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A Harvest of Righteousness
Bulletin: Bulletin September 12 2021
Newsletter: Weekly Letter Sept 12 2021
Scriptures: James 1:1-18, Psalm 25, Matthew 5:1-12
Songs:
- I Know Whom I Have Believed (lyrics/melody; acappella/YouTube)
- He Leadeth Me (country gospel; Gaither)
- 10,000 Reasons (YouTube/Matt Redman with lyrics; lyrics
Joel Russell-MacLean 
This year hasn’t been kind to many farmers across the prairies. While some have had a decent year, drought continues to impact yields everywhere. Let’s keep the harvest and farmers in our prayers during these long and often dangerous work hours.
No one knows when this multi-year drought will end. All people can do is try to adapt and endure.
At the same time, our world has now been in the grip of Covid 19 for more than a year and a half and it has meant hardship for many. We don’t how long this will go on.
It would seem that the churches James was addressing were going through a hard time, with no sense of how long it would last. James seems concerned that with nothing going right for so long, people were beginning to take it out on each other or on God. He warned them against grumbling, conflict, envy, prejudice, or prayerlessness.
How have we responded to the restrictions, the losses, the illness?
James didn’t simply challenge the early church to endure, he challenged them to endure with joy, to spread peace and mercy, and to pray. He believed that we were being prepared for eternal life, that those who “stood the test will receive the crown of life.”
In God’s hands, the hard times are not for nothing, they are not interruptions or ‘lost years’. They can still accomplish God’s purposes, helping people to mature in how they treat each other and in faith. God is preparing a harvest among the people who seek to obey Jesus.
It would seem that we have a choice, not just to endure but to endure and to grow.