero that rescues. Increasingly, the world says "You are the Hero." But something in our guts says this isn't true. Jesus teaches us to pray for a real Deliverer.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." The phrase sounds so open-ended. What exactly are Christians praying for when they pray this prayer? In our society that indicates the autonomy of every person's will, what does this counter-cultural prayer teach us about the nature of what Jesus wants to do?