Jesus spoke to his followers in parables: ordinary stories with an extraordinary twist, designed to astound (and even confound!) their hearers as they convey their truth about God and God's reign. Many of these stories, preserved in our Gospels, are so well known that it is easy for today's readers to miss their surprising twists and turns. Others are so baffling that we're not quite
what to make of them.  

Through this Bible study, we invite you into an exploration of several of Jesus' parables; a chance to be in conversation with the biblical texts and all their challenging, humorous, comforting, troubling complexity. Practice hearing the parables again — as if for the first time — and reflecting on how they speak to God's people today. Along the way we will use the parables as windows into the world of first-century Palestine as well as snapshots of the ways that our Gospel writers conveyed the all-important story of Jesus the Christ.