Dear friend:

Jesus' command that we love others as we love ourselves both challenges Christians and calls us to action.  In this time of need, with rising food prices and growing numbers of hungry people, it is more important than ever that we show our love of others by making sure they are fed.  This month's edition of Bread for the Preacher suggests several opportunities for you and your congregation to focus on hunger issues and to take actions that live out our calling to love our neighbors. 

Grace and peace,

Gary Cook
Director of Church Relations

Lectionary Reflections

The Gospel texts in lectionary this month take us through parables of the Kingdom, the often quoted line from Jesus that one should "render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s?" and culminate in the great commandment that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Felipe Salinas and Walter Wink delve into these passages, helping us to understand how our role as Christians and our call to serve others can be connected to all that Jesus taught.

From Hunger for the Word, Year A

• October 5, Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost)
  What do the commandments mean to us in a world where so many still lack food, clean water, and access to healthcare and basic education? Especially in view of the even more direct way in which Jesus connects love of God and love of neighbor, isn't our fundamental relationship with God compromised - rendered less than it should be - as long as we allow such fundamental affronts to basic justice to persist? (Download in Word or pdf)
  

• October 12, Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost)
  Matthew explicitly states that this is a parable of the reign of God.  But what is that reign? It is a new order of power that turns the pyramid of power upside down. (Download in Word or pdf)

• October 19, Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost)
  This passage from Matthew about paying taxes to Caesar is confusing. Does it mean that there are two realms of reality-one presided over by the prince (president, prime minister, magistrate, etc.), the other by the bishop (presbyter, pastor, preacher)?  (Download in Word or pdf)

• October 26, Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost)
  This summary of the law has often been characterized as the "double love commandment."  But that is inaccurate. It is the triple love commandment: love God, your neighbor, and yourself. Many Christians have heard that, unfortunately, as "instead of yourself." (Download in Word or pdf)

Youth Corner

October brings harvest time for farmers across the country and in other areas of the world.  Talk to the children in your congregation about the importance of farming and what goes into making food available for us to buy in the supermarket.  Wheat and corn are found in a wide variety of products, like bread and cereal.  Ask what their favorite cereals are and help them make the connection that it is wheat farmers that make their cereals possible. 

Don’t forget to check out the "Children’s Time" section at the conclusion of each Lectionary Reflection to help you prepare time with your community’s children.

Praying Together

God of harvest and bounty, you provide us with a beautiful and rich earth that provides for all living things. Be with farmers and all who care for your earth, working to provide food for all, so that none may go without. Be with those whose harvests have suffered from drought and natural disaster and with those who now have little food. Give them strength and courage, that their hope may rest in you. Give us strength and courage, so that we may work diligently to meet their need. In your holy name we pray, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Bulletin Inserts

When we pray for our daily bread it is sometimes easy to forget the hard work by farmers that went into the meals that sustain us.  During this harvest time for many of our world's farmers we focused our newest children's bulletin insert on farming.  The bulletin insert can be viewed and printed online.

The 2008 Offering of Letters bulletin insert continues to be available to order at no charge and can be viewed and printed at our online store.

Other Resources and Opportunities

It's not too late to plan your Bread for the World Sunday event! Visit www.bread.org/sunday today to explore the resources available for your congregation to lift up poverty and hunger in our world and renew its commitment to ending hunger and poverty. 

Bread for the World and many of our church partners are encouraging members to consider observing a time of prayer and fasting to help us focus spiritually on the growing hunger crisis. Please consider inviting members of your congregation to fast for a period during the days leading up to Bread for the World Sunday. For more information, visit www.bread.org.

On October 17-19, the worldwide campaign  Stand Up and Take Action Against Poverty will take place.  Stand Up is a global advocacy effort to set an official Guinness World Record - the greatest number of people ever to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT against poverty and inequality and for the Millennium Development Goals. On October 17-19, 2008, people all over the world will physically and symbolically "STAND UP and SPEAK OUT" to communicate their desire to fight poverty and to hold their governments and leaders accountable for promises to end poverty by 2015. The purpose of this action is to raise awareness of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the root causes of poverty, and to publicly demonstrate to policy makers the growing global support for the achievement of the MDGs and for the strengthening of development policies in both Northern and Southern countries. To learn more about this campaign and how you can participate please visit the Stand Up website at www.standagainstpoverty.org.