Harvest in various faiths

God the Creator annually gives people a harvest, because He promised after the Flood: "... henceforth, all the days of the earth, sowing and reaping, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not cease" (Bible, Genesis, chapter 8, verse 22).

In the days of the Old Testament, the Lord God established the Feast of the 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 away your work from the field” (Book of Exodus, chapter 23, verse 16). After the end of the harvest, the Israelites thanked God for the abundance of grown fruits. They gave part of the harvest these days for the needs of the Temple and for charity.

Christians of various denominations celebrate this holiday today, offering thanksgiving prayers for the earthly fruits given by God.

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

Christians in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving Day, when, according to tradition, a fried 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 to what kind of harvest the Lord has blessed us with this year.

Harvest Feast 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 gave thanks to 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 fruits (Gen. 4:3-4). But God did not despise Cain's gifts, because in Cain's heart there was no genuine thanksgiving, true gratitude to God for His gifts to man (Genesis 4:7).

We see that the cult of offerings to God by a person of the first gifts has an ancient origin. With such an offering, a person expressed his gratitude and gratitude to God, entering into an intimate circle of relationships of reciprocity and love with Him. 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 existence is unconditioned. 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 people of Israel appear, God gives commandments to the new nation. Among them we find instructions to Israel to observe the Feast of the Harvest: “Observe also the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits of your labor, which you sowed in the field” (see Ex. 23:14-16, esp. 16; and also Ex. 34:21-22 , Leviticus 23:15-16, Deut. 16:9-12). In Deuteronomy we read: “Count seven weeks for yourself; start counting 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, how much you give, according to what the Lord your God blesses you; and rejoice before the Lord your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your servant, and your handmaid, and the Levite who is in your dwellings, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow who are among you, in the place, which the Lord your God will choose, that his name may be there; remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and observe and fulfill these ordinances.”

From this we see that one of the features of the feasts was remembrance (v. 12). Celebrating the "Harvest" on the fiftieth day (weeks - the number of full weeks, hence, another name for the holiday "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 ​​"remembrance" has a meaning in the commandment of Jesus, in the breaking of bread.

And you can see again close connection this memory with the idea of ​​thanksgiving. Remembering their hardships and slavery in Egypt, the Jewish people thanked God for deliverance from the bonds and oppression in a foreign land. This memory was framed in festive form as Israel rejoiced in the presence 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 with 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 turns his gaze to the pagans, pointing to the universal dimension of the church born by Him. This pointed prophetically to the words of Jesus Christ: “I tell you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 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 celebrate and continue to celebrate in the future the eternal celebration of that true Pascha, of which Jesus Christ was a type.

Jesus speaks of the future Feast of the Kingdom, during which He will drink new wine (Matt. 26:29). To this Feast, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Church, all people are invited, all the 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 retreat of man in the Garden of Eden continues in the development of the relationship between God (Jesus the Lamb) and His Church (the Bride).

According to legend, the people of Israel on the fiftieth day after their deliverance from Egyptian captivity came to Mount Sinai, where Moses received the law. This serves as a kind of type of what happened in that upper room where the apostles gathered. The Holy Spirit descended upon 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 the History of the Christian Church

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

Since the time of the Reformation, there have been attempts to return the Harvest holiday to its original place in the church calendar, since before that it was associated with those festivities that took place in August-October, and during which the consecration of the Church took place. After the Reformation (since 1770), this holiday began to be celebrated as a liturgical one.

In modern times, Harvest Day is usually celebrated on the first Sunday after September 22, or on 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 out.

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

The Spiritual Meaning of the Feast of the Harvest

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

Once the prophet Jeremiah noted: “The harvest is over, the summer is over, and we are not saved” (Bible, Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, chapter 8, verse 20). Material prosperity is God's blessing. Lack of gratitude in our lives is the result of spiritual apathy, our secularization and destruction.

Christian churches encourage people, you personally, to think about the fact that everything in this world is transient and temporary. God gives us all the opportunity to communicate with Him. Harvest is a celebration of our joy and thanksgiving not only for earthly things, but also for eternal life, which God gave us in His Son Jesus Christ!

