St George’s Church Sunday 1 October 2023 – Harvest Sunday

Collect
Eternal God,
you crown the year with your goodness
and you give us the fruits of the earth in their season:
grant that we may use them to your glory,
for the relief of those in need and
for our own well-being;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen

Deuteronomy 28.1-14
If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments
that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth;
all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:
Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock,
both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.
Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you;
they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways.
The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake;
he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you,
if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.
All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.
The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock,
and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you.
The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season
and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.
The Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; you shall be only at the top,
and not at the bottom—if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,
which I am commanding you today, by diligently observing them,
and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today,
either to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them.

2 Corinthians 9.6-15
The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
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.
As it is written, “He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”
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.
You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us;
for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints
but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.
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, while they long for you
and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you.
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Luke 12.16-30
Jesus told the people a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly.
And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’
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.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’
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?’
So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
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.
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
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!
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?
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.
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!
And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying.
For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.