905 Village Drive, South Charleston, WV 25309
Weekly Nurture Devotion
September 20: Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Read Matthew 20:1-16
Those who had been working all day complained that those who started late in the day got paid the same. We want God to act like we would, and we aren’t happy when God shows grace and love to those who are different from us, who don’t work as hard as we do. We focus on what we don’t have, instead of what we do have. Think about what you have and give thanks to God for it.
Worship -September 20 at 10:00 am
We welcome you to in-person or online worship services in the Sanctuary on Sunday, September 20, 2026 at 10:00 am. Cherrie Sizemore, ALP will be at the pulpit this Sunday. The Sermon is “Losing Sight of Grace".
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Jonah 3:10-4:11
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort, so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?”
GOSPEL Matthew 20:1-16
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner
of the vineyard said to the manager, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” “When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner. Saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “ Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I
give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
THE WORD OF THE LORD!
Thanks be to God!
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Upcoming Events
BRIDGEVIEW FOOD MINISTRY will be packing lunches next Sunday, September 27 after church service. Please meet downstairs in the Fellowship Hall.
Urgent need for food!
Heart and Hand Food Pantry has an urgent need for food. Won't you help?
Their needs list follows:
Fruit, Rice, Beans, Jelly, Ravioli, Spaghetti Noodles, Crackers, Soup, Jiffy Mix, Ramen Noodles, Chicken Noodle Soup, or any other canned or boxed food.
There is also an urgent need for diapers of all sizes.
Bring your offerings to the church or deliver directly to Heart and Hand. We bless our offerings on the first Sunday of every month.