What is the harvest? The Feast of the Harvest in the Church. All vanity of vanities and vexation of spirit How to decorate the scene for the harvest festival

On Sunday, October 11th, the Feast of the Harvest was held in our church. This is a good Christian tradition, when on one of the autumn days people bring to the church the land grown in their dachas and vegetable gardens, as well as the fruits of the land bought at the market. Numerous fruits are beautifully laid out in a conspicuous place. Believers thank God on this day for the given harvest, sing songs of praise and sum up the results of the year.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" (Matt. 9: 37-38).

Congratulations on the holiday of the Chairman of the RS ECB Y. K. Sipko:

Beloved of the Lord, dear brothers and sisters!

On behalf of the entire Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, I cordially congratulate you on the Feast of the Harvest.

The Feast of the Harvest is a traditional event in the life of our Brotherhood. We celebrate this holiday as the command of the Lord: “Observe also the feast of the harvest of the first fruits of your labor, which you sow in the field, and celebrate when you have removed your labor from the field” (Exodus 23: 1).

pastor of the church Alexander Viktorovich Isakov

On this day, we offer prayers of thanksgiving to God for the harvest sent down, with which He richly blessed us. It is gratifying to know that everywhere, all our local churches celebrate this blessed day every year.

The Feast of the Harvest is a time of summing up, a time of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. This year the worldwide movement of Evangelical Christian Baptists celebrates its 400th anniversary. In Europe, in the city of Amsterdam, a Baptist movement was born, which God transformed into the world movement during this time. We have something to thank the Lord for, as today the world brotherhood of Christian Baptists around the world has more than 100 million followers. All these years, many generations of ministers around the world have done spiritual work, preaching the Good News to all nations. Like farmers, they sowed the seeds of faith in suffering human hearts. We thank God for the extraordinary harvest of the spiritual fruits of our worldwide ministry, which were sent down to us by the Holy Spirit over 400 years.

sisters praise the Lord with singing

Today we praise our Lord, realizing that everything, both spiritual and physical, was increased by God. It is only through His divine will, His wisdom, and His patience that we can worship, serve, and bear spiritual fruit.

On this day, our houses of prayer are adorned with the abundance of the fruits of the earth and our hearts are overflowing with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for the “daily bread” given to us to strengthen our physical strength. We also glorify God for the incorruptible spiritual fruit that was produced in our churches by the Holy Spirit.

Sister Zoya Bardina has been a member of our church since its inception. Now my sister Zoya lives in Moscow, works in the Christian newspaper "Protestant". While in Vladivostok, I came to the "Good News". “This church will always be home to me,” she says.

Celebrating the feast of the Harvest, let us prayerfully ask the Lord to "send the laborers into His harvest." The churches of our brotherhood still need elders and missionaries, many peoples of our country have not yet heard the Gospel, some regions of our country do not have the opportunity to have church premises for worship.

On this wonderful holiday of Zhaty, from the bottom of my heart I wish you to bring abundant spiritual fruit for our Creator, as well as “To prepare for yourselves undying vaginas, a treasure that does not fail in heaven” (Luke 12, 33).

Greet one another with the love of Jesus Christ.

Chairman of the RS ECB Yu.K. Sipko

At the end of the service, the church hosted a supper of love - a festive meal, where members and guests of the church could taste the gifts brought and the dinner prepared by the sisters. In the photo - a prayer of blessing of gifts by the clergy. From left to right: deacon of the ECB church in Artem Grigory Nikolaevich Zimarev, pastor of the "Good News" church Alexander Viktorovich Isakov, deacon of the "Good news" church Sergey Sergeevich Anisimov

Harvest in various faiths

God the Creator annually gives people a harvest, because He promised after the Flood: “... henceforth, throughout the days of the earth, sowing and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not stop” (Bible, Book of Genesis, chapter 8, Verse 22).

During the Old Testament times, the Lord God established the Feast of Harvest for those who wanted to live according to His laws. We read about this in the Bible: "Observe both the feast of the harvest of the first fruits of your labor, which you sow in the field, and the feast of gathering fruits at the end of the year, when you take your work out of the field" (Exodus, chapter 23, verse 16). After the end of the harvest, the Israelites thanked God for the abundance of fruits grown. Part of the harvest these days they donated to the needs of the Temple and to charity.

