Pastor John Van Sloten comes from New Hope Community Church, Calgary, Canada. He regularly preaches about faith and work choosing different occupations as lenses or metaphors to help us better understand God – his ways and his purposes for his people.
The ‘God at Work’ series of sermons?are available on Vimeo and we will be posting them regularly at Malyon Workplace. ?The sub-title of the series is “Work: God means for you to know and experience Him on the job!”
Farming
Here’s the introduction provided by NHS for Pastor John’s consideration of the farmer which you can download here:
In this Thanksgiving sermon Pastor John will be preaching on God’s cultivating truth in a farmer. Have you ever considered how much God sustains you through their work?
Then God said, ?Let the land produce vegetation:seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.? And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning the third day.?
Genesis?1:11-13, NIV
?It is an important teaching of scripture that God is intensely present to creation all the time as the source and sustenance of its ongoing life.? ?(Wirzba, Norman (2007-05-03). Food and Faith (p. 63). Cambridge University Press. Kindle Edition.)
?You care for the land and water it;? You enrich it abundantly.?The streams of God are filled with water?to provide the people with grain,? for so you have ordained it.? ?Psalm?65:11, NIV
?Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.? ?Acts?14:17, NIV
?Every time we take a bite, we bear witness to a bewildering array of relationships that connect us to earthworms, raspberry shoots, water, sunshine, farmers, cooks and friends.? ?Bahnson, Fred; Wirzba, Norman (2012-07-03). Making Peace with the Land: God’s Call to Reconcile with Creation (Resources for Reconciliation) (p. 114). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition
??what gardeners [and farmers] do is nurture the conditions in which life can take root and grow. [They] are at their best when they approximate the detailed and patient sympathy for creatures under their care that God shows all the time for the creation as a whole.?
Wirzba, Norman (2007-05-03). Food and Faith (p. 50). Cambridge University Press. Kindle Edition.
?Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them??
Psalm?96:12, NIV
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