Untitled Sermon

The Parable of the Vineyard

9:45 – Begin with a game as kids walk in. I would recommend Mum Ball, but you are welcome to do whatever game you would like. If you are in the fellowship hall some of the little kids may join you. If they do make sure you send them back by 10:00.

Note: This Sunday is promotion Sunday. You will have three new kids in your class: Lainey Wimberley, Julia Lynch, and David Klauss. We will lose Stephan Baker, Megan Bratcher, Key Rey Chitty, and Avery Hill to the Youth. You will also be responsible for filling out the attendance for both classes. The blue folder will be on the desk in the fellowship hall. When You have completed you can send one of the older kids to take it to the office.

10:00 – Try to start your lesson as close to 10:10 as you can. Please note that this does not always happen. If you don’t I promise no one will fire you nor chastise you! J I just do it so I know I have enough time to get it all in. They tend to have questions so if you get off topic but stay on biblical matters you are good.

Lesson: The Parable of the Vineyard –

1. Have the kids turn to the scripture in their Bible. You can either read it or call on someone to read it. If they don’t have a bible they can borrow one from the cabinet on the green wall.

2. : Vineyard owners, farmers, and other various crop growers would go to the market place early in the morning (about 6:00 AM). There they would find people gathered at a place who were looking for work.

a. Therefore, the vineyard owner/land owner hired a handful of people to work in his vineyard for the day. He agreed to pay them one denarius for the entire day. This is equal to about $8. This was normal for a laborer’s daily wage.

b. It is important to note that a regular work day was 10 to 12 hours long. This is how long they had enough sun light to work.

3. : At the third hour (about 9:00 AM), sixth hour (12:00), and the eleventh hour (5:00) the vineyard owner returned to the market place and hired men who were waiting for work. He promised to pay them what was right. Scripture does not specify the amount so we must not focus on what the landowner promised the workers. However, the fact that the workers agreed shows that they had faith in the land owner’s integrity.

4. : It was customary for field workers to be paid at the end of each workday. It is important for us to notice the order that the workers were paid.

a. First those who were hired last (“about the eleventh hour”) were paid first and they were paid the same amount that the workers from the beginning of the day were paid. (v.9)

b. Therefore, when the ones who were hired at the beginning of the day came to get their pay they grumbled because they were paid the same amount as those who only worked an hour as opposed to 12 hours. (While this does not seem fair or just this is not what we must focus on in this parable.)

5. : Here, the land owner addresses their grumbling and says, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” The first workers agreed to the pay before they even started working. Therefore, the land owner was still true to his word.

a. He goes on to point out that they are jealous or envious of the landowner’s generosity (v. 15).

6. Even though it seems extremely unfair to us that the men who worked the fields longer got the same pay as the ones who worked a shorter time we cannot focus on that. We must focus on what was paid to the men. It did not matter when they worked and for how long they worked the received the same pay. The same concept applies to salvation. It does not matter if you asked Jesus into your heart at the age of seven or the age of 99. It doesn’t matter if you are seven feet tall or 3 feet tall or if you are extremely rich or extremely poor. You can still receive God’s grace abundantly through His Son, Jesus Christ. It also shows us that we cannot earn or purchase salvation and grace, but instead, God gifts it to us. He shares it with us in hopes that we would trust in Him, Love Him, and hand our lives over to Him to be used by Him.

7. – “So the last will be first, and the first last” This entire parable is structured over this one sentence. This is not to say that those who are rich on earth will be poor in heaven or vice versa. Jesus really wants His disciples to understand that God, the Father, gives as He seems necessary. He gives salvation to all who ask and He provides necessary gifts to those who call upon Him.

8. We must not be jealous. Instead, we must be thankful for His generosity and Love.