The Gift of Generosity

Sunday 10th March 2024
Sermon Series: Living Long in the Land

Texts:
Ephesians 2: 1-10
Luke 12: 16-30

(rom Psalm 65.8,10,11,13; 67.
The earth has yielded its harvest;
God, our God, has blessed us.
You visit the earth and water it;
you make it very plenteous.
You soften the ground with showers;
and bless the increase of it.
You crown the year with your goodness;
and your paths overflow with plenty.
The meadows are clothed with sheep;
the valleys stand so thick with corn,
they shout for joy and sing.
The earth has yielded its harvest;
God, our God, has blessed us.
 
Generosity is a gift! Not only is it a gift to the recipient, it is possibly even more so to the giver! The New Zealand Health Foundation has identified giving as one of the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ and they have a chart up in doctors’ surgeries everywhere saying this.
The Christian festival of Harvest Thanksgiving beautifully captures this idea of generosity, so let’s explore the gift of generosity through this ancient practice of Harvest Thanksgiving.
 
Watch the recorded sermon here: https://youtu.be/Z82TU7oq72w

A Foodie Prayer of Praise:
For food, glorious food and those who provide it
Let us praise God for potatoes and pasta, crumbly cheese and juicy tomatoes
Let us praise God for the smell of freshly baked bread, for butter and honey, jam and cream
Let us praise God for colourful carrots and bendy bananas, peppers and peanuts and pears
Let us praise God for sizzling sausages and bacon butties, for crunchy apples and seedless grapes
Let us praise God for milk and for juice, for fish and for chips
Let us praise God for chocolate and for biscuits, for cornflakes and toast
Let us praise God for food, glorious food and those who provide it
Let us praise God
Amen