What does it mean to actually live out your Christian faith? Is following Jesus about what we believe and say—or about what we do with what we believe?

In this episode of The Church on the Path Podcast, Pastor Brent explores Jesus’ Parable of the Two Sons in Matthew 21:23–32 and a simple but challenging truth:

Faith is more than what we say. Faith is what we do.

Jesus tells of a father who asks two sons to work in his vineyard. The first says no—but changes his mind and goes. The second gives the perfect answer, “I will, sir,” but never shows up.

Jesus asks: Which one actually did the will of the father?

The question isn’t who sounded more faithful, knew the right religious vocabulary, or made the better first impression. The question is who actually responded.

Or, as Pastor Brent asks:

Has our yes reached our feet yet?

This week’s message follows the testimony of members of our youth ministry who served at Salkehatchie, repairing homes for neighbors who could not afford the work or could no longer do it themselves. They didn’t simply talk about loving their neighbors. They picked up tools. They climbed ladders. They sweated. They served.

Love put on work gloves.

That’s what it looks like when grace becomes action.

Drawing from Philippians 2:1–13, Pastor Brent reminds us that Jesus Himself is our model. Christ didn’t love humanity with words alone. He humbled Himself, took the form of a servant, and became obedient even to the cross.

Love put on flesh. Love knelt to wash feet. Love touched the untouchable. Love carried a cross. Love walked out of the tomb.

We don’t work for salvation as though God’s grace could be earned. We work it out because God is already at work within us. Grace isn’t opposed to action. Grace produces action. God works in us, and then God works through us.

And you don’t have to travel to a Salkehatchie worksite to find your vineyard.

Your vineyard may be a lonely person who needs someone beside them. A child who needs a reading buddy. A hungry family that needs food. A neighbor who needs help. An apology you’ve promised but haven’t offered. A phone call you keep meaning to make. A ministry you believe somebody ought to support.

Sometimes our greatest spiritual problem isn’t that we don’t know what Jesus asks of us. It’s that we substitute good intentions for faithful obedience.

We can’t do everything—but that cannot become our excuse for doing nothing.

So ask yourself:

What is the one thing God is asking me to do? Who is the one person God is placing before me? Where is the vineyard where God is saying, “Go and work today”?

The world doesn’t need a Church that merely talks about love. It needs a Church that shows up, gets its hands dirty, notices the forgotten, serves without seeking applause, and loves people in practical ways.

It needs a Church on the Path.

Because grace means our first answer doesn’t have to be our final answer. We can change our minds. We can change direction. We can take the next faithful step.

Jesus isn’t asking for polished promises.

He’s asking for surrendered lives.

Faith is more than what we say.

Faith is what we do.

It’s time to Walk the Talk.

The Church on the Path Worship + Service = Discipleship Love First…Love Always

Scripture: Matthew 21:23–32; Philippians 2:1–13

Keywords: Walk the Talk, Matthew 21:23–32, Parable of the Two Sons, Philippians 2:1–13, living out Christian faith, faith and works, Christian service, obedience to God, what does it mean to follow Jesus, putting faith into action, grace and good works, mind of Christ, Christian discipleship, serving your neighbor, Salkehatchie, youth mission trip, practical Christianity, United Methodist Church, Christian podcast, Charleston SC church, St Andrews Parish UMC, The Church on the Path.

Why does God give grace to people who don’t seem to deserve it? And why can it be so difficult to celebrate when God is generous to someone else?

In this episode of The Church on the Path Podcast, Pastor Brent explores Jesus’ surprising Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1–16—a story that challenges our assumptions about fairness, deserving, comparison, and the extravagant grace of God.

A landowner hires workers throughout the day—some early in the morning, others at noon, some late in the afternoon, and a final group with only an hour left to work. At the end of the day, everyone receives the same wage.

And the workers who had been there all day respond exactly as many of us probably would:

“That’s not fair!”

But Jesus isn’t primarily teaching about payroll. He’s teaching about grace.

The first workers weren’t cheated. They received exactly what they had been promised. Their anger began when they saw generosity being extended to somebody else. They were satisfied with their blessing until they compared it with another person’s blessing.

That leads to the question at the heart of this message:

Can we celebrate when God is generous to someone else?

Jesus reveals a Kingdom that doesn’t operate according to our spiritual timecards. We cannot place God in our debt through years of service, sacrifice, generosity, or religious faithfulness.

Grace is not merely fair. Grace is more than fair.

