Parable of the Wicked Tenants

[laughter] Welcome to Cross Church. My name is Tyler and I serve as campus pastor right here at Cross Church Elmarrage and I want to welcome you to service today. Before we get started, I want to make you aware of a couple of ways that you can connect with us today. The first, if you have a phone with you, you can send a text message with the word crossurch no space to the number 9400. Or if you'd like to use the cards that are in the seat back in front of you, we've got three cards that'll direct you on ways that you can connect with. The first is the new card. If you're new to Cross Church over the last few weeks, we would love to connect with you. Take some time to fill out that card during our service today and drop it in one of the black boxes and then we'll follow up this week with some more information. The next card is the next card. Take some time to use that card if you're interested in taking some next steps in your faith journey. Things like baptism, joining a group, or even serving. And then lastly, and I believe most importantly is the prayer card. And I want to guarantee you that if you take time today to fill out that prayer card, all of those to me and I get to pray over each of them individually. So, if you've got things big or small going on in your life, please feel free to share those with us. We'd be happy to pray over them. As we get prepared for some God-honoring worship, I want to encourage you to go into service today with an expectant spirit. We know that God will big things in our midst. And so, I want to encourage you to enter this time with an expectant spirit. Now, let's get prepared for some God. Good morning, Christ Church. Let's stand and get ready for worship. >> [music] >> those walls that we cross. They were like prisons that we couldn't escape any Those giants we were like mountain those giants This is who he is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what he does. He [music] saves us the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim his love. Jesus [music] so weak that we can barely those in the wilderness. He tell the story of his faithfulness never and he never will. [music] [music] He loves us. This is our God is what he does. saves us for [music] the cross. Let heaven rain. This is our God, King Jesus. [music] He did. He [music] did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody [singing] but Jesus. [music] Who pulled me out of that thing? He did. He did. Who paid [music] for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus. Who [music] rescued me from that day? Y who gets the glory and praise. Nobody [music] but Jesus who rescued me from that day. Yahe who gets the glory. [music] Nobody might. This is our God. Yes. [music] He loves us. This is our God. And he does. >> [music] >> Jesus for the cross be [music] Jesus for Christ [music] Jesus. >> [music] [music] [music] >> Praise the Lord. That is our God. He loves us so much. He saves us and he is our cornerstone. [music] Our hope is built on nothing less than him. We can trust him through the hard times, through the storms, and through the good times, too. Let's sing the sound. My hope is built. My hope is built on nothingus. [singing and music] [music] I did [singing] not trust the sweetest but holy [music] trust in Jesus name. Sing [music] that again. Our hope is [singing] built on nothing [music] less than Jesus [singing] blood and righteousness. I dare not trust [singing] the sweetest friend but holy trust in Jesus name. Sing this out church. Pres [singing and music] corner stone [singing] weak made [music] strong in the Savior's [singing] love through the storm. He is Lord, the Lord [singing] of all. When darkness seems to hide [music] his face, I rest on his unchanging [music] grace. Every high [singing] and stormy gale [music] my anchor holds within the veil. Oh my anchors within your name. Christ [music] we [music] made strong in a s through the storm. He [music] is the Lord of [music] [music] [music] He [music and singing] may then in him be >> [music] >> in his rightous alone [music] stand before the throne. Sing this out. Christ alone. Christ [singing] alone. Corner [music] stone. Weak made strong [music] in the Savior's [singing] love through [music] the storm. He is Lord, [singing and music] Lord of all. Christ [music and singing] alone. Christ. We may be strong in the soul. [music] [singing] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> King [music] [music] is our cornerstone. trust in him and there is no one else like our God. We introduced this song last [music] week. It's called another like you and there's no other like him. [music] He's the only one who could have done that sacrifice. Let's sing this out. You embody the fullness [music and singing] of God wrapped in mercy. Showed us [music and singing] your heart, your love upon the cross. Your love poured out for all. There is [music] no one like the Lord our God. You've been faithful every day of [music] my life. I could search the [music and singing] world and never find another like [music] you. Another like you. There is [singing and music] no other [music] us [music] [music and singing] upon the cross. [music] [singing] This love poured out for all. There is no one [music] like the Lord our [singing] God. You [music] be faithful every day of my life. I could search the [music and singing] world and never find another like [music] you like you. There's [music] no one [singing] like the Lord our God. You've been faithful every day of my life. >> [music] >> I could [singing] search the world and never find another like you. Another like you. There [singing] is no lamb. Worthy is the [music and singing] king. Worthy is the one who reigns [singing and music] forever. He's seated on the throne. [singing] High above [music] it all and everyone will know you're like no [singing] other. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is [music] the king. Worthy is the one [singing] who reigns forever. [music] Seated on the throne. High above [music and singing] it all. Everyone will know you're like no other. What is [music] he? What is our king? What is the word [music] who reigns forever? He's seated on the throne. [music] I want it all. Everyone know you're like there is no one like the Lord our [music] God. You've been faithful every [music and singing] day of my life. I can search the world [music and singing] and never find another like you. Nothing like [music] you. There is no one [music and singing] like you. You [music] been faithful every day of my life. >> [music] >> I could search the world and never [music and singing] find another like you. [music] Like you like [music] you. Like [singing] you. There is no [music] other like you. There is no one like the [singing] Lord our God. You've been faithful every [singing and music] day of my life. I could [music and singing] search the world and never find another [singing] like you. Another like you. I could search [music and singing] the world and never find another [singing and music] like you. Another like you, Lord. Hey, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Yeah. Um, good morning, Cross Church. Uh, if my teeth are chattering, it's probably because I've been sitting in front of that vent the last two services and We keep it cold in here. You know what I'm saying? It's definitely better than being hot. Praise the Lord for that. Um, so we do have only about two announcements today, but before we get into those, let's talk about the cards and your seat back. If you do, uh, or if you have only been here one or two weeks, make sure you fill out that new card. That new card tells us where you've come from, um, how you heard about us, and it just helps us make uh, Jesus known in our community quicker and faster. And moving on, we'll go to the next card. The next card is all about service or serving. If you want to be in the worship team, Bible group, if you want to get some fellowship with the people in this room and join some type of group, fill that out and we'll get a hold of you right away and let you know what the next steps are. Last card is the prayer card. The most important card. Let's make sure we fill that out. Everyone has a prayer request. Everyone has something going on in their life and it's really important that you put that out there so the church and Pastor Tyler can pray over that for you. All right, we got two announcements. First one's going to be summer sendoff July 26th. We're going to have water slides and snow cones. All right. Yes, this is an Italian ice kind of a group in here, I'm guessing, you know. But anyway, snow cones great. Going to be nice entertainment. send the kids back off to school and have a good last kickoff for everybody. Um, and then our uh announcement number two, it's going to be faith and family night August 21st. You're going to want to get registered right away. We got it up on Cross Church Cares backvents. Sign up, get in there so you're one of the first come first serve type situations. Diamond backs, I don't know. They're like 5050 this year, but maybe they have more fans. they'll they'll do better. But while you're there, the after the game, Matthew West concert, he's been doing this for over two decades, kind of a worldrenowned [music] uh Christian songwriter and singer. And uh it's a it's a fellowship situation. You'll be able to get as close to the concert as you want after the after the game's done. And hopefully we'll have a big turnout. There's going to be over a hundred churches there, so it should be a great situation for everybody. Now, last thing is going to be the opportunity to give. All right. If the Lord puts it on your heart today, there's some um the QR code back here. We have the giving boxes in the back. But events like the summer send off and sending people to camp and all these different things can't happen without generosity in this room. If you've already given, pray for the ones around you or anybody online that would like to give. And we'll give you about 30 seconds to do that now. Well, hey, good morning and welcome to Cross Church Elmarrage. We're so glad that you made the choice to join us today. Whether you're here in the room or if you're watching online, we are glad that you're here with us today. Um, if you got a Bible today, we are going to use it. So, go ahead and open it up. We'll be in the book of Matthew, chapter 21. I'll let you kind of flip there, click there, make your way there to Matthew, uh, chapter 21. If you're joining us for the first time or the first time in a while, we are in the middle of a series that we're calling the parables of Jesus. And I'm kind of new to this thing. The parables of Jesus are built on this concept. They are earthly stories with spiritual meanings. Uh I heard one theologian say some years ago that if Jesus came back to do his ministry in today's day and age, he would be a filmmaker. Uh because that's essentially what the parables are. They are films. They help us to see concepts or things played out. It's an illustration, if you will. And so we're in the series parables of Jesus. And what we'll find ourselves studying today is a really important section about um some wicked tenants. And the reality of our lives today, which we'll speak of shortly, is evil exists. Um, evil is unfortunately a reality of our lives. But I kind of want to start with this. All right. I got a question