| Psalm
65:8-13
"You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full
of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its
furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing
its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with
abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves
with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves
with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. | |
Matthew 24:24-30 He
(Jesus) put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven
may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were
sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when
the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And
the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you
not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?' He said to them,
'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him, 'Then do you want us to
go and gather them?' But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up
the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest
time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles
to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" |
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Harvest is mentioned a
number of times in the Bible as an important part of the year. It is mentioned
as a happy time as in Psalm 126 "He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed
for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.".
We at Enderby Parish Church hope that our harvest celebration reflects that joy
and thanksgiving to God. | | God
provides | |
A central theme to our
Christian celebration of Harvest is the thanksgiving for God's provision for us.
It is wonderfully expressed in the first verse of Matthias Claudius's harvest
hymn; "We
plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered
by God's almighty hand; He sends the snow in Winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
the breezes and the sunshine and the soft refreshing rain.". The
Bible equally celebrates God's provision to us in Psalm 65 (quoted in the right
hand column). In these verses we hear of God providing water to bless the
growth of crops, so that they overflow with abundance. All the earth is presented
as joyful - the hills and valleys "deck themselves with grain, they shout
and sing together for joy. God
is the creator of everything and has provided the means to feed us (if we cultivate
it and share it with all in this world). The earth is the visual celebration of
it's creator - God. | | Harvest
as an image | |
Jesus used harvest as
an image for some very important matters. In Matthew 24 (see right hand column)
Jesus tells a parable above about how a field was sown with good seed but an enemy
then sowed weeds into it as well. This is an image of the world we live in, with
the good seed growing into wheat (those who follow Jesus) with the weeds (those
who reject or oppose God). In this world both live together. Their
respective fates at harvest time are a warning to all people. The weeds are bound
and burnt (a vision of those who reject God and so will face Hell) whilst the
results of the good seed, the wheat, is to be gathered into the master's barn
(an image of those who, following God, finally come into God's kingdom). Elsewhere
in the Bible Jesus uses the image of seed as the word of God being sown into the
world. Some seed falling on ground where it fails but some falling on good ground
to grow strong. What
we wish for ourselves, and you, is that God's word will touch our hearts, make
us grow in a life with Christ, and so lead us to an eternal life with God in Heaven. |
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We warmly
welcome you to come to one of our special harvest services on Sunday 14th October;
We
have a morning harvest service starting at 9.30am and an songs of praise harvest service
at 6.00am that takes place at our sister church in Thurlaston. | | A
celebration across the centuries | |
Enderby Parish Church
has celebrated the Harvest back into the mists of history - probably as far back
as the 13th century when the Church was built. The earliest recollection of this
great tradition is in the earliest parish magazines we have from 1892, when the
Reverend Aylward wrote;
"Our Harvest Thanksgiving Services have been held during the last few days.....
The Church was very beautifully decorated by the Ladies of the Congregation, most
ably assisted, through the kindness of Mr. Walker, by Mr. Underwood, Head Gardener
at the Hall, and his Assistants..... I doubt if our beautiful Church has ever
contained a larger Congregation than assembled on that occasion, Chairs and forms
were placed in every available corner, and even then it was with the greatest
difficulty that room could be found for all the worshippers. Nothing could exceed
the heartiness of the Service....". Furthermore
the Church has used the Harvest celebration over the years as a chance to reach
out to the needy in the community. For example, during the early 20th century
much of the harvest produce brought to the services was given to support Leicester
infirmary. | | Continuing
the celebration | |
The nature of life in
Enderby has changed from being a rural and mining village to a virtual suburb
of Leicester as the inexorable plans of developers and councils have engulfed
the intervening countryside.
However,
Enderby Parish Church joyfully continues to celebrate God's creation and how God
has provided for our needs, as well as reaching out to those in need. For example,
the congregation, this year we are collecting money in water bottle to support the "Turn on the Tap" campaign to bring drinkable water to people in Africa as part of the harvest celebrations.
All
of us at Enderby Parish Church warmly invite you to join us at our harvest service
to celebrate with joy all that God has created for us. | |
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All of us at Enderby Parish Church warmly welcome you to join us to celebrate
God's abundance at Harvest time.
Our parish church has celebrated the harvest since the middle ages when the church
was built
At harvest we can remember that God created all there is and provides us with
the crops, the rain, and the sun we depend on each year
Jesus used the harvest as an image of how people can accept God's word and believe
in Jesus or reject God's word
Those who reject God will be bound and burnt as if they were weeds, but those
who accept God through Jesus will be brought into God's eternal kingdom |
