-
-
Watch the full service on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/dFGKEwkwYVb
Matthew 20:1-16 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Tags: Matthew
-
-
Life just goes on for most of us, even as our
country changes around us.The horrors hardly touch us.
We have a secret police force now, extravagantly
funded and growing.The ICE police wear masks. And they disappear
people.They pick our neighbors up, carry them off, and
no one knows where they take them.They are Imprisoned, somewhere, often in a
foreign country.As far as their families are concerned, just gone.
We used to hear about this in other countries. It
was inconceivable in America. Now, it is our everyday
reality.The 21 year-old daughter of a New York
Episcopal priest of Korean heritage was recently
disappeared in this way. Gone.Some are detained in this country before being
shipped off.In one detention center, the ICE police make
migrants eat like dogs from dishes placed on the floor.
Authoritarians are good at this: dehumanization.Look at Hitler’s bunch.
They found endless ways to dehumanize the Jews.
And when you have corruption at the very top, it
works its way down.When the leader is an amoral bully, those below
have permission to do as they wish.Sending a person to a prison in Libya is not the
same as sending him to the gas chamber.But for the man’s wife and children, this loved one
is just as gone.Still, for most of us, life goes on. But it’s not
the same. Because we know.Under our government, people like you and me
are being fed like dogs.Lord, hear our prayer.
saintmatthewumc.com
[email protected]
-
The Passing of Morton H. Meyerson
Mr. Morton H. Meyerson, businessman and philanthropist and partner of Ross Perot, has died at age 87 following a two-year battle with cancer.
What does that have to do with St. Matthew?
Mr. Meyerson, who was Jewish, has sent several thousand dollars in gifts to St. Matthew over the last few years.
He sometimes read Friday’s Word and appreciated my stand against some of the political forces of our time.
He even came to the church to meet me three years ago. We had a great time together.His name lives on in the Dallas Symphony Center named after him, and in my memory as a gracious man with a warm heart and a sense of humor.
He also lives on in the same heaven we will all be going to. May God be praised.Watching Online
Jason is on vacation and, at this writing, I am not able to find our service online, but it may be there later.
We did the microphones a little differently last Sunday. I want to see if it worked.
I am uncertain when the audio/video work will be completed. I am sure it will be finished by the time Jason gets back on the 17th.My Class
We continue with the chapter on suffering from my as-yet-unpublished book, Discovering God. We have some exciting accounts to consider.
You are welcome to this class.
At 9:45—followed by breakfast.Breakfast This Sunday
It’s a “We-bring” Sunday.
Help, if you can.
At 10:30.Concert Confusion
We have two concerts coming up.
One is our great MSB Gospel Choir concert on Saturday, Sept. 20, for which we are selling tickets.
The other one is a Sunday morning concert on Oct. 31—moved to this date to make sure our new audio/video equipment is in and working.This Sunday
Sermon: It’s All About Love.
The scripture will be the 13th chapter of Corinthians.
I look forward to gathering with you this Sunday in the house of the Lord!Come, let us be uplifted, encouraged, through worship and thanksgiving.
God bless—MB