Contributed by Eric Ullestad, West Des Moines, IA

Warm-up Question

When have you been given more responsibility than you thought you could handle?  How did it turn out?

Doing Good by Doing Well?

What’s it like to head up the world’s biggest company?  Mike Duke knows.  He was named CEO of Wal-Mart in 2009.  This was a daunting task for Duke.  He inherited a major improvement plan, Project Impact, from his predecessor, which gave a face-lift to nearly every Wal-Mart store around the world.  This multi-billion dollar project came on the heels of the nation’s biggest economic crisis in decades.  Duke soon discovered that, though shoppers liked the fresh look of the stores, they were visiting less frequently and spending less each time they came.

Wal-Mart has also endured its share of public-relations setbacks in the past few years.  “Big Box Stores” like Wal-Mart are often cited as reasons why smaller retailers are closing up shop.  Wal-Mart also came under fire for shady employment practices that required close to full-time labor from employees, but offered no benefits beyond an hourly wage.  Some people have called for a boycott of Wal-Mart stores because some of their products are manufactured in countries that don’t provide safe working conditions for farmers and textile workers.

Despite these, and other, obstacles, Wal-Mart continues to set the pace for global commerce, topping $408 billion in sales for 2010.  Being entrusted with the responsibility of running a company of 8,500 stores and 2.1 million employees is a task that Duke welcomes.  He is already looking to the future in the hopes of building a “next-generation Wal-Mart.”  This won’t be easy, as economists consider the possibility of a “double-dip” recession in the months ahead.  Duke believes that enhancing the company’s participation in social programs, ensuring living wages for employees, and adding stores in growing markets like China and India will be benchmarks of Wal-Mart’s future.

Discussion Questions

• Would you want to be CEO of Wal-Mart?  Why or why not?
• What challenges (financial, ethical, legal) would you encounter as the head of a major corporation?
• How would you demonstrate your leadership abilities if you were given this kind of responsibility

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, September 19, 2010 (Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Amos 8:4-7

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Luke 16:1-13

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

The Parable of the Shrewd (Dishonest) Manager, found in Luke 16:1-13, is one of the most perplexing tales in all of Scripture.  It has confounded scholars for centuries.  So, if you’re not quite sure what Jesus is trying to say, you’re in good company.

Jesus begins by telling his disciples, within an earshot of the Pharisees, about a manager who wasn’t taking good care of his master’s property.  The master is about to fire the manager, but before he is relieved of his duties, the manager has to turn over the accounting books to the master.  Quickly, the manager goes to the people who are indebted to the master and reduces their debt.  By doing this, he has built a relationship with the lowly servants in the community; a relationship that he may need to rely upon once he is unemployed. 

The odd thing about this story is that Jesus concludes by praising the tactics of the dishonest manager.  He even encourages the disciples to “make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth.”  Fortunately for us, he goes on to talk about faithfulness and responsibility.  Jesus calls his followers to be “faithful with what belongs to another,” indicating that if a person is responsible with caring for someone else’s possessions, they will prove themselves trustworthy to handle their own riches.

In many ways, the easiest verse in this passage to comprehend is also the most difficult verse to implement.  “You cannot serve God and wealth.”  It’s an interesting choice of word.  Notice he doesn’t say “money” or “possessions.”  Jesus says that wealth is the “master” that is in direct opposition to God. In other words, focusing on acquiring a lot of stuff isn’t the way that God works.

Consider the debtors in the parable.  A hundred containers of wheat and a hundred containers of oil were crippling debts to the poor people, but likely didn’t mean much to the wealthy master.  This is not unlike the world we live in today.  We currently have the highest concentration of wealth in recorded history.  The wealthiest 20% of the people in the world have 83% of the wealth, while the poorest 60% have only 6% of the wealth.

Perhaps this story can teach us that God rejects the systems that make it possible for wealth to be accumulated at the expense of the poor.  God doesn’t appear to be anti-stuff, God just wants to make sure everyone has enough to live.  Serving God, therefore, might mean doing what we can to bring about economic justice and equality to all of God’s people.  

