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pentecost 21

29/10/2022

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·        We welcome all visitors to our services at Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15am). Arthur and Kathleen Bates will lead worship today.
·        There will be no podcast this week.
  • There will be evensong at St Andrew’s Church in Kelso this Sunday at 5pm. The guest speaker will be Prof Jason Leitch.
  • The Craft Group will meet at 2pm on Monday. Yetholm Kirk.
  • The weekly coffee morning at Yetholm is from 10.30-12noon on Tuesday mornings.
  • The Prayer Group meet at Morebattle at 1.30pm on Tuesdays. Please note the change of Venue and time.
  • The funeral of Bert Kellington will take place at Hownam Kirk on Thursday 3rd November at 12.45pm.
  • The Morebattle and Hownam Guild meet on Thursday 3rd at 2pm. A representative from Malawi Fruits will speak. It is an open meeting, and anyone is welcome to come along.
  • it is hoped to restart the Yetholm church choir from next week. It would meet at 9.30 on the Sunday to go through hymns. Old and new members most welcome.
  • The Kirk Session will meet on Wednesday 9th November at 7pm in Morebattle.
  • The Ways and Means committee is holding a Bingo Night in Morebattle on Friday 11th November for church funds. All welcome.
  • Remembrance Sunday is the 13th November. A retiring offering will be taken for the Earl Haig Fund.
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pentecost 20+

21/10/2022

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We welcome all visitors to our services at Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15am) this Sunday. It will be Guild Sunday at Yetholm. Please take time to sign the visitors’ book.
  • The podcast of this service can be accessed HERE
  • The Craft Group will meet at 2pm on Monday. Yetholm Kirk.
  • The weekly coffee morning at Yetholm is from 10.30-12noon on Tuesday mornings.
  • The Prayer Group meet at Linton on Tuesdays at 6.30pm. All welcome.
  • Yetholm Guild meet on Tuesday 25th at 2pm. Speaker – Rev Colin. All welcome
  • A fundraising concert by Berwick Male Voice Choir will be held on Saturday 29th October at 7.30pm in Yetholm Kirk for church funds. Entry by donation.
  • There will be evensong at St Andrew’s Church in Kelso next Sunday at 5pm. The guest speaker will be Prof Jason Leitch.
 
Introit              
 
From the routines of work and leisure,
we have come to worship God.
With the weight of the world heavy on our hearts,
we have come to worship God.
In the midst of our fears and our hopes,
We trust in God’s power and presence, so let us worship God with heart, mind, soul and strength.
 
Hymn 465 – Be thou my vision
 
Prayers of adoration and confession
Creating God,
the mountains you raised reflect your strength and majesty. Sunrise and sunset frame the day with your light and joy. Fields bursting with grain and trees coloured with autumn glory sing of your steadfast love. Pictures from the depth of space give a glimpse  of your infinity, yet in Christ you have walked the humble earth.
You alone are worthy of our praise.
You alone give us hope.
Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of Life, we praise you, and join our voices to those of every precious thing to wonder at your mystery and majesty.
 
Merciful God,
You created human beings with gifts of intelligence and imagination. Yet we confess we often use these gifts to exploit your creation and put others in their place. So often we think that we are great when we are small. Or we claim smallness when you set a challenge before us.
We convince ourselves that our sin is not nearly as great as others, yet every sin offends your purpose for us. Forgive us, we pray,
and grant us a truer picture of ourselves.
Lord’s Prayer
 
All-Age Talk
 
Readings – Joel 2: 23-32 (Pg 912)
                    Luke 18: 9 -14 (Pg 1052)

Hymn 493 – It’s me, it’s me, O Lord
 
A Great Man...
A great man strutted in one day
For everyone to see.
He raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Dear God, I’m glad I’m me!”
“I go to church, I say my prayers,
I never break the rules,
unlike some other people here.
They’re thieves and rogues and fools!”
“Take that chap there…” He looked across
to where the light was dim.
“He works for Rome; he cheats the poor.
Thank God I’m not like him!”
All eyes turned to the furthest nook,
and in the shadows, there
they saw a man whom no-one liked.
His head was bowed in prayer.
He beat his breast, he shed a tear,
he sank down on his knees.
“Dear God,” he whispered, full of shame,
“I’m struggling. Help me please!”
High up in heaven, God heard them both,
the short prayer and the long.
Which one, dear children, do you think
was right, and which was wrong?
 
