Harvest Festival

Sunday 3rd October 2004

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below,

Praise Him above ye heav’nly hosts,

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

There will be a sale of Harvest goodies after the service in aid of St. John’s harvest charities : Handicap International and Restaurants du Coeur. Please do support this.

A Warm welcome to our Harvest Festival celebration this morning

Hymn : 101 Come Ye Thankful People Come

Opening prayer : We say together :

Lord our God, we come together to praise and thank you for all the many blessings of this life, and for all the gifts of Harvest. You are the source of creation and all life, you are the very breath and heart beat of our existence. We praise you for your boundless love that longs to fill every human heart and all the earth. Amen.

Confession :

As we celebrate your goodness

So we recognise our own sin.

Our greed and insensitivity

Our failure to appreciate what we have

And the opportunities you have given.

Our readiness to complain

Our unwillingness to praise.

Father, forgive and renew us.

Food taken for granted, Work and effort unappreciated and poorly rewarded,

Self-centred blindness to other’s needs.

Deliberate deafness to the cries of the hungry,

Coldness of heart to those deprived of affection,

Father, forgive and renew us.

May our sins be forgiven,

Our blindness, deafness and coldness of heart be healed.

May your renewing Spirit rest upon us

And fill us and all people with your love and hope.

In Jesus’ Name

Amen

Epistle : 2 Corinthians 9 : 6-15

Hymn : Praise God from Whom All Blessing Flow

Gospel : Luke 12 : 16-30

Creed : page 14

Hymn : 524 To Thee O Lord Our Hearts We Raise

Offertory

As the bread is offered

Lord God we give you thanks for your gift of the fruit of the grain, made into bread by the work of human hands, it becomes for us the bread of life.

As grapes are offered

Text Box: Lord we give you thanks for the fruit of the vine, made into wine by the work of human hands, it becomes for us the cup of salvation.

All things come from you, and of your own do we give you. Amen

The Eucharist page 8 Yellow Book

Communion Hymn: 72 Broken for me (sung quietly and prayerfully)

Thanksgiving Prayer

Lord of the harvest,

with joy we have offered thanksgiving

for your love in creation,

and have shared in the bread and the wine of the kingdom:

by your grace plant within us a reverence for all that you give us

and make us generous and wise stewards

of the good things we enjoy:

through Jesus Christ our Lord

Amen.

Hymn : 534 We Plough the Fields and Scatter

The next Sunday lunch will be held on Sunday 17th October

and will have an Italian theme. Volunteers are needed to cook Lasagne and Tiramasu. Recipes will be provided, cooks will be reimbursed for their expenses and the cost of the meal will be in the region of 10 euros. Sign up sheet at the back of the church. The September lunch was a big success with forty people present in our garden so do plan to come to the October one.

Centenary Appeal.

This week we have had good news from the Mairie, that they propose to begin the masonry work on the exterior of the church tomorrow! A huge step forward in our restoration programme.

We do thank everyone who is contributing to the appeal. We have now reached 25000 euros, which is third of the way to our target, so please pick up a leaflet at the back of the church, and look at the display next to the thermometer, we are always very grateful to receive donations

Christmas Cards.

Carol Marcer and Cathy Edwards have been very busy making Christmas cards in aid of our Centenary Appeal. They are on sale today and are going fast, nearly a thousand have been sold already and only a few more will be available over the weeks to come. Please do plan to buy your cards from St. John’s this year and help our appeal. If you would like to order cards please sign up on the list on the notice board.

St. John’s Church The Reverend Canon Ben Eaton

Avenue Paul Doumer 04 94 40 48 61