#church sermon

[jambandatl]

“The Greatest Superpower: The Power to Delete God”

Introduction:We often dream of having superpowers—strength, flight, the ability to control time. But what if I told you that every single one of us has the most incredible superpower imaginable? The power to delete God from our lives. This superpower is unlike any other. It’s the greatest, not because of its magnificence or glory, but because of its immense implications. It is the power of free…

[oceanamethyst]

Last night, me and my family were listening to a church sermon, but the pastor kept on saying, “bad guy,” and “good guy,” but earlier, I was watching a bunch of stupid memes about The Bad Guys, and I was trying so hard not to laugh.

I need professional help.

[aunti-christ-ine]

[soisaidfine]

Ethel Cain: a mother is a very special thing: my great-grandmother’s funeral back in 1995 ♡

magnolia-grove asked: where do the sermon samples on Strangers come from?

mothercain answered (Feb 3, 2023): my great-grandmother’s funeral back in 1995, same as family tree intro ♡

Ethel Cain: Family Tree (Intro), Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Outside Lands Music Festival (August 2023)

sermon: “a woman, a mother, a mother is a very special thing. other than the lord jesus christ, i think that a mother is one of the most precious gifts that god gives to this world, cause a mother is the one who loves and has the warmth and always seems to be there when we need it. a mother is a very special thing. a mother is a very special thing.” - Family Tree (Intro) - Ethel Cain

. . .

sermon: "God is telling you and I there is death, for all of us. But then we find that the scriptures also tell us that we have a great promise, that there is a better place for those who believe in the lord Jesus Christ" - Strangers - Ethel Cain

. . .

'So I met him there and told him I believe (I believe, yeah)' - Sun Bleached Flies - Ethel Cain

. . .

'Jesus is the real thing. Are you the real thing?'

Sermon, Perry First Church of God, Perry, Florida

[viridianstarlight]

Do you know who you are?

To the world these days, or at least my generation and younger, personal identity matters a whole lot to people.And to these same people, your identity can be whatever you want it to be.

You are identified by your gender, and they say your gender can be whatever you want on any day.

You are identified by your sexuality and relationship status.

You are identified by the colour of your skin.

You are identified by your job.

There’s more, but I think you get the idea.

So in the eyes of these people, I am male, straight and single, white, and a cafe worker. But I don’t really think that describes ‘Cory’.

But we Christians have a different view of identity. Here’s what the Bible says about who we are.

Psalm 139: 15-16 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

To start with, God knows exactly who you are. He knows everything there is to know about you. So if anyone can show you who you are, it is God.

1 John 3: 1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

We are called God’s children. We are adopted in to the King’s family.

Romans 8:16-18 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

By being adopted in to the King’s family, we are made co-heirs with Christ, sharing in His sufferings and glory.

Isaiah 43:1 But now, this is what the Lord says— He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

We belong to God.

Romans 6:6 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

Thanks to Christ’s death and resurrection, our faith in Him clothes us in His righteousness and redeems us of our sins. God looks upon us and sees the perfection of Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

God is perfect, and so is everything He creates. God does not make mistakes. You are His masterpiece, the crowning reflection of His perfect creativity.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?

Your body is a holy space where God dwells.

Ephesians 1: 4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. 

God created the world in the first chapter of Genesis, and even before then, He knew you perfectly and has loved you perfectly since then.

1 Corinthians 12: 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

You belong as part of something greater than yourself, and you cannot function to your greatest potential separate to the body.

You were created to do things that other parts of the body cannot do, and you were created to benefit the body just as other parts were created to benefit you.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

You are a royal priest of the King. In the old testament, only the high priests could enter the holy of holies within God’s temple. But we, belonging totally to God and being chosen by Him, can enter the presence of God at any time.

And this is all thanks to Christ leaving heaven to become a man, taking our sin to the cross and dying in our place, taking our judgement, and in return sharing His righteousness with us.

Do you know who you are? God does.

[trensu]

Have an itty bitty tiny piece of stasis in darkness, just so you all have an idea of where the story is going after the godly reveal. and also have proof that i am, in fact, still toiling away at this (as well as hawkins halfway house.)