Christians of various faiths celebrate this holiday today by offering prayers of thanks for the earthly fruits given by God.

In the Orthodox tradition, thanksgiving for the harvest takes place on holidays that fall from August 1 to October 1, when the main agricultural work is completed (Honey Savior, Apple Savior, Khlebny Savior and others).

Christians in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving Day, when, according to tradition, a roast turkey is prepared for the festive table - in memory of the fact that the meat of this bird, donated by local Indians, helped the colonists survive the difficult period before the first harvest, when they were in dire need of food.

It has already become a tradition in our churches that many parishioners on this day bring the best fruits grown in their own gardens. Thus, we testify about what harvest the Lord has blessed us with this year.

The Feast of the Harvest in the Old Testament

The Feast of the Harvest has an Old Testament history. The Jews celebrated the feast of the first fruits for which they thanked God.

We can remember the very first story of the Old Testament, when Cain and Abel presented their first fruits to God. Abel brought from his flock, and Cain from his fruit (Gen. 4: 3-4). But God did not despise the gifts of Cain, because in the heart of Cain there was no true thanksgiving, true gratitude to God for His gifts to man (Gen. 4: 7).

We see that the cult of human offering of the first gifts to God has an ancient origin. By such an offering, a person expressed his gratitude and gratitude to God, entering with Him into an intimate circle of reciprocity and love. This was the priesthood of man: cultivating, cultivating the life given to him, it was expected that he would bring this life, its first fruits, to God.

God is a self-sufficient Being. His being is not conditioned by anything. He, as a Personality, expects from us, the free personalities created by Him, reciprocal love. This love is tested and judged by God in our first fruits.

When the Israelites appear, God gives the new nation commandments. Among them, we find instructions to Israel to observe the feast of the harvest: "observe the feast of the harvest of the first fruits of your labor, which you sow in the field" (see Ex. 23: 14-16, es. 16; and also Ex. 34: 21-22 , Leviticus 23: 15-16, Deut. 16: 9-12). In Deuteronomy we read: “Count the seven weeks for yourself; begin to count seven weeks from the time the sickle appears in the harvest; then celebrate the feast of weeks to the Lord your God, according to the diligence of your hand, as much as you give, depending on what the Lord your God blesses you with; and rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, and your servant, and your servant, and the Levite who is in your gates, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are in your midst, which the Lord your God will choose, that his name may dwell there; remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and keep and do these ordinances. "

From this we see that one of the features of the holidays was remembrance (v. 12). Celebrating the "Harvest" on the fiftieth day (weeks is the number of full weeks, hence, another name for the holiday is "Pentecost", according to the number of days after Easter) after the main and central holiday of Easter, the Jews had to remember what happened to them when they were slaves in Egypt. A similar idea of \u200b\u200b"remembrance" has a meaning in the commandment of Jesus, in the Breaking of Bread.

Again, you can see the close connection of this memory with the idea of \u200b\u200bthanksgiving. Remembering their hardships and slavery in Egypt, the Jewish people thanked God for liberation from bonds and oppression in a foreign country. This memory was framed as a celebration as Israel rejoiced in the face of the Lord!

The Feast of the Harvest in the New Testament

On the feast of Pentecost, the historical birth of the Christian church took place at the descent of the Holy Spirit. The apostles and all those gathered in the upper room began to speak in different languages. All this testified to the fact that God turned his gaze to the Gentiles, pointing to the universal dimension of the church he had born. This prophetically pointed to the words of Jesus Christ: “I tell you that many will come from the east and west and will recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:29). Reclining is not a sleepy state, but an indication of the process of eating. The task of the Christian mission was to fulfill and continue to fulfill in the future the eternal celebration of that true Easter, the prototype of which was Jesus Christ.

Jesus speaks of a future Kingdom Feast, during which He will drink new wine (Matt. 26:29). All people are invited to this Feast, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Church, all ends of the earth are called. But blessed are those who come (Rev. 19: 7-9).