Discussion Questions

• Why do you think Jesus praised the shrewd / dishonest manager?
• How would you interpret this parable?
• What can this parable teach us about faithfulness and responsibility? 
• What do you think about what Jesus says in verse 13?
• How do you find yourself serving the god of wealth? 

Activity Suggestion

Use your phones, computers, iPods, etc. to do some research on companies that are giving back to their workers, helping to reduce debt, or helping to lessen the gap between wealth and poverty.  (Examples include Fair Trade products, American Apparel clothing, Tom’s Shoes, and Justice Clothing.)  Discuss ways to support companies, especially locally owned businesses that reinvest their wealth in responsible ways.  Consider sharing your findings with people in your congregation.  Be creative!

Closing Prayer

God of abundance, thank you for the many blessings in our lives.  Help us to turn away from the false comfort of wealth and serve you by caring for those in need.  Amen.

Contributed by Scott Moore, ELCA Representative for the Luther Decade and Coordinator of Wittenberg Center Activities.

Warm-up Question

What would it mean to you to give away half of everything you have?

Generosity in Abundance

Once again in the news, Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet have upped the ante on what it means to be generous with one’s wealth by inviting their rich peers to take the “giving pledge.”  As the home page states, “the Giving Pledge is an effort to invite the wealthiest individuals and families in America to commit to giving the majority of their wealth to the philanthropic causes and charitable organizations of their choice either during their lifetime or after their death.”

The first 40 wealthy individuals or families to take the Giving Pledge are setting an example of generosity when many are much more concerned about their security in uncertain economic times. If you are wondering how much wealth is at stake, here are a couple of statistics. With just the 400 billionaires in the United States alone, there is a net worth of about $1.2 trillion. That means around $600 billion for charity if all 400 took the pledge. 40 of the first approximately 75 people agreed to participate. Their net worth is about $230 billion. One of the richest men, Warren Buffett, has pledged to give more than 99% of his wealth to charity.

This pledge is just beginning. The initiators hope that the number of those willing to share from their wealth will continue to grow. 

Discussion Questions

• When was the last time you shared some of your “wealth” where it felt like a sacrifice?
• What does your congregation do with the “wealth” it has?
• What do you get out of sharing from what you have?
• When have you shared your wealth with someone, knowing there would be nothing in it for you?
• To which charity would you or do you give when you share your wealth?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, August 29, 2010 (Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Proverbs 25:6-7

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Luke 14:7-14

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Imagine that! Jesus eating, but this time not with ‘sinners,’ as we always like to mention. Instead Jesus is going to a respectable Sabbath dinner at the house of one of the religious leaders in town. But he was being watched to see how he would behave and what he might say. Perhaps, the other guests thought that Jesus only knew how to break bread with ‘sinners’ and ‘undesirables’.  Maybe they hoped that Jesus would be an interesting dinner guest.  After all, Jesus had just completed his teaching and preaching tour in the villages on his way to Jerusalem where some of the Pharisees warned him to stay away because Herod was after him. Jesus responds that that he will continue doing what he has been doing. (13:32-33)

Just before they all sit down to eat, Jesus takes a moment and heals someone on the Sabbath, with a questioning challenge to those gathered. (14:3)

Now Jesus turns his attention to those gathering guests, jockeying for the best seat at the table. Jesus warns them to be humble and to not assume a higher place so that they might be lifted up. Turning to the host of the dinner Jesus encourages him to not throw a party in hopes of getting something in return. Share your banquet of abundance with those who could never offer anything in return.

In our daily lives, we are surrounded with a “quid pro quo”, “tit for tat” way of surviving. We all know that you have to be savvy and crafty and do favors for those who might be able to help you out in the future. That is how we are taught to survive and succeed in school and business. We like to quote the Golden Rule, “do unto others,” often with the sense of “treat people as you hope to be treated by them.” We love films like Pay it Forward in which the main characters do something good in hope that it will spread, eventually—maybe hopefully—coming back to them.

Even the wealthy do-gooders like Gates and Buffett hope to make society better through education. If we invest in others, then it will eventually be better for all of us. All of this is certainly true, noble, and to be encouraged. Jesus radically suggests that we should share with those who cannot hope to repay us. Share from what we have because we are blessed. Give without expecting anything in return. Jesus’ promise is that there will be a reward of another kind in the time beyond time.

