Harvest Talk - Psalm 19v1-6

Intro:

Name that crazy fruit - very quick quiz

Autumn is a beautiful time - but what do we do with that beauty? As we walk around and see beautiful colours on the trees and fields ready to be harvested, what is our reaction?

Throughout history people have got this wrong, as they still do today. Often people have worshipped what they see. So long ago people would worship the sun, moon and stars as if they were gods. That may sound silly to us, but many people still read their horoscopes as if the stars can tell us what's going to happen in the future.

Others say, nature is all there is and we're bound to it. So atheists would often say  this: if its in your genes then that's who you are! I was born like this.

But the Bible tells us something very different about nature. Let's hear about it.

Read Psalm 19:1-6 together with the following actions:

v1 - move arm in an ark

v2 - hands from mouth like speech

v3 - hands over ears

v4 - circle with hands

v4b-5 - make a tent with hands

v6 - arm in an ark again

Do you see what this is saying? God is speaking to us through nature. Not audible words as such but He's communicating with us.

God shouts at us in everything we see, eat and touch, saying, 'I made this and gave this to you: Worship me!'

[Give a child a chocolate bar, sweet, apple, etc. Then use the megaphone to shout, 'This is God! Worship me!']

It doesn't tell us about Jesus, we need the Bible for that, but it tells us that there is a God who is much bigger and more powerful than us and therefore we should worship and acknowledge Him. We should find out more about who He is.

This was my experience. I grew up in a non-Christian home. But I remember clearly one afternoon in the beautiful Scottish hills and seeing the sun suddenly come out from behind the clouds. And I remember distinctly thinking: there is someone bigger than me and I'd better find out who He is.

Every meal we have - God is shouting at us: 'I gave you this: Worship me' [through megaphone]

Every time we go for a walk, God is shouting at us 'I gave you this: Worship me'

Every time we enjoy playing a sport, God is shouting at us 'I gave you this: Worship me'

Every time we have a cup of tea, God is shouting at us 'I gave you this: Worship me'

You get the idea!

So when we eat together, our response should be: 'We'd better worship God.' 'We'd better trust Jesus!'

But God is also shouting not just at us but at the whole world. That means when we meet Him we will have no excuse for not worshipping and acknowledging Him (Rom 1:19). Without Jesus, we all stand condemned. If at every meal God is saying, 'I'm here, worship me!' then we cannot say we never knew. Nor can the man on the desert island or in some far away country. 

That means Harvest is really about mission - we need to speak to them about Jesus, because what they've already seen leaves them without excuse.