Loving Provider,
Today You gather us in the Upper Room with Your son. The Gospel of John tells us that it was there that Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist and washed his disciples’ feet. He gave us the purest example of the servant’s heart. Most of the time, Loving God, we would rather be served than serve others. Most of the time our needs supersede the needs of those around us. Forgive us, O Holy One. May we look to the example of the One who became the Christ for our model. We can’t perform his miracles and we certainly can’t die on a cross for the sins of the world, but we can love others as ourselves. We can serve. We can reach out to those who have been abandoned and bring the light of Christ to them as we seek to meet their physical, emotional as well as spiritual needs. Embolden us, Gracious Lord, to be courageous enough to choose to be last rather than first. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.
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I received word yesterday that Tim Hart, the 51 year old grandson of Helen Hart, was critically injured in a horse riding accident in Houston. Please pray for Tim and his grandmother who is very concerned.
Please pray for the family and friends of Kathryn Schmidt. She died earlier this week. She was a member of the “Yes We Can” Civitan club.
Please also pray for the family of Byrtle Gifford who passed away at the age of 103. She was the aunt of Mary Beach and Winston Shipley. There will be a graveside service in Enid next Friday.
Chuck Crites funeral is tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in the sanctuary.
Tonight we will gather in the sanctuary for out Maundy Thursday service. It will include men reenacting the Last Supper. The service begins at 7:00 p.m.
The scripture for today is Matthew 20:1-16:
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o”clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o”clock, he did the same. And about five o”clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard. ‘When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first. ‘When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 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. ‘But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Grace and peace,
John McLemore
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