Harvest Festival 9th October 2022

Kokotos Winery Athens

Opening hymn:

We plough the fields, and scatter
the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God’s almighty hand:
he sends the snow in winter,
the warmth to swell the grain,
the breezes, and the sunshine,
and soft, refreshing rain.

Refrain:
All good gifts around us
are sent from heaven above;
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
for all his love.

2 He only is the maker
of all things near and far;
he paints the wayside flower,
he lights the evening star;
the winds and waves obey him,
by him the birds are fed;
much more to us, his children,
he gives our daily bread. [Refrain]

3 We thank thee then, O Father,
for all things bright and good,
the seed-time and the harvest,
our life, our health, our food.
Accept the gifts we offer
for all thy love imparts,
and, what thou most desirest,
our humble, thankful hearts. [Refrain]

 

Priest: Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

All:  and also with you.

 

The priest welcomes everyone to the liturgy. The deacon then leads the Confession

 

Deacon: God’s whole creation groans.  We confess our sin in penitence and faith.

 

Deacon: Consider the birds of the air; they do not sow or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Lord have mercy.

All: Lord have mercy

Deacon: Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil or spin, yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Christ have mercy.

All: Christ have mercy

Deacon: How little faith we have. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Lord have mercy.

All: Christ have mercy.

The priest then pronounces the words of Absolution.

Hymn for the Gloria

Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain,

Wheat that in dark earth many days hath lain:

Love lives again, that with the dead has been:

Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green

 

In the grave they laid him, Love whom men had slain,

Thinking that never he would wake again,

Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:  chorus

 

Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,

He that for three days in the grave had lain,

Quick from the dead, my risen Lord is seen:  chorus

 

When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain,

Thy touch can call us back to life again,

Fields of our hearts, that dead and bare have been:  chorus

 

The priest now prays the collect for Harvest

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 our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. All:  Amen

 

Please sit for the reading in Swedish then English 

First Reading                                                                          Deuteronomy 8.7-18

For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land – a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig-trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Reader:  The word of the Lord                               All: Thanks be to God

Please stand for the Gospel

Deacon:  Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Jesus says: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.

Abide in me as I abide in you.

All:          Alleluia   (Sung)

Deacon: The Lord be with you

All:          and also with you.

Deacon: Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew

All:          Glory to you, O Lord                                          

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, 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, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

At the end of the gospel

Deacon:  This is the Gospel of the Lord

All:           Praise to You, O Christ.

 

Sermon:  Fr. Leonard    Please sit

 

Confession of Faith    please stand

Priest:  Do you believe in God the Father, who created the world?

All:       I believe and trust in God the Father

Priest: Do you believe and trust in his Son, Jesus Christ, who redeems mankind?

All:       I believe and trust in Jesus Christ

Priest: Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit who gives life to the Church?

All:       I believe and trust in the Holy Spirit

Priest:  This is the faith of the Church

All:       We believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

Intercessions:  Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer                 (Cees van Beek)

 

Priest:  You shall go out with joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and

the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field

shall clap their hands.

Priest:  The peace of the Lord be always with you

All:        and also with you

 

Offertory hymn  (the Collection will be taken during this hymn)

Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God our Maker doth provide
For our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear:
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.

 

For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.

The priest raises bread and then wine with these words:

As the grain once scattered in the fields and the grapes once dispersed on the hillside are no reunited on this table in bread and wine, so, Lord, may your whole Church soon be gathered together from the corners of the earth into your kingdom.  Amen.

 

Priest:  The Lord be with you

All:        and also with you

Priest:  Lift up your hearts

All:       we lift them to the Lord

Priest:  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

All:       it is right to give thanks and praise

The priest then continues with the thanks and praise. After the words ‘for ever praising you and saying’  we all say:

             Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of thy

             glory. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the

             name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest.

 

The priest continues with the Thanksgiving, then the Deacon says

 

Deacon:  Great is the mystery of faith

All:           Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.

 

At the end of the Prayer of Thanksgiving ALL say   Amen.

 

All pray together in whichever language you chose:          

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Priest: We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

All:      Though we are many we are one body, because we all share

             in one bread.

            

             All: (Said)  Jesus, Lamb of God, have mercy on us.

                   Jesus, bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.

                   Jesus, Redeemer of the world, grant us peace

 

The priest now invites all to come and share in the holy meal of Jesus Christ

 

Priest:   God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people

All:         Jesus Christ is holy, Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Priest: 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 priests of your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

All:     Almighty God, we thank you for feeding us with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we offer you our souls and bodies to be a living sacrifice. Send us out in the power of your Spirit to live and work to your praise and glory. Amen.

Hymn:  For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies.   Refrain:
Christ, our Lord, to you we raise
this, our hymn of grateful praise.

2 For the wonder of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light, [Refrain ]

3 For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild, [Refrain]

4 For yourself, best gift divine,
to the world so freely given,
agent of God’s grand design:
peace on earth and joy in heaven. [Refrain]

 

Priest:     The blessing…..                  in Swedish and English

 

Deacon: Tend the earth, care for God’s good creation, and bring forth the fruits of

righteousness. Go in the peace of Christ.

All:          Thanks be to God.

 

The wine tasting takes place straight after the Liturgy.

Our thanks to George and Anne Kokotos for enabling us to celebrate Harvest on their estate, and to Lynn Stavrou and her team for all her co-ordination of this event.