Sermon
World Hunger
Theme
Sharing with those who are hungry.
Object
A one minute timer (preferably an hourglass type).
Scripture
Jesus said, "I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink." They asked "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty and did not help you?" He answered, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Matthew 25:42-45 (paraphrased)
Do all of you know what this is? It is a timer. This type of timer is called an hourglass, but this one doesn't time an hour. This is a one minute timer. It takes one minute for all of the sand in this timer to run from one end to the other. Have you ever heard someone say, "Wait just a minute?" Well, sometimes a minute can seem like a long time. Other times, a minute seems to ust fly by. I am going to turn this timer over and for one minute, I want you to see how many things you can think of that you like to eat. Are you ready? Okay...go! (wait for one minute)
Did you think of a lot of good things to eat? I did. I thought about fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, cake, cookies, ice cream, candy, and a lot more. Did you know that in that one minute while we were thinking about all the things we like to eat, seventeen people in the world died from hunger? Of those seventeen people that died, thirteen of them were children. Boys and girls like you.
One day, Jesus was speaking to a group of people and he said to them, "I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat." They asked him, "When did we do that?" He answered them, "If you didn't do it for others, you didn't do it for me." During this month, we are taking a special offering to help people in the world who, without our help, may die from hunger. Will you help? It is the same as doing it for Jesus!
Lord, you have given us so much. Help us to share it with those in need.
