Churchtoons, cartoons from Church

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Welcome to Churchtoons! Every week I try to post a new cartoon. Here are my latest:
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Losing that special place

 

Sometimes Christians seem to believe that they have special favor with God and become angry when others share that feeling. When Jesus reminded the synagogue that God had demonstrated His love to those who might be considered unworthy, the crowd became so angry that they sought to kill him (Luke 4). Can you think of anyone you might feel is unlovable to God?

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

It's not what, but who is at the table


 Christians are known to scrutinize everyone's behavior in order to point out sin and wrong-doing. This kind of judgmental faith is more interested in appearing holy than in caring for those around us. Paul seems to be more interested in loving well than in abstaining from food used in idolatrous worship (I Corinthians 10). Ca you think of ways you can love others who may not fit into your ideology?

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Baptism Ends with Resurrection


 Christ's baptism signified His death, burial, and resurrection (Lk 3). Understanding the order, that the pain of death had to come before the joy of resurrection, might bring us comfort in our darker experiences. When you are experiencing pain and discouragement, can you find hope for healing in knowing that God still loves, cares, and plans to pull you back to joy?

Friday, January 20, 2023

Have you lost Jesus?


 The popular story of Mary and Joseph losing Jesus (Luke 2often leads to discussions on how Christians seem to forget (or lose) the teachings of Jesus. While we might not always feel God's presence, we can always rehearse or return to the teachings of Christ and practice His commands to love God and to love our neighbor. How do you search for Jesus?

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Soul-Winning without a net


 Most Christians take the great commission (Matt 28), as a serious expectation to evangelize, or to "Preach the gospel" to everyone. However, the methods employed are often more like a sales pitch than a gospel witness. When you consider those who are living as disciples of Christ, did they come to Christ because of a sales pitch, or through personal observation of someone else living out Christ's good news?

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Looking for the gotchas


 The 10 commandments and the other laws given to Israel might seem like the best standard for knowing God's will and for obeying him (Ex 20). However, Christ's summation of the law (Mark 12) indicates that the intent of the law is more important than judging those who may seem to violate it. 

Monday, September 19, 2022

The first climate change prophet?

 

Like modern climate activists, Noah believed a great ecological disaster was coming because of humanity's actions Gen 6. While we might see pollution as the physical/direct cause, we might do well to consider that God brought the flood because of the violence (v13) or cruelty inflicted by and on the entire world. Are we unconcerned with violence to the world, like the Noah's contemporaries?

Monday, August 15, 2022

Who can you pray with?

 

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, there was an community as well as personal aspect (Luke 11). While Christians can pray alone and have a personal relationship with Christ, we should remember that Jesus also taught us to spend time being vulnerable with one another in the act of prayer. Who do you trust enough to spend time praying with?

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Pastor Awesome meets Uncle Sam

Western Christianity enjoys great freedom to practice the love and teachings of Christ. In our zeal to protect those freedoms, we may forget that our first allegiance is to Christ, and that no earthly kingdom is truly His kingdom (John 18:36).  Our actions may begin to reflect our selfish nature and undermine our desire to follow Christ's example of love and patience. How are you demonstrating the love of Christ to others today?

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Memorial Day 2022


 Many of us have been experiencing a long, hard, sad, season of death. This Memorial Day we might remember how Jesus spoke of a memorial that would consist of a story told about a woman who ministered to him (Mark 14). This story or memory was meant to inspire and elicit action. While we consider the tragic deaths of this year, may we be inspired to act in ways that prevent such tragedies.

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Paul bonds with Mars Hill worshippers


 When Paul visited the famous temples on Mars Hill (Acts 17), he used the similarities he had with other philosophers and religiously minded worshippers. Rather than pointing out the differences, Paul began with what they had in common, a desire to worship the previously 'unknown' God who was now being revealed through faith in Jesus Christ.

Monday, May 16, 2022

Exposed to the culture

As Christians, we reject the 'world' described as the lust of the flesh, lust of eyes and pride of life (1 Jn 2:16). Sometimes we also reject the criticism and views of others by calling it 'worldly.' Rather than separating from the culture of his day, Paul used it to gain insight and to preach Christ (Acts 17). Have you ever dismissed someone's viewpoint because you believed you were too good to hear it?





Monday, April 25, 2022

Embrace the open tomb

 

The cross has long been the symbol of Christianity, but the empty tomb might be more appropriate. The empty tomb reminds us that Christ shares His victory over death with us (I Cor 15). While we might not need to abandon the importance of the cross, where Christ took our punishment for sin, we should also embrace the message of life that over death represented by the empty tomb.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Death's wrappings left behind


 When the disciples examined the empty tomb, they found the wrappings that had covered the dead body of Jesus (Jn 20). In His resurrection, Jesus no longer needed death's attire. As Christians, we might consider if we are still attempting to wear the attributes of our old life which has been made 'dead' in Christ (Rm 6:6).

Thursday, March 10, 2022

Jesus and the blind man


When Jesus and his disciples saw a blind man on the street, the disciples saw suffering as a direct result of sin (Jn 9). Jesus declared that no sin had been involved, but redirect the disciples to the idea that God had created the blind man for God's own glory. Are you able to see God's glory in those around you, or are you busy looking for sin?

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Pass the water?

 

Jesus declared that he would give "living water" to anyone who asked for it (Jn 7). The metaphor of refreshment and nourishment seems foreign to modern Christianity which seems more interested in punishing and judging. Are you offering to bring people to the living water, or are you passing judgement instead? 

Friday, January 7, 2022

The Wise men and the politics of power

 

While the wise men came peacefully to worship the Lord, their presence sparked a tragedy. They alerted King Herod to the birth of the absolute king (Matt 2). Although the magi did not assist him, like many political leaders, Herod killed and injured many innocents in his quest to retain power. Have you ever hurt others in order to maintain control over something? 

Sunday, January 2, 2022


While we might enjoy the Christmas season, we also know that there are other seasons of worship that we must be ready to embrace. John the Baptist exemplified this willingness to move on by embracing the popularity of Jesus (John 3:30). Can you move on to new seasons of living and worship? 

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Look at me?

Christians often refer to themselves as "witnesses" of Christ. Like John the Baptist (John 1), we are not meant to call attention to ourselves, or assert our rights and privilege. We are called to "bear witness," or tell about the great things Jesus has done for us. In what ways are you bearing witness of what Jesus has done?


 

Monday, December 20, 2021

Jesus lived before he was born

 

As we consider the birth of Christ, John reminds us that Jesus Christ existed before the incarnation. John points us back to a time before Genesis 1, to a time before anything was created, and John ascribes all of the creative acts to the pre-existing Jesus, referred to as the "Word" (John 1). This description of Christ leaves us in wonder that the very creator of all things slipped into His creation to demonstrate His love for us.

Welcome


Each of the cartoons on this site is an expression of a sermon I heard in church. As a cartoonist, my method of understanding complex theological topics is to boil them down to simple images.

These images will never do justice to the sermons from which they are derived, but hopefully, they convey at least one aspect of those sermons to you, the reader.

I hope that you gain some benefit from the cartoons and will reuse them in ways that honor Christ.