A week and a half later, Steve entered a town he’d never seen before. He wore simple traveling clothes and carried no weapons aside from a couple of carefully hidden knives. He’d left his armor and shield behind. His satchel held only the essentials one needed for travel and a single stone as large as his fist. The stone was wrapped in layers of cloth to keep it safe during the journey. 

I need you to find someone. 

He felt very bare but he hadn’t been given much of a choice. Speed was of the essence for his quest, and little no-name towns tended to be wary of strangers in plain clothes, even more so around strangers decked out for battle. Steve wasn’t sure this place could be called a town. It was so small it hadn’t been on any official map. It didn’t even have an inn. Hopefully, Steve wouldn’t be needing an inn once he found who he was looking for.

He’s too far from me to reach.

He asked around, laying on the charm generously. He explained he had been a friend of a friend and had been trusted to deliver something. Eventually, he was told where to go. The house he found far beyond the village’s boundary was small. It looked like it had once been well cared for but it was old and had fallen to disrepair. Steve took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

A sallow old man opened the door. He was bald but had some scruff on his face still. His shoulders, stooped from age, trembled. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked so tired.

He’s my very last worshiper in all the world.

“Wayne Munson?” Steve asked.

“Who wants to know?” The man’s voice was phlegmy and rough. He coughed into the crook of his elbow almost before he could finish speaking. 

“I’m Steve. Ser Steve Harrington, pledged to the Lord of Night.”

Wayne’s eyes widened. His grip on the open door weakened and slipped. Steve caught the door before it could hit Wayne.

“He sent me to you,” Steve explained. “May I come in?”

yep, that's it for now. i told you it was small. i'm not even gonna bother with a read-more here.

[isfjmel-phleg]

🤨

[one-time-i-dreamt]

My friends and I were out to get iced coffee and for some reason we stopped at the church my dad is pastor at (wasn't even Sunday????) and we stopped in time to hear his sermon and all he said was "Gay rights." I never heard cheering so loud. 

[asmidge]

considering Tokis parents had a vow of silence I feel like Toki had delayed speech/didn’t learn to speak until he was a littler older. like his only exposure to people talking was hearing church sermons. he wasn’t hearing people talk consistently since his parents didn’t talk to him so it took him longer to learn it

[yagirlyubnub]

“Really? A sermon? In a place like this?”

“There’s nobody here anyway…”

[jambandatl]

The Intersection of Science, Art, and Education: A Christian Libertarian Perspective: Universal Development Subscription:

Thesis: Christian Libertarianism encourages individual liberty under God’s sovereignty, calling for a society where personal freedom, moral responsibility, and biblical truth guide every aspect of life. Science, art, and education are crucial fields in shaping culture and society, and it is our responsibility as believers to infuse these areas with God’s truth, evangelizing and influencing the…

[holbrookism]

false prophet hillbilly preacher boyd crowder you will ALWAYS be famous!!!

[aunti-christ-ine]

[momentsbeforemass]

Lived faith

When I think about why I became a Catholic, the teachings of the Church were an important part. But they weren’t the first part.

The two things that drew me in were beauty – as in the beauty of the great cathedrals and old churches – and the witness of lived faith.

Not the lived faith of the official saints. But the lived faith of the Catholics I saw.

The teachings of the Church? They became important to me, only after I realized that they were the wellspring from which that lived faith flowed. That they were the reason for that lived faith.

It was only after the fact that I understood that the lived faith had evangelized me. For the most part, that work was done by people who had no idea they were doing it. That they were preaching to me with their lives.

They were just living their lives. And I was watching their every move.

They prepared me to learn about the Faith. Because I had already seen it in action.

As Catholics, we have no idea who is paying attention to us. Who is looking to us to tell them what our Faith really means. By how we live.

Not just what it means in the big moments or on Sunday. But also what it means on any random Tuesday.

It’s what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel. The power of our lived example is why Jesus gives such dire warnings about misleading others, about causing them to sin.

Not just by what we say. But by what we do.

Because – whether we mean to or not – we’re always preaching.

For better or for worse, the most powerful sermon is a lived faith.

Today’s Readings

[funbearer]

[whimsimmortal]

New chapter of Summoner's Second Chances is up! You thought she was having a rough time last chapter, huh?

Also have a bunch of practice sketches under the cut bc I think they're. Funny