Discussion Questions

• Have you ever felt like you have given and given and it hasn’t changed the person or the situation? How did that affect your attitude toward giving?
• How should we approach giving to those where it seems unlikely that our gift will make an obvious difference (alcoholics, drug addicts, etc.)?

Activity Suggestions

Learning About Local Ministries of Giving

Check out local food/clothing ministries and present the information to participants. Perhaps there is a local chapter of United Way that can help you see what kinds of organizations are near your congregation.

Other nationally based organizations that engage in feeding ministries include (but are not limited to) Bread for the World and ELCA World Hunger Appeal.

If your congregation already supports a local ministry such as a feeding program, food pantry, battered women’s shelter, homeless shelter, or literacy program, perhaps your group can participate by working with that ministry at some point in the near future.

 Half of All You Own

Anonymous giving of half of your group’s wealth…

Hand out paper and writing utensils and ask the participants to estimate their “wealth”…the value of all they personally own (how much would they have if they were to sell everything they have for cash) plus cash and savings…then ask them to cut that in half. Collect the sums (without names) and add it all together.  See how much money your group could accumulate.

Talk about whether or not they would survive giving half of what they own. What would that look like?  How would their lives change?  What could they accomplish with their combined wealth?

Discuss whether it is harder or easier to be generous when you are very wealthy.

Closing Prayer

God of grace and abundance, you have blessed your earth with the resources to meet the needs of your whole creation. Grant that we may receive with mindful thanksgiving what you have given us and then generously share it with those in need. We ask this in the name of the one who gave us his life, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Contributed by Jay Gamelin, Pastor of Jacob’s Porch, Lutheran campus mission to The Ohio State University.

Warm-up Question

 What would you do with ten million dollars?  Go ahead, fantasize away!  Try and be honest.

When I’m 60, I’ll Get Around to That

Something happened to Bill and Melinda Gates.  After the Gates amassed many billions of dollars founding Microsoft and creating Windows software, the two asked themselves what all this wealth was for.  Building more houses, buying more companies, and creating more wealth seemed hollow.

It was then they met Bono, the lead singer for the band U2.  Often outspoken on behalf of the poor, Bono challenged the Gates to understand the challenge of “stupid poverty”, that is, the people who die for want of a $2 pill because they live on $1 a day.  This was enough to draw Gates away from Microsoft years before he intended to shift his focus from making money to giving it away. He and Melinda looked around and recognized the shortcoming of the way in which the world values wealth and its distribution. “Those lives were being treated as if they weren’t valuable,” Gates told FORTUNE in 2002. “Well, when you have the resources that could make a very big impact, you can’t just say to yourself, ‘O.K., when I’m 60, I’ll get around to that. Stand by.'”

So rather than continuing to amass more wealth, the Gates family began to give it away.  With a foundation that is now worth over 30 billion (yes, with a “B”) dollars and growing from a generous contribution from Warren Buffet, the wealthiest man in the world matches all gifts given by the foundation to the tune of another 30 billion dollars.  The fund focuses on ending poverty in the poorest countries and fighting HIV-AIDS and avoidable diseases in the world’s poorest economies.

The Gates saw wealth, not as an end, but as a means to an end, a way they can contribute to ending poverty in this lifetime.

Discussion Questions

• Have you ever faced need and not been able to get what you needed?  If you have, how did this feel? 
• If you have not, imagine what it would feel like to see extravagant wealth somewhere else while you were hungry?  What would you do to support your family?  What if you were not able to do this?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, August 1, 2010 (Tenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23

Colossians 3:1-11

Luke 12:13-21

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

This is not a lesson about whether or not it is evil to be rich. It is not about creating a guilt trip for those who have.  Nor is it a commendation to be poor.  Poverty is not in itself a value we should embrace.  This is a lesson about questions, the ones we ask ourselves when we have.