Prayer of Illumination
Merciful God, help us when praying not to be like the Pharisee, whose prayers were full of pride showing how good and righteous he is, but more like the humble Tax Collector ready to admit to our faults, failures and imperfections. We call again on the name of the Lord so that we might know and experience your salvation afresh. Amen
 

Reflection
It is good that we are able to leave our churches open, so that people have the opportunity to visit, to feel a sense of peace; they are able to sit and pray. Judging from the comments in the visitors’ book, it is much appreciated.
 
The temple in Jerusalem was always open, and people were able to visit and to pray. In our Gospel reading today Jesus told a parable about two individuals who did just that! One went to the middle of the Temple in full view of everybody, while the other stayed away from the limelight and kept to a dark corner. But he was noticed, and you can almost imagine the conversation: ‘Look what the wind has blown in! Imagine seeing him in the Temple. It is a wonder the roof hasn’t fallen in. How dare he. He takes our taxes and a bit extra, connives with the Romans, betrays his own people – and he thinks he can breeze into the temple. Well, maybe not breeze. In fact, he looks quite pitiful. Anyway, as long as he keeps right to the side, away from everyone else, there should be no trouble’. It was of course the tax collector they were referring to, and he simply fell to his knees and implored God for mercy. ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner’
 
The Pharisee, on the other hand, for he it was who had positioned himself in the centre, thanked God that he wasn’t like the tax collector. He then proceeded to blow his own trumpet and list all his attributes, his good deeds, all the brownie points he feels he has earned. He is pompous, he is arrogant, he is self-righteous.
 
Jesus asks those around him which of these two men goes away justified, made right with God. It is quite straightforward. I am sure we would all agree that it is the tax collector who is forgiven and made right with God, for he has spoken from his heart. The Pharisee, on the other hand, is unchanged from the encounter. He goes home exactly as he came in.
 
The Pharisees get a bad press in the Gospels, and that is unfortunate, as many were sympathetic to Jesus. In this story, the Pharisee is just telling the truth about himself, big headed though he is. He does fast twice a week – not eating for two whole days a week. He also tithes, giving a tenth of his income to charity. Any congregation would love him as a member. In fact, in Zambia it wasn’t unusual for people to tithe to the church. The Pharisee is a good person, not involved in cheating or corruption. The tax collector is the opposite. He is involved in cheating and corruption. He works for the Roman occupiers. Next week in our readings we will be looking at the story of Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector, who fleeced the people around and lived in luxury. We can imagine the tax collector in the parable was the same. But like Zacchaeus he had a change of heart and realised he needed help and forgiveness. God have mercy on me, a sinner. A complete reversal.
 
In our reading from Joel, we have a reversal as well. The book is set during a catastrophic event – a plague of locusts. The Israelites have been getting ready to harvest their crops, which will keep them going for another year, but then the locusts strike and devour everything. The Israelites have simply to watch as their future is eaten up before them. But in Chapter 2, there is hope, and God promises to restore the years that the locusts have eaten. There is a promise of abundance and the possibility of better times, but as long as the people live in harmony with creation and respect God’s will and way.
 
The Pharisee thought he was living in God’s way, and in many ways he was. But he judged and condemned the tax collector. He still needed to learn humility. He still needed to realise that he depended on the grace of God. But is he any different from us? We can be ready to condemn others without realising what they are going through. We need to realise that we are all sinners, dependent on God’s forgiveness and love. But the parable is about hope; hope that the tax collector can repent and change his ways. So we thank God for God’s mercy and love and pledge to live our lives with honesty and integrity.
 
