Dear Friends
Greetings in the name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
We are in the season of Creationtide. The Creationtide, or the Season of Creation, is the period from 1st September to 4th October. These days are dedicated to God as Creator and Sustainer of all life.
In this season we are reminded to admire the beauty of nature, recognising the creative acts of our Creator, inspiring within us a sense of the continuous connection between nature and God, and God and ourselves. This season will increase within us, as a Church community, our gratefulness to our Creator, inspiring us to thank Him for all His goodness. It will renew our responsibility to protect the earth through our conscious thinking and our concrete actions. We are surrounded by the signs of a climate crisis and many people are caught up by unexpected climate changes in the world. In the midst of this situation, we are called to consider how we are receiving the fruits of the earth daily and how are we using our resources with mindfulness in our day-to-day lives. Importantly, this season reminds us, from the scriptures, that we are the caretakers (“So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.” Genesis 3:23) and we are the labourers (“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”…Luke 10:2)
The fact is, God the Son who redeemed the world inspires us to go out, in our life journey, as labourers into his harvest. So, we need to give thanks to the Triune God, which is of prime importance during this season. LTCC always have the 4th Sunday of this month to remind ourselves about our own blessings and to motivate us to share our blessings with the less fortunate through our Harvest offerings. Particularly, we offer our Harvest gifts to the Homeless people through the Rivercourt Methodist Church Homeless Project.
This year we are fortunate to have Revd Singa Vunipola to lead and preach in this Harvest Sunday. Please bring your Harvest offering on the 4th Sunday. I also request you to be aware of what we could do in this season to recognise the value of all creation. What lessons can we learn from the nature around us? Make sure to walk at least for half an hour to admire the beauty of God’s creation where you live.
We are called to look at nature in its many forms and value them and value ourselves as part of God’s creation. Obviously, we are all living through an economic crisis. But remind ourselves we are not starving. Harvest is the time we count our blessings to come out of our blaming cultures, and that will be helpful to reveal God’s caring and loving nature. Please encourage yourselves and one another from Mathew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
Have a blessed month
With blessings
Revd Jessie Anand, Minister, LTCC September 2023