CreatingCommunity is an email devotion to guide your preparation for worship next weekend. Imagine how much more clear and relevant God's Word will be if you have had an opportunity read, reflect, and dwell in the Word prior to worship. You may do this devotion alone, with others, as a family, or over Zoom as a small group.

This devotion is to be done in preparation for this coming weekend's worship.

Please follow these three steps:

1. Read through the text
2. Respond to the questions (select one of the sets of questions)
3. Offer a Prayer
Matthew 21:33-46
[Jesus said to the people:] “Listen 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. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 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.”
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’?
Therefore 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. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
No Experience Necessary Questions:
  1. What scares, confuses, or challenges me in this text?
  2. What delights me in this text?
  3. What stories or memories does this text stir in me?
  4. What is God up to in this text?
Family Questions:
  1. In your own words tell the parable of the vineyard. What do you notice about what you remember and what you may have omitted in your telling?
  2. The topic of this parable is the kingdom of God. What do you know about the Kingdom of God? What do you wonder about the Kingdom of God? What does this parable say about the kingdom of God?
  3. Why do you think the tenants didn't respect the owners son? How is that similar to the story of Jesus' life and death?
Advance Questions:
  1. Jesus tells a vineyard parable. Listeners of this parable, especially those with Jewish connections, see an image of Israel and the prophets’ mission. Do you see those images? Explain
  2. The vineyard is also said to speak of God’s love poured out in the blood of Christ, given to us for the forgiveness of sin. Do you see that image? Explain
  3. Jesus tells this parable to the religious leaders who are plotting his death. If they are listening what might they learn about how God will use their plans? What will happen in this story as Jesus moves closer to Jerusalem?
Click here to listen to this week's CreatingCommunity video
"The Stone the Builders Rejected“ by Odyssey Impact
Prayer

Thank you, Jesus, for turning human plans upside down and making a new reality through your death and resurrection. Enliven your church today so that we are a truly faithful house built on your solid foundation. Amen.
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