Parables are one of the eccentricities of Jesus. He told them seemingly all the time and we love them. The word “parable” literally means “thrown alongside” (para = alongside + ballein = thrown). It’s a story or an image that is “thrown alongside” a heavenly truth that helps us to see the contours of the truth. 
For the next few weeks at University Lutheran, we’re going to be looking into these “thrown alongside” stories of Jesus. We’ll start off with the unforgiving servant, move to the laborers in the vineyard, then onto the parable of the two sons, down into to the vineyard again with the wicked tenants, and then finally the parable of the wedding feast. And so our next sermon series will “throw alongside” these classic parables of Jesus, digging into them and explaining their content as well as their application to our lives today.
We will be doing this in a format that I haven’t used in a while, the expository sermon. So together, we’ll be moving through the text of the parable, piece by piece and considering the details that might give us an understanding of what God is telling us. We will be attempting to follow the story – not getting ahead of it, but going through every curve and turn of the parable as it reveals how it is “thrown alongside” God’s wisdom for our lives.
We hope that you will join us and throw yourself alongside these parables and sermons, and in following the story, we hope that you will find a way to more clearly follow Jesus into the great Resurrection that He has given to you.