We see that the festive side of the relationship with God after the tragic apostasy of man in the Garden of Eden finds its continuation in the development of the relationship between God (Lamb Jesus) and His Church (Bride).

According to legend, the Israeli people on the fiftieth day after their deliverance from the Egyptian captivity approached Mount Sinai, where Moses received the law. This serves as some type of what happened in the upper room where the apostles were gathered. The Holy Spirit descended on the Church and created a new society. It is significant that all this happened on the day when Israel celebrated the event of the descent of the Spirit of God on the mountain sung by the psalmists.

The Harvest in Christian Church History

Over time, the Church adopted only some of the Jewish holidays (for example, the Feast of Tabernacles did not become part of the calendar, having entered a separate church calendar). Some of the festivals fell into the same category of festivals as the pagans. As a result, a synthesis of pagan and Christian rituals occurs.

Since the time of the Reformation, they tried to return the harvest holiday to its original place in the church calendar, since before that it was associated with those festivals that were held in August-October, and at which the Church was consecrated. After the Reformation (since 1770), this holiday was celebrated as a liturgical one.

Today, Harvest Day is usually celebrated on the first Sunday after September 22, or the first Sunday in October.

In all evangelical churches, regardless of confessional affiliation, the hall for worship is decorated with flowers, compositions of vegetables and fruits, wreaths of wheat ears are placed, braids of onions are hung.

Celebrating the Harvest, the Church expresses her essence and purpose - gratitude to God and love for Him.

Spiritual meaning of the Feast of the Harvest

"Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Bible, Galatians, chapter 6, verse 7). This law known to all applies not only to the material sphere, but also to the spiritual one. He calls us to sow the blessed seeds of goodness, love and compassion, as people need it.

Once the prophet Jeremiah remarked: “The harvest is past, the summer is over, and we are not saved” (Bible, Book of Jeremiah, chapter 8, verse 20). Material well-being is God's blessing. The lack of gratitude in our lives is the result of spiritual apathy, our secularization and death.

Christian churches urge people, you personally, to reflect on the fact that everything in this world is transient and temporary. God gives all of us the opportunity to communicate with Him. The harvest is a holiday of our joy and thanksgiving not only for the earthly, but also for the eternal life that God gave us in His Son Jesus Christ!

There are many holidays that are celebrated by different Christian denominations. The Orthodox Church is breaking records in this. All the holidays that are celebrated there, in their sum, make up approximately half of the calendar year. There are also holidays that are the same for everyone - this is the great day of the Resurrection of Christ (Easter), and also the Third common for all is the Harvest - it is, more simply, Thanksgiving Day. The harvest is always celebrated in early autumn, after the harvest.

Where does this holiday originate from?

Even in ancient times, this holiday was considered one of the most significant for the whole year. Since agriculture was practically the only source of food, people appreciated every vegetable and fruit grown on the earth. Even our ancestors, pagans, who had no idea about God, and even more so Christianity, revered the earth, called her mother and sacrificed to her in gratitude for everything she gave at the end of the summer.

The very first mention of gratitude for food is recorded on the pages of the Bible a little after the creation of the world, when two brothers (descended from the first people on Earth) sacrificed food to God. By this, they thanked Him for the fact that they had something to eat and do.

Since a person is a social being, he cannot exist in a limited and isolated space. Therefore, you have to build communications in communication with people. It is impossible to do this without having a habit of thanking for the attention, help and much more.

So it is more globally. We are by nature, God is given a harvest every year in large quantities, so we must have a grateful heart.

How did the Jews celebrate it?

The Jews knew that the all-seeing God was waiting for sincere thanksgiving. For this reason, Cain's gift was rejected, as he harbored envy, not gratitude, in his heart. God does not depend on people in any way. He is self-sufficient, therefore, giving a person life and everything for life, He expects that people will bring the first fruits to Him as a token of gratitude. When God told His people how to live, He gave direct instructions regarding the Feast of the Harvest. In the book of Exodus, there is a direct command that this holiday must be observed and observed (here for the first time it is mentioned that the harvest is the gathering of the first harvest from the one sown in the field). Then later, in the book of Deuteronomy, we can see exactly how the Jews celebrated this holiday. It says here that you need to count 7 weeks from the time when the first harvest in the field begins. After that, the days of the Harvest come - the time when the people gathers all the best in one place (as much as the person wants to give), then rejoice and thank God. This was done so that every Israelite would remember that he was in slavery to the Egyptians, and now has his own land and crops.

