Storyteller Week 4

I was in the nursery last week so I missed Neal's message on the Good Samaritan. If you're interested, you can hear it by clicking here. Below is this past week's message notes. It was really good. I would recommend listening to it.


Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1-16

Some worked twelve hours, some nine, some six, some three, and others only one hour yet they all received the same wage.

"Vineyard" was a common metaphor for "the people of Israel" in Jesus' day.

To work for "whatever is right," you have to have a great deal of trust in your employer because you are banking on his generosity.

Who would still be hoping to get hired with only one hour left in the work day? Those who were truly desperate. No work = no food.

Normally, the all-day workers were paid first. In this story, the one hour workers are paid first. If the employer had followed the normal system, the all-day workers would never have known that they were all paid equally.

Instead of lauding the owner's generosity, the all-day workers are furious that they were all paid equally. They, like our society, feel that the harder one works, the longer one's been at work, the more one contributes, the more is expected to be received in comparison to a newbie on the job.

Jesus' intent was to show the hidden sense of entitlement, the feeling of unfairness, and the economy of grace. Grace isn't about counting at all. The story is about who can be forgiven by God and allowed into the kingdom. Everyone is welcome at any time (any point in one's life, young or old).

Performance-based Christianity (all day workers) - we miss out on our need of grace; instead we feel entitled to it. Instead of feeling grateful for being chosen, we feel cheated because others we feel are "less deserving" also receive the same grace.

Grace-based Christianity - relationship based on trust, not a contract; we are overjoyed at the grace we receive, knowing that it is undeserved.

We are often outraged at the abundance of God's grace and the seeming unfairness of it. We often fail to remember that we are just as unworthy of grace as anyone else. Why do we tend to identify with (assume that we are) the workers who were hired first? We are all, in fact, latecomers in the story.

We are envious of God's generosity. He continues to seek out workers for his vineyard, even without benefit to himself.

"God dispenses gifts, not wages...If we were paid deservingly, we would all end up in Hell." Philip Yancey


This message really hit me. I do tend to see the seeming unfairness of the situation rather than the amazing message of grace that it is. I, too, would be outraged to have worked all day and have been paid equal to the one hour worker, regardless of the contract that had been established when I agreed to work. And it is true, sometimes I do feel like I am "working harder" than others even though we will receive the same reward. I don't know why I feel like I was one of the early ones to the vineyard. I am not supposed to compare myself to others. It is about focusing on my relationship with God. It's about my response to God's grace. I can't determine what other people will do with their gift, only what I will do with mine.

Personal application: Focus on seeking God's desires for me and not compare my efforts, my gifts and talents, my service to those of others. God created us each individually. Therefore, he has different work for us to do. My desire should be to complete the work God has prepared for me to do.

Storyteller Week 2

I'm a little more on it this week. Here are my notes from Sunday. I would highly recommend listening to the message yourselves as it was very poignant and relevant.

Parable of the Ten Virgins

Matthew 25:1-13

"If Only"

In Jesus' day, weddings lasted for days. Toward the end, the bridegroom would go to get the bride from her house to take her to his house where they would have a week long party/honeymoon with their families. When the bridegroom does this, he has a procession with him of wedding guests. All of the guests carried their own light to show that they belonged to the party. Without a light, you were considered a wedding crasher and not allowed in to the party.

The bridegroom (Jesus) is going to return so we need to be ready. The lamp is our life. We are to make sure our life is a preparation for Jesus' return. We shouldn't allow ourselves to get caught up in/distracted by everyday life.

There are some things in life that cannot be borrowed - a relationship with God, character, past experiences. I am responsible to God for my life. It is possible to wait until it is too late.

Now is the time. "Someday" may never come.

The unprepared girls were not called evil or wicked, but foolish. They were not defiant or deliberately disobedient, they just didn't think everything through. They drifted along without making preparations.

Spiritual complacency: failure to have the proper sense of urgency or of what's really important

2 Corinthians 6:1 "Please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."

Do you have any regrets? About parenting, finances, sin, etc? Work on regret elimination this week.


Personal application: I really enjoyed this message. My husband and I had a good discussion about what it meant to each of us. My application is to stop making excuses about why I don't do things or am not being proactive about things. I could be doing some editing of my book, but I choose not to. I need to suck it up and do what is needed because I don't know how much time I actually have to work on/complete the project.

Storyteller Week 1

This past Sunday we started a new series called "Storyteller." It is going to be a four week series where each week we study a Parable told by Jesus. You can listen to this and previous messages by clicking here.

Parable of the Ten Minas

(Not to be confused with the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. Minas has the same initial amount with different rewards while the talents have different initial amounts with the same reward).

Luke 19:11-26

One mina = about 3 months of wages

The story essentially retold the story of Archelaus' kingship (son of Herod) which probably caused an emotional connection with the audience due to the situational familiarity.

Every servant was given the exact same thing (as are we - the gospel message of salvation).

The reward was determined by what the servants did with what they were given (as is ours - we may receive more responsibility or more opportunities to serve if we are faithful in using what God has given us).

1. Expectations are made Evident
>Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20)

2. Excellent Efforts are Rewarded
>the focus was on the master ("your mina")
>Don't worry about what you don't have. Concentrate on what you do have (your talents and resources).

3. Evil "I" Ends in Rebuke
>The faithful servants focused on obedience. The unfaithful servant focused on his own hardship of his assignment. The master pointed out the servant's laziness/lack of action.

Our service to God should be out of a loving respect rather than the fear of punishment.

God will not buy our week excuses for our lack of obedience.

Mina Offering Challenge: Take the $10 provided by the church and use it faithfully for God. On October 11th, a special offering will be taken up from the challenge. The money will be used to help cover the cost of the Day of Service we perform on October 4th.


Personal Application: I am doing the Mina Offering Challenge. It's interesting to try to think of what I have and what I can use/do to grow what I've been given. I'm excited to see what happens!