Hymn 535 – Who would true valour see
 
Prayers of Dedication & Intercession
Good and generous God, receive our humble gifts, offered in hope and gratitude. Make something of them – and of us, so that the world will be surprised by your love and what we can offer them in Jesus’ name.
 
God of righteousness, you have taught us through Jesus not to regard others with contempt. As we pray, show us when we are tempted to look down on others who are different to us and melt our hardness of heart. Open our eyes to see your grace in the lives of others.
Draw close, Lord, to all whose lives are being treated with contempt, from war zones to the streets of our neighbourhoods. Bless those who fear the stigma of reaching out to foodbanks for help this winter. Be with all who fear for their lives in the prisons and streets of Iran, in the homes and shelters of Ukraine and in all places where freedom and peace is under threat. In a moment’s silence we hold before you the people in our minds, whose lives are belittled or demeaned.
 
God of compassion, you are merciful to all who come to you in true repentance. We hold before you the many places and situations in your world where we long for suffering to be met with compassion. Look with the radiance of your love on the people of Pakistan suffering from floods, in Somalia facing drought and in America and the Caribbean following devastating hurricanes. Sustain with your spirit all who work tirelessly to help those in need, abroad and on those shores.
 
We hold before you our government at this time, asking for the spirit of servanthood and your gifts of wisdom and compassion for them.
 
Steadfast God, you invite us to place our trust in you above all else. Be with us, Lord, when we are fearful for what the future may hold: for the Church, for the economy, for our livelihoods, for our loved ones, for the rise of Covid, for the peace and stability of Europe. Help us to face our fears with honesty and truth, in the light of your enduring providence for us. Even as we are fearful, give us the confidence to continue to be your people, set apart to serve you in the world. Give us faith, even as small as a mustard seed, to trust you for the future, as we place our lives once again in your hands. God of grace, hear our prayer. We offer you our prayers, spoken aloud and offered in the silence of our hearts, in the name of Jesus, our risen Saviour. Amen
 
Hymn 646 – Forth in the peace of Christ
 
Benediction
Go out into the world to sow the seeds of love, knowing that God goes with you, and the blessing of Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you, now and always. Amen.
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harvest communion

14/10/2022

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  • We welcome all visitors to our service at Morebattle (11am) this Sunday, where we celebrate Harvest and communion. Please take time to sign the visitors’ book.
  • The podcast of this service can be accessed at https://www.cheviotchurches.org/podcasts.html 
  • The Craft Group will meet at 2pm on Monday. Yetholm Kirk.
  • The weekly coffee morning at Yetholm is from 10.30-12noon on Tuesday mornings.
  • The Prayer Group meet at Linton on Tuesdays at 6.30pm. All welcome.
  • The Worship committee meets at Yetholm on Wednesday 19th October at 1.30pm.
  • Our Cheviot Churches’ retreat will be on Holy Island on Saturday 22nd October. Please confirm with Trish Gentry whether you are going and if you need transport/ can you offer a seat in your car.
  • Yetholm Guild meet on Tuesday 25th at 2pm. Speaker – Rev Colin.
  • The Berwick Male Voice Choir will be singing on Saturday 29th October at 7.30pm in Yetholm Kirk for church funds. Entry by donation.
  • There will be a retiring collection for the Pakistan Flood appeal after the service.
  •  
    Call to Worship
    You care for the land and water it
    The streams are filled with water to provide the people with corn
    You drench its furrows and level its ridges
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops 
    You crown the year with your bounty
    The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders
     
    Hymn 154 – O Lord my God
     
    Prayers of adoration and confession
    Generous God. We come this day with thanksgiving, wonder and joy, reminding ourselves of the richness of your creation and acknowledging your faithfulness in providing for all our needs and far beyond. You have blessed us beyond our deserving.
     