Adorable mini pumpkins satin ribbons appeared on linen napkins covering jars of various goodies. The stems are embroidered with brown yarn. Of course, you will have to tinker, but the result is worth it! And if you show imagination, then you can "depict" other fruits.

You will need

• hemp-colored linen;
• satin braid orange and Brown 6 and 10 mm wide;
• embroidery threads dark brown; packing cord;
• felt-tip pen;
• needle for embroidery with a sharp tip and a large eye, hoop and scissors

Step 1

From linen, cut out a piece of size. 35 x 35 cm, hoop it and embroider pumpkins with braid, laying separate stitches “forward the needle”. Embroider a small pumpkin with a narrow braid, a large one with a wide one. Place the stitches on top of each other to make the embroidery embossed. Leave the ends of the ribbon free wrong side. If you have never embroidered with ribbons, first try this type of embroidery on an unnecessary piece of fabric.

Step 2

Embroider pumpkin stems in 3 brown threads with double-sided stitch, grabbing and fastening the ends of the threads on the wrong side. Cut off the protruding ends of the braids and threads.

Step 3

Iron the finished embroidery from the inside through damp cloth. Cut embroidery to size. 16 x 16 cm, put on the lid of the jar and tie with a cord.

Wreath in orange tones

What a beautiful golden age! Autumn fantasy in juicy oranges, reds and browns pleases the eye.

Making such a bright decoration is very simple: use wire to tie from different wreaths. Decorate it with different berries and physalis boxes.

Chestnut napkin rings

We bet you haven’t had such accessories on your table yet!

You will need:

• chestnuts,
• colorful wooden beads
• elastic cord with a diameter of 1 mm (rubber vein),
• hand drill,
• scissors

Step 1

Drill holes in the chestnuts with a thin drill, each time fixing the chestnut with a vise.

Step 2

String chestnuts on an elastic band, interspersing them with bright wooden beads.

Step 3

Tie the resulting "necklace" into a ring. Bead length in ready-made OK. 15 cm.

How to print on napkins using potatoes

Napkin size approx. 35 x 35 cm

You will need:

• plain unpainted linen (you can use ready-made table napkins made of cotton or linen);
• paints for textiles: yellow, hot pink and burgundy colors;
• raw potatoes, sharp kitchen knife, brush, scissors

Step 1

From linen, cut out a detail size. 37 x 37 cm. Tuck the sections twice to a width of 1 cm, iron the edges and sew to the edge.

Step 2. Make a stamp out of potatoes

Cut the potato in half, mark a circle on the surface of one half in the middle of the cut (you can use a ballpoint pen). Then cut out a stamp with a round base from it.

Step 3

Dip the stamp into the paint, then press it against the fabric. For paint of each color, make your own stamp of different sizes and before starting work, try on an unnecessary piece of linen.

Step 4

In order not to stain the table, place a sheet of cardboard under the napkin. Leave the paper towel to dry completely.

Fold the napkins and drape them randomly, put on a ring of chestnuts on top. Now you can serve festive table.

from site

Napkins-substrate from autumn leaves

Unusual substrates for tableware are made in just a couple of minutes.

You will need:

• dried and pressed leaves,
• hot glue gun

Step 1

Glue the dried leaves together like roofing tiles. Apply glue in small amounts. First lay out and glue the leaves for the outer edge of the backing, then glue the leaves in rows.

Step 2

Glue the most beautiful and brightest leaves in the middle of the substrate. Use an old bedding made of raffia and similar material as a base.

Original candlesticks from mini pumpkins

It gets dark early in autumn, so it will be possible to admire the warm orange light emanating from burning candles hidden inside mini pumpkins for quite some time.

How to carve a Jack face on a pumpkin

The symbol of Halloween - "jack-o-lantern" - is not difficult to make from a pumpkin.

Step 1

The larger the pumpkin, the more convenient and easier it will be to carve on it.

