Stand if you can

First Presbyterian Church of Santa Clara

This morning I went to the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Clara. This was the first church I have been to this year that asked visitors to identify themselves, I refused to. I don't want to have anything special done because I am visiting a church for the first time. It was nice when I was leaving when the minister shook my hand and thanked me for attending today. He asked if I was new to the area and I told him I wasn't new to the area just shopping around for a church I liked. This church was like a combination of the previous two churches I had been to, music wise. They had a traditional organ that played before the service then also had a music ensemble that played during the service.

I like this church because they had a time when everyone went around shaking hands and greeting each other. I like that. Before the service began this lady came by and said hi also. I felt welcomed. I was surprised when they said, "Please stand, if you can, for the singing." This church had many old people and not many young people. At 57 I felt like I was in the young group. The service seemed up beat and I liked the message. This seemed like a dying church. The pews were empty and most the people were older.

Sarah at church when she was 4

I have often passed this church over the years. I like the inspirational message on the board outside this church. Today is read, "As you run keep your eye on the Lord." I wonder if they were talking to me directly. The sermon was, "How Much are the Wages of Sin." I really liked the minister in this church and he made a lot of sense in his message. I liked when he talked about the saying of "It is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven." I have heard other people talk about a place in the middle east called the eye of the needle and it was difficult for a camel to go through it. This preacher said that the bible was literally talking about a sewing needle and that it was impossible for a camel to go through it!! He said the only way to get to heaven is by accepting God as your Savior.

The bumper sticker on my car when I was in high school

I liked the way he said that. The emphasis of what he talked about was many things in the bible is about what we HAVE and the bible reinforces relationships. I had a good time in church today!!

Matthew 19:16-20:16

New International Version (NIV)

The Rich and the Kingdom of God

¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’^[a] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”
²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
²⁷ Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^[c] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius^[d] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³ “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
⁷ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”