Mexborough Baptist Church Sunday 19th September 2021
We welcome everyone to our Harvest Thanksgiving Service. Last year when we were in lockdown and not able to celebrate harvest in church, Brian made a harvest display in his garden for us all to see....
We welcome everyone to our Harvest Thanksgiving Service. Last year when we were in lockdown and not able to celebrate harvest in church, Brian made a harvest display in his garden for us all to see....
This year we thank God that we can gather together in the church building to bring our thanks and praise to Him for His wonderful bounteous provision. Our first hymn is familiar to many of us from our childhood; it immediately takes us back to school harvest festivals with our shoeboxes filled with fruit and veg excitedly waiting to take them into church and add them to the ginormous display at the front of the church and sing 'We Plough the Fields and Scatter' click on the link
Prayer
Father God, we thank you today for the splendour and beauty of creation, for the ordered succession of seasons, for your love which made the world. We thank you for the good and fertile earth, for the fruits of the earth in their seasons, for the life that sustains our life, for the food that we daily enjoy. We thank you for those whose labour supplies our physical needs, for those who harvest crops, those who transport them, those who process them and those who sell them. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Loving Lord, we also pray for those who have no harvest to celebrate, no crops to gather or labour to pursue. We pray for those who live on land that is hard to farm, scratching out a living in a hostile soil, amidst rocky ground and scorching earth. We pray for those who scratch no living from the earth, where the whole world seems to squeeze the life from their bodies. We pray for those who have left their homes, driven by war or want to become refugees, aliens dependent on others. We pray for those without work, made redundant by changing needs, children living on the streets of cities around the world. We pray for those with no energy for praise, whose bread is bitterness and whose water is tears. We confess our part in the sin of the world and pray that you might grant us a vision of justice as well as charity and strengthen our readiness to change as well as to help. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Family Corner
Our children and young people's groups in church - Mustard Seeds and Scouts - follow the seasons and have been enjoying some harvest-themed activities this week. Look out for some pictures that we will share with you in the EXTRA. We join in with our young people and sing 'Cauliflowers fluffy' followed by 'Harvest Samba' click on the links
Every year, the church passes on their harvest gifts to another organisation which can use them to help people and families in need. This year we are supporting Love Mexborough. Love Mexborough believes that Jesus loves our town and the people matter. They host events for people to come and enjoy in the place we call home. Whether they come to some of them or come to them all, they are always welcome. Love Mexborough feels called to break the sacred-secular barrier, to model and draw people into a relationship with Jesus through a community focused on discipleship. As Adam and Becks, the founders of Love Mexborough, receive our gifts, we sing 'We see the fruitful harvest' click on the link
Prayer
Prayer
Father God, please bless all the gifts that we have brought today and all the people who will receive them. Please guide Love Mexborough as they distribute these gifts and in all the ways in which they seek to bless and encourage the people of this town. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bible reading: Matthew 22:35-40
One of them, an expert in the law, tested Jesus with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
One of them, an expert in the law, tested Jesus with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Thank you to Adam of Love Mexborough for his harvest reflections on thankfulness.....
On behalf of Love Mexborough, I feel privileged to be able to come along to Mexborough Baptist Church this morning and be presented with gifts of food from this harvest service that we will be able to distribute within our local community. I am sure you have heard many times how thankful someone is for a gift you have given and it can be easy to become passive of the gratitude they want to show. Sincerely, I cannot tell you how grateful I am for what you as a community have given to Love Mexborough today. We hope to use these generous gifts through two avenues of work we do within the community. We are often approached by people who feel they have nowhere else to go asking for a little help and support in their time of need. One way we help is to provide an emergency food parcel, to take the pressure of feeding yourself or the family away and allow a moment to breathe financially, knowing you don’t have to buy food. We then work with the family to work towards breaking the cycle of poverty.
Secondly, we hope to use some of the provision for the Community Meal which we are launching Tuesday 28th September. We will be hiring the Church hall each Tuesday to provide a free hot meal for local residents who need to get out of the house, want to meet new people or just need a night off from cooking for the family. Our hope is to use this opportunity to build relationships with local residents in our community and share the gospel, hope and love of Jesus with them. So again, thank you so much on behalf of all of those who will benefit from the generosity of this church community.
Promise me you won’t be mad at what I am about to say? This is actually the first ever harvest festival I have attended and I had to google what they were! I didn’t grow up in church, and the church I found Jesus at did not celebrate harvest. As I started to explore the meaning and origins of the festival that is celebrated by many, many churches across the UK and other nations around the world, I realised the fundamental message was clear. Thankfulness. Thankfulness as mentioned in the above prayers for the provision of food, water and so much more that God gives us. This provision so intricately weaved into the beauty of his creation. The seasons play a part, the land, the farmer, the reaping, the sowing, the list goes on. The more you step back from the picture the more elements you see come into play in how God provides in so many ways, for so many of us. He provides for 7 billion people on a planet and knows and loves each by name.
