Redeemer Lutheran and St. Theodore Canterbury

On Sunday, Sept. 27, the congregations of Redeemer Lutheran Church and St. Theodore of Canterbury Episcopal Church will celebrate the 18th Sunday after Pentecost at the 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion service at 13564 St. Andrews Drive. The Rev. James Proper will preside over the service.

The congregations will celebrate September birthdays after the service in the Fellowship Hall with coffee, tea, cookies and snacks.

The church is still collecting food for those in need.

The weekly Bible study is currently on a break.

The Holiday Bazaar will be held Oct. 22-24. People can meet downstairs in the Fellowship Hall every Monday at 10 a.m. to help prepare crafts for the Holiday Bazaar. Projects with directions, guidance, and all the materials will be provided.

The Gospel lesson for this week is from Matthew 21: 23-32.

In this passage, Jesus is being questioned by the chief priests and elders. He answers with a question and then tells the parable of the two sons. In the parable, the father asks both sons to do something. The first son says no, but does what was asked and the second says yes to his father but doesn’t do what was asked. Jesus then asks the priests and elders which son had done the will of the father, to which they answered that the first one did the will of the father.

People are called to care for God’s creation and to feed the hungry. But how often do believers use the phrase, “God’s will” when something bad happens? As with the parable that Jesus told, believers assume that the father’s will was what the sons were instructed to do, but was that truly the father’s will?

Maybe the father’s will was for his sons to tell him the truth. In that case, neither son did the father’s will. Maybe they both did the father’s will because they answered honestly what their intention was at the time. How can believers know the mind of God at any point? They don’t.

Believers must remember that God doesn’t need them. In

Rev. Murray Finck (back) led the welcome of new members Toni Beymer (l-r), Darleen Deasee, Marianne Goldberg, Jill Ledterman and Kathy Strople on Aug. 30. fact, God seems to work quite well all by himself and more often, in spite of people trying to help. What believers need to remember is that God allows people to be instruments in his will.