Why did Jesus teach in parables instead of simply giving lectures? Why did He choose stories about farmers, shepherds, lost coins, and prodigal sons to reveal the deepest truths about the Kingdom of God?

In this episode of Taking a Closer Look, Pastor David Lauricella explores the power of story and why Jesus used parables to capture hearts, challenge assumptions, and invite people into a deeper understanding of God's truth. Discover how stories have the unique ability to shape our lives, reveal the condition of our hearts, and remain with us long after facts are forgotten.

In this episode of Taking a Closer Look, we examine the biblical description of the Genesis and break down the dimensions of the Ark described in its account of Noah's Ark. Rather than treating it as a vague ancient story, we explore it through a practical, engineering lens—translating cubits into modern measurements and visualizing what a structure like this would actually look like.

To make the scale more relatable, we compare the Ark’s dimensions to modern freight railroad cars and industrial transport design, showing just how massive and functionally structured this vessel would have been. We also touch on its multi-deck layout, internal compartmentalization, and stability ratios that resemble principles still used in modern naval engineering.

This episode invites listeners to rethink familiar imagery and consider how the Ark’s design—at least on paper—translates into something closer to a floating freight system than a simple wooden boat.

Why does spiritual growth often take so much longer than we expect? In this episode, we explore the biblical pattern of God's preparation through the "hidden years"—those seasons when progress feels slow, unseen, or uncertain. Looking at the lives of Moses, Joseph, David, Peter, Paul, and ultimately Jesus, we discover how God uses waiting, hardship, and ordinary faithfulness to shape character and prepare His people for the work ahead. If you've ever wondered whether your current season has a purpose, this conversation offers encouragement and a reminder that what feels like delay may actually be God's preparation for something greater. Join us as we examine why spiritual growth takes time and how God is often doing His deepest work behind the scenes.

In today's episode we are going to explore Genesis 6 and the meaning of "corruption," focusing in the days of Noah. There is so much bound up in these verses that apply to today world where when we look out we many times ask, "what is happening, what is going on?" The answer many times brings us back to corruption. In this episode, we break down Genesis 6 and explore how corruption is described in Scripture, not just as individual short comings or sins, but as a deep breakdown of society that leads to violence and disorder. We also look at Noah as a contrast in the middle of a collapsing world. This is not just an ancient story-it's a window into how moral corruption spreads and what faithfulness looks like in the middle of it.

With the start of summer this time offers us a wonderful opportunity to focus on simpler matters that will help us recharge and rebuild ourselves for the upcoming year. We all need a slower time, a time that takes us away from the fast-paced lives that we all experience now in our modern world. We must make it a priority to get back to basics so that we can build ourselves up and when we think in terms of our physical bodies this is certainly the case, we become tired and fatigue sets in and we struggle as a result. If this is true physically then it stands to reason that it is also true spiritually too. Many times, we struggle spiritually in the same way becoming tired and somewhat burned out. There are things that we can do to help in this area and in today's episode we are going to list 5 back to basic approaches we can take to see this become a reality. These are not too demanding or complicated but will help to provide us with a daily and weekly rhythm that can be sustained all at helping us become stronger and better in the process.

It is very easy to be a skeptic who doubts the reliability of the Bible. We can make statements against it as many do and have done throughout history, but we must stop and ask if there is any merit to their doubts and claims? Are they expressing facts or just making biased statements against something that they themselves have never read or investigated or examined in any way but take the stance that it has to be untrue just because. We are trying to look at what the Bible provides and examine whether or not it can be trusted, but before we can trust something can we determine whether or not what is says even happened and took place? The good news is yes; we most certainly can because of different discoveries that have been made throughout the centuries that reveal to us that the people, places and things that it lists are rooted in actual historical times and events and are not myth or legend. That is a huge point to make and we set out to do so in today's episode. We hope you enjoy and that it might spark further interest for our listeners and they set out to dig even deeper into this topic.

Have you ever felt tired or perhaps more tired than usual? What about achy or sore or like you just cannot bounce back feeling overrun and weak? If so, then you might not be sick or battling some kind of illness, no, the culprit might be something your body needs but is no longer getting. Vitamin D is responsible for a great deal of the processes found within the human body ranging from our mood to our muscles then to our mental sharpness as well too and still many others, but when we are not producing this critical vitamin, we suffer in many ways. Our modern society that has made wonderful strides forward in terms of advancements, while enjoying these, at the same time due to those "improvements," is struggling to get enough of this crucial component to life that comes directly from the sun primarily. We are witnessing a growing global epidemic centered around our lack of vitamin d today being a worldwide phenomenon. This episode is going to address this hoping to bring about some awareness and also seek to provide some helpful tips on how to obtain more of this ever-crucial vitamin.

This episode will focus on the fact that numbers do not lie as we commonly hear in the world today. We can trust numbers and know that 1+1 will always equal 2. This is comforting for us and lets us know we can have confidence in them, but when it comes to the miracles of Jesus, we can actually apply the same principle to show how He was able to do the impossible because numbers do not lie. John 11 details specific facts that reveal what was taking place but with the help of physics, physiology and some calculations we are shown the unmistakable reality of what happened on that day. Jesus displayed a power that no other human being has ever displayed revealing to us exactly who He was and is even to this day. The people came to believe in Him, but His enemies were even more opposed to Him after this point where this miracle serves as the tipping point that would eventually result in the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday. We hope you enjoy this show!!!