As you read these words today our family vacation is coming to an end, and we eagerly look forward to being with you this coming Lord’s Day!

I want to express my deepest appreciation for Rev. Jim Daughtry who preached in my absence. Jim’s messages were rich and powerfully encouraging, and we are all so very thankful for his gifts and his faithfulness in delivering God’s Word to us. I can’t possibly communicate to you how reassuring it is to know that when I am away the Word of God will be preached so wonderfully! Thank you dear brother!!

And thank you for your prayers for us while we were away. We feel very refreshed and rested, and we know our Father has blessed us though your kind and faithful prayers.

This Sunday, we begin our Summer Preaching Series on ‘The Parables of Jesus.’ Just about everyone knows that our Lord Jesus loved to tell stories. He has been called the “master story-teller.” The stories that Jesus told are known as “parables” in the Bible. The New Testament records at least 24 major parables, and a couple of dozen shorter ones as well.

The major parables are discovered in three of the four Gospels (the ‘Synoptic Gospels,’ or Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so called due to their similarity), but are concentrated largely in Matthew and Luke. It has been estimated that about one-third of the teaching of Jesus comes to us in the form of parables. So this demonstrates how critical it is that we study them carefully.

And when it comes to the parables of our Lord, we all have our favorite ones. For example, ‘The Pearl of Great Price,’ ‘The Lost Sheep,’ ‘The Prodigal Son,’ ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus,’ or ‘The Good Samaritan,’ just to name a few.

Over the summer months we are going to make a study of several of these larger (and more familiar) parables. However, we will begin our investigation not with a parable per se, but with our Lord’s own explanation as to why He taught this way.

Our text for Sunday’s message will come from Matthew 13:10-17. And as you review this passage, you’ll also want to consider the parallel accounts found in Mark 4:10-12 and Luke 8:9-10.