for you today. I'm need your input on this. Is there ever something you've done in your life that when you did it for the first time, you felt like so awkward? All right. Anybody? All right. Let me give you a situation. This past week, church member has an electric car. He's like, "Hey, do you want to go for a ride?" And I was like, "Of course. I've never ridden in an electric vehicle. This should be a blast. So, I get in the vehicle. He had the door open for me. He took me around the corner. He definitely went within the speed limit. Sort of close. All right. We didn't get caught, so it wasn't illegal. I'm just kidding. That's bad pastoral advice. Don't I I was just joking. All right. Don't take that. Don't write that in your notes. Um, but he took me for a ride and we got back and I had this really awkward moment where it was time to exit the vehicle. But you see, I don't have fancy electric vehicles at my home. So, I'm looking at like where the handle should be. I'm like just start pressing things or trying to pull things. And there was about this awkward 15-second interaction with him where I'm like trying to get out of the car. He's waiting to see if I know what I'm doing. He's just kind of like eventually I figured it out. But it reminded me that we have moments in life where we get humbled, right? Where we understand some of the context. I feel it oftentimes in the airport. Let me walk you through this scenario. All right. Hopefully nobody's a TSA worker today. I feel like anytime I fly, all right, um because I fly with kids, um and so when you're flying and you have kids, you have lots of stuff and you have milk and you have all the things, right? because you want to keep them happy on the airplane. All right, so we're going through this whole process. I feel like every TSA station is different. Some you take the shoes off, some you don't. Some the computer's in the bag, some it's not. Sometimes you take the hat off, sometimes you don't. All right? And it's this whole thing. And I feel like every TSA worker I've ever met is judgmental. All right? I'm just going to say it. All right? Because whenever I make a choice where I go this way or I do this thing, I instantly know I was supposed to do the opposite and they act like I am so dumb. They're like, "Sir, computer stays in the bag this time." Like, "I'm sorry. There's no sign. I didn't know." But I get humbled. Sometimes you think about it when you go to the gym and you're using a new machine for the first time and you're thinking, "How do I use this and I don't want to look dumb?" or maybe it's a new job that you're starting and you don't quite know the culture or the process and you're trying to figure things out. Well, here's the reality. Often times there's moments where we're doing something for the first time and we we kind of get humbled. I just want to encourage you today that those moments where we get humbled actually can be beneficial to us. And we'll see that later in our story today. But I want to start with this key thought for our time together today. It's this. Jesus used stories to shape our faith. Jesus used stories to shape our faith. One of the interesting things we notice about Jesus earthly ministry, we'll see it demonstrated here in Matthew 21, is that Jesus when he spoke, he taught in the street language of the day. Jesus, as a matter of fact, was at odds with the religious elites who used fancy words and high customs and different things that sort of excluded people from the church. Jesus chief issue amongst the religious elites is that he ate and drank with sinners and publicans. He was a part of the people. He was everyday like us. And we see this demonstrated in the fact that Jesus used stories to shape even our faith to this day. And so uh let's join together in Matthew chapter 21. We're going to begin reading verse 33. Here's what it says. Listen to another parable. There was a man, a land owner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtowwer. He leased it to tenant farmers, and went away. And when the grape harvest drew near, he sent his slaves to the farmers to collect his fruit. But the farmers took his slaves, beat one, killed one, and stoned a third. Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them. They will respect my son. He said transitions here. Verse 38. But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance. So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to the farmers? Continues this story does in verse 40 by saying this. He will completely destroy those terrible men. They told him and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give his produce at the harvest. Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures the stone that the builders rejected has become our cornerstone? This came from the Lord and it is wonderful in our eyes. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its fruit. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whoever it falls, it will grind him to powder. When the chief priests and the Pharisees, those are the religious elites, heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them. Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds because they regarded him as a prophet. Let's pray as we get started. God, we come before you. And God, as we come before you uh specifically today, we ask for two things. Number one, that you would help us to have the wisdom to understand the words of this scripture. That the story we see here played out would shape our faith today. But also, God, that you would give us the courage and conviction to take what we've learned today and to live it out. God, we specifically pray today that you would use this message, this text to shape our church. We pray all this in your name. Amen. Well, as we read this story, we're going to walk through a few different things. I want to catch you up to speed on a couple of different aspects to this story before we get into what this story teaches us. Um, four things that the story will teach us. But before we get there, one of the things I want you to see is the parallels of the parable. The first thing that we see about this story some 2,000 years ago that connects to our world today is the reality that greed is everywhere. Greed is everywhere. As a matter of fact, here's what we find as the messaging for most media in terms of commercials and ads that we see online. If you will just buy this one thing, then you'll be happy. If you'll just have this new car, it will complete you. if you'll get into this thing or this thing. Never is the messaging in our world today what you have is enough. And so this greed is all around us. It's everywhere that we look. And as we look at this parable today, even though it's a story from 2,000 years ago, greed is in the story. As a matter of fact, we're reading this story. Jesus says, "Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner." We see this is a great story, but it takes a turn. When the farmers took the slaves, beat one, killed one, and swedon a third. It takes a drastic turn. Why did they do that? Well, it reveals it to us in verse 39 that they wanted the son's inheritance. They wanted something that wasn't theirs. And so, this greed begins to be an undercurrent of this story. But the second thing that we know to be true is this. evil is present. As we look at this story, as we look at Jesus earthly ministry, but also as we look outside of these walls and in our hearts today, we understand evil is all too present. As we think about those two concepts, I want to step into what this story teaches us today. The first thing that this story teaches us is that God owns the vineyard. God owns the vineyard. As we look at the sort of structure of this story, we find that there's a landowner who built this vineyard. He put a fence around it and a watchtower. And when it was his rightful time to come and collect his proceeds or his harvest, it didn't go according to plan. As we read this story, as a matter of fact, one of the things that we find to be interesting is the way in which the land owner is operating well within his responsibilities in such that he has a tenant in place, there is a lease in place, there is a structure [snorts] in place and the landowner is simply trying to enact that lease. And that's when evil and greed come on the scene. This is an interesting aspect to the story because we need to understand who truly owns the vineyard. The story that we see here teaches us about this landowner, but it is a reminder that God owns the vineyard. As a matter of fact, it's a very helpful principle that we understand about generosity. Here's the thing about generosity. When we truly understand that God owns everything that we have, that he has given us these skills, these abilities, these resources on lease for us to manage, it changes the way that we treat the things that we have. As such, one of the things I've talked about often throughout the years is how incredible our church is. All right? So, I'm going to give you a pat on the back moment. Okay? So, just receive it and enjoy the compliment. Our church has been so generous throughout the years. Let me tell you just a few examples of this. We have ministries that happen on our campus that would not literally happen without generosity. Financial generosity, but also skill sets. One of the coolest things about our church is that when something breaks, not if because things always break. It happened this past week. Air conditioning breaks. We got guys in the church who have a skill who use it for the glory of God that show up and fix the air conditioning. And can I just tell you since it was my office this week, I was extra thankful. All right. I was sitting there working. It was great. temperature was 80 and then it was 82 and then it was 84 and before I knew it as I got home and looked back it was 97. I'm like, "Yep, we're calling the experts." And they fixed it. It was a blessing because that's how God has structured us. And one of the really cool things that we find is that generosity takes multiple shapes and forms. Yes, financial generosity huge. It's absolutely important. But also the really cool thing about our church story is that God has equipped us in such a really cool way that if things needed around here. Most often times we have somebody that can do it and God has built our church that way. It reminds me of the way in which um we manage something that isn't ours. As a matter of fact, that's what the tenant farmers are doing here. They are supposed to be managing something that isn't theirs. They have a job or responsibility to do. Uh some years ago, about eight years ago, I endeavored to build a kitchen table. Anybody ever built a kitchen table? Right. Okay. Good. None of you can judge me. Perfect. All right. Here's the deal. Um I have the optimism that I have the skills. I don't actually have the skills. All right. And so I was like, man, I'm going to build this kitchen table. So I bought all the materials. I was like, it's going to be cheaper than buying it. It's going to be great. Until I realized that in order to build the kitchen table, you need tools worth far more than just buying the table. All right? So, you need the planer and the sanders and all these different equipment. And so, here's what I learned. All right, I got all the resources together. Eventually, I got humbled. All right, but I get all the stuff together and