The Gates figured out that they had much.  They had amassed a staggering fortune, in fact larger than some national economies.  They had built extravagant homes, formed companies, bought more, and done more.  Yet, despite it all, they still had much.  At this point they had to ask themselves a question: Do we continue to try to grow a fortune or decide that the value is not in possessing wealth but giving it away?  They, of course, answered the call and are now considered two of the biggest philanthropists in the world.

Perhaps it is easy to hold up the Gates family, they have so much to give.  They could give away 90% of their income and still be considered extremely wealthy.  With such wealth, perhaps giving it away is rather painless.  But more than the amount, it was the decision that we focus upon.  They faced a difficult question and answered it the best way they could.

In the text, the rich man has amassed a fortune.  Seeing his fortune grow, he was forced to ask what to do next.  His decision was to build another barn, store more food.  We can see the story and say, “Well, I would never do this!  If I were rich I would give it away!” Would you give it away?  Are you rich?  These are questions to ask yourself: How many outfits do you need in your closet to clothe yourself nicely for a week?  How many pairs of shoes do you possess?  How many cars do you need to own?  How big a house do you really “need”?  How much do you need to eat?  Do you really need that second TV?  Is cable necessary?  How many drinking glasses do you have in your home and how many mouths?

But you might say, “But this means I need to account for every dollar I spend!”  Yes, you do.  We need to be confronted with our own wealth and understand that we are the rich man.  The average American spends enough in a year on food to feed a village in other parts of the world.  This should stop us short in our tracks.

Again, this is not about guilt for being rich.  It is about important questions: What do we have?  What are we doing with it?  What are we doing to help?  What more can we do?  These are the questions rich Christians such as we who read this study, downloaded from the internet on our expensive computers, can and should ask themselves everyday—for  tomorrow our lives are required of us and do not belong to us.  Let us use our riches to lift up others.  In this we become rich in God and not to ourselves.

Discussion Questions

• Do you think you owe anything to anyone else if you are rich?  Why or why not? 
• What advantages do you think someone like Bill Gates may have had as opposed to a person in a third world country?  What advantages did he have in schooling and in the infrastructure of this country?
• What obstacles might a person in a third world country face? How much more difficult is it to give them a hand-up to achieve?

Let’s ask the question again: What would you do with ten million dollars?  What would be OK to keep?  What would be OK to give away?  How much is enough to live on?  How much is enough to give away?

Activity Suggestions

“WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET?”:  To avoid embarrassment, let read ahead and describe the activity.  Find a volunteer to either empty her purse, a back pack, or take everything out of his pockets.  Take a look at what is in there.  Look at what is in the wallet or purse as if you were an anthropologist or perhaps an archeologist.  If you did not know this person, what could you tell about him or her?

Now look at these things as an economist.  Which of these things are necessary for life?  Which are “extra” things?  Which would this person not miss?  Which would they miss?

PROCESS:  We all have things in our lives and there are some things we need and some we do not.  Our hope is that what we have can be used not only for ourselves but to support others, all for the glory of God.  The commercial says, “What’s in your wallet?”  I think it is a good question—what does what I have say about me? What can I use these things for?  How can they support others beyond me?

Closing Prayer

For all that you have given us, thank you God.  Teach us to be blessings of the abundance you have blessed us with.  May we be more and more like you.  AMEN.

Contributed by Jose Valenzuela, Alleluia Lutheran Church, Phoenix, AZ

Warm-up Question

What are some of the challenges you face in being both a follower and leader?

Rooted In Baptism

Some fear that our neighbor to the south, Mexico, is spiraling into a civil war rooted in the drug trade.  Since 2006, Mexican president Felipe Calderon has declared war on the drug war in the country, which has, in turn, fueled a bloody war among the different Mexican drug cartels.  As one cartel is dismantled, several others battle each other for control in the power vacuum.  In September 2009 experts estimated that over 13,000 people had been murdered in Mexico due to drug related activity alone.  According to US crime rates, there were approximately 16,000 murders in US in 2008 of all varieties.  Last week cartels openly attacked Mexican army posts along the border.

