"Our Daily Bread"
2-17-19 Sermon Notes "Our Daily Bread"
Most of us are not thinking a lot about where our next meal is coming from. Let me rephrase that...we may be thinking about what we are going to have or where we will eat it (the GFUMC staff is going to Longhorn's today!)...but we are not wondering about whether or not we will eat. Let's pause for a moment, and consider those who are wondering IF they will eat today...
According to World Vision's website, there are 815 million people (about 1 of every 10 people) around the world who experience chronic hunger. Are "statistics" something that you just can't seem to fathom? Well - maybe this will help.
Dr. Fred Craddock (who was my favorite preacher) told a story in a sermon one time about going to hear a well-known speaker talk at a summit on world hunger. Dr. Craddock said the presentation was very well done, very organized and impressive. Overall, though, it wasn't a presentation that he would remember in the years to come...nothing life-changing. However, there was one person at the summit on world hunger that day whose remarks were life-changing for Dr. Craddock. It was a little white-haired lady, who came to the podium, and shared the same sentence over and over again in 52 different languages. Dr. Craddock, being a very highly educated person, could partially understand several of the languages. The woman, with tears running down her cheeks, said over and over again in different languages: "Mommy, I'm hungry."
That afternoon on his way back to Atlanta, Dr. Craddock passed a billboard on the interstate. He said that he had passed that same billboard at least a thousand times. This time, however, the billboard made him queasy. It said, "Buffet: All you can eat! $4.95."
This Sunday we are continuing our series on "Praying as Jesus Taught Us" with the phrase,
"Give us this day our daily bread." You can see it Matthew 6...
"Pray then in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread. (Matt. 6: 9-11 NRSV)
Praying as Jesus taught us includes a concern not only for "my" daily bread...but for "our" daily bread. We will dig a little deeper in this sermon.
Pastor Sam