All Souls: A Liturgy for Our Losses (Matthew 5:4) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

In this All Souls Day message, Pastor Donnell Wyche pauses the church's Parables of Jesus series to offer a space for grief, reflection, and healing. He begins by expanding the meaning of All Souls Day beyond remembrance of those who have died to include all the losses that shape our lives—dreams unfulfilled, relationships broken, jobs lost, health struggles, and even disillusionment with the church itself. Through humor and compassion, Pastor Donnell invites listeners to acknowledge these everyday griefs as part of the human story that God meets with tenderness and grace.

Drawing from Matthew 5:4, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted," he reframes mourning not as a failure of faith but as an act of honesty and spiritual courage. Citing Jesus' own experiences of sorrow—his weeping over Lazarus and compassion for the helpless crowds—Pastor Donnell reminds the congregation that grief is not weakness but love in action. "Mourning," he says, "allows us to bear witness to what still matters and to resist the temptation to numb ourselves to suffering. When held with God and community, mourning becomes a holy protest against injustice and indifference."

The sermon culminates in a moving communal liturgy. Congregants are invited to light candles for loved ones who have died and to name other kinds of loss silently before God. Through these embodied acts of remembrance and prayer, the community practices the comfort Jesus promises—acknowledging that grief takes time, that pain can rearrange our priorities, and that within sorrow lies the seed of compassion and enduring hope.

The Parables of Jesus: - Jonathan Hurshman - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

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The Parables of Jesus: Justice as Restored Dignity (Matthew 20:1-16) - Pastor Donnell T. Wyche - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

In this message on Matthew 20:1–16, Pastor Donnell revisits the workers-in-the-vineyard parable with fresh eyes. Rather than reading it through an hourly-wage fairness lens, he reframes the story around God's justice as mercy, compassion, and restored dignity. The landowner's repeated trips—at dawn, 9 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., and even 5 p.m.—are not about efficiency but about refusing to leave anyone unseen, unchosen, or ashamed in the "unemployment line" of the marketplace. Each return, Pastor Donnell says, is a small act of salvation: an invitation into purpose, belonging, and worth.

The tension erupts at payday when latecomers receive a full day's wage and early workers protest, "You made them equal to us." Pastor Donnell names what's exposed: a meritocratic worldview where value is measured by productivity and grace feels like injustice. But the landowner's gentle reply—"Friend… are you envious because I am generous?"—widens the frame. In God's kingdom, justice is not a narrow calculus of equal treatment; it is the restoration of those humiliated by exclusion. This is generous justice: respect, dignity, and a living provision that answers the real needs of real people.

Pastor Donnell closes pastorally: notice where you feel like a late-day worker—unseen, left behind, still waiting at the gate. Invite God, the generous landowner, into that space. Ask him to call you "friend" and to remind you that your worth has never been measured by productivity or performance. In a world of competing kingdoms—merit versus mercy—Jesus reveals a God who does not demand but gives, who lifts up the overlooked, and who will not end the day with anyone still standing alone.

The Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

Pastor Hannah continues our fall journey through Jesus' harder parables by inviting the church to "rest our whole weight on God" and to take Jesus at his word. Teaching from Luke 18:9–14, she frames the parable for a mixed crowd—newcomers and long-timers alike—reminding us that we are becoming a people transformed by Jesus, learning to belong across differences with joy, freedom, and boundless generosity. In this story, a respected Pharisee and a despised tax collector both come to pray; one trusts his resume, the other pleads for mercy. Jesus' punchline overturns expectations: it is the humbled tax collector—not the exemplary religious figure—who goes home justified.

To hear the scandal of the story, Pastor Hannah explains who Pharisees and tax collectors were in their world: the admired guardians of religious life versus the socially ostracized collaborators with Rome. She names the pain of spiritual contempt in the Pharisee's prayer ("God, I thank you that I am not like…") and gently asks us to notice who fills that blank in our own hearts—an enemy, a political group, a person who has harmed us. Holding together truth and mercy, she recalls Saul's transformation into Paul as proof that even oppressors are not beyond God's interrupting grace. God hates evil, not people; the kingdom exposes pride and exalts humility.

Pastor Hannah's invitation is simple and searching: trade merit for mercy. Like the tax collector, we come home to God not by performance or pedigree but by asking, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." She offers concrete responses—receive prayer, come to the Table, and even let communion become a two-fold prayer: mercy for ourselves as we take the bread, mercy for those in our "blank" as we drink the cup. In God's economy there is no earning—only giving and receiving—and those who humble themselves will be lifted up.

The Parables of Jesus: The Rich Fool - Pastor Hannah Wyche - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

Pastor Hannah continues our fall series on Jesus' harder parables by welcoming newcomers into a community learning to live in God's unfolding story—transformed by Jesus and belonging across differences with freedom, joy, and boundless generosity. Setting the scene in Luke 12:13–21, she notes how a man interrupts Jesus to demand a fairer inheritance, revealing a heart preoccupied with money. Jesus' warning—"Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions"—frames the parable of the rich fool, whose bumper harvest leads him to hoard rather than share. God's verdict, "You fool," exposes the tragedy of living as if life and wealth belong to us and as if our barns are the point.

