大象传媒

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.
It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

OPENING ANNO
Radio 4聽 Time now for Sunday Worship which today is a service of Harvest Thanksgiving from Northern Ireland and is led by the Very Rev Sam Wright.( It begins with the hymn 鈥淎ll things bright and beautiful鈥�)
___________________________________________________________
Hymns: All things Bright & Beautiful.

Good Morning and welcome to Lisburn Cathedral. This year marks 200 years since the birth of the Irish hymn writer and wife of Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Mrs Alexander, who wrote 鈥淎ll things Bright and Beautiful鈥�. She composed over 400 Hymns to celebrate God鈥檚 love come to earth and to teach the Christian faith. Each one being both easy to understand and enjoyable to sing. In our worship today, we pray you will enjoy and be blessed by Hymns and Songs, Prayers and Preaching that celebrate God鈥檚 creation and goodness in this Harvest celebration.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth;
serve the Lord with gladness!
Come before him with joyful songs;
give thanks to him and praise his name!

We praise the Lord as we sing in words from Psalm 65 : 鈥淵ou crown the year鈥�- 鈥淐ome ye thankful people come, raise the song of Harvest Home鈥�

Song: You Crown the Year

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.鈥� (Genesis 8:22)

Loving God, we come this day to praise you and to celebrate your goodness. We come with thanksgiving, joy and wonder, reminding ourselves of the richness of your creation, and acknowledging your faithfulness in providing for all our needs and far beyond!
You have blessed us beyond our deserving:
Lord Jesus, gladly we rejoice.

Creator God, for the beauty of the seasons, the constant cycle of day and night, and the vital gifts of rain and sunshine, we praise you.聽
You have blessed us beyond our deserving:
Lord Jesus, gladly we rejoice.

Amazing God, for the miracle of growth, the wonder of life, and the incredible variety of harvest, we bring you our thanksgiving.
You have blessed us beyond our deserving:
Lord Jesus, gladly we rejoice.

Living God, receive our worship, accept our offerings, bless our celebration, and fill us with thankfulness for all you have given.
You have blessed us beyond our deserving:
Lord Jesus, gladly we rejoice.聽

Psalm 24:1-6
Reader: The earth is the Lord鈥檚, and everything in it,
聽聽聽 the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
聽聽聽 and established it on the waters.
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
聽聽聽 Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
聽聽聽 who does not trust in an idol
聽聽聽 or swear by a false god.
They will receive blessing from the Lord
聽聽聽 and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
聽聽聽 who seek your face, God of Jacob.

We sing 鈥淐ome ye thankful people come, raise the song of Harvest Home鈥�
and then, after the reading, the Rev Danielle McCullagh the curate here at the Cathedral will preach.

Hymn: Come Ye Thankful People Come

Reader: Ruth 4:9-14
Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, 鈥淭oday you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon鈥檚 widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!鈥�
11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, 鈥淲e are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.鈥�
[[Naomi Gains a Son]]
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: 鈥淧raise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!聽