Promise me you won’t be mad at what I am about to say? This is actually the first ever harvest festival I have attended and I had to google what they were! I didn’t grow up in church, and the church I found Jesus at did not celebrate harvest. As I started to explore the meaning and origins of the festival that is celebrated by many, many churches across the UK and other nations around the world, I realised the fundamental message was clear. Thankfulness. Thankfulness as mentioned in the above prayers for the provision of food, water and so much more that God gives us. This provision so intricately weaved into the beauty of his creation. The seasons play a part, the land, the farmer, the reaping, the sowing, the list goes on. The more you step back from the picture the more elements you see come into play in how God provides in so many ways, for so many of us. He provides for 7 billion people on a planet and knows and loves each by name.
I think it's right to mention the elephant in the room too if that’s OK? Let’s be honest, we live very comfortably in a part of the world where food is easy enough to buy and we can choose budget range, own brand or top brand. We have selection on almost everything and I know some may have more abundance than others, but we live in a nation with a very enviable social security system that takes care of the most vulnerable and needy when it must. That can make it hard to understand why there are so many around the world that go without. Why they suffer and do not get a chance to celebrate something like harvest as they hunger and pray for provision of the most essential needs. I don’t have the answer to why that happens and honestly don’t even know where to begin sometimes in making that right. I think those tough questions can be hard hitting that they make us wake up and realise what we have. It’s easy to focus on what we wish we had or what we think is missing and forget what is right in front of us.
As I think of what I am grateful for. I am grateful for my mother who raised my brother and I alone when our father walked out. I am grateful for Phil, a pastor who invested time and effort into me as he saw beyond who I was and could see all I could become. He shared Jesus with me and discipled me. I am grateful for friends who stand with me when I need support, direct me with their wisdom and guidance as I journey being a dad, a husband and disciple. I am also grateful for Italy due to my love of pizza and ice cream!
Joking aside, one thing I realise about all the people I have so much gratitude towards in my life. They gave a part of themselves, whether it be time, effort, money, affection, whatever it was they gave it for free. They didn’t charge me for love, friendship or ensuring I become the best version of myself. They did it for free as they love me. We are clearly called to love our neighbour. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22 the greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbour. To love those we rub shoulders with, we do life with. Love Mexborough has a simple call. Love Mexborough. Love our community, love our neighbour. Do what we can to be an expression of the Kingdom of God to the people who also call this place home. I am excited for the days the churches of this nation give all they have to love the lost among us so they will know and experience the presence of our Father. Does it cost? YES! Time, effort, energy, money. It is inconvenient! I know that is hard, but I would encourage you this week to read Matthew 10. Jesus sends out the twelve disciples with a clear mandate. Take the Kingdom. Tell people it is here. Give it away. Freely you have been given, now freely give.
Joking aside, one thing I realise about all the people I have so much gratitude towards in my life. They gave a part of themselves, whether it be time, effort, money, affection, whatever it was they gave it for free. They didn’t charge me for love, friendship or ensuring I become the best version of myself. They did it for free as they love me. We are clearly called to love our neighbour. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22 the greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbour. To love those we rub shoulders with, we do life with. Love Mexborough has a simple call. Love Mexborough. Love our community, love our neighbour. Do what we can to be an expression of the Kingdom of God to the people who also call this place home. I am excited for the days the churches of this nation give all they have to love the lost among us so they will know and experience the presence of our Father. Does it cost? YES! Time, effort, energy, money. It is inconvenient! I know that is hard, but I would encourage you this week to read Matthew 10. Jesus sends out the twelve disciples with a clear mandate. Take the Kingdom. Tell people it is here. Give it away. Freely you have been given, now freely give.
Harvest is about being thankful. Thankful that there has been the right amount of sun and rain for the crops to grow and ripen. Thankful for the farmworkers who have ploughed, sown seeds, harvested. Thankful for the factory workers, turning raw materials into nutritious food and meals. Thankful for the lorry drivers transporting the food to the shops, supermarkets and our front doors. Thankful for the shopworkers, stacking shelves, fridges and freezers so that we can just walk along the aisles and pick up what we need. Above all we are thankful to God who has ordered His creation so that all this can happen and we can enjoy all the good gifts He gives us. We express our thankfulness to Him as we sing together 'Now thank we all our God' click on the link
Benediction
God the Father, who created the world, give you grace to be wise stewards of His creation.
God the Son, who redeemed the world, inspire you to go out as labourers into His harvest.
God the Holy Spirit, whose breath fills the whole of creation, help you bear His fruits of love, joy and peace.
And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen.
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