    For the beauty of the seasons, the constant cycle of day and night; for the coming of autumn with the trees changing colour to yellows and orange and bronze, we praise you. You have blessed us beyond our imagining.
     
    For the miracle of growth, the wonder of life and the variety of harvest, we praise you, generous God.
     
    Forgive us when we have sullied the beauty you have made, when we have disrupted the cycles of earth and climate, when we have broken our connection with your world. In your generous love, help us to work for the renewal of the earth.

    Lord of the Harvest,
    Bless the labours of our hearts and hands;
    Bless the fruits of our cooperation and community.
    Awaken us to your longing for a different world,
    Where all are welcomed, valued and appreciated.
    Give us grace to discern your presence in one another, that together we may come to the eternal harvest of your grace,
    through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
     
    All-Age Talk
     
    Readings – Jeremiah 31:27-34
                        Luke 18: 1-8

    Hymn 103 – Fill your hearts with joy and gladness
     
    Prayer of Illumination
    Generous God,
    As you scatter the seed of love and kindness and truth to
    bring about your harvest, so may that seed germinate
    and take root in us. May it grow into a rich harvest of lives
    that delight in your truth, that show love in action and that care for all with whom we share this earth. Amen.

    Reflection
    Farmers are busy people. I see them out in their tractors, early in the morning, late at night, but they know what they are doing to bring forth the harvest of oats and barley and broccoli, of cattle and sheep and hens. They are professionals and have embraced new technology ever to improve the yield – though a lot still depends on the weather.
     
    But there are other harvests as well. The harvest of the sea; the harvest of the ground. I was speaking at the Morebattle & Hownam Guild last week and showing them a gemstone, a pink tourmaline. One of my church members in Zambia was a young guy called Amon, and he was a jeweller. I sat with him once as he took what looked to me like a small rock and started to polish it, and it transformed into a beautiful gem. He then shaped it, creating the facets on the gem. It was wonderful to watch – but he was a professional. He knew his job and did it well and brought forth a beautiful harvest.
     
    As a child, I remember watching the blacksmith at his forge – I think he was shoeing a horse. He used his skills to do a good job. I number of people here have a teaching background, imparting knowledge and life-skills to youngsters and watching the harvest, as they made something of their lives. But then we are all good at something, whether it is writing reports or baking scones or preparing the bread and wine for communion. We have tasks and we strive to do them to the best of our abilities. What is the harvest of our hands and minds?
     
    The book of Ecclesiasticus is in the Apocrypha, which we sometimes find in the middle of our bibles. The writer talks about a craftsman at work, ‘setting his heart on finishing his handiwork’, for these occupations ‘maintain the fabric of the world’. The craftsman is passionate about what he does. Yet so often we overlook or undervalue what people do. That is why it was so good during the first Lockdown to clap for the NHS and other keyworkers.
     
    We all have our part to play and all of us are involved in maintaining the fabric of the world. But sometimes it goes wrong. The writer of Ecclesiasticus delighted in human beings maintaining the fabric of the world through our skills, but we have damaged the fabric through our faults, through our wars, through our lack of action over climate change, so we still need to persist in crying out and doing something about Ukraine, about the forgotten war in Yemen, about the floods in Pakistan and other instances of extreme weather, about those in our country who struggle to get by.
    That is when we need people like the widow in our parable today, crying out for justice. Not just moaning about her problems but seeking redress and not giving up. In the Bible widows were often depicted as helpless, but this widow lived her life in technicolour, as one commentator described her. It can be an awkward parable to interpret because it is as if we need to keep praying for any hope of God turning an ear. This isn’t the picture of God I have. Rather I imagine God as the widow, ever reminding us of what we need to do and to be as God’s people of justice and compassion.
     
    That’s why Jeremiah talks about the new covenant. The old covenant given to Moses had been broken again and again; this time the covenant would be written on our hearts, so we would instinctively know what to do and how best to serve.
     
