Churchtoons, cartoons from Church

Showing posts with label christian living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christian living. Show all posts

Sunday, December 4, 2022

The echoes of Hagar in Mary's Praise


 While considering Mary's response to the incarnation (Luke 1), we might gain a greater understanding of her courage and faith by looking at the plight of Hagar (Gen 16). After being exploited by Abraham and Sarah, Hagar became pregnant which angered Sarah who then persecuted Hagar daily. Knowing this story, Mary's understanding of the persecution she would face highlights her faith in praising God for the event.
(NOTE: Special thanks to Dr Gafney for her work: "A Women's Lectionary" used as a source here.)

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Who's Christlike?

 

Christians often look for 'big' things to please God. While we say that our awesome works for God's glory, they are often for out own betterment or to boost our pride. Micah 6 asks if we should provide a huge sacrifice to please God, but the response is do justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. How do you demonstrate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and God's grace in everyday life?

Monday, November 21, 2022

A Tale of 3 servants

Although a powerful military figure, Naaman was inflicted with a disfiguring disease that isolated him from his community 2 Kings 5. Naaman heeded the advice of a slave he had taken who pointed him to the prophet Elisha. Although pride almost kept him from obeying, Naaman eventually listened to his servant and the servant of Elisha and received healing. These acts of humility led directly to his cure.
 

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Wisdom prayer

 


Solomon humbly asked for wisdom so that he could care for the people of Israel (1 Kngs 3). His prayer was deemed unselfish and God gave Solomon the wisdom he asked for, but also gave him great riches and power. Many misread that God will give you power and wealth if you pray for it in a certain way. Do you pray for power to help others while secretly trying to manipulate God into fulfilling your selfish desires?

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Solomon and the government of man

 

The story of Solomon's wisdom begins with an outrageous solution (1 King 3).  Two women claim to be a baby's mother, and Solomon's solution is to cut the child in half. This story reminds us that even a godly ruler like Solomon relied on the power of the sword to enforce law and order. May we look to our Lord Jesus Christ to change our hearts rather than to earthly rulers to scare us into submission.

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 26, 2022

Love or idolatry?


In our zeal to credit God with the good gifts we currently enjoy, we might be tempted to confuse our culture, country, or ideology with God's kingdom. This idolatry implies that other countries or citizens of other countries are inferior in God's sight. Jesus declared that His kingdom was not earthly and no earthly country is the Kingdom of God (John 18:36). May we learn to prefer His Kingdom over our world's kingdoms.

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. 

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Leaving home


Abraham leaving his country (Gen 12) may not seem sacrificial until we consider the prestige and power he had likely gained through his family's status and connections. While it appears that Abraham had wealth that he could carry with him, he would not have the immediate social standing, trust, or privilege he would have enjoyed if remained in his home country. Are you able to trust newcomers to your area or fellowship? 

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Bearing my cross

 

Christ taught that His followers would be persecuted (Luke 14). Although many Christians do suffer for their faith, many more simply hide behind the cross of persecution when they receive criticism from non-Christians. Can you think of a time when you received deserved critique but mistook it for persecution?

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Jesus the great divider

 

When the religious leaders met Jesus, they understood the divisiveness of His teachings. Although we are called to humility and peace, we should be aware that many will take offense (Luke 12) at the idea of humbling themselves and caring for the vulnerable. Are you willing to let Christ divide you from your own pride and greed?

Friday, August 26, 2022

Jesus the divider


Jesus startled His audience when He declared that He had come to divide rather than unite (Luke 12). Although we tend to think of the division between believers in Jesus versus non-believers, we should consider how much division Christ's teachings seem to cause within the Church itself. What issues do you feel are more important than loving your fellow believers? Are they really teachings directly from Jesus?

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Giving God a little 'help'


 Although Abraham came to be a model of faith, he wasn't always ready to believe God. In Genesis 15, we learn that Abraham interpreted God's promise of an heir loosely and applied his own solution by sleeping with a servant. God rejected Abraham's solution and promised that an heir was coming, and Abraham finally believed God in spite of the unlikeliness that he would have a son with Sarah. 

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Where does your help come from?


 Psalm 121 reminds us that our help doesn't come from false gods on hills or from any other power. Our help and our hope resides in God alone. Can you think of people or things God provided to you in your times of need? Are you trusting the aids God has given, or are you trusting the God who provided?

Friday, August 5, 2022

Pray Awesome!


 When Jesus taught His disciples to pray (Luke 11), the emphasis seemed to be on God's greatness. Even in asking for daily bread, the emphasis wasn't on the need but on the great God who would provide. Do your prayers make much of God, or do you find yourself reading God your opinions as a wish list?

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

The Prayer Circle

 

While we often consider prayer to be an intensely personal practice, we should remember that when Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He taught a communal prayer (Luke 11).  By using the words "our" and "us" Jesus defined the model prayer as that a community would pray together. Are your prayers inclusive of others' needs? Do you find that praying with others brings you closer together or does it divide you?

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

God is the faithful one


 Few blame Sarah for laughing when she was reminded of her promise of a son (Genesis 18:12). Although called out for her skepticism, she was not punished and God remained faithful to His promise. We should rejoice that God is faithful, not because we demonstrate loudly, or produce some kind of special event, but because He is God.

Sunday, July 10, 2022

What to do?

 

Christians agonize over what is the right or God-honoring action needed in many circumstances. Sometimes it seems like we know what we should do, but look for ways to justify doing something else. Paul reminds us that the entirety of the old testament law is summed up in simply loving others as we love ourselves (Gal 5:14). How can you love your neighbor today?

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, June 26, 2022

Elijah, back to it...

After a miraculous success, Elijah felt the sting of political repercussions for his actions. Discouraged, desperate, and feeling defeated, Elijah ran away from the work of God. While in hiding, God ministered to Elijah and then called Elijah back to the work (1 Kings 19). While we might want to end our ministry before its time, God calls us back to the work. Elijah was not allowed to quit, until his work was done.

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.