Summary Mike Bakker teaches Matthew’s telling of the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1-14), preached during Passion Week against an audience of priests and Pharisees who had just recognized themselves as the villains of the previous parable. He walks through first-century betrothal and wedding customs to show what real hospitality and celebration looked like, […]

Summary Mike opened with a story about finding a vintage 1957 Fender amp at a garage sale for a few dollars, then selling it too soon, before its value multiplied. He used the story to introduce Jesus’ back-to-back parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value, both about someone who sells everything […]

Summary Mike Bakker continues The River’s parables series with Luke 16’s story of a rich man who lived in comfort while a poor man named Lazarus suffered at his gate. Bakker traces what happens after both men die: Lazarus carried into Abraham’s presence, the rich man left in torment and eternal separation from God, to […]