There are some overused words in our American vocabulary. “Like” is one of them. It’s like so overused it like drives me like crazy sometimes. I know people don’t intend to use the word that often, in fact if they heard their conversation played back to them they may actually be annoyed. It’s just one of those troublesome struggles with language and communication. There are many more but that one is like really annoying. But Jesus used the word “like” in a different way. He used the word a number of times to make a point about the Kingdom. He used a number of analogies to help the listener get a clearer picture of Kingdom life. He started with things the listeners would know already to inform them about things they would not know. For example, He taught that the Kingdom of God is “like” a mustard seed. It is small and after it is planted in the ground it eventually sprouts, grows and after a few years it’s big enough to hold birds in its branches. In other words, people could expect the slow, organic growth of the Kingdom to be normal…not phenomenal. These short Kingdom stories that we will study this week are all “like” that. They reveal information that we would otherwise not know but we can grasp the information based on other things we know. There are many ways that God is speaking today…gardening, baking, treasure hunting and fishing are just a few. Do you have ears to hear?