The Lord’s Invitation

CENTRAL TEXT: Matthew 22:1-14

Matt. 22:1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Matt. 22:11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

CALL TO WORSHIP: Isaiah 61:10,11

LEADER: I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;
  my soul shall exult in my God,

ALL: for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
  he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
  as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
  and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

LEADER: For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
  and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

PRAYER/SCRIPTURE READING/CONFESSION OF FAITH: Romans 6:1-4

LEADER: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER: 

CONFESSION OF SIN:

LEADER:  Let us confess our sin to the Lord.

ALL: You mean to form us into the image of your Son. Too easily we allow lesser loves and lesser stories deform us. Have mercy on us where we have lost the plot. Help us see the kindness of your invitation into your story. Help us see the honor of having a purpose and playing even a modest part within it.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ephesians 2:8, 9

LEADER: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

ALL: Thanks be to God!

BENEDICTION: Colossians 3:12-15

LEADER: Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Discussion Questions:

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Books / Docs

“Don’t be introspective–examine yourself,” Kristen Wetherell