Harvest
Hi, on this page I will be sharing, reviewing, and recommending resources for children’s, family, and all-age, church-based work. I love to explore and discover new ideas, and creative ways of supporting this fantastic ministry. It’s such a privilege to serve the church and to help make worship meaningful and fun for children and families. I hope you’ll find my ideas and recommendations helpful.
JEHOVAH JIREH – GOD WILL PROVIDE
Harvest falls within ‘Creationtide’ as the season is sometimes called in Anglican circles, and is a time to celebrate God’s goodness and His provision at this time of year. I love the colours that come with the autumn and thankfully although we are still enjoying the current sunshine the recent drops of rain have been a welcome relief, I am sure not least by farmers. So, I have been praying this week for an abundance of things as usual. For rain, for farmers and those suffering from severe drought and for God’s provision with the news of the awful prospective financial challenges to come, according to our news and social media broadcasters, and politicians. I hope this image cheers you up and offers a distraction and some peace of mind. We still do have so much to be thankful for especially God’s beautiful creation and his promises of provision.
YOUNG FARMERS
I took this photo some time ago when we were delighted to take our grandson to a local farm open day. Of course Ish started his career on a farm so he felt quite at home here. He has some very happy memories of his agricultural years which eventually led him to find a personal faith and his vocation in life. God truly works in mysterious ways! In the photo Gramps is giving his young protégé a lesson in tractor driving and both look like they are taking it quite seriously?
JEHOVAH JIREH – GOD WILL PROVIDE
One of my favourite hobbies is baking unusual quirky cakes. And Harvest also reminds me of giving – this photo is one of a huge autumn cake I made to raise funds for a charity event at work. The whole cake was edible including the chocolate leaves. However, I assure you that although it was covered in healthy fruit there was a huge chocolate ganache covered, triple layer fruit cake underneath, which was not quite so healthy!
This reminds me of a great scripture song Ish wrote – based on the Hebrew names for God, that begins – Jehovah Jireh – God will provide. (Genesis 22 v 14).
HARVEST CREATIVE PRAYER IDEA
My final photo is a 7 foot long banner I made for our Cathedral Harvest school assembly. I copied black and white templates of different fruit and vegetables and gave them out to pupils to colour and write their prayers on the back.
I suggested they wrote thanks to God for food and also prayers for those suffering from hardship, hunger, and famine.
The prayers were emotionally quite moving, and we attached them with garden string onto a banner that I had made of green and gold silk to represent the colours of harvest. I stitched some garden string trellis in the shape of a cross for the children to tie up their prayers.
After the service we ceremoniously processed the banner from the Cathedral back to the school and hung it in the reception hall as a reminder to keep praying and thanking God for his love and goodness to us.
LET US PRAY
This week let’s remember to thank God for his provision and for times and seasons like Harvest. Let’s pray for those who are in desperate need of food and clean water. And lets continue to pray for those in authority over us, for wisdom, clarity, and compassion, so we can face the future boldly without fear of lack of food or energy and trust in God to provide.
RESOURCES
Creation Time is the name which has been given to the 5 Sundays from 1st September to the 2nd Sunday in October during which Harvest Festival services are normally held.
The Farming Community Network has this fantastic 34 page download of ideas for celebrating Harvest includes, prayers, activities, collects and songs.
Confident Rural Christians has some amazing Harvest resources to share for 2022.
The Church of England has also produced some great resources on the environment and Creation Time for 2022.
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland offer great ecumenical resources for Creation Time 2022.
FEASTS AND FESTIVALS
I wrote this book many years ago and inside I explained about the feasts and festivals recorded in the Bible and how whole families celebrated together with their communities. If you would like a copy of this book just email Ish on his website. I will write more about creative ideas we can learn and use from the Bible next week. In the meantime have fun and enjoy what’s left of the summer before we head back to school?