The landowner keeps returning to the marketplace—at nine, noon, three, and even five o’clock—because he keeps looking, calling, inviting, and making room.

That’s good news for anyone who has ever wondered if they waited too long, wandered too far, made too many mistakes, or missed their opportunity with God.

God keeps going out. God keeps calling. God keeps making room.

There is no hour when God stops seeking people, and there is no past so broken that Jesus says, “There is no place for you.”

This message also challenges longtime Christians to examine the danger of comparison. Another person’s blessing doesn’t diminish ours. A newcomer isn’t a threat. Someone else’s second chance doesn’t take ours away. And years of faithful service don’t give any of us ownership of the vineyard.

The Church belongs to Jesus Christ.

We are all here because the Landowner came looking for us. We are here because Jesus called our names. We are here because grace found us.

At the cross, Jesus didn’t come to pay us what we had earned. He came to give us what we could never earn: forgiveness, reconciliation, new life, and a place in the Kingdom of God.

So how do we live this kind of grace?

Practice gratitude before comparison. Celebrate grace in another person’s life. Serve without keeping score.

And if you’ve been standing at the edge of the vineyard wondering whether there is still room for you, hear the good news:

Jesus is still calling. Grace is still making room. It is not too late.

Because God’s Kingdom is more than fair.

It is generous.

Grace is not merely fair. Grace is more than fair.

The Church on the Path Worship + Service = Discipleship Love First…Love Always

Scripture: Matthew 20:1–16

Keywords: Matthew 20:1–16, laborers in the vineyard, workers in the vineyard parable, generosity of God, God’s grace, why is God unfair, fairness and grace, undeserved grace, Christian comparison, jealousy and envy, God’s generosity, second chances, grace for everyone, kingdom of God, Christian discipleship, Jesus parables, United Methodist sermon, Wesleyan grace, Christian podcast, Charleston SC church, St Andrews Parish UMC, The Church on the Path.

How many times does Jesus expect us to forgive someone—especially when they keep hurting us, never apologize, or don’t seem sorry?

In this episode of The Church on the Path Podcast, Pastor Brent explores one of Jesus’ most challenging teachings: forgiveness.

Peter asks Jesus a question many of us have asked in one form or another: “Lord, how often should I forgive?” Peter suggests seven times, but Jesus responds, “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus isn’t giving Peter a bigger number to track. He’s telling him to put away the calculator. Forgiveness isn’t an accounting system; it is meant to become a way of life for people who have received the mercy of God.

Through the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21–35, Jesus tells of a man released from an impossible debt who then refuses to show mercy to someone who owes him far less. The message is uncomfortable but powerful: grace received is meant to become grace extended. We can be forgiven people who have not yet learned how to become forgiving people.

But what does biblical forgiveness actually mean?

Forgiveness does not mean pretending the wound didn’t matter. It doesn’t eliminate accountability, automatically restore trust, or require someone to return to an abusive or dangerous relationship. Forgiveness and reconciliation are connected, but they are not identical. Reconciliation requires repentance, truth, change, and the rebuilding of trust. Forgiveness means releasing our claim to revenge and placing the person, the wound, and our desire for justice into the hands of God.

And sometimes forgiveness isn’t accomplished in one dramatic moment.

Sometimes the pain comes back. Sometimes the memory returns. Sometimes we discover we’ve picked up the stone we thought we had already put down.

So how many times should we forgive?

As many times as the pain returns. As many times as the memory rises. As many times as resentment begins taking hold again. As many times as we’re tempted to pick up the stone.

Forgiveness can become a daily act of discipleship because God’s grace meets us again and again.

Drawing also from Israel’s journey through the Red Sea, Pastor Brent offers a powerful picture of forgiveness as walking out of bondage and toward freedom. Forgiveness doesn’t mean returning to Egypt and pretending slavery was acceptable. It means refusing to allow what happened in the past to keep controlling our future.

The person who hurt you may never apologize. They may never understand what they did. They may never repair what they broke.

But through the grace of God, they do not get to determine whether you walk free.

What stone have you carried long enough?

Jesus isn’t shaming us for being wounded. Jesus is inviting us into freedom.

We forgive because we have been forgiven. We show mercy because mercy has been shown to us. We release others because Christ has released us.

The Church on the Path Worship + Service = Discipleship Love First…Love Always

Scripture: Matthew 18:21–35; Romans 14:1–12; Exodus 14:19–31

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