Memes can be silly, but they can also communicate and impact culture. Memes that spread and “go viral” usually resonate with many people’s personal experience. For example, it’s easy to identify with the “Seems Legit” meme.

We’ve all seen things that are obviously fake, misleading, or too good to be true. But what about Jesus? Jesus doesn’t “seem legit,” He is legit. And because of Him, you are too.

Jesus Loves Meme 1 – Seems Legit Meme

Sermon notes by Pastor Marshal Blessing

Redemption Church Plano Tx

Jesus Loves Meme

For the next few weeks we’re going to be talking about memes

So, what is a meme?

Meme /mēm/ noun – an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation

Pronounced mEEm

The word was coined in 1976 by well-known author and atheist Richard Dawkins.

A fad, a trend, an idea that spreads and “goes viral”

Mass communication enabled by smart phones and the internet has facilitated the spread of memes

Memes are artifacts of our culture. Memes are influenced by culture:

Fidget Spinners, Eclipse, Star Wars

Memes influence culture:

Politics, #MeToo, Tide Pods

There are entire websites dedicated to documenting and cataloging memes

Vision: to be a 1st Century Church that connects to a 21st Century World

Meme’s are one way that our current culture communicates, and if we want to connect with them we need to speak their language

Memes aren’t new around here.

A few weeks ago Chris showed the “Forever Alone” meme

But is it possible to come up with not just a sermon, but a whole sermon series based on memes that is both meaningful and spiritually impactful?!

Challenge Accepted

The subject of “memes” can be complicated. Memes come in many different forms. One of the most popular is images.

For this series, we will use this working definition to keep things simple:

Meme /mēm/ noun – an internet fad or joke (usually a funny picture)

Many well-known memes take the form of a funny picture with text

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING

I often feel this way: at work, with my kids, and while preaching

On the internet nobody knows you’re a dog

But you could put other text over this image…

SEEMS LEGIT MEME– Dog

This is the first meme I wanted to look at in this series.

For those unfamiliar with internet slang…

Legit /liˈjit/ adj. (short for legitimate) – authentic, real, not attempting to deceive

So on the internet the phase “seems legit” is generally used sarcastically to express that something isn’t real or isn’t what it claims to be.

Even though it was wearing a tie, that dog wasn’t really using the computer.

SEEMS LEGIT MEME

Memes have a lifecycle.