Harvest Sunday!
This Sunday (or today, depending on when you read this) is Harvest Sunday.
Long-time Northsiders know that this has been a longstanding tradition that does a lot of good for a great group of folks who are doing a great deal of good in our community. An additional bonus: The abundance of food and other supplies on the stage also keeps the wandering preacher a tad more…shall we say… stationary…while preaching.
The group is Carpenter Place, formerly known as Maude Carpenter Children’s Home. As mentioned in a previous Ministry Minute article, Carpenter Place is an amazing children’s home run and staffed by members of the Churches of Christ. In fact, two sets of house parents attend here at Northside! Carpenter Place provides a Christian home environment for hurting girls struggling with a host of issues. Their mission is to “rebuild families and restore lives.”
They are 100% privately funded. Carpenter Place provides everything the young girls need during their time at on campus. As you can imagine, they go through food and other supplies quickly.
So, Northside supports them congregationally. And we also support them in other ways like Harvest Sunday. Many of you have been personally involved in visiting, serving, mentoring and helping continue the great work going on at Carpenter Place.
And of course any of us can easily support them throughout the year by signing up through Amazon Smile or the Dillons Community Rewards Program. Through both of those efforts, Carpenter Place gets a percentage of your total purchases every time you shop on Amazon (think Black Friday!) or at Dillons (think every Friday!).
Harvest Sunday is for a greater Kingdom purpose. And the purpose is about more than food and toilet paper; it is about letting the light of Jesus shine through us and letting Him use us in every way for His glory. He uses our hearts, our energy, our dollars, our pantry, our time, and our love to help minister to those in dark places.
The really cool thing is how God will always use us in the Harvest. Paul put it this way: “Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
Harvest Sunday is bigger than a single Sunday. We as Christians are called to a lifestyle of Harvesting every day. It means sharing the Gospel with a neighbor. It means doing good. It means serving someone. It means praying with others. It means letting your light shine wherever you go.
So, let’s get to work family—the Harvest IS ready!!
(PS – If you’re reading this in the pew, and forgot to bring food today, you may still bring it tonight )