1 / 12

Session 2 Jesus the “story teller”

Session 2 Jesus the “story teller”. Opening discussion. Can you think of a time when you were surprised by someone’s generosity? How did you feel?. Are there things in life that make you say, “that’s not fair?”. The Power of Stories.

nehru-richardson
Download Presentation

Session 2 Jesus the “story teller”

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Session 2Jesus the “story teller”

  2. Opening discussion Can you think of a time when you were surprised by someone’s generosity? How did you feel? Are there things in life that make you say, “that’s not fair?”

  3. The Power of Stories “Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.” (Robert McKee) Jesus used simple stories to communicate big truths about God and life in God’s kingdom.

  4. A Surprising story of Generosity • Jesus takes a familiar scene, tells a story, but adds a big surprise to make people think • Jesus uses the power of story to help us think about how generous God is towards people like us • Matthew 20:1-16 is where we find our story…

  5. Scene 1: the market-square • V1-2 6am Workers hired and agree usual wage for a day-labourer • V3-4 9am Workers hired again, not told wage • V5 12pm & 3pm Hires still more workers • V6-7 5pm Last group hired at very end of the day, simply because no one else had hired them

  6. Scene 2: the vineyard • V8-15 6pm End of day, payment time… • V9 Big surprise! Full day’s pay for very little work • V10 Big disappointment! First group receive what was agreed, but expected a big bonus • V11-12 Complaint – we worked hard so we deserve more (“that’s not fair!!”)

  7. Scene 2: the vineyard • V13-15 Landowner responds: I have been fair to you; I have the right to be very generous if I want to; You should be glad for those other workers • V16 End of the story – Jesus teaches that life in God’s kingdom does not follow the usual rules

  8. A Surprising story of Generosity • 2 Big surprises are added into this story by Jesus to make his point: • A. The recruitment policy of the landlord – he is more concerned for generosity than profit or efficiency • B. The payment process of the landlord – he wants everyone to see his generosity…and to celebrate it

  9. God is like the generous landowner • He is looking for people to show his generosity to (are we looking to receive it?) • He is willing to show generosity to people who don’t deserve it (can we be humble to accept it?) • He wants everyone to know he is full of love and generosity (have we seen that?) • He wants his generosity to be celebrated (has that changed our lives?)

  10. The Ultimate Story of God’s generosity “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not die but have eternal life”(John 3:16) “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)

  11. Ideas for prayer: Thank God for being so generous in sending Jesus to die for sinners Ask God for help to show generosity to other people (If you want to do some more reading on Jesus and his stories, read Matthew chapter 13)

More Related