Although Jesus is said to have explained the parables when he was alone with his disciples, he never explained them to the crowds. But in a way, when we preach on Jesus’ parables, we are explaining them. That has upsides and downsides. In this workshop we will recall the nature of parables and ponder best ways to preach them to let them retain their original mystery and revelatory power.
Mark 4:34 claims Jesus never said anything to the crowds without using parables.
Recent Media Resources
Playing Well with Others: Musical Collaboration in the Worship Service
Musical collaboration in worship can be rewarding: it can build relationships, enrich the musical life of a congregation, and add more colors, timbres, and textures.
Public Worship, Health Care, and Illness in Early Christianity
Explore how Christians in the earliest centuries of Christianity preached and prayed about illness, pain, and health care and shaped practices of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and funerals in response to illness and injury, including during pandemics—all so that we can learn from their pastoral, theological, and practical instincts as we seek to be faithful witnesses to Christ in our own globally diverse contexts.
Morning Prayer with Nate Glasper and the 7:9 Project
Nate Glasper and the 7:9 Project, a multicultural group of Calvin University students, lead a time of morning song and prayer firmly grounded in scripture. Inspired by the vision of Revelation 7:9, this gathering reflects the beauty of “every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
Playing Well with Others: Musical Collaboration in the Worship Service
Musical collaboration in worship can be rewarding: it can build relationships, enrich the musical life of a congregation, and add more colors, timbres, and textures.
Public Worship, Health Care, and Illness in Early Christianity
Explore how Christians in the earliest centuries of Christianity preached and prayed about illness, pain, and health care and shaped practices of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and funerals in response to illness and injury, including during pandemics—all so that we can learn from their pastoral, theological, and practical instincts as we seek to be faithful witnesses to Christ in our own globally diverse contexts.
Morning Prayer with Nate Glasper and the 7:9 Project
Nate Glasper and the 7:9 Project, a multicultural group of Calvin University students, lead a time of morning song and prayer firmly grounded in scripture. Inspired by the vision of Revelation 7:9, this gathering reflects the beauty of “every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
Wealth, Church, and Leitourgia
How did early Christians understand and practice wealth in relation to worship/service and care of the poor?