    It is why Jesus was born as a human being, to know what we go through and redeem us, even to the point of dying for us on the cross of Calvary. A God who loves us so much, who persists to the point of sending his own Son to redeem our world. At communion this morning we ponder that sacrifice and all that it means, that God loves us and promises to be our God, and that we be God’s people.
     
    Hymn 623 – Here in this place
     
    Prayers of Dedication & Intercession
    To the table of Christ we bring this offering, gained by using God’s gifts, and we give ourselves to be Christ’s body in the world.
    To this table we bring bread and wine, made by people’s work in an unjust world, where some have plenty and many go hungry, some are applauded and many despised.
     
    Peace-making God, we bring before you our troubled world, where too often there is conflict rather than reconciliation, war rather than peace, oppression rather than justice. We pray for countries and governments across the world in need of new beginnings and new ways forward. In the silence we remember those countries and peoples particularly on our hearts and minds today.
     
    Loving and merciful God, we give you thanks that you hear our prayers, both spoken and unspoken. Receive now all that we have offered in words and silence, that it may be your will that is done, and your kingdom that comes. In Jesus name we pray. Amen
     
    Invitation to Communion
     
    Hymn 659 – Put peace into each other’s hands
     
    Communion
     
    Peace
     
    Hymn 229 – We plough the fields and scatter
     
    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 the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen
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Pentecost 18

7/10/2022

1 Comment

 
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  • We welcome all visitors to our service at Yetholm (11am) this Sunday, where we celebrate Harvest Thanksgiving. Please stay for lunch after the service. Please take time to sign the visitors’ book.
  • The podcast of this service can be accessed HERE
  • The Craft Group will meet at 2pm on Monday. Yetholm Kirk.
  • The weekly coffee morning at Yetholm is from 10.30-12noon on Tuesday mornings.
  • The Prayer Group meet at Linton on Tuesdays at 6.30pm. All welcome.
  • On Friday 14th October, the funeral of Jennifer Jeffreys will take place at Yetholm Kirk at 12 noon, followed by a burial at the cemetery.
  • On 16th October there will be a joint Harvest service at Morebattle Kirk, where we will celebrate Holy Communion.
  • The Worship committee meets at Yetholm on Wednesday 19th October at 2pm.
  • Our Cheviot Churches’ retreat will be on Holy Island on Saturday 22nd October. Please confirm with Trish Gentry whether you are going and if you need transport/ can you offer a seat in your car.
  • The Kiltwalk has raised £2,647.50 for church funds.
  • There will be a retiring collection for the Pakistan Flood appeal after our services on 9th and 16th.
 
Call to Worship
God of abundance, God of fruitfulness,
God of generosity, God of love beyond measure.
God of extravagance, God of celebration,
God of goodness, God of love beyond imagining.
We gather, bringing the best that we can offer
to give thanks for all good things
and share your generosity with others.
 
Hymn 233 – Come, ye thankful people, come
 
Prayers of adoration and confession
God of honey and harvest, of grain and grape,
of ocean and orchard:
This harvest time may we both praise and pray;
praise you for the abundance and pray that this harvest is not just shared but shared justly.
 
God of beehives and breadbaskets
of living webs and the weaving of life
of ecosystems and economy:
This harvest time may we both praise and pray
praise you for the wealth of the harvest
and pray that this harvest is not just a promise
but is full of promise for all
 
God of bumble bees and blue whales
evolution and environment,
ice-field and star-field:
This harvest time
may we both praise and pray
praise you for the sheer wonder of the world
and pray that this harvest is not about our wealth
but the wealth of our generosity.
Let us confess our forgetfulness of God, our failure to give thanks and the ways in which we have wasted the gifts of creation. We confess to you our lack of care for the world you have given us. We confess to you our selfishness in not sharing the earth's bounty fairly. We confess to you our failure to protect resources for others. Lord have mercy, Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.  May God show us his mercy, restore us in his likeness and give us generous hearts and lives. Amen
Lord’s Prayer
 
