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Showing posts from March, 2011

Enchanted, I'm Sure - A Sermon

This is the sermon I preached on February 20: Enchanted, I’m Sure Text: Matthew 5:38-42 A while back, I read a book called Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. Emily suggested it. They made a movie of it later, but, as usual, I think the book is better. It’s about a girl named Ella who is under a spell which forces her to be obedient: She must obey any direct order given to her. If you tell her to “wait right there,” she is glued to the spot and cannot move, even to save her life. If you tell her to “stop talking,” she is unable to say anything. As you can probably guess, Ella is not happy about this enchantment. Almost everyone who knows about it uses it to bully and take advantage of Ella. “Do the dishes.” “Clean the floors.” “Give me your late mother’s pendant.” And much worse. It’s not much fun to feel used and not valued. And sometimes obedience can feel like being used. Anyone who’s had a boss they didn’t like, or, even sometimes a boss they did like, knows that obedience i