Introduction
Jesus was a phenomenal communicator. In fact, Jesus was the greatest communicator to ever live. He used strategies and techniques that were previously unheard of to get his point across in any situation, regardless of the circumstances. What is interesting is that his most common form of speaking was in parables. He would use these analogies to provide a way of application for the gospel in people lives. The parable about the workers in the vineyard is one of many, but is one of the few that were only told in the book of Matthew. Although there a many assumptions as to the reasoning for this, nobody can be sure of the reason why this parable is nowhere to be found in the other gospels. It is especially confusing because in this parable Jesus talks about end times and entrance into heaven; which would have been, and still is, an important subject to any believer.
Matthew 20:1-16
1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘C...
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...mazing, but sets an example of how believers today can use relevant and modern examples and stories to share the Gospel and continue growing the body of Christ.
Works Cited
Barker, Kenneth L., ed., NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008. Print.
Blomberg, Craig L. "Matthew." The New American Commentary. 22. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992. Print.
Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison. "Matthew 19-28." International Critical Commentary. New York, NY: T&T Clark International, 2004. Print.
Hagner, Donald A. "Matthew 14-28." Word Biblical Commentary. 33B. Dallas, TX: Word Incorporated, 1995. Print.
Keck, Leander E. "Matthew, Mark." The New Interpreter's Bible. 8. Nashville, TN: Abington Press, 1995. Print.
Luz, Urich. "Mathew 8-20." Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001. Print.
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
...itten in, and can also be seen because there is no mention anywhere of the parables, Jesus' primary teaching method according to the synoptic gospels. Instead, John makes use of miracles and uses examples from Jesus' ministry to demonstrate his power and divinity. He uses his power over nature to raise people from the dead, heal a blind man and feed 5000 people with the physical amount of food for only a few.
Level II: Paragraph about the Wall Throughout the novel, Offred and her companion, Ofglen, visit the Wall during their shopping trips. The Wall is where the government displays the criminals who were hanged at the recent Salvation for everyone to see. It is an important element of the setting because it offers insight into other rights the government has stripped away besides women’s rights. For example, the crimes Offred sees displayed are doctors who gave abortions, Jews who did not change their religious stance, and two men who partook in homosexual acts. There are also three women hanged- two handmaids and a wife- for unknown reasons, but it is suspected adultery or murder attempt.
Berlin, Adele, Marc Zvi. Brettler, and Michael A. Fishbane. "Job." The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. 1501-1505. Print.
As Christians it is our responsibility to live our lives in accordance with God’s will. Sharing the good news of God’s kingdom is imperative not only for our salvation, but that of many. If we don’t hear the gospel, we do not have an opportunity to embrace it. Additionally we cannot distort the message otherwise we diminish ...
As many people will agree, Christ can be referred to, as Kierkegaard’s states it, “the prototype” (239). In other words, Christ lived in such an ethical and loving way that many people admire. Therefore, we can safely say that in following Christ’s “footprints” (238), we are closer to being more ethical and loving individuals. Consequently, in becoming involved with this service-learning project, I have come to realize that I, and everyone in general, do hold a moral responsibility towards complete strangers. This is most evident when regarding our religious background since I, and anyone else for that matter, cannot truly claim to being an ethical individual if we are stuck being admirers and do not alter in becoming imitators.
... an opportunity to escape his unjust conviction. He tells his would be saviors what we call today a social contract. A social contract states, simply, that you must obey all laws, no matter if they cause you an injustice because it is the same laws that protect the citizens. There would be no point of laws if people could ignore the ones that they felt were unjust or inconvenient.
Christianity has its challenges. It places demands on us that set us apart from the rest of our world. The bible calls us a peculiar people, who navigate the challenge of living IN the world, without being OF the world. When we say ‘no’ to temptations that are enjoyed by the masses, we are labeled as self-righteous snobs, religious weirdoes, or worse. But we persevere, and we press toward that invisible line the Apostle Paul drew in the sands of time…for the high calling in Christ Jesus.
Rhoads, David, Joanna Dewey and Donald Michie. 1999. Mark as Story: An Introduction To the Narrative of a Gospel. (2nd edition). Minneapolis: Fortress.
