Parable of the workers in the vineyard
Logistics
Who's There: Jeff
Who's Not: Jerry
Order of Worship
Preworship: Love’s been following you emily or sara
Call to worship:sara
children’s sermon: sara
Worship song: Blessed be your name Joe and or Ulrich
The Word & Message: Matthew 20:1-16 Jeff
Sharing the Peace: Jeff
Worship Song: Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord Joe and or Emily
Communion:
Prayer: Leslie
Announcements: sara
Closing Song: Eyes on the Prize sara
Other Ideas we had
Drama Ideas
Could be kids/parents as well as workers/employers, if some of the young people want to join in …
Message Ideas
These are the verses that caught my attention:
- "You have made them [the late-comers] equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day." (verse 12)
- "Or are you envious because I am generous?" (verse 15b)
- "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (verse 16)
These make me think of believers who are indeed envious or resentful of those who have not spent their lives working for the Kingdom, yet still receive salvation. There are those verses that talk about us being rewarded according to our works … and yet here we have what seems to contradict that. Other verses in the bible that echo the "last/first" dichotomy include matt. 19:30, mark 9:35, mark 10:31 (almost identical to the passage in chapter 9). A parallel construction is, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11 - another banquet illustration).
So a possible message idea would be how difficult it can be to continually humble ourselves and serve, not worrying about our reward or how God may be treating others, whom we perceive as not working as much or as hard as we do …
Prayer ideas
"Do not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we faint not." (Galatians 6:9)
Perseverance?
