15 October 2023

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Bible readings for today

• Exodus 32:1-14
• Psalm 106:1-6,19-23
• Philippians 4:1-9
• Matthew 22:1-14

​Liturgical Colour: GREEN

Download new 2023-24 Lectionary

Collect

Living host, call us together, 
call us to eat and drink with you. 
Grant that by your body and your blood 
we may be drawn to each other and to you. 
We make this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour. 
Amen. 

E te Atua manaaki, karangatia mātou kia kai tahi kia inu tahi ki a koe. Meinga mā tō tinana mā ō toto mātou e paihere ki a koe, ā, tētahi ki tētahi hoki. E īnoi ana mātou i runga i te ingoa o Īhu Karaiti tō mātou Kaiwhakaora.
​Āmine.

The Wedding Banquet (​Matthew 22:1-14)

Everyone is invited go God's celebration

Gospel conversations

This is a difficult parable. Is the person throwing the banquet really God? If so, what is the significance of the man who is thrown out because he is wearing the wrong clothes? We have a wonderful team from the Diocese of Dunedin (Michael, Gillian, Nicki and Alec) tackle these thorny questions - and, again, if you want to hear some more discussion of them, look out for the "Extras" we will put up soon.

Wondering questions

• I wonder which character you relate to in the story. 
• I wonder why the invited guests refused to come? 
• I wonder why the invited guests were so upset about the request, and hurt the servants? 
• I wonder how they felt when other people were invited in their place, even the 'bad' people? Were they still upset? 

You are invited bible story

A story about how everyone is invited to God's celebration. The story can be found Sermons 4 Kids.

The wedding banquet song

Rain for Roots have put together a song about the Wedding Banquet on Youtube

Activity sheets

Here is a wedding cake maze, a wordfind and a decoding activity

7 minute sermon

Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a party. The guest list is pretty big. You’re invited to attend! In this Seven Minute Sermon, Rev. George Penk shares about the Parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22

Media

The Parable of the Banquet in Luke 14:12-24 - different to the one in Matthew, but similar in theme. 

The Golden Calf (Exodus 32:1-14)

Intergenerational resource

Some intergenerational resources from Intergen Australia, written and compiled by Alison Knox.

BibleProject podcast

"The point of the golden calf narrative is to say God’s purposes have always been to work out his plan in the world through a covenant people. Problem: that covenant people, from the moment he married them, have not wanted to be married to the real him."

The Bible Project have a podcast looking at today's passage, which may be really helpful for background information and context, particularly if you're preaching on the story. 
​
Listen to the Podcast here and to read more about the passage

Download Episode

​The BibleProject have some amazing videos that help provide context for a passage of scripture. In the one linked below, they provide an overview of Exodus 19-40.

Media

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