20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’[b] 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
After reading the story of the Workers in the Vineyard, try not to focus on how much work everyone has done and think about the generosity of the land owner. Please watch some children act out the story in the video below:
Jesus teaches us about generosity. God is generous to us. He gives us His grace even when we don’t deserve it. We did not earn God’s love either. God loved us first. Pastor Miller gives you a message on fairness and getting what we don’t deserve from God. None of us deserve God’s grace but he gives it anyway. Do you know what GRACE stands for? God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
Music is a way to celebrate what God has done for us! Here is a song about His grace. It’s called, “This is Amazing Grace” sung by Bethel Kids Music. Turn up your volume and sing along!