As the violence taking place in Mexico spills over into the United States there has been an increase in kidnappings, weapons trafficking, and murders related to the drug war in Mexico.  Making the drug war even more problematic is the fact that most of the drugs produced in Mexico are shipped to the United States to feed our nation’s drug habit.  In addition, there seems to be a limitless number of desperate Mexicans seeking a quick way out of poverty.  The tempting lure of money in the drug trade seems to bring in more and more members to the powerful cartels. 

As Mexico continues its war on drugs, many are becoming fearful and pessimistic that this war can actually be won.  A growing number of people in Mexico and the US are considering calling the Mexican war on drugs a failure and going back to the drawing board.  Some experts have even suggested that if a new strategy is not crafted soon, Mexico runs the risk of becoming a failed state.

Source:  http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/mexico/drug_trafficking/index.html

Discussion Questions

• What should the United States’ role be in the war on drugs in Mexico?
• What responsibility, if any, does the United States’ have in the drug war in Mexico? Why?
• Does our country have a drug problem?  If so, whose problem is it?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 18, 2010 (Third Sunday of Easter)

Acts 9:1-6 [7-20]

Revelation 5:11-14

John 21:1-19

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

I grew up in Arizona.  After I graduated from high school I spent the better part of 15 years moving around the country going to colleges, getting married, starting my career, and starting a family.  In 2002 I was living in Brooklyn, NY, serving a parish as a Youth Minister, when I started to hear the calling to come home.  During the summer of 2002 my family and I moved back to Arizona to be closer to family.  Mostly I wanted to be closer to my grandparents as their health declined. 

Three weeks after I moved back to Arizona, my grandmother suffered a massive stroke. Three weeks after that she suffered a second “big one” and she died.  A few days after her funeral, I had fallen asleep in my recliner while watching TV late at night.  I woke to the sound of footsteps near my bedroom and looked to see my grandmother standing in the doorway to my bedroom.  She walked out of the room and simply said to me, “Mijo, go to bed and rest. It’ll be fine.  Just rest.”  I got up, went to bed and wept.

My grandparents were born and raised in Mexico.  My grandmother came to Arizona as a child, but she always considered herself to be Mexican.  When she became an American citizen, she fully embraced the America life, but she never forgot where she came from.  Her life was devoted to her family. At the time of her death, our family understood what we stood for because of her.

As Jesus drew his ministry here on earth to a close, his final interactions with his disciples were intended to communicate what he expects from his followers.  Quite simply, his followers are expected to lead by Christ’s example. I find it interesting that Jesus meets the disciples where their lives together started, at their roots. 

Many of us find it difficult to come to terms with our roots.  I know that as a second generation Mexican-American, part of my identity resides in Mexico, even though I’ve never resided there. And a part of my identity resides in this country, even though I have been regarded by many in my daily life and in my Church as not being American enough.  So I often struggle with the question: Whom shall I follow?

The way I reconcile it all comes down to baptism.  Through my baptism I am a child of God. In the sacrament of baptism I receive many acts of grace from God.  At the same time God has very high expectations of God’s family.  Spending time in community, in prayer, in scripture, working for justice and peace for all of humanity—these are the things that God expects.  So how will I do this?  How will I get all this done? 

I will follow you, Lord…

Discussion Questions

• Describe a time in your life where you felt very lost and were looking for something or someone to grab on to. 
• How does understanding or maybe not understanding your roots influence your relationship with God?
• What does it mean to “follow Jesus”?

Activity Suggestion

Make a family tree that goes back to your great grandparents.

Closing Prayer

Holy and mighty God, you have filled us to the brim with life and goodness.  You have given us the gift of community and the gift of feelings.  Thank you.  In the midst of our searching and finding, may we find glimmers of you.  Watch over us, lead us, direct us, help us when were lost and keep us humble when we feel found.  And help us to be mindful of the many in this world and community who are still searching.  May your good news be proclaimed with love, dignity and respect.

Contributed by Sylvia Alloway, Granda Hills, CA

Warm-up Question

Do you have everything you need? If not, what do you think is lacking? Are all needs physical? List some non-physical needs.