Address: Rev Danielle McCullagh
A few years ago as part of my training for ministry I spent some time in northern Uganda. One day there was a huge downpour of rain. My reaction was to say 鈥渙h no!鈥� while the locals around me started dancing, and clapping. The reason? Their crops would survive- they would have a harvest! To my shame, I realised how much I had lost appreciation for the significance of harvest. In many ways, I think harvest is at risk of fading into the background of our Christian thinking, particularly for those of us who live in cities in an age of internet shopping and next day delivery. Perhaps we aren鈥檛 as thankful for the harvest as the term 鈥楬arvest Thanksgiving鈥� might suggest.
And as I have been thinking about Harvest and our reasons to be thankful, I find myself time after time being drawn back to the Old Testament book of Ruth where much of the story is centred on the harvest field . The book is a relatively short one and yet it encompasses not only a beautiful love story, but it has some key lessons about what it is to depend on the harvest, to understand who the harvest belongs to, and to be truly thankful for it.
The story begins with a family of refugees who leave the city of Bethlehem because of a severe food shortage. A father and mother, called Naomi, with their two sons make their way North into the land of Moab. Naomi鈥檚 husband died and the two boys married local Moabite girls.聽 The boys too died and Naomi learnt there was now plenty of food in Bethlehem so she decided to return home. Her daughters-in-law wanted to go with her but Naomi discouraged them. One of them, Ruth determined to travel with her even though she was a Moabitess who didn鈥檛 believe in the Hebrew God as Naomi did. But she promised Naomi, 鈥淲here you go I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God鈥�. So the pair left Moab to go to Naomi鈥檚 home in Bethlehem, just as the harvest of barley was beginning.
In the Book of Leviticus, God had commanded that landowners should leave anything their harvesters didn鈥檛 pick up so that the poor, the widowed, the foreigners, and the fatherless had a supply of food, nor were the reapers to cut right to the edge of the field. And that commandment stands as a timeless reminder that harvest isn鈥檛 just about getting food for ourselves but we do have a continuing responsibility to think about and care for others.
Ruth decided to go and glean what was left by the harvesters so she and Naomi could survive in this new land. She just so happened to glean in a field owned by a man named Boaz 鈥� who turned out to be a relative of Naomi鈥檚 dead husband.
When Boaz came out to check on his harvesters, he noticed Ruth gleaning from his field and asked about her. He learned that she was a hard worker, he told her to glean alongside his own servant girls, and gave her freedom to drink from his water jars as she worked. He went on then to feed her from his own table and to make sure his harvesters left behind some of the best grain for her to pick up.
The religious custom of that day was that a widow could call upon her husband鈥檚 nearest male relative to become her next of kin or guardian-the Hebrew word literally means redeemer. A guardian-redeemer could marry a widow and in the process, buy back land once belonging to the family of Ruth and Naomi. But Ruth鈥檚 nearest relative wanted nothing to with it so Boaz took on the role, married Ruth and their son was King David鈥檚 grandfather. David was an ancestor of Jesus so Ruth is one of four women included in Jesus 鈥榞enealogy in Matthew Chapter 1..
Now this story may seem somewhat remote from twenty first century life. But underlying both the story of Ruth and what we do today is the eternal goodness of God.
Psalm 24, which we heard a few moments ago, tells us that 鈥渢he earth is the Lord鈥檚 and everything in it.鈥� Everything that we celebrate at Harvest, the creation, the plants, the trees, the fruit, the vegetables, the whole earth 鈥� it belongs to God. From it he supplies for our every need.
For us now as we enjoy and celebrate the abundance of harvest, and all the beauty and the bounty of the earth, we, like Boaz and Ruth, find ourselves living off land, which does not belong to us, but belongs solely to the Lord our God.
聽Many of us worry about paying our mortgage each month, or perhaps saving to own a bigger house with more land 鈥� or even saving to own property at all!!. But 鈥� however complex the food chain becomes at the most basic level of human existence, we survive from the produce of the earth which belongs to the Lord. When we see the harvest, and all of creation, not as a store of resources we have accumulated for ourselves but as a living gift of God, our world will start to look very different, and the thanksgiving element returns to Harvest Thanksgiving once more
It truly is a cause for celebration. That the Lord graciously allows us to glean from his glorious, beautiful creation.
And as we celebrate that we too should celebrate the glorious, beautiful invitation of the gospel.
Just as Boaz agreed to become Ruth鈥檚 guardian redeemer, to marry her and to recover that land once owned by her family, so God, in Christ, offers us a guardian redeemer. And so, we become, in an idealized New Testament picture , the bride of Christ.
So those who are called by Christ and follow him are to be faithful and obedient to him working as his fellow servants in spreading the Love of God.
And then, with all who are in Christ, we will inherit the whole earth and we will be invited to live with Christ forever more and to reign with him, over his harvest field, the earth
聽In the fourth chapter of the book of Ruth there is a blessing: 鈥淧raise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life.鈥� May he bless us this harvest time and forever more.

Song: Behold our God/At your Name

Readers: Let us pray:
In the time of Ruth, the Law required that at harvest provision should be made for the聽 marginalised,and the poor,
Lord God for all who work for a just distribution of the world鈥檚 resources to the poor, for fair trade, for freedom from debt and the alleviation of poverty, we thank you -聽
we praise you, Lord God.
Lord God for the rich soil of the countryside, for good seed and plentiful crops springing out of the earth, for the rain and sunshine and for the harvest, we thank you -
we praise you, Lord God.
Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank you that you have again
shown your kindness by giving us the fruits of the earth in their seasons. Help us to use them rightly, to your glory, for our own wellbeing, and for the relief of those in need. For the harvest, we thank you -聽 we praise you, Lord God.

Lord God we remember all people displaced from their country of origin because of violence and intimidation, thinking of people in the Middle East and parts of Africa including those who fled South Sudan where this cathedral and diocese have links, asking you to guide those working to bring peace and a safe way for the refugees to return to their own homes, for your continued faithfulness, we thank you -
we praise you, Lord God.

Lord God for your help in times of doubt and sorrow: for your support and love for all facing long term illness, for your healing in all circumstances, for your guidance and protection in times of temptation and danger, we thank you -
we praise you, Lord God.

Lord God, for the church in this city of Lisburn, help us to seek the peace and prosperity of the city where you have placed us. For your enabling of your church here and throughout the land to share the good news of your redemption and grace and through the power of your Holy Spirit to see your Kingdom grow, we thank you
we praise you, Lord God.

For all your blessings to us, for the harvest of the land and sea and most of all for the eternal harvest of people coming to know you as their savior and Lord, we thank you -
we praise you, Lord God.聽

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have
done for us. We thank you for the splendour of the whole
creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life,
and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for
the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best
efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy
and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the
truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast
obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying,
through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life
again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and
make him known; and through him, at all times and in all
places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.

We continue in prayer as we sing, Our Father in Heaven.

Our Father in Heaven -

FINAL PRAYER
Lord, we thank you for the beauty of聽 your creation, for food and vegetables, for trees and flowers, for fish and animals.
May we always remember that what we have, comes from you.
May we be good stewards of all that you have entrusted to us.聽
May we have generous hearts that share your good gifts and your good news for all people.
This we pray in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen
The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds
in the knowledge and love of God,
and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
be among you and remain with you always. Amen

Hymn Now thank we all our God聽
Sunday Worship was a service of Harvest Thanksgiving from Christ Church Cathedral, Lisburn, Co Antrim and was led by the Very Rev Sam Wright, the Dean of Connor and the preacher was the Rev Danielle McCullagh. The Director of Music was Stephen McLoughlin and the organist, Andrew Skelly.
The producer was Bert Tosh
Next week鈥檚 Sunday Worship Bishop James Jones visits the York Mystery Plays. That鈥檚 Sunday Worship at the usual time of ten past eight.