I was so proud and I was like, "Look, babe. I'm making this table and it's going to be great and our kids are going to eat at the table with us and it's going to last forever." Um, fun fact, it didn't last forever, right? But I'm building the table and I get towards the end of the process when I need a specific jig in order to complete the project. that I did not want to buy. And so, uh, as a matter of fact, at the time, I was preaching. And so, I just threw it into a sermon just to see if somebody wanted to be generous. There was a gentleman, an older gentleman in the church who brought me a nice tool set that had the exact pieces of equipment that I needed. All right? He dropped it off to me at the church, and I was like, "Thank you." All right. Except here's what happened. Then all of the pressure was on me. Because if you're anything like me, if you're borrowing a tool from someone else, you feel so much pressure. All right, here's why. You have to manage that thing. You have to use it without breaking it. And you have to make sure that when you go to return it to them in a timely manner that you return it to them exactly as they gave it to you. All right. And there was a bunch of little pieces. So, I'm over here taking pictures, getting it ready. I go to use the thing. I put it back together and I return it. Here's what I was reminded of in that story. You and I are managing God's resources. He owns the vineyard and we are stewarding or managing the things that God has placed in our lives. Whether it's our homes, our finances, our family, our kids, whatever the case may be, we are managing or stewarding the resources that God has placed in our possession. And as such, it's important that we do so for the glory of God. The goal at the end of the day is to manage well what God has placed in our lives. God is the owner of the vineyard. But the second thing that we see as we look at this story is that God expects fruit. God expects fruit. It's grapes in this story. He is expecting the harvest. And what we see about this story that's really important is that God expects the fruit. You see, the landowner expected, having given something to the tenant farmers, that they would steward or manage well what God had given them or the landowner had given them in order that order that there would be a harvest that there would be something left over. You see, God expects fruit. It's a reminder of a story that we're going to study in a few weeks of the parable of the talents. You see the the one person in the story of the parable of the talents that received negative comments is the one who took what he was given and just sat on it did nothing with it. The two that were praised were those who put everything on the line in order to manage well and double what they had been given. You and I are expected to bear fruit. The parable of the talents teaches us this. Also in this story, one of the elements that we learn is that God expects fruit from us. You see, check this out. One of the really cool things is that as I told you earlier, you have skills, you have talents, you have abilities, you have resources, and our role is to manage those things well for the glory of God. Here's an interesting sort of phrase that I've heard uh from Vance Pitman. He put this phrase together. He said, "Ultimately, the goal of our lives is to leverage for the sake of the gospel where we live, work, and play." All right? And so, you have full permission to leverage everything at your disposal for the sake of the gospel where you live, work, and play. We've talked about this, as a matter of fact, the last few weeks that God has placed you in the home and the place that you're in on purpose. Oftenimes it's so easy for us to be looking for the next thing or to be busy with this thing or that thing. And we miss the fact that God has placed us where we're at for a reason in the workspace. Understand this very clearly. Some of us have bosses that annoy us. Anybody? That's you. My boss isn't here today, so I can say this. Where's my hand? We'll cut the live stream. Didn't think through that part. Uh, no. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. We have bosses who annoy us. We have co-workers who bother us. But at the very same time, all of those seasons and places and situations we are placed at for a reason. Most all of us would say if we had a chance to have a little bit better job, to be a little bit further down the career path, we would take it in a heartbeat. But just remember that God has you at the season that you're in for a reason. He is doing something in you, through you, but also for others for a reason. And lastly, where you play. Understand this. It's good for you to have hobbies. All right. Um, some of us take that to the extreme. Unfortunately, that's me. But here's the deal. Um, it's good to have hobbies. And understanding that the even the things that we do for fun can be an opportunity to leverage our lives for the sake of the gospel is vital to the story. So, understand this. God expects fruit. The landowner expected to get some of the harvest. And God expects you and I to bear fruit as people who manage his resources. The third thing I want you to see in this story that's really important is that God uses people in our lives. As a matter of fact, as I was writing this into the sermon this week, I was sitting back and looking at all the different people in my life that God's used. And I can just tell you by name that there's guys like Todd, Craig, and Jamie, and Joey, and so many others who I can tell you had a very direct impact on my life growing up. They were a positive influence in my life. In this story, here's what we see. The wicked, evil tenant farmers