Harvest in the Protestant Church

Today, many churches celebrate and await the harvest time. There is no spiritual teaching that denies gratitude. Christians are convinced that everything in their life is sent from Him. Even if you don't take material things, a lot has been given to us for a comfortable life for nothing. There are wonderful words about material things: you can buy medicines, but you cannot buy health; bed, but not sleep; food, but not appetite; and also affection, but not love. Every day we get sunshine for free, feel the coolness of the wind, rejoice in the rain, walk in the snow, with delight we look at the autumn painting on the leaves and patterns from frost on the glass. Christians know that every moment is precious and there is no time for grumbling or discontent. It is precisely realizing the gifts of God in their lives that believers thank for them every day, and especially on the Feast of the Harvest in the church.

Each church has its own traditions of celebrating this day. For some it is a definite day on the calendar; many Christian communities celebrate with lunch and tea, thus feeding the hungry and needy people. Another feature of the Harvest is the almost designer decoration of the church: still lifes, compositions, thematic creations are created from the products brought by parishioners. Decorates everything that is possible in the meeting room, but special attention is paid to the space in front of the pulpit (a special place for sermons and instructions).

Harvest for US residents

For North Americans, Harvest is generally a public holiday. True, there it has a slightly different name - Thanksgiving Day, which in our language means Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving Orthodox interpretation

Although Orthodox believers do not define any of their holidays as the Harvest, they also have days of thanksgiving to God for the harvest and His gifts to people. In this religion, Harvest days are some of the holidays that mention food and harvest. These days include Honey Savior, Khlebny Savior, Apple Savior and some others. These holidays fall at the time when agricultural work ends in the fields, this is the period from early August to early October. In these days, Christians of this faith also thank God for everything that they have in the new harvest, for strength, health and food. And also very closely such holidays overlap with folk signs. For example, everyone knows the saying: prepare mittens in reserve. "That is, in this way they draw an analogy with Christian holidays and people's observations of the weather.

How is the holiday celebrated at the present time?

In our age of modern technologies and creative thinking, there are still people who tend to attribute gifts of nature not to their automated work, but to God's blessing for people. Today, the Harvest is a festival with two meanings. The first is gratitude to the Lord for multiplying the number of planted products by several times. It is not for nothing that the Bible says: "... what you sow, so you reap ... you sow abundantly, you reap abundantly, you sow scarcely, and you reap scarcely ..." , will receive 10 tons. The second meaning is to summarize some of your actions and thoughts, as well as an assessment of your lifestyle. The Christian Harvest involves people assessing how their lives are in line with Biblical principles, whether they are doing what Christ taught.

Why is it important to give thanks?

A grateful heart is always valuable. Who wants to do something for you if you take it for granted? Everyone is pleased to receive gratitude for a good deed. Christians believe that everything they have in life is sent by God. Indeed, the rains at the beginning of June, which are vital for all plants, do not depend on us. Even the best watering cannot replace a good June rain! The amount of solar heat and light, which also feed our vegetables and fruits, does not depend on us. We do not regulate the frosts in early April, which can kill the nascent life in the buds. For the timely rains, the opportunity to plant and harvest the crops, Christians should thank the One who provides all this. Therefore, the Feast of the Harvest was introduced.

If we take into account only the scientific aspect of gratitude, then scientists have long proven the fact that contentment with life determines its quality. It takes into account both the state of health (for grateful people it is much better), and activity, as well as close friendships and success in professional activity.

The harvest: the meaning of the holiday on a spiritual level

Thanksgiving is celebrated for more than just food, fruit, and socializing (although this is important). Christians also pay special attention to the spiritual component of this day. The Feast of the Harvest in the church is also held in order to remind parishioners of what we sow in life. On this day, everyone asks himself the question: "Do I sow goodness in relationships with others? Do love for others, patience, mercy, compassion live in me, because these qualities are now very necessary for people?" etc.

What does the Bible say about the Harvest?