All-Age Talk
 
Hymn 143 – Who put the colours in the rainbow
 
Readings – Ruth 2: 17-23
                    Matthew 13: 24-33

 
Hymn 137 – All things bright and beautiful
 
Prayer of Illumination
Lord of the harvest,
as the wild flower scatters its seeds far and wide,
so may your people scatter the seed of hope
in the soils of despair, bringing to growth those
good things that are your gift and promise. Amen
 

Reflection
Two women shuffle along the dusty way. They have been on the road for many days. Behind them lies death and heartache; the future for them lies ahead. But an uncertain future. They have been sleeping rough, just where they have been able to find shelter, but now they reach their destination. Where will they stay? Where will they manage to find food? Where will there be work?
 
Who are these women? It could be Ruth and Naomi, leaving Moab behind. Moab where Naomi’s husband and two sons died and were buried; Ruth whose husband died, but who also had the heartache of leaving her family, her homeland, everything that was familiar, to venture with Naomi to make a new home, but ever the niggle in her mind of how she will be received.
 
Two women on the road. But think 3000 years on, to October 2022. There is not so much difference. For these women could be Maryam and her mother-in-law in East Africa, in Somalia, where drought has caused one million people to be displaced. Families have had to bury loved ones on the road as they journey for days, sometimes for weeks, in search of aid and assistance. Maybe Maryam has had to bury her husband, her children.The UN warns that famine is at the door of Somalia, but by the time it is announced, it is already too late. The scenes that prompted popstars to perform at LiveAid are being repeated again, with 22 million at risk of starvation
 
Two women on the road. It could be Yasmin and her mother. They live in Pakistan. They weren’t rich, but they had a good life. A house with some fields to grow vegetables, and they had chickens. They were comfortable, and they counted themselves blessed because they lived near the River Indus, so the ground was well-watered, even when drought was at their door. They are Christian, so had to keep their heads down sometimes, but they counted themselves blessed. But that same river had become swollen with rainfall: it had risen and risen like the story of Noah’s flood the pastor mentioned at their small church. Their house was threatened, and they had to take what they could and leave. Her dad went back to see if he could rescue more, and he hasn’t returned. They shuffle along the road, like the 9 million others who have been displaced. A third of the country under water. What would the future hold?
 
For Ruth in the Old Testament, there was a future for her, and we have romantic pictures of her standing ‘amid the alien corn’. But it was hard. She was young and foreign; she was vulnerable to unwanted attention by the locals. She was given the opportunity to glean in the field of Boaz; once the harvesters had done their work, they left a little for the widows and orphans to come and pick, a practice incidentally that still goes on in the kibbutzim of Israel today.
 
A lot of the Bible stories and a lot of Jesus’ parables are in an agricultural setting. There is the joy of the good harvest, but the Bible is honest and equally there are stories of plagues of locusts devastating the land or -in our parable today, a crop where there are many weeds sown with the good grain, which will need to be sorted out and separated later.
 
In the story of Ruth, we have a snapshot of Boaz the farmer enjoying a good harvest. No doubt like all farmers, he would have his anxieties; the weather, the fear of a plague of locusts which would destroy the crop, and even war. Just like farmers today worry about the weather and climate change and various diseases and bank loans; just as farmers in Kenya or Somalia or Pakistan worry about drought and flooding. But Boaz shared his good fortune. He obviously treated his workers well; he also noticed the stranger and included her. If we read on in the story, Ruth and Boaz marry, and their great-grandson will be King David. A good future for someone who shuffled along a dusty road with her mother-in-law.
 
But what future for Maryam in Somalia? What future for Yasmin and her family in Pakistan? They will pick up the pieces, but the drought and the flood have both been caused by climate change, as was Hurricane Ian which left such a trail of destruction in the Caribbean and in the States. Next year or the next may well bring more extreme weather, and we need to act.
 
