GIVING UP BAD THEOLOGY 3 Sunday Worship| Pastor Damian Carruthers | March 8, 2026

With this service, we arrive at a topic that has probably inspired more horror movies than sermons: The Devil. When people hear that word, they picture a red figure with horns, a pitchfork, and a bad attitude. Some of us grew up being told the devil is behind every bad parking spot and every missing sock. But what if the biblical idea of “Satan” is something both less dramatic — and more personal? In Scripture, “Satan” means the accuser or the adversary. Not a cartoon villain in the underworld but the voice that questions identity, distorts truth, and tempts us toward fear, pride, and control. This Lent, we are not trying to “give up” belief in evil. And we are not pretending harm doesn’t exist. Instead, we are asking something deeper and braver: What if the real fast is not from a red figure out there but from our participation in accusation, division, and harm? What if giving up the devil means giving up the voices — inside and outside of us — that pull us away from love? That’s the journey we begin today.