Bread

Sermon podcast from yesterday at St. Paul's UCC in Downers Grove, IL.  John 6:24-35.

Video sermon preview
"Bread" podcast

Bread

Last week's Bible reflection (Hunger) provided the backdrop for this past Sunday's sermon at St. Paul's UCC in Downers Grove, IL.
"Bread" podcast

Hunger

In this week's Bible reading from John 6:24-35, Jesus said to them -- "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Bread is both a symbol of life – and something that is necessary for life. Bread means nourishment to someone who is hungry.

Jesus talked about bread and nourishment to a people who sometimes, maybe often, wondered when their next meal was coming or where it was coming from.

Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Here are some facts about hunger in the world.  (From feedingamerica.org, mercycorps.org, and wfp.org)

• 1 in every 9 people worldwide -- close to 800 million -- don’t have enough food to eat.
• Hunger kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined
• The world produces enough food for every person to eat 2700 calories per day. The problem we have is with food distribution.
• In the US - close to 50 million people live in food insecure households.  33 million adults and 16 million children
• The number of people living with hunger has dropped by 17% over the past 20+ years.

And even though things are getting better.  It is not at all OK.

What Bread?

I was on vacation for Sunday, August 5.  Our visiting preacher, Rev. Timothy C. Rhodes, waded wonderfully into the Chik-fil-A pond.  Here's a podcast of his sermon.

"What Bread?" podcast 

Stuffed

Jesus said to them -- "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Bread is both a symbol of life – and something that is necessary for life. Bread means nourishment to someone who is hungry.

Jesus talked about bread and nourishment to a people who sometimes, maybe often, wondered when their next meal was coming or where it was coming from.

Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

I wonder if the impact of what Jesus says is lost on people in a nation filled with overfed folks. Hunger is present all over the world, to be sure, yet true hunger isn’t something most of us ever have to live with. As a matter of fact, instead of getting hungry again and again, we look for ways to eat less.

We’re stuffed and trying to find ways to get un-stuffed. We’re a nation bent on diet and weight loss. We have, among many others:

• The DASH Diet
• The Mayo Clinic Diet
• Weight Watchers
• Jenny Craig
• The 17 Day Diet
• The Eat Clean Diet
• The Dukan Diet
• The Hallelujah Diet
• The Seven Day Color Diet
• The Blood Type Diet
• And even the Bread for Life diet

How are we supposed to understand a promise never to be hungry?

Bread of Life

This week's Bible study blog entry for i.ucc (Bread) continues along the same tract I began as it has become Sunday's sermon at Union Congregational United Church of Christ in Somonauk, IL
"Bread of Life" text
"Bread of Life" podcast

Bread

Here's this week's Bible study blog entry for i.ucc:

In this week's Bible reading from John 6:24-35, Jesus said to them -- "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Bread is both a symbol of life – and something that is necessary for life. Bread means nourishment to someone who is hungry.

Jesus talked about bread and nourishment to a people who sometimes, maybe often, wondered when their next meal was coming or where it was coming from.

Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

We don’t really get that, do we? Hunger isn’t something most of us who do things like blog and read blogs ever have to live with. As a matter of fact, instead of getting hungry again and again, we look for ways to eat less.

We’re not hungry – really. We’re stuffed and trying to find ways to get un-stuffed. We’re a nation bent on diet and weight loss. We have

• Christian Weight Loss
• Scientific Weight Loss
• Miracle weight loss pills
• The Grapefruit Diet
• Lo-Carb diets
• Dr. Phil’s Diet
• Pat Robertson’s Diet
• The Celebrity Juice Diet
• The Zone Diet
• And even The Bread for Life Diet

How are we supposed to understand a promise never to be hungry?