Saturday, September 26, 2026: We pray we will use our individual gifts and talents to do the work. Join us Tomorrow, Sunday at 3:45PM
In person we meet in Classroom 8 at Christ Church United Methodist
Address: 1717 Yulupa Avenue, Santa Rosa CA 95405
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“Working in the Vineyard:” Welcome & Introduction of our theme
Newcomers?
Marcie : This evening’s theme is based on the Gospel Reading of the 2 sons who were asked by their father to go immediately to his vineyard to harvest the grapes. The 1st said he would not go, but later changed his mind and went. The 2nd said he would go, but didn’t. The vineyard represents the kingdom of God, which is all of us. And we all have work to do. We pray this evening that we will answer the Father’s call and use our individual gifts and talents to do the work. Sometimes the hard part is discerning what our work is. Then the next challenge is to fully commit to what we have determined is our path.
Opening Song: Open My Eyes Lord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA5PFQpIuFA
Opening Prayer
Denise: O God, we are all workers in your vineyard. May our actions reflect your call to live out our lives caring for each other, including those who are not in our circle of family and friends. Help us to remember that when you talk about the kingdom of God, you are not talking about those who have always been faithful. Your kingdom includes all, the righteous as well as the sinners. Give us the insight to know this and the will to behave accordingly. Help us take a moment to look twice at each person and event and make room to see what is really before us, not filtered through our judgements and history.
1st Reading from Romans 7:21
Melva: So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Responsorial Psalm 141:2-3
All: May my prayer be set before you like incense;
May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
2nd Reading 1 Peter 4:10-11
Cathy: As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. / If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Matthew 21:28-32 The Parable of the Two Sons
Dan: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.
I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Shared Homily
Marcie: In our lives, we’ve all done or didn’t do what was needed. Good intentions and grand plans don’t cut it if we don’t follow through with actions. We’re all guilty of missing the mark sometimes, maybe most of the time.
Questions:
• Can you think of a time when your intentions were good, but “life” got in the way and you didn’t follow through?
• How to we determine what is ours to do? When do you know you are on the right path?
• What is a gift I have to share?
• What is the harvest I want?
• How am I a good steward?
Prayers of the Faithful: Denise: Who or what do you bring to the table? (Use hand gestures to gather them to our heart and lift them up.
Eucharistic Prayer - Thanksgiving Prayer
Marcie: Spirit of the Divine, we thank You for Your love which gives our journey meaning and direction. You urge us down roads we do not feel strong enough to travel. You support us with fellow travelers who bolster us when we despair, who refresh and renew us when we think our last step is just that.
Denise: On the night before he died, Jesus was at table with his friends. He took
bread, gave thanks to you, broke it, and gave it to his friends saying,
All: “This is my body, broken for you.”
Marcie: As supper was ending, Jesus took the cup of wine. Again he gave thanks
to you, gave it to his friends and said,
All: “This cup is the new covenant of my lifeblood shed for you and for all. As often as you do this, do this in memory of me.”
Acclamation (sung a cappella)
All: We remember how you loved us all your life. And we still celebrate for you are with us here. And we believe that we will see you, when you come. When you come again. We remember! We celebrate! We believe!
Denise: Now gathered at your table, we offer to you our gifts of bread and wine, and
ourselves, a living sacrifice. Pour out your Spirit upon all these gifts that they, and
we, may be the Body and Blood of Christ. Breathe your Spirit over the whole earth
and make us your new creation.
Marcie: In the fullness of time bring us with all your saints from every tribe and
language, from every people and nation to feast at the banquet prepared from the
foundation of the world.
Marcie &Denise: (Holding up the bread and wine)
All: For it is through him, with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, O God, now and forever. Amen.
Denise: Now together, as one community, we offer to you. O God, our prayer, in the
name of your beloved son and our brother, Jesus:
All: Holy One beyond all names
Eternal Wellspring
May love rise again in us today
With food for every table
Shelter for every family
And reverence for every life.
Forgive us for our failings in love
And free us from all falseness
That the light of our souls may shine
And the strength of our spirits endure
For the Earth and all its people
This day, tonight, and forever. Amen
Offering our Gift of Peace
Marcie: Let us offer one another our gift of peace and love.
Invitation to Communion
Denise: Everyone is welcome to this table. Our God, whom the universe cannot contain, is present to us in this bread. Our God, who redeems us and calls us by name, now meets us in this cup. So come, beloved friends, and take this bread, drink this wine. In them, God comes to us, so that we may come to God.
Communion Song Here I Am Lord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zr9SMm1glI
Closing Prayer & Blessing
Marcie: Within each of us is a field awaiting the harvest. We must tend our inner garden, watering it, so it will yield the fruits of the spirit. We must nurture it with love, patience, kindness, compassion. Sometimes we apply the harvest metaphor to our lives: when the harvest is in, I will rest and be glad. Have I done enough yet? Do I deserve rest and joy? Perhaps the real message is. We do not have to earn joy. We need only to turn toward it, tend it as we would a precious seed, and let it bloom where we stand. As we thank God for the harvest, let us also cherish our blessings close at hand.
- inspired by “The Harvest Within. A Farming Parable on Joy” by John Pearson 8/5/25
Closing Song: Go Make a Difference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDjQEoItGzQ
And the people of this beloved community say…Amen!
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