had three different groups of people that came to them. Yet every single time they chose to escalate the issue. As a matter of fact, it reminds me of the story of King David who is is his story of struggle starts when he's in the wrong place at the wrong time. It says that he wasn't at battle when it was time for the kings to go to battle. He was at home on his balcony and then another bad decision and another and another and another. And that's what we see here for the wicked tenant farmers. They make one bad decision, one out of evil and greed, and it continues and it snowballs in a downward trajectory. Understand this very clearly. God uses people in our lives. God in this story, the landowner sent people to the wicked tenant farmers upping the situation every single time. So much so that he sends his son and says this phrase, "They will respect my son." But they don't. They missed the people that God placed in their lives or the landowner placed in their lives. So with that in mind, I want to remind you of a couple of different things that I think are important about how God uses people in our lives. One of the reasons that I believe it's important for us to understand this story and this part of the story is that you and I need to have people in our lives that point us to Jesus. As a matter of fact, some of us would call those types of people mentors. And let me just very clearly sort of outline this for you. These are people, mentors, who care about you and call you out when you're wrong. All right? It's really easy to have people in your life that care about you. Amen. Easy. We can all do that. It's the people calling us out that's not so fun. And what a mentor does is calls us out. I just want to encourage you today to understand that there should be people in our lives that are trying to help us, that are pointing us closer to Jesus. And so, if you're here today and you would say, "I don't have someone who loves Jesus and is farther into their spiritual journey than me." Here's my encouragement. Go find somebody. Watch the way they interact at church, but also watch who they are around their families, when they're at home, when they're not at church. watch who they are and understand that a mentor is someone who can help you. I also just want to make this note. Uh if you're looking for a mentor, mentor they won't often find you. All right? Mentors don't just seek you out. You have to actively work to find those mentors in your life. So understand very clearly that having a mentor is good. But the second aspect to this story about God using people in our lives is this. We should also be pointing others to Jesus. We should be helping others. Here's the reality. As you look at your life, you should have people that are further along than you that are pointing you to Jesus. You should have a group of people that you're following Jesus with, but you should also have people who are not quite as far on the journey that you are pointing to Jesus. It it's all three groups of people. We should have others in our lives that we are encouraging and investing in. I tell you guys this often, but if you have kids, you have built-in people to disciple. All right? So, you have work to do, and that's a blessing from God. But understand this, even if you don't have kids, you should find people to mentor and disciple for the glory of God. One of the things I find about this is the reality that um for years I worked across the street from a retirement community. All right? Now, the retirement community that I worked across the street from gave me motivation to save for retirement because these people uh lived life to the fullest. All right, here's what happened. All right, on Monday mornings, literally almost without fail on Monday mornings, you'd see five, six, seven, eight boats headed out of the community out to the lake. I was like, wouldn't that be nice? Here I am going to work and they're going to the lake. And then Tuesday would roll around and about 8 8:30 would roll around and I'd see 15 or 20 jeeps headed out. They're going out on some big exploration. They're going all together. They're going on a big ride. And then here's what happened. Wednesday will roll around about 8 or 8:30. All the classic cars would start to leave the parking lot. And I think, man, these guys are living life to the fullest. But can I just tell you this today? When you look at the Bible, there's no space for spiritual retirement. Yes, save and invest well and retire from your career, but when it comes to following Jesus, there's no such thing as retirement. So, we should find people consistently to invest in that are newer to the faith. Understand it is a valuable and vital piece of the story. As we walk through this, we find that the value is in people. It's it's people here that we find it's the vineyard owner who seeks to help the tenant farmers. Yes. To execute the contract, but also he is trying to reach those tenant farmers. If it was just about the dollars and cents, he could have fixed it after round one. But he goes three rounds and he sends his son because he expected respect. But this story takes a turn. And I love this about not all the parables, but most the parables is we get to see the explanation written into the parable. As such, here's what we see in verse 43. It says, "Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, give it to a nation producing its fruit." Check this out. God expects fruit. He uses people in our lives, and he also expects fruit. A part of the built-in piece of this story is the reality that God expects us to have fruit in our lives. One of the things about this story that's important is that the Pharisees are beginning to feel the conviction. They're saying, "Uh, this story is about us." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard this, they knew he was speaking to them. You see, Jesus is tearing down this religious system that excludes people from the kingdom of God. He is making the kingdom of God accessible. He's teaching people in a way that they can understand. And we have to understand that God uses people to do that. But oftentimes, one of the things that can happen is we can get caught in a cycle. Anybody you enjoy routines? You love when things are consistent. I love routines. All right? And that's why on summer break when there's not like school to sort of orchestrate life around, things feel chaotic. All right? So, I'm looking forward to school starting so we can get back on a routine. Right? Here's the thing. Routines are nice because we get into a cycle and a system here. But what we find about this story that's vital is that Jesus breaks all of this structure and such. He makes the kingdom of God accessible. And ultimately for you and I today, I just want to encourage you to find people to mentor you, but also to seek to mentor others because we need people helping us in life. The fourth thing I want you to see about this story is this. that God is the cornerstone. God's the cornerstone. One of the things that we see about this story is this verse that comes in here and it's a connection back to Psalm 118. But in verse 42, Jesus said to them, "Have you never read the scriptures? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes." And it reminded me of of pavers because we're in Arizona uh where nobody has real very few people do, right? We have pavers. And as you think about pavers, when pavers are laid, there's an long process that goes into it. The first part of the process is that when pavers are laid, the material or the surface has to be prepped extensively. We don't just take pavers and throw them down and expect it to work. No, we actually prepare the dirt. We add multiple layers of different materials to get things right. We use this big machine to make sure everything's perfectly flat and then goes the process. So, it's vital that you start with [snorts] a good foundation, but but particularly one of the things you'll notice as you watch the professionals lay pavers, not just the DIYers, but when the professionals lay pavers, the first piece is vital. It has to be correct because if the first piece is even just a smidge off, the entire project goes arai. It requires precision. And one of the things that we find in this phrase about the cornerstone is the fact that God is the cornerstone. Check this out. In this biblical state, the cornerstone was valuable. It was the most p most important piece of building material. Because if the cornerstone was wrong or off by a little bit, the entire project went around. The cornerstone was necessary. And one of the things that we find interesting about the phrasing of this verse here in 42 is this. The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone. You see, builders were specific about the cornerstones they used because it had to be the right one. And there were going to be plenty that they rejected in order to get to the perfect starting block. One of the things that we find in this story that's so vital is the reality that Jesus was rejected. As a matter of fact, one of the things we find in scripture is the fact that Jesus in his pursuit and mission to die on the cross for us to pay for our sin debt is rejected by the world. And then in this turn of events, he becomes the cornerstone. And as such, we are reminded of the value of the cornerstone that God is our cornerstone. And as such, the foundation of faith in our lives is crucial. We need the right foundation from day one. And so what I want to ask you to do with me is just begin asking some questions. The key question for today is this. How does this story shape our faith? How does the story shape our faith? Well, I want to spend some time walking through what this actually looks like. This story about wicked tenants, evil, greed, all this kind of stuff teaches us three things specifically that we can do beginning today. The first thing I want you to see is that we should live with faithfulness. I don't know about you, um, but I get caught up in hype sometimes. You're seeing a demonstration of it currently. Uh, it's called Bies. All right. Um, Bies is good, but like a little bit of hype there, right? Um, so we see that people get caught up in the hype and as a matter of fact, there's traffic restrictions about a gas station being added. So, we see hype. Understand this when it comes to our spirit journey, our our faith journey. It is about living with faithfulness. It's not about hype for a short season. It is about longterm faithfulness. It's about the journey of following Jesus and being made more and more into his image on a consistent basis. What does this story teach us? That we should live with faithfulness. It is about being faithful in the long term. That is vital. The second thing I want you to see is this that you should launch from your foundation. Having the correct cornerstone is necessary to the process. I would put it to you this way that if you attempt to build your life on a foundation of anything other than faith, it will crumble. Can I just tell you this? I have the best of the best when it comes to a spouse. But any of our spouses make terrible gods. It it starts with a foundation of faith, not a foundation of a marriage that will complete us and make life perfect and easy. Because I don't know if you know this, nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. And so, as such, we understand that trying to put anything