With a sharp kitchen knife, make a circular cut around the stalk and remove the "lid". The hole should be large enough so that you can easily clean the pumpkin with a spoon or hand and take out all the seeds.

Step 2

Use a felt-tip pen to draw eyes, a nose and a mouth on the pumpkin. In order for the pumpkin not to sway when drawing a picture, and then when cutting it out, place it in a large saucepan.

Step 3

Now start cutting out the pieces with a small knife, always starting at the corners. Carefully guide the knife along the lines, moving it back and forth with minimal pressure. At the end, spray the pumpkin with hairspray - thereby you will extend the life of the Jack-O-Lantern (three weeks if stored in a cool place).

Step 4

To make round holes in the pumpkin, you can use a knife that removes the core from the apples. To make holes in pumpkins, you can use an apple corer or a drill with a large hole attachment.

Autumn candlesticks from chestnuts

Insert a wick into the chestnuts cut in half and fill with melted wax.

outdoor picnic

In the middle of the garden, a vase made from the wrinkled bark of an old tree looks great on the table. With pieces of bark, using a thermal gun, glue an ordinary plastic vase on all sides.

In the same way, pieces of birch bark can decorate an ordinary plastic or glass jar (bottle). Secure the bark with glue in several places, and then tie it with twine.

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

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

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

Beloved by the Lord, dear brothers and sisters!

On behalf of the entire Russian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists, I heartily 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 have sown in the field, and celebrate when you have taken your work out of the field” (Exodus 23:1).

pastor of the church Alexander Viktorovich Isakov

On this day, we offer prayers of thanksgiving to God for the sent down harvest, with which He richly blessed us. It is gratifying to realize that all our local churches everywhere 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 is celebrating its 400th anniversary. In Europe, the city of Amsterdam, the Baptist movement was born, which God during this time transformed into a world movement. We have much 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 been doing spiritual work, preaching the Good News to all nations. They, like farmers, sowed the seeds of faith in suffering human hearts. We thank God for the extraordinary harvest of the spiritual fruits of our worldwide service, which over 400 years have been sent down to us by the Holy Spirit.

Sisters praise the Lord with singing

Today we glorify our Lord, understanding that everything, both spiritual and physical, has been increased by God. It is only through His divine will, His wisdom, and His long-suffering that we can worship, serve, and bear spiritual fruit.

On this day, our prayer houses are decorated with an 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 praise God for the incorruptible spiritual fruit that has been produced in our churches by the Holy Spirit.

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

Celebrating the Feast of the Harvest, let us prayerfully ask the Lord to "send 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 Zhata, with all my heart I wish you to bring abundant spiritual fruit for our Creator, as well as “prepare for yourself vaginas that do not decay, a treasure that does not fail in heaven” (Luke 12:33).

Greet one another with the love of Jesus Christ.

Chairman of RS ECB Yu.K. Sipko

At the end of the divine service, a love supper was held in the church - a festive meal, at which members and guests of the church were able to taste the gifts brought and the dinner prepared by the sisters. In the photo - a prayer for the blessing of gifts by the clergy. From left to right: Deacon of the Church of the Baptist Baptism in Artyom Grigory Nikolayevich Zimarev, Pastor of the Church "Good News" Alexander Viktorovich Isakov, Deacon of the Church "Good News" Sergey Sergeevich Anisimov

Natalya Ulezkina

Registration music hall . Topic " harvest festival"

Making decorations with your own hands.

In November, it is already very cold and dull outside. Already flew all the leaves from the trees, the harvest has been harvested The days are short and the sun rarely shines. Everything around seemed to freeze in anticipation of winter.

But we, in our kindergarten, and did not think to be sad. Together with the children, we decided to arrange harvest festival to relive those wonderful moments that summer and autumn gave us!

And what would our celebration turned out warm sunny we decided decorate it with a whole field of sunflowers. After all sunflower- a symbol of summer and the sun. It is as if the luminary opens its petals and fills the soul with its warmth.

How did it turn out to do what beautiful flower not difficult at all.

