Harvest Festival
Sunday, 4th October 2026
OPENING PRAYER AND REFLECTION
Creator God, breathing your own life into our being, you give us the gift of life. You placed us on this Earth with its flowers and fruits, minerals and waters, living creatures of grace and beauty.
At Harvest time the Earth reaches the peak of its fruitfulness. It depends on us to praise you by harvesting its goods in ways which ensure there will be harvests in the future.
You gave us the care of the Earth. Today you ask us: ‘Where are you? What have you done?’
Silence
Psalmody
Psalm126
A Harvest of Joy
A Song of Ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5 May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
6 Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end.
You crown the year with your goodness,
and your paths overflow with plenty.
May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness,
and the hills be girded with joy.
May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep;
and the valleys stand so thick with corn,
That they shall laugh and sing.
PRAYER
When we are unkind to people,
and forget they are God’s children;
When we are careless with the beasts
and forget they are God’s creation;
When we ill treat the land
and forget it is the splendour of God.
Forgive us, O God of love, and reconcile us to yourself,
to one another and to the Creation.
Teach us, that the earth and all its fullness is yours,
the world and those who dwell in it.
Remind us that your Son, too,
enjoyed the fruits of harvest in Galilee
And joins us now as we celebrate your good gifts together.
Call us yet again to safeguard the gift of life,
now and forever.
Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING
Joel 2:21-27
21 Do not fear, O soil;
be glad and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things!
22 Do not fear, you animals of the field,
for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit,
the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
23 O children of Zion, be glad
and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.
24 The threshing-floors shall be full of grain,
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent against you.
26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again
be put to shame.
NEW TESTAMENT READING
2 Corinthians 9: 6 -15
6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. 9 As it is written,
‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures for ever.’
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
GOSPEL READING
Luke 12. :16 to 31
16 Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” 18 Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” 20 But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’
Do Not Worry
22 He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?[a] 26 If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
PRAYER
For rain and sun and insects to pollinate crops; for farmers who work with nature and preserve the beauty and diversity of God’s creation; and for wild creatures which enjoy the harvest of berries, nuts, grains and seeds.
ALL: We give thanks, O God.
For the soil, rich and precious, home to countless living creatures which maintain fertility and give us food and life.
ALL: We give thanks, O God.
For growing awareness that we all depend on the earth for our daily food and fuel; and for the increasing numbers of people who want to eat local food and have closer links with food producers.
ALL: We give thanks, O God.
For wisdom to live in ways that will slow down climate change and keep the rains falling in their due season.
ALL: O Lord hear our prayer.
For caution in manipulating the building blocks of life in transferring genes between species.
ALL: O Lord hear our prayer.
For grace to recognise we are part of God’s creation with responsibilities to care for God’s earth and our fellow creatures, including farm animals both during their lives and in their deaths at abattoirs.
ALL: O Lord hear our prayer.
Bring peace to the killing fields of war, turn scorched earth to green, so that people can sow their seeds and harvest their crops and live in harmony with their neighbours.
ALL: Lord send forth your Spirit.
Bring justice to those crushed by debt, forced to grow cash crops for us to consume, tempted to waste fertile land growing drugs and tobacco and denied access to land for growing their own food.
ALL: Lord, send forth your Spirit.
Send us out into the world, in service to God’s creatures, as disciples of Jesus who blessed bread and wine at the Last Supper – bread which earth has given and human hands have made and wine, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
ALL: Lord, send forth your Spirit.
CLOSING THANKSGIVING PRAYER
Finally, we offer grateful thanks to our God for the fruits of the earth, the down-coming of the rains, the ripening warmth of the sun, and the seeds and fruits of every year.
May we always walk gently upon this earth, in right relationship,
nurtured by your Love
taking only what we need
giving back to the earth in gratitude
sharing what we have
honouring all with reverence
reconciling and healing
mindful of those who will come after
recognising our proper place as part of your creation.
Grant us the strength and courage, we pray,
for such radical transformation into your Kingdom.
Then we, too, with the very stones will shout, Hosanna!
BLESSING
May the Father,
who fed his children with bread and honey in the wilderness,
strengthen you in your pilgrimage to the Promised Land. Amen.
May the Son,
who gave his flesh for food and his blood for drink,
keep you in eternal life and raise you up on the last day. Amen.
May the Holy Spirit,
who leads us into all truth,
help you discern the Lord’s body
and empower you to proclaim his death until he comes. Amen.
And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
Amen
Acknowledgements
The “Thanksgiving” is from Prayer for Global Restoration by Michelle Balek of Pax Christi USA. The ‘Blessing’ is by Michael Perham in Patterns of Worship , Church House Publishing. (10T29). The words of Psalm 65 in the Order of Service are from the Church of England’s Psalter 1998.