... main discourses of Jesus. Upon reading the Gospel of Matthew, readers are able to identify Jesus as the crucified Messiah and exalted Lord of the church. As the first book of a two-work narrative, Luke focuses on displaying Jesus as the universal Savior of the world, and readers are encouraged to spread the message of redemption to people of all nations. As the universally-known action story, the Gospels incorporate the drama, suffering, and hope associated with the life of Jesus, the ultimate hero. Whether people read this story through the lens of the intended audience or simply to gain understanding and knowledge about Jesus’ journey on earth, the purpose of the Gospels is clear. Despite differing elements of the Gospels, their intention to spread the wondrous story of Jesus and the coming of His kingdom throughout the world will forever remain constant.
The church has a problem. The eternally relevant message with which she has been entrusted no longer readily finds a willing ear. According to Henderson, the solution lies in first understanding how our world thinks and then, beginning where people are at, bring them to see "the functional relevance for their lives of the actual relevance of our message". In high school speech classes, we were taught to "know your audience." As a careless high schooler, I didn't really care what she meant, but it eventually made sense (once I actually decided to think about it). You wouldn't use sock puppets to explain math to accountants; you wouldn't use in-depth power-point presentations to explain math to first graders. With this in mind, why do many Americans still try to talk about Jesus using the methods used thirty years ago? Why do we use Christian "jargon" to explain Christianity to those outside the faith? Henderson contends that modern American Christians must change their approach to sharing the faith in order to fit modern America. The pattern of Henderson's book is straightforward: he examines a particular aspect/mindset/value of modern Americans; he then gives ideas about how a Christian might share Words of Eternal Life with such an American. Henderson's writing is both straightforward and enjoyable. He gets right to the heart of the American mindset, then illustrates it with descriptions from scenes from popular movies, personal anecdotes, jokes, etc. In all, Henderson does the modern Christian a great service in writing "Culture Shift." Jesus told Christians to tell others about him ("Go, therefore, and baptize all nations...") and Henderson can help us along the way through this book
...ore significant of an impact than it does now, if the heart of the Church doesn’t change. It’s stuck. At the same time, I can perceive in various people a certain movement that the conventional church fails to recognize because it’s not explicit doctrine. It involves personal responsibility, empathy, and most importantly, a humility in oneself concerning the fate of their own soul, in favor of the well-being of others. I believe the artists among them are doing powerful things, I believe that the whole world sees it, and I further believe that God works through them. In a world that mocks Christ, they unknowingly embrace him with open arms, more by the more.
Ashby, William Brent, and Benjamin Galan. 24 Ways to Explain the Gospel. Torrance: Rose Publishing, 2009. Print.
Paul the Apostle, formerly known as Saul, lived much of his life preaching the Good News that Jesus brought and spreading it to the nations. Paul is a particularly notable follower of Jesus because he contributed several books to the Bible, and he reached a large number of people groups during his travels abroad. However, Paul was not always a such a saint. It is important to note that Paul was a human and had real struggles, just like us. Although he accomplished many things for the Kingdom of God, he wouldn’t have been able to do so without trusting God to work through him. In this paper I will demonstrate how God can turn a life around and what the life of a servant of the Lord looks like, with its successes and failures, through a chronology of Paul’s life.
Using this method, he successfully engages the congregation through descriptive narratives and relating ideas to current times. As part of the narratives he includes descriptive biblical stories beginning with the story in his text, claiming it as a “scary story”. He further re-enforces this scary story concept by sharing two more biblical passages where a scary story exists. These biblical narratives are the beginning of what Wilson would call the second page of the sermon where the trouble in the text is given. This of course was preceded by his first page that discussed the idea of having scary stories in our lives today (trouble in the world) by using a vivid personal illustration. He continues to use vivid illustrations to hammer in his focus on the church needing to be friends to the downtrodden because God responds that way. He designs the third page to share the Gospel in the text reminding us that God responds to continual injustice by sending his son to be the friend that everyone needs. The one who stands up for injustice and never leaves your side. Finally, he concludes with the fourth page by demonstrating how churches can live the gospel in the world today. They do this through friendships with people in their surrounding community whose stories might be