Pastor Hannah emphasizes that Jesus isn't playing family arbitrator; he's exposing the inner logic of greed that assumes surplus is "for me." The rich man's monologue—"my crops, my barns, my grain"—makes no room for God or neighbor. In contrast, Scripture reveals a generous Father delighted to give his children the kingdom. Earthly wealth cannot cure spiritual poverty, and death renders hoarded treasure useless. To be "rich toward God" is to let God's generosity reframe our identity and our resources, so that our lives announce the nearness of the kingdom through concrete mercy and open-handed care for the poor.

Moving from diagnosis to practice, Pastor Hannah offers simple, tangible ways to disrupt greed and cultivate generosity: take breaks from nonessential spending and give the savings away; treat raises as opportunities to increase giving; fast or simplify meals in solidarity with the poor; sell unused possessions to bless others; even carry cash prayerfully to give as the Spirit leads. She shares a moving story of a hidden gift arriving the day a congregant's paycheck failed, awakening joyful praise: "You are real; you see me." The invitation is clear: name greed's pull, adopt practices that form a generous heart, and become the joyful people whose stories at life's end are rich with God's provision shared for everyone's flourishing.

The Parables of Jesus: Love and Liberation (Luke 16 & Mark 10) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

In this sermon, The Parables of Jesus: Love and Liberation, Pastor Donnell Wyche explores two passages—Luke 16's parable of the unjust steward and Mark 10's encounter with the rich young ruler—to reveal a God who prioritizes mercy, freedom, and love over judgment and accounting. Pastor Donnell begins by reimagining the parable of the unjust steward, challenging traditional interpretations focused on fairness or stewardship. Instead, he suggests the story unveils a merciful master—a type and shadow of God—who absorbs loss rather than demands repayment. This master, like God, refuses to operate on the logic of karma or retribution, inviting listeners to see the cross not as a transaction of debt but as an announcement of divine liberation.

Building on this framework, Pastor Donnell introduces the Christus Victor atonement theory, which sees Jesus' work on the cross as the decisive defeat of the powers that enslave humanity—sin, death, shame, violence, and fear. Rather than satisfying an angry God, Christ's victory liberates us from these forces that distort our identities and relationships. Through examples of Jesus healing the sick, casting out demons, feeding the hungry, and forgiving sins, Pastor Donnell paints a vivid picture of the kingdom of God breaking into the world wherever bondage is replaced by freedom. Each act of compassion and mercy becomes an announcement that God's reign is here and that liberation, not condemnation, is the heart of the gospel.

Turning to the rich young ruler, Pastor Donnell invites listeners to see a man not as a villain but as deeply sincere—and deeply anxious. Though devout and blessed, the ruler still feels restless, unable to imagine life apart from his wealth. Jesus' loving gaze—"he looked at him and loved him"—becomes the center of the gospel, revealing that belonging precedes transformation. Jesus doesn't shame the man but names the power that holds him captive and invites him into freedom. Pastor Donnell concludes with a pastoral challenge: to name the powers that hold us captive—money, fear, anxiety, status—and to ask God not for help balancing our moral ledgers but for liberation. In Christ, he reminds us, freedom is both the invitation and the outcome of divine love.

The Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–9) - Pastor Donnell Wyche - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

Summary:

In this week's message, Pastor Donnell Wyche launches our new series on The Parables of Jesus with one of the most perplexing stories—The Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–9). On the surface, Jesus seems to commend a dishonest manager who manipulates accounts for his own survival. This shocking twist unsettles our assumptions about morality, fairness, and what God expects of us. But Pastor Donnell reminds us that Jesus often uses surprising, even uncomfortable stories to reveal deeper truths about grace, forgiveness, and the nature of God's kingdom.

By comparing this parable with the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, Donnell shows that both center on sin, mercy, and the restoration of broken relationships. Just as the father in the Prodigal Son story does not demand repayment, the master in the parable does not extract punishment, even when it is deserved. This challenges long-held "economic" views of the cross—where sin is seen as a debt that must be repaid and instead reveals a God who chooses mercy over retribution. Jesus' death on the cross is not a transaction to appease God, but the fullest revelation of God's forgiving love.

The parable invites us to honesty about our own lives. Like the steward, we often "cook the books"—hiding truths, justifying ourselves, or finding worth in what we produce. Yet Jesus calls us not to repayment but to confession: "God, I cannot repay—meet me with your mercy." Our freedom lies not in what we can offer but in God's gracious love, which restores, forgives, and sustains us.

Spiritual Formation: Solitude - Pastor Hannah Witte - a2vc.org. Like us on fb.com/vineyardannarboror watch our livestream Sundays @ 11:00am - vimeo.com/annarborvineyard

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