The Bible pays much attention to the spiritual significance of the holiday. There are many links to different books that in one way or another reveal the meaning of this day. The Feast of the Harvest is also covered in the Holy Book as the end of the century. There the question of the soul is raised: the autumn of life is coming, soon a person will have to die, where will his Bible draws the attention of all people to the fact that everyone should be saved. That is, you need to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for every sinner, so that by believing in Him, a person would go to heaven, not hell.

Two friends. Author: The Harvest Festival is the most interesting Christian holiday. At this time, there is a feeling that he has become closer to the Lord. You start to wonder if life is not fruitless. You can imagine a tree, no, two trees. On the…

There is a tree on the stage. This can be a person wearing a large sheet of paper with a picture of a tree, or decorated with branches, etc. The fruits of the spirit can be played by older children, they stand behind a tree so that the audience does not see them ...

Act 1 Lead: The Parable of the Sower. A sower walked with grain in the field and sowed; And the wind scattered those grains everywhere. At this time, a sower appears and leaves the open Bible, then leaves. Host: Some fell on the road, sometimes a passer-by tramples them ...

Time: 15 minutes Actors: Author, commentator, oak, birch, linden, acacia, ash, pine, chestnut, poplar, willow, heather. Author: Now we will tell the story About the purpose of trees. After all, they are all an example for us, Listen in humility. The trees are all ...

Time: 5 minutes Actors: boy, rose, cornflower, spikelet. Boy: Before me are lilies of the valley, peonies, Islets of daisies, cornflowers ... And I exclaimed, captivated by beauty: "Is there anything more beautiful than flowers?" The dear assembly got excited, How ...

Time: 10 minutes Actors: Semyon, Ivan, girl, dog, donkey. Author: Kozhakina Vika, Novorossiysk, 1998 Act 1 Two boys meet near the vines they have grown. Semyon: Good morning, Ivan! Ivan: Hello. How is your ...

In the Moscow Church "Living Word" on September 18, 2016, the Harvest Day was held. Many people came to the holiday with pleasure. The church hall was full, about 120-150 people came. The festive program was held beautifully, to the glory of the Lord: songs, scenes, the word of God, games, a feast, and so on ... The purpose of the Harvest Festival is to tell unbelievers about the essence of the meaning of life and call them to find salvation through Jesus Christ.

Traditionally, the decoration of the hall on the Feast of the Harvest is the harvest from fields, vegetable gardens and orchards.

The presenter Danil G. joyfully greeted everyone with the love of Christ. Many spectators watched the scenes with pleasure and listened attentively to the Word of God.

Pastor Arthur J. blessed the children.

The teenage sisters praised God: "For all thanksgiving ...".

Anastasia A. and Daria B. glorified God: "The whole harvest is ripe ...".

The program of the holiday included a teenage theatrical performance "Fruit of the Spirit". In it, the children clearly depicted that the Lord wants us to bear the fruit of the spirit in our lives and become like the image of His Son Jesus Christ. Our fruitage of spirit is to imitate Christ in everything: in our character, behavior, way of life.

The second scene was about "The Harvest - the End of the Age". The participants in this scene showed that our life can end at any moment. Two different ends of earthly life were depicted: for those prepared for death and for those who were not ready to meet God after death. The result was summed up: to gain eternal life, be ready to meet God - we can only through faith in Jesus Christ!

Pastor Arthur J. preached on the theme of The Harvest. When we have deadlines, we can prevent a waste of time. Decide why, when, and how to get the job done. All our affairs can be roughly divided into 4 categories: “Important and urgent matters”, “Important but not urgent matters”, “Urgent but not important matters” and “Not urgent and not important matters”. Mostly people are running around on urgent matters, not on important ones. Of course, urgent matters need to be done. But, neglecting important matters, and doing only urgent matters, in the end, nothing remains, i.e. emptiness. The result of the sermon: the most important and most urgent matter for all people, without exception, is to be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Nadezhda P. praised the Lord: "Come to Me ...".

Sisters in Christ glorified Jesus Christ for miraculous gifts.

In the meantime, after the blessing of the pastor, the Sunday school teachers held interesting classes for the children. Children were offered various crafts and games for every taste.