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"Jyn Erso: 'They call it the Death Star. But they have no idea... there's a way to defeat it.'”
Friday, 21 July 2017
Matthew 21:33 “Now listen to another parable. There was a farmer who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower; then he rented it to tenants and left. 34 When harvest-time came, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the crop. 35 But the tenants seized his servants — this one they beat up, that one they killed, another they stoned. 36 So he sent some other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. 37 Finally, he sent them his son, saying, ‘My son they will respect.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ 39 So they grabbed 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 answered him, “He will viciously destroy those vicious men and rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the crop when it’s due.” 42 Yeshua said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Tanakh,
‘The very rock which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone!
This has come from Adonai,
and in our eyes it is amazing’?[Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22–23]
43 Therefore, I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the kind of people that will produce its fruit!” 44 [Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts include verse 44: Whoever falls on this stone will be broken in pieces; but if it falls on him, he will be crushed to powder!”]
45 As the head cohanim and the P’rushim listened to his stories, they saw that he was speaking about them.
‘The very rock which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone!
This has come from Adonai,
and in our eyes it is amazing’?[Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22–23]
43 Therefore, I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the kind of people that will produce its fruit!” 44 [Matthew 21:44 Some manuscripts include verse 44: Whoever falls on this stone will be broken in pieces; but if it falls on him, he will be crushed to powder!”]
45 As the head cohanim and the P’rushim listened to his stories, they saw that he was speaking about them.
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Jyn (and because of her, the rebels) knew something the arrogant Empire had overlooked. A small flaw in the Death Star made it vulnerable to defeat. (If you’ve seen the first Star Wars movie, you know how that worked out.) The arrogant religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus looked invincible, too. But Jesus' story said they, like the vicious tenants in the vineyard, had forgotten the vineyard’s owner (God). Killing the son didn’t make them owners—it only meant the true owner would hold them accountable for their violent actions.
• The answer to Jesus' question was too obvious to avoid (verses 40-41). His hearers pronounced sentence—on themselves. To what extent are you willing to submit your life to Jesus? What people and experiences have shaped your willingness to respond to Jesus, either positively or negatively? What steps can you take to ensure that you are not like the wicked tenants in the vineyard?
• Through history, arrogance has been ultimately disastrous for nations, churches and individuals. Read Psalm 2:1-5, originally written to honor an Israelite king’s enthronement, but whose meaning reached far beyond any earthly throne. How can you, in your personal life and in any organizations you help to shape, avoid choosing a course that defies God’s principles, whatever short-term “benefits” it might seem to offer?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, keep growing me into a faithful, responsive servant in your vineyard. Deliver me from the temptations of arrogance, that I may bear a rich harvest, not for my glory but for yours. Amen.
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Ally Drummond
Ally Drummond is serving as an intern in Congregational Care this summer. She is currently a junior at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, majoring in Sociology. In her free time, Ally enjoys spending time exploring Kansas City’s best breakfast spots and coffee shops!
You know that feeling of your jaw dropping to the ground when you hear someone tell a nearly unbelievable story? I can only imagine this look was on the faces of the Pharisees and High Priests when Jesus told them the Parable of the Tenant Farmers. This story came as Jesus’ way to model the flaws in these religious leaders’ own behaviors. It seems they had absolutely no idea the tenant farmers were not actually prospering by persecuting others based on their own judgments.They were in awe when Jesus suggested this is not how they will attain the riches of Heaven. He proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is given to those who diligently produce its fruits. The Lord’s purpose and plan for this life is accomplished by recognizing and walking alongside individuals, despite our differences; yet, in Jesus’ parable, that was the last way the tenant farmers wanted to spend their time.
Not only does God recognize the broken, the outcasts, and the rejected, but He calls them His beloved. This is still such a radical idea. There is no other being who has such perfect love for every single creature; yet, simply knowing God holds us within this perfect love is not enough.
God calls us all to action. God entrusts us to be His tenants, responsible for producing His fruits. The religious leaders who were listening to this parable had some values that did not align with God’s purpose. Their actions surely did not display the Lord’s all-inclusive love.
The Kingdom of God is found by those who constantly pursue His steadfast love, while striving to exemplify that same love to all people.
On a mission trip to Dallas this past May, our team met a man named Kenny. Kenny, along with his wife, started an organization called Cliff House in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. Kenny and his team are building a large house to be a space for the community to grow in fellowship, hope, and love for God and others. They are focused on meeting the needs of all the people in the neighborhood, however possible. By walking alongside a group of people who so often seem to get overlooked, Kenny is doing his part to help bring the Kingdom of God here to earth.
Each one of us, like Kenny, can play a role in doing this. We must ask ourselves: “How am I going to help build the Kingdom of God?” The riches of Heaven are waiting for those who are willing to share His love here on earth. My prayer is that every person reading this realizes their potential to joyfully share this beautiful gift we’ve been given each day through their thoughts, actions, and words.
*Note: to learn more about Cliff House and its mission, click here.
Ally DrummondAlly Drummond is serving as an intern in Congregational Care this summer. She is currently a junior at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, majoring in Sociology. In her free time, Ally enjoys spending time exploring Kansas City’s best breakfast spots and coffee shops!
You know that feeling of your jaw dropping to the ground when you hear someone tell a nearly unbelievable story? I can only imagine this look was on the faces of the Pharisees and High Priests when Jesus told them the Parable of the Tenant Farmers. This story came as Jesus’ way to model the flaws in these religious leaders’ own behaviors. It seems they had absolutely no idea the tenant farmers were not actually prospering by persecuting others based on their own judgments.They were in awe when Jesus suggested this is not how they will attain the riches of Heaven. He proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is given to those who diligently produce its fruits. The Lord’s purpose and plan for this life is accomplished by recognizing and walking alongside individuals, despite our differences; yet, in Jesus’ parable, that was the last way the tenant farmers wanted to spend their time.
