It’s Wednesday and I have probably heard about four sermons. This is not uncommon for me. I happen to enjoy the preached word. It is the main reason I go to church. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a good choir. The social aspects of the church are beneficial, as well. But the main attraction, for me, is the Word.

It provides me with a basis for my worship. I cannot worship what I do not know. I go to learn about the sovereign Creator, and the righteous judge. I go to learn about His healing power, His holy nature, and the heaven he has prepared.

The sermon also provides the basis for my worth. I already know that my righteousness is as that of filthy rags in comparison. But a good sermon never ends with how bad we know we already are. A good sermon calls you to see yourself as heaven sees you: a royal priesthood, the salt of the earth, an heir of the kingdom of God, forgiven, free, and faithful.

The sermon also provides the basis for my work. A good word will call you to your best self, and we are all at our best when we are serving. A good sermon makes you want to do better and to be better.

So that being said, of the few sermons I’ve already heard, the message that spoke to me most this week, didn’t come Sunday morning when I was sitting in the pew. It did not come from my youtube.com pastors, or the evangelists from the Women’s Conference. The best message I received this week came from an R-Rated movie.

I watched Bad Moms and while it was a bit raunchy, it spoke to my spirit. I think the main reason that the movie ministered to me was because while the sermons talked about, where I am going, and what I am going to be…Bad Moms met me where I am: overworked and underappreciated, stressed out and stretched thin. But the movie also gave me hope, that even my frailty and multiple failures, can be worked together for an eventual positive end.

The movie pointed me to worship, because He loves me even though I have made mess after, mess after mess. The movie made me acknowledge my worth because I acknowledge that the Lord loves me and trusts me enough to give me these little souls to shepherd from infancy to adulthood, and he gives me the strength to do what it takes to serve them well. The movie made me want to work harder, to be a better role model and to give my kiddos the best that I have to offer.

That movie was sermonically sound, even with the curse words and sex scenes.

So yes…As I type, this I am listening to yet another sermon…But some of the best sermons are not those delivered in a house of worship.

Here’s hoping you receive a divine message today.

Mama Radford