Kingdom Parables

Sermon from CCM:Gorton
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LISTEN

 

This sermon was preached by Graham Harrop at the CCM Gorton site of Christ Church Manchester on Sunday 28th April 2019.

SERIES

 

This message was part of the ‘For Such a Time as This’ series, preached at Christ Church Manchester’s church in Gorton in late 2017. The full series included the following sermons:

 

BIBLE VERSES

 

This sermon was based on Matthew 20:1-16.

Labourers in the Vineyard

1″For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16So the last will be first, and the first last.”

KEY POINTS

God is more generous than we can imagine

  • It is not for us to decide how God should treat us
  • God can and will do as he wants because he is God
  • We should not be envious of others when God is generous to them

It is good that we do not get the wages we deserve

  • We cannot do enough to earn what God gives us
  • What we deserve to receive from God is punishment for our sins
  • The good things we get from God are not earned but come from his love

We need to respond to his generosity

  • We can respond with faith and by changing the way we live our lives

MORE SERMONS

 

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