As we begin our Harvest Festival, we concentrate on thanking God for answering our petitions for all our needs.
This is the first of three weekends where we as a faith community pray in ‘Thanksgiving for the Fruits of the Earth’.
Bread is the staple diet of many in this world. We start this week in each church with a small display of wheat as it grows in our field and bread we eat.
As you look at a sheaf of wheat, see how each grain is protected by an outer sheath, the husk to protect it from the bad weather. How marvelous is the mind of God who designed this grass plant which people have cultivated and fed on for the past ten thousand years. We are thankful to you Lord.
There is also a bowl of grain in the display – seed for next year’s planting or grain sent to the mill to be ground into flour used by bakers to make beautiful loaves of bread and cakes. We are thankful for the variety of food that can be made using wheat.
We remember those who are less fortunate than ourselves, those who are starving in this world. We are thankful for the many people who work with wheat and help us receive our daily bread. Bless them in their work dear Lord. We thank you, O Lord, for the wheat and all who help us benefit from the wheat harvest.
Amen.
