(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Harvest Festival Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Thornton Methodist Church led by Rhona North, one of our Circuit Local Preachers.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Intro: Come and sit down, gaze up into heaven and come, give thanks to God for the blessings of His Harvest. Come and give thanks for all the food and the fruit of your labours: at work, church, friends or family. Come and give thanks to Your God who is seated on high, the God of creation. Come Holy Spirit we welcome you to help us to remember God’s goodness, the complete forgiveness and love from Jesus snd Your constant companionship, Holy Spirit. We ask it all in Jesus’ name, Amen
Song – 123 StF – Come ye thankful people come
Reading:
Spiritual food is free! A relationship with God is free, a message of good news as our cost of living rises. Jesus offers everyone salvation, forgiveness, love and a place in heaven.
Prayers: (If you have any photos of people, gardens, animals etc you might like to have them before you)
Father God, we marvel at your kindness to us for all your gifts:
The gift of your love Father…
The gift of you Jesus, forgiving us and being our guides us praise
The gift of You Holy Spirit our constant companion
The gift of family… friends…. Neighbours… Colleagues
The gift of seasons: especially for autumn and the harvest of fruit and veg, fish and meat, beauty in the parks and gardens
For nature: animals insects, flowers, pollinators, bees and insects
For hill and valley, snow sunshine and rain
For seas, oceans rivers and streams
You have done an amazing job Father God
And we thank you with all our hearts…. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Song – StF 130 – We plough the fields and scatter
Reading 2:
Talk: This passage comes directly after the woman at the well where Jesus teaches on spiritual water which he uses to symbolise salvation. He strikes up a conversation by asking the woman for a drink. Sometimes humbling ourselves and asking for help can be a good lead into talking to others about Jesus, it equalises us. Then Jesus talks about spiritual food.
The disciples are kindly concerned that Jesus has been busy and had nothing to eat and they encourage Him to eat. His reply that He has spiritual food which he symbolises as nourishment for the soul. He says his food is to obey God by telling others about His Father and His Kingdom. The disciples still don’t get it and presume He has managed to eat secretly. He then points out their Jewish proverb of once you sow you need to wait four months to reap. He then points out that the fields are white, in other words ready to reap. Statistics suggest just under half are Christians in UK, that leaves 30m that aren’t. Someone is always ready to hear the gospel and receive the free and amazing gift of salvation. Do you remember that time you decided to follow Jesus? Give thanks for the people who encouraged your faith. If you have never seen Jesus standing there offering you this free gift ask Him to show you.
Maybe you’d like to accept His gift for the first time: joy, of being forgiven, having Jesus in your life and Him preparing a place in heaven for you now. Say this prayer, “Please Jesus I believe you are God’s son and I want forgiveness from you for all that is past and the gift of love from You.”
song – 440 StF – Amazing Grace
Reading 3:
Talk: God founded the Church through Paul on his 2nd missionary journey. 3 years later he writes to them. He wrote this first letter to the people at Corinth reminding them not to link up with worldly things. This is his 2nd letter he wrote when he was near the end of his 3 years in Ephesus. He was reminding them they they are to worship and work together for Jesus with the Holy Spirit’s help. He mentions that there are arguments and jealousy amongst them in who does what. Does this sound familiar?? 😉😉😉☺
️They cause division by saying Paul is better than Apollos or Apollos better than Paul. Paul’s job was to plant seeds for belief, Apollos’ job was to nurture and provide an environment for the seeds to grow but Paul then makes it clear it is God Himself who actually gives the growth. Everyone who joins in the job of saving or feeding souls are all equal in God’s sight. The prayer people, the people doing an act of love (making an apple pie?), the person who praises God to others, the preacher, the pastoral team: all are needed to save souls. Which part of saving souls does God ask you to do? How Britain would be changed if those 30m came to know Jesus.
Song – 405 StF – Great is the darkness
Reflection: The kindness of God is that He doesn’t ask us to reach the 30m, only 1 or 2 at a time! Who do you want to reach? Who in your family, friends, colleagues or neighbours? Let God whisper their names and then see them as hearts in your hands. Some evangelists say it takes 4-6 weeks of prayer to soften their hearts ready for the seeds to be sown. Let each one of us focus on praying for them. Then let God grow the seeds through you or maybe someone else. Let’s pray now for those that we want to reach….
You may like to have a 2 minute testimony ready in case God brings a stranger before you. Pray too for that opportunity.
Song – 663 StF – I the Lord of Sea
Prayers of Intercession: (As you say a name see yourself lifting them into Jesus’ arms, our perfect intercessor …)
Let us Pray :
Father God we pray firstly for kings and queens, prime ministers and presidents: For those nations and leaders at war….. For those countries suffering from earthquake, hurricane, fire, heat and cold, famine and drought
Lord in Your mercy pour out your harvest of souls, food, water, shelter and justice on them
Father God we pray for our nation: For England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland… For Keir Starmer, Eluned Morgan, Ian Murray, Hilary Benn their leaders For the House of Windsor, for their work and service….. For King Charles and Princess Kate in their health, For every MP and policy maker…..
Lord in Your mercy pour out your harvest of souls, food, water, shelter and justice on them
Father God we lift up our area of West Yorkshire to you. For Yorkshire West District, Kerry Tankard and all that service in it…. For Bradford North Circuit, For Phil, Nick, Lisa and Joy, For all our churches and communities, and those that worship and serve: Allerton, Baildon, Bolton, Calverley, Christchurch, Northcliffe, Saltaire, St Andrews, Thackley, Thornton and Wilsden…. For charities, businesses and organisations …..
Lord in Your mercy pour out your harvest of souls, food, water, shelter and justice on them
Father God we pray for those that struggle in our family, friends, colleagues and neighbours…. With grief, illness, abuse, fear, addiction, debt and poverty
Lord in Your mercy pour out your harvest of souls, food, water, shelter and justice on them
Lastly Father we ask you to sit beside us on our chairs. We pray you’d stir up your Holy Spirit within us to give us fire to worship and serve you. We ask you to fill us from head to toe for healing in our bodies, minds and faith…. We offer our diaries for the coming week into your hands, for the difficulties, meetings, appointments and celebrations…. We pray too for those that you are putting into our hands for salvation, we let You lead in everything that we do for You.
Lord in Your mercy pour out your harvest of souls, food, water, shelter and justice
We ask all our prayers in Jesus’ name, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Amen.
Offering: Lord we come to You, the Lover of our souls. We thank you for Your extraordinary harvest of food, water, money, time, talents and giftings to us. We give ourselves to you.
Song – 51 StF – Great is thy Faithfulness
Blessing: May you go faithfully into next week, knowing how much Your Father loves you and every good gift will be given by Him to You. And now may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Spirit fall afresh on you and all those that you love now and forever more, Amen
