Fruits of the Kindom

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Holy God, Maker of heaven and earth, out of your great love for the world you sent us your beloved Son— but we sent him to his death. Have mercy on us, O Lord; forgive us, renew us, restore us so that we may be the people of your vineyard and bear good fruit for your holy realm; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Let us pray for the needs of the worid, saying,

God of hosts, hear our prayer. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be

saved. For your beloved, chosen people, the vine you brought out of

Egypt,

God of hosts, hear our prayer.

For the church of Jesus Christ, your beloved Son,

God of hosts, hear our prayer.

For martyrs, saints, and prophets, persecuted for doing your will,

God of hosts, hear our prayer.

For all who are suffering, through sickness or oppression,

God of hosts, hear our prayer.

For the coming of your kingdom, with justice and peace for all,

God of hosts, hear our prayer.

Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven and see; have

regard for your people; through Christ, the vine, in whom we are

branches.

Amen.

God who speaks, your love is perfect, reviving the soul; your teaching is clear, enlightening the eyes. May your Spirit illumine our hearts that our eyes may be opened and our souls revived. In Jesus ‘name we pray. Amen.

Philippians 3:4b-14 4even though |, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, ⁶ a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷ Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. ¹⁰ l want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. ¹² Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴! press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Matthew 21:33-46 3341 isten to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ³⁴ When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵ But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son. ’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” ³⁹ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’? 43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” ⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Questions for Reflection: Rev. Johan Dodge

Study the parable of the Landowner and the Vineyard. What are the

“fruits of the kindom” to which Jesus alludes in Matthew 21:43? How

does your life bear fruit for God’s realm? What do you contribute to

the harvest of God that Jesus describes?

Discipleship Moment: Stewardship — Prince Pearson CLM

INVITATION TO THE OFFERING -— Phyllis Spencer

Without Christ, all that we have is nothing. With Christ, all that we

have is everything. Let us offer all that we have to the Lord.

We give you thanks and praise, O God, for all your good gifts, and above all, for the gift of knowing Christ our Savior. Strengthen us as we continue to strive for the heavenly prize that you offer: eternal and abundant life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

My siblings, Now may the face of God shine upon you so that you forget what lies behind; may the grace of God live within you for what lies ahead, and may the love of God empower you as we press on toward the goal! Blessed Be the Tie that Binds Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Amen.