Matthew 13:44-53 New International Version (NIV) The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. The Parable of the Net 47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but th

Genesis 32: 22 - 32 We have come to the crucial moment of Jacob’s entire life. Up until now, Jacob has certainly lived up to his name—taking every advantage he can find to get ahead in life. Jacob is simply taking care of business the best way he can. Sometimes his ambition gets ahead of his wisdom and he does some unethical things. All that is about to change. When the sun goes down, his name is Jacob. When the sun comes up again, his name is Israel. After that he would walk with a limp. That night made all the difference. He met the Lord in a powerful way, and his life was changed forever. God brings people to crisis points that radically change the course of life forever. Before the crisi

Matthew 13:31-35 New International Version (NIV) The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast 31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” 33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough.” 34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulf

Genesis 29 - 31 In the NE United States, codfish are not only delectable, they are also a very big commercial enterprise. A vast industry has grown up around catching, preparing and shipping codfish to every part of the country. But the great demand for codfish posed a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the codfish before shipping, but freezing took away much of the flavour. Then they tried shipping the codfish alive in salt water, but that didn’t work. Finally, someone hit on a creative solution. The codfish were placed in a shipping tank with their natural enemy—catfish. From the time the codfish left the east coast until they arrived at their destination, the catfish chased the

Last week we started with, as Barry said, a series of parables that Jesus began to tell to those crowds who were following him around. And this series of parables has a single theme, and that theme – once you start looking into it, is tremendously exciting. It’s the theme of the kingdom. As I was doing my Bible reading through the gospels last year, I saw this topic come up again and again and again and I decided to look more into it. I wrote down all the verses that speak about kingdom and here are some of the things I found: The topic of the kingdom is HUGE in the New Testament. The word is used 87 times in the New Testament, not to mention the many references to it. Of those 87 times, 72

Genesis 29 “Everything that goes around, comes around.” We talk about the chickens coming home to roost and the skeletons rattling out of the cupboard. The Bible has much to say about retribution - “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” 2 famous Bible verses speak about retribution: "Be sure your sin will find your out.” (Numbers 32: 23) “Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7 Jacob has been sowing for a long, long time. Reaping day has come. He’s been sowing the seeds of deceit, and the harvest is about to come. A New Spring in His Step When we left our hero, he has just woken up from a hard night’s sleep on a rock. He had that

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We are entering a new section as we move through the Gospel of Matthew this is call the Parabolic discourse and is a section filled with Jesus parables about the Kingdom of God. Tonight will be the first of these parables and will set up the tone of what is to come. Matthew 13:1-23 New International Version (NIV) The Parable of the Sower 13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and a

Genesis 28 A long journey, a hard pillow, a guilty conscience, a heavy heart. These are the things that make men dream. It had been 2 days since he had left home— Esau seething in the background - Rebekah weeping - Isaac waving goodbye. 2 days on a journey of 800kms. Jacob is on his way from Beersheba to a place called Haran. To get there you traveled north, then east across the Jordan River, then north again toward Damascus, then east, then a sharp turn north for the final leg of the journey, crossing the Euphrates River, finally arriving in Haran, which was located not far from the southern border of modern-day Turkey. Rebekah’s plan was simple. By sending Jacob to Haran, she was putting h