US need: cardboard, colored paper black color, corrugated paper yellow color, drawing paper or a piece of wallpaper 1 m long, black and green gouache, glue and scissors.

Let's get started.

We cut out circles from cardboard and black paper, with a diameter of 20 cm and 19 cm, respectively (any size is possible, the main thing is that the cardboard circle is about 1 cm larger)

Cut out petals from corrugated paper, twist them a little with a pencil

Glue petals onto cardboard

petals make two rows

glue a black circle on top

draw a grid with black gouache

Our sunflower almost ready

It remains to make the stem. Together with the children, we painted a piece of wallpaper in green color, and then cut out the stems and leaves.

Grass was also made from a piece of wallpaper

And here's what we got eventually:

Petals reflected in the mirror became twice as voluminous.

And our hall shone with warmth and sun!

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Usually, after the summer, many evangelical churches celebrate the so-called "Harvest Festival" - usually it is celebrated either at the end of September or at the beginning of October - there is no single date. I would call this holiday "Russian Christian Thanksgiving Day" - Orthodox Church there is also something similar - perhaps the holiday is not called that, but there is definitely something like that on these dates.

So, before the start of the meeting, those responsible for decorating the hall usually gather:



Usually these are several people who bring various fruits and vegetables with them to decorate the pulpit where the preacher speaks, as well as other parts of the hall.


They try to make a beautiful picture of fruits to the maximum:

But the first visitors to the church with children began to appear - children have a special program from Sunday school: children will play different vegetables and fruits and recite poems. Here is a typical representative - guess what kind of fruit or vegetable this is beautiful child? (answer at the end)

Among the guests are representatives different countries- this guest came from Kazakhstan to St. Petersburg - he came to the meeting at the invitation of friends. Attends the same church of Evangelical Christians - only in Kazakhstan (Central Asia).

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Gradually, the hall filled with people and the meeting begins with general singing - the choir and musicians are a little nervous - the holiday is still ..

Many come to church with their children - some go to Sunday school, and some sit with their parents:

The musicians prepared a festive musical program - some festive thematic songs of glorification of the Lord God, gratitude to God for everything:

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The singing lasts about 20-30 minutes - during this time they manage to sing about 8 songs. this is a festive service, so this time there are more songs than usual.

Now it's the turn of the children's performances - they present their program - each child tells with the help of a poem learned with his parents what kind of fruit he is today (video from this children's performance)

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Many parents and not only have prepared video and photo equipment for filming perhaps the first performances of their children:

One of the families timed the blessing of their baby to this holiday - the whole church and the pastor pray for the baby:

Next comes a sermon on the theme of the Feast of the Harvest - our attitude of the heart, about gratitude to God for everything:

Then again the musical group prepared festive songs for general singing:

After the meeting, many of the participants in the meeting want to capture themselves with a composition of fruits and vegetables as a keepsake. It will be such a good picture for memory!

After the service, everyone goes to a cafe for a festive program with food and competitions - on tables and for everyone:

So, the presenter has the first competition "whose thing is this?" - shows a thing and asks to whom it can belong - you need to guess the person.

Someone suffers on stage and performs a competition - he always has a smiling support team.

An attempt to drink juice from a neighboring table with a straw, which consists of many other straws, is creative and nothing more! Harvest Festival! :)

Communication and discussion of issues from the host on the tables.

Competition on the tables - each table must be wrapped with something under the arm and scotch tape so that when it falls on the tile it does not break. This is where the fantasy turns on to the fullest!

First they throw an egg...

And then look - crashed or not. In my opinion, out of 6 people, only one or two crashed. Most wrapped the eggs in such a wrapper that it was difficult not only to break - it was difficult to open later to see if it was broken or not?

Competition - who will eat the baguette the fastest - and this is after the snack eaten i.e. at the very end of the holiday, when the stomach is already full - the volunteers clearly have little desire to eat anything else:

And the prize for the winner turned out to be... BAGGUETTE! joy knows no bounds!

It all ends with songs - how could it be without them! :)

All this happened within the framework of one of the evangelical churches of St. Petersburg -