The Wedding Banquet Series

Introduction:

Over the past few months Stephanie and I have had to do much planning for our wedding. We have picked out tuxedos, she has picked out her dress and the brides maids dresses, we had to determine who was going to be in the wedding and the list goes on and on. There are many things involved in planning a wedding

As I near the date in which I will be married I have learned many things about weddings. There are many exciting times in planning a wedding, but there are probably more stressful times. There is a lot of work involved, a lot of time consuming work.

One of the worst parts about planning a wedding is preparing the guest list. You have to sit down and think of all the people you wish to invite. It is so tedious to prepare the invitations, address them and get them ready to be mailed. The invitations are not the most fun part of planning the wedding.

We know, however, that God is planning a wedding too. In my opinion the greatest analogy of the church is the bride of Christ. Within that analogy exists so many great thoughts. God is preparing a wedding banquet, and he is sending out invitations. There is one difference however, between us and God and that is that everyone is invited. There is not one person in the world that is not invited to the wedding. We are not simply invited we asked to participate as the Bride of Christ.

Girls dream for years about their weddings. Before a girl ever gets married they know exactly what they want and how they want things done. It is an honor to get married; it is a fulfilled dream for most girls. I have seen and heard of many great wedding, but no wedding will ever be as awesome as the day in which our bride groom returns to take his virgin bride the church.

In a wedding in the Jewish culture it was different from how it is now. The weddings lasted longer and more people were there. The groom would go off and prepare a place for the bride and him to live. This preparation could have taken a long time, but regardless the Bride had to be ready when the groom returned for the Bride. During the wedding banquet each person that attended would be dressed in their wedding clothes, which were symbolic of purity.

The question for you this morning is this:

1) Are you ready for the groom to return?

2) Are you dressed properly for the wedding banquet?

We have all been invited to a wedding this morning. We have received an invitation fro the greatest King ever. How will you respond to that invitation?

Text: Matthew 22:1-14

I. The Invitation

In the parable that we read, the king invited just a few people and they all refused to come and then the king told his servants to go and invite everyone they could find.

In the same way God has invited us all to come. He has made a way for us all to come to him through Jesus. He did not invite just a few, but he invited everyone to come to Him. Each individual matter to God and each of us is invited to the wedding feast. That is how we can sing:

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling

Calling for you and for me

See, on the portals he’s waiting and watching

Watching for you and for me

Come home, come home

Ye who are weary come home

Earnestly tenderly Jesus is calling

Calling, O sinner comes home!

The invitation is still offered to you today. What will you do with that invitation that you have been given? Will you reject that invitation? Or will you accept it with gladness?

James says that life is like a vapor. Life is short and it goes by quickly, but as long as we are alive we have the opportunity to come to Jesus and to receive eternal life.

We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but we also each have the opportunity to come back to God.

I do not know if we can understand how great of an invitation we have and I do not know if we can understand how important it is for us to choose to go to that banquet.

After every service here we offer and invitation here. Not because we want to amass a great amount of numbers, but we simply want to offer the invitation to you that God offered to us.

As long as we are here on Earth we can take advantage of that invitation, but the truth is we do not have a promise of tomorrow. Accepting the invitation is essential. It is something you should not delay in. It is a matter of Heaven or Hell. The invitation is offered to you this morning and as long as you are here, but do not put off on accepting the invitation.