This week we begin a new sermon series called “The Great Storyteller.” In Matthew 13:1-3 we find a large crowd has gathered around Jesus. As the crowd grows Jesus steps into a boat and sets out a little way from shore. From there as the crowd stands on the beach, Jesus begins "teaching them many things through parables.” This is not the only place in the gospels where we find Jesus teaching through parables. These are simple stories used to teach us NOT so simple truths. As we take a close look at the teachings of Jesus, we quickly see that he is not only a master teacher, but a master storyteller as well. Throughout this series we will be looking at the parables of Jesus and the “many things” he has to teach us through them. Matthew 13:9 “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Matthew 13:1-9

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”