other than a foundation of faith will cause us to crumble in the long term. Let me tell you this in case you didn't know. When it comes to your career, the moment you quit, your job description will be posted the next day. And if you put your entire all of your eggs in the basket of career, it'll make a terrible foundation. I'll even tell you about your kids. Your kids will make a terrible God, a terrible foundation. Because if we build our entire lives on the foundation of our children, they're going to leave someday and we're going to be crumbling. My encouragement to you is to start. All of those things are good, but start with a foundation of faith and then launch from that foundation into where God calls you and uses you in different seasons. And the third thing I want you to see in this in terms of application is this that we should lead with fruitfulness. Galatians chapter 5 lists the fruits of the spirit. And it's in the fruits of the spirit that we see a list, characteristic list of what you and I should look like. The list in Galatians 5 is a list of the characteristics or attributes of someone who is filled with the Holy Spirit. And ultimately, if we are going to have fruit, not just grapes, but spiritual fruit, what we must do is take our lives and compare it to scripture and say, where does it match up? And where are the areas that we are falling short that we need to correct or tweak for the glory of God so that we can lead with fruitfulness? Because let me remind you of something today. God expects fruit in our lives. He is a rightful owner of what he has given us. And as good stewards, we should bear fruit for the glory of God. I want to lead you into a moment of prayer here. We're going to spend time praying around three components to this story. The first one is found, and we just read it about a cornerstone. It's in verse 42, but it's also in Psalm 118:22. And it says this, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord. is wonderful in our eyes. And so as we enter into a time of prayer, I'm just going to ask you to first thank God for being our cornerstone. And so as you pray individually, just want to encourage you to praise God for the fact that he is our cornerstone. Let's do that now. That song continues in verse 25. It says this, "Save us, we pray, oh Lord. Oh Lord, we pray. Give us success." As we continue in a spirit of prayer, here's the thing I know about a room like this. There's Some of us in the room today simply praying and asking God to save us. Whether it's healing or provision or need or desire, whatever, there is something in our lives that we are praying God save us. There's some of us in this season just asking and begging God for success. Praying that God would move mountains in [music] our lives. So in this second prayer prompt, I want you to spend some time praying before the God of the heavens and taking our request to him, understanding that he cares for us. Save us and give us success. Let's take our request before God as we pray. Lastly, in verse 26, scripture says this, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord." And what I want to do in this last prayer is spend time praying for you, yourself, for us as a church that we would be a people who come in the name of the Lord that are guided by God that do everything we can to bear fruit and live faithful lives. And so let me pray for us now. God, we come before you and God, specifically today, we ask that we are a people who would build our entire reputations around bearing fruit, God, that we would be a people that are faithful to how you have led us and called us and shaped us, but also, God, that we would be a people that don't just sit on what you've done, but that we would steward and manage well what you have put us in charge of. God, the reality being that so many of us are in charge of [music] blessed with different things. But God, we pray that the characteristic of our church would be faithfulness. that we would be a people that live for the glory of God, that manage things in our lives for the glory of God, and that ultimately, God, as we see in this story, that the focus would be on the kingdom of God. And so today specifically, God, we pray that you would move, God, that you would help each and every one of us to be an active participant in managing what you have given us. God, we pray all this in your name. Amen. Let's stand as we continue in worship. All sufficient merit shining [singing and music] like a fortune I inherit by no work I have My rightousness [singing] I fore at my savior's grow. Your all sufficient mirroring did what I could not love eternal mountain life without a bish. The maker came to [music] die. The Lord could never save us. Our lawless things until [music] the pure and fin have [music] finally come. Let's sing this out, church. It is done. It is dark. It is finished. No more dead alone. It is [music] also [music] my own. I lay down [music] my cross [singing] and the empty good works now walk corrupted by the [singing and music] sinful host. I'm dressed in my [music] Lord Jesus, a crim. And no more fear of judgement. His righteousness [music] is mine. It is. It is my [music] God. It is all for you. It is Christ. [music] [music] Oh, it is. [music] Oh, salition Mary. The joy of my salvation [singing and music] shall be my final breath. And when I stand [singing] accepted before the throne of God, I'll gaz [music] upon [singing] my Jesus and thank him [music] for the cross. Yes, I'll praise him for [music] the cross. Oh, it is my [music] Take [music and singing] my own [music] My [music] mother. [music] Thank you guys so much for joining us today. Hope you guys have a great week. See you guys next week.