Not only does God recognize the broken, the outcasts, and the rejected, but He calls them His beloved. This is still such a radical idea. There is no other being who has such perfect love for every single creature; yet, simply knowing God holds us within this perfect love is not enough.
God calls us all to action. God entrusts us to be His tenants, responsible for producing His fruits. The religious leaders who were listening to this parable had some values that did not align with God’s purpose. Their actions surely did not display the Lord’s all-inclusive love.
The Kingdom of God is found by those who constantly pursue His steadfast love, while striving to exemplify that same love to all people.
On a mission trip to Dallas this past May, our team met a man named Kenny. Kenny, along with his wife, started an organization called Cliff House in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. Kenny and his team are building a large house to be a space for the community to grow in fellowship, hope, and love for God and others. They are focused on meeting the needs of all the people in the neighborhood, however possible. By walking alongside a group of people who so often seem to get overlooked, Kenny is doing his part to help bring the Kingdom of God here to earth.
Each one of us, like Kenny, can play a role in doing this. We must ask ourselves: “How am I going to help build the Kingdom of God?” The riches of Heaven are waiting for those who are willing to share His love here on earth. My prayer is that every person reading this realizes their potential to joyfully share this beautiful gift we’ve been given each day through their thoughts, actions, and words.
*Note: to learn more about Cliff House and its mission, click here.
MyCliffHouse.org
Your tax deductable donation to The Master's Harvest will assure we can keep brining and being Good News to the CliffHouse neighborhood and the nations of the world.
CliffHouse Community
Our Passion is to see children and families living up to their full God given potential, with a focus on students doing well in school, avoiding drugs and gangs, gaining healthy life-skills, and nurturing/pursuing their dreams for a fulfilling life of purpose and destiny as our next generation of leaders.
Our Method is to apprentice and mentor young adults (residential interns) to live and do life 24/7 among those we feel drawn to, with a heart toward immigrants and refugees from across our borders, sharing the customs and rhythms of the neighborhood. John 1:14 The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. (Message Bible)
We believe that every Christ Follower is a 'Sent One'---sent to be a deliverer of Good News--news of eternal life, healing, restoration, forgiveness, blessing, peace, and hope.
Ways we Serve
KidzKlub and Youth.
Summer Feeding and Reading Program
After School Tutoring
CliffHouse Community En Espanol
Internships
MyCliffHouse.org
FOLLOW US
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"Blockade Runner Pilot: 'What is it that they've sent us?' Princess Leia: 'Hope.'”
Saturday, 22 July 2017
Hebrews 6:11-20
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In Rogue One, retrieving the Death Star plans, and transmitting them to rebel headquarters cost Jyn and Cassian their lives. It was a high price indeed, but it gave the rebels hope. Jesus' apparent defeat in fact defeated evil, and gave all of God’s people an eternal hope. The writer of Hebrews knew we don’t become deeply committed followers of God by chance. The letter called its readers (including us) to make sure we grasp that hope and weave it into our way of life. Eugene Peterson rendered v. 11 in The Message as “I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a fullbodied hope, and keep at it till the finish.”
• The Hebrews understood the Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies) in their sanctuary, and then the Temple, as the place where God’s presence dwelt. A heavy, ornate curtain covered the entrance, and only the High Priest could enter there, once a year, on the Day of Atonement. The letter to the Hebrews said that Jesus had gone into God’s presence for us, that our hope is the true High Priest who is in God’s presence continually, not just once a year. That is the hope we must make sure until the end, the hope we must grasp and hold fast. What are the things you pursue most intensely right now? How can you translate, and even magnify, that intensity and focus into your spiritual life?
Prayer: Dear Jesus, forgive me for the times when I am apathetic to your presence in my life. Teach me to hear your voice more clearly, and to have a gritty, engaged will to grasp your gift of hope. Amen.
Family Activity: Gather your family into the darkest space of your home. (A closet or a dark bathroom would be good options.) Bring a Bible and a very small reading light with you. When you are all together, ask someone to read Luke 10:17-20. Describe how just as life can be dark at times, so are our hearts, lives and the world without the light of Jesus. In an age-appropriate way, discuss some of the evil in the world and how sad it makes us, and God. Then share how, as we follow Jesus, His light lives within us and gives us hope. He wants us to share it with the world! Open the door of the room, celebrate and be thankful for the light of Jesus together! Commit to sharing the light and hope of Jesus with all people.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Gail Boyce and family on the death of her husband Dale Boyce, 7/10 • George Melling and family on the death of his uncle Charles Melling, 7/10
• Jeanne Lillig-Patterson and family on the death of her husband Neal Patterson, 7/9
• Jim Mohr and Penny Hardesty Mohr on the death of their son Connor Mohr, 7/8
• Ellie Mohr on the death of her brother Connor Mohr, 7/8
• John Alholm and family on the death of his wife Janet Alholm, 7/7
• Gloria Carolus and family on the death of her husband Paul Carolus, 7/6
• John Jennings and family on the death of his brother Mark Jennings, 7/3
• Ria Howell and family on the death of her grandmother Louise Monaco, 6/24
• Tracy and Ria Howell and family on the death of their close family friend Maddie Moorman, 6/24
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Or download this week's printable GPS.
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Like this post? Share it!
You might also like
When the world falls apart
A God who never ignores us
Focusing on unseen, but enduring, realities
Depression, sadness, suffering, panic—but “wait for the Lord”
Morning light even amid awful destruction
Or download this week's printable GPS.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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