We rejoice at our harvest. We are happy that the tractors are in the fields around us, that we do have broccoli from Caverton in our shops, that we have food in our cupboards and fridges. But we are called to have the same compassion Boaz showed and reach out to the increasing number who rely on foodbanks in this country, but also remember that we are part of the world and must reach out to the likes of Maryam and Yasmin, that they might know a brighter future.
 
Prayers of Dedication
We bring the offering of wheat and all cereals, the potatoes and all the crops from our fields. The land has yielded its harvest; our God has blessed us.
We bring the offering of the shepherd’s crook, a symbol of the flocks and herds of animals and birds.
The land has yielded its harvest; our God has blessed us.
We bring the offering of flowers, fruits, berries and vegetables from orchards and gardens.  The land has yielded its harvest; our God has blessed us.
We bring the offering of seeds for next year’s crops, symbol of the trust we put in you, O God. The land has yielded its harvest; our God has blessed us.
We bring this Harvest Loaf as both a symbol of the fruits of human labour and of the means by which we have the strength to labour.
The land has yielded its harvest; our God has blessed us.
We bring the offering of an empty bowl as symbol of harvests that fail and of those around the world who suffer from hunger and starvation. Keep us mindful of their needs and may your goodness towards us bear fruits of compassion and generosity. Almighty and everlasting God, we offer you our hearty thanks for your fatherly goodness and care in giving us the fruits of the earth in their seasons. Give us grace to use them rightly, to your glory, for our own well-being and for the relief of those in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
 
Hymn 230 – Praise God for the harvest
 
Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it; the world and all that lives in it. Thanks be to God. All the animals of the forest are the Lord’s and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills. Thanks be to God. The Lord brings forth food from the earth, wine that gladdens our hearts, oil to make our faces shine, bread that sustains our hearts. Thanks be to God. The Lord makes springs pour water into the valleys; it flows between the mountains. Thanks be to God. The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. Thanks be to God. For all who cooperate and collaborate with God to bring food to our tables, Thanks be to God For farmers, growers, packers and processors, for breeders, stock people, shepherds and dairy-farmers, Thanks be to God For distributors, hauliers, retailers and stall-holders, for chefs, cooks and creative entrepreneurs, Thanks be to God
 
Let us offer our prayers to God for the life of the world and for all God’s people in their daily life and work.
We pray for all through whom we receive substance and life; for all farming families who work so hard, often in adverse conditions, to provide our food and look after our countryside; Lord of all life: Hear our prayer
 
We pray for young people in farming, for those studying at agricultural colleges and for the next generation of farmers as they bring new skills, energy and vision to the care of the countryside and the production of food in sustainably ways. Lord of all life: Hear our prayer
 
We pray for farmers and their families who are under stress as they face uncertainty and unpredictability in global food markets, and who struggle with increasing regulation and requirements; for those who want to leave farming or retire, and those who find it hard to see a way forward. Lord of all life: Hear our prayer
 
We pray for governments and aid agencies and those areas of the world where there is disaster, drought and starvation; for all involved in agricultural research who face the challenge to produce more food for a growing world, without harming the environment; and grant us all generous hearts in the face of immediate crises. Lord of all life: Hear our prayer
 
We pray for all areas in the world where the harvest has failed for whatever reason. Ukraine, Yemen, Pakistan, the Horn of Africa and all affected by war or by extreme weather.
 
We offer ourselves to your service, asking that by the Spirit at work in us others may receive a rich harvest of love and joy and peace Lord of all life: Hear our prayer
 
God of grace as you are ever at work in your creation, so fulfil your wise and loving purpose in us and in all for who we pray, that with them and in all that you have made, your glory may be revealed and the whole earth give praise to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
 
Hymn 804 – You shall go out with joy
 
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 the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen
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