February 12
Parables of the Kingdom
Year 1 ( 2022 – 2023 )
Text:
Matthew 13:24-43
Summary:
Parables: weeds among the wheat, mustard seed, yeast.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious Gardener of Creation,
you scatter your seeds of grace, hope, and love with abandon.
We struggle to comprehend why you’d throw your love around like that.
We think we could do it better—
plowing and planting your sacred seeds in the soil we think best,
carefully measuring out just the right amount
of what we think right and good and needful for it to grow.
Extravagant God,
forgive us for dismissing your ways and doubting your abundance.
You are not frivolous; you are faithful.
Our own roots are shallow
and we quickly fall away when times get tough;
the weeds of our lives—our greed, hatred, apathy, and fear—
choke our commitment to you.
Pull up the weeds within and around us,
so that we may bear good fruit for you.
Let your mercy shower upon us like rain.
Congregational Song Suggestions
“A Sower Came from Ancient Hills”
GTG 171
“Beautiful Things”
VT 551
“Come, Ye Thankful People Come”
GTG 367, VT 123
“For the Fruit of All Creation”
ELW 679, GTG 36, VT 124
“God of Great and God of Small”
GTG 19
“God of Little Things”
Text: David Bjorlin
Tune: Benjamin Brody
Available from Unbound at giamusic.com
“God the Sculptor of the Mountains”
GTG 5, VT 423
“How Tiny Is a Mustard Seed”
Text: Jacque Jones
Tune: Bernadette Hoke
Available from Unbound at giamusic.com
“I Love to Tell the Story of Jesus Here on Earth”
by Chris Shelton
Available from Unbound at giamusic.com
“What is the World Like When God’s Will is Done?”
GTG 771, VT 298
“You Are Salt for the Earth”
VT 297
Beyond the Hymnal
“Seeds”
from the musical A Year with Frog and Toad, by Robert Reale and Willie Reale