A WEDDING INVITATION

Sunday (8/11), gather with your church family as we turn our attention to Matthew’s Gospel (22:1-14).

The passage before us is from Passion Week. As was His pattern, He was in Jerusalem, where He would spend His time ministering to the multitude gathered in the Temple.

On this occasion, as He was teaching, the Chief Priest and his cronies abruptly interrupted him, arrogantly demanding to know, “By what authority was He doing these things? And who gave Him this authority?”

Jesus quickly dismissed their question by asking His own. When they refused to answer, He shared three parables that would be His final attempt to get them to recognize their wickedness, repent of their sin, and turn toward God.

In the third parable, Jesus gave His fierce critics a history lesson on how they had repeatedly rejected God.

The parable was about a King who prepared a lavish wedding and banquet for His Son. After making all the preparations, the King sent His servants to call the people invited to attend the wedding.

The servants quickly went to do the King’s bidding, expecting those invited to make preparations to come, but they were met with indifference and hostility.

The King sent His servants a third time to go wherever there was a gathering of people and invite them, whether they were good or bad.

After the wedding, the King entered the banquet hall and was pleased to see it was packed with people. His joy ended when He spotted a guest who had not worn the required wedding garment.

The King had the guest arrested, bound, and thrown out of the banquet into the darkness, where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus’ goal was to provoke His critics to think about the consequences of rejecting Him. He loved them with His whole being and desired that they would repent and trust Him.

Today, the goal is the same. Jesus desires that we, His people, continue to reach out to those who have thus far rejected the good news. And, when faced with indifference, mockery, or ridicule, to not fall into the trap of arguing the merits of the gospel.

Instead, we place those names on our prayer list and cry out to the Lord to open their blinded eyes and release them from the bondage of satan and sin so they may come to faith and be eternally saved.

I look forward to our time together. Please pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the entire Calvary Chapel family.

There are several opportunities for worship: on-campus (10:00 a.m.), drive-in church (92.1fm), and online (Facebook and YouTube: Calvary Inverness).

IN HIS STRONG LOVE,

Pastor