Welcome & Opening Prayer
Opening song – Great Is Thy Faithfulness (ELW 733)
- Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with thee
Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not;
As thou has been, thou forever shalt be.
Refrain
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
- Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Refrain
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
- Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Refrain
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
Gathering Litany
We come to share our story,
We come to know our rising from the dead.
We come as your people,
we come as your own
united with each other,
love finds a home.
We are called to heal the broken,
to be hope for the poor,
we are called to feed the hungry at our door.
In our dying and rising,
may your kingdom come.
You will lead and we shall follow,
you will be breath of life;
living water, we are thirsting for your love.
We will live and sing your praises,
“Alleluia” is our song.
May we live in love and peace
our whole life long.
We come to share our story,
We come to know rising from the dead.
Reading: Matthew 20:1-16
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After he agreed with the workers to pay them a denarion, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 “Then he went out around nine in the morning and saw others standing around the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I’ll pay you whatever is right.’ 5 And they went. “Again around noon and then at three in the afternoon, he did the same thing. 6 Around five in the afternoon he went and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you just standing around here doing nothing all day long?’ 7 “‘Because nobody has hired us,’ they replied. “He responded, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and moving on finally to the first.’ 9 When those who were hired at five in the afternoon came, each one received a denarion. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarion. 11 When they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 ‘These who were hired last worked one hour, and they received the same pay as we did even though we had to work the whole day in the hot sun.’ 13 “But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I did you no wrong. Didn’t I agree to pay you a denarion? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I want to give to this one who was hired last the same as I give to you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?’ 16 So those who are last will be first. And those who are first will be last.”
Time of Sharing
As we hear in the reading tonight, Jesus told those listening that the last will be first and the first will be last. How does that impact what we just talked about for the last hour?
Song – Will You Let Me Be Your Servant (ELW 659)
- Will you let me be your servant, Let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too.
- We are pilgrims on a journey, we are trav’lers on the road;
we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.
- I will hold the Christlight for you in the nighttime of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.
- I will weep when you are weeping; when you laugh I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow till we’ve seen this journey through.
- Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant, too.
Prayers
Closing Song – Lift Every Voice and Sing (ELW 841)
- Lift every voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring.
Ring with the harmonies of liberty; - Let our rejoicing rise high as the list’ning skies.
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. - Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; - Facing the rising sun of our new day begun.
Let us march on till victory is won.