Salvation Army the Victim of a Hoax

We have all seen the familiar red pot and patient bell ringer in front of stores at Christmas. Collectors for the Salvation Army receive gifts ranging from a few coins to hundreds of dollars. Forty per cent of the aid association’s capital comes from the humble red Christmas pots.This year, however, the Army’s Charleston, S. C. chapter was the victim of a baffling hoax. A seeming act of great generosity turned into a great disappointment as a check for $25,000 bounced after the group had already spent part of it on the needs of some 100 families.

Other charitable organizations in the Charleston area received large checks, supposedly from Force Protection, Inc., a manufacturer of armored trucks, but only the Salvation Army cashed theirs. Force Protection knew nothing about the “gifts,” which were drawn on a bank account closed months before. The case is being investigated, but no arrests have been made.

The loss means a lack of funds that will translate into less help for the poor, even as the recession brings more and people to the door of the nationally known charity.

Source: Associated press article from Yahoo.com

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_fake_checks_charities 

Discussion Questions 

1. What motive could someone have for giving bad checks to a charity?
2. If you came face to face with the person who committed this fraud, what would you say to him/her?
3. Some believe that fewer and fewer people care about doing right simply because it is right. Do you agree?  If lying, cheating and stealing are on the rise, what, if anything, can the church and/or  individual Christians do to stop this trend?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, January 17, 2010 (Second Sunday after Epiphany)

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.) 

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

 Isaiah 62:15

I Corinthians 12:1-11

John 2:1-11 

Gospel Meditation 

So there was the wedding party and all of a sudden they ran out of wine. What’s the big deal? Couldn’t they drink something else?  No, they could not. Wedding parties of the day were huge, week-long affairs to which the entire community was invited. By the rules of hospitality, the host was expected to provide generously for his guests. Not to do so was a social error so great that it could ruin a family’s reputation. 

Many people interpret this story to mean that Jesus approves of marriage and he most certainly does. Others say it proves that God has nothing against good times, which is emphatically true, as well. 

But Jesus is also responding to a serious social need. And look how he responds. The “master of the banquet” (similar to what we call the “best man”) is so impressed with the wine that he takes the groom aside to comment on it. “You have saved the best until now.” Jesus can turn the plain and ordinary into his best. In this way he reveals his glory! 

The world can only give us bounced checks – IOUs for happiness and contentment which can never truly fulfill our needs. Depend on worldly glitter and gadgets for lasting satisfaction and you will come away empty every time. But Jesus’ presence can turn the “water” of our lives—broken promises, dead-end ambitions, and foolish desires—into his celebratory wine.  From Him flow new promises, ambitions, and desires, which lead to inner peace and joy that are not dependent on outward circumstances. 

And since we receive both physical and spiritual blessings from God, does it not make sense to share them? Many in our own neighborhoods are physically hungry. Even more suffer from spiritual want. Like the Salvation Army, let us continually give both physical comfort and the message of the Gospel to those in need. 

Discussion Questions 

1. Think about the benefits of knowing and serving Jesus as our Savior. List and talk about some of them.
2. What does it mean to be in need? Compare what we think we need to what we really need. Discuss the needs you mentioned in the warm-up question. How do we satisfy these needs?
3. In a time when more and more people are without even the basics of life, the Salvation Army and other charitable organizations are stretched to the limit as to how many they can help. What can your church, your Sunday school class, and you personally do to help the poor of your community? 

Activities 

1. Plan a project for your church or youth group that will help the poor of your community. Some examples: You might sponsor a food or clothing drive (especially focusing on clothes for children, babies, or adults going on job interviews).  Cook and serve a monthly evening meal in the church hall.  Offer babysitting service for the children of parents who are searching for work. Try to make it something that will bring you face to face with those in need. 
2. Plan a project that will fulfill spiritual needs.  Some examples: Go door to door telling people about your church and/or passing out Bibles.  Read or act out Bible stories for children.  Sponsor a youth concert with Christian music. 

Suggested songs: Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Give Thanks (with a Grateful Heart)

 Closing Prayer

Merciful Father, who supplies our needs with your best, turn our hearts outward. Open our eyes to the needs of those around us and, out of the help, love, and encouragement that you have first given us, help us to give generously to all. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, we pray.  Amen.