In 2023, Webster dictionary picked a word of the year. My hint is, when we scroll on social media and we look through all the pictures, do you ever wonder is that picture real or is that family truly that happy? Another thing that has come up with AI is, did that student really write that paper? Did I really prepare this sermon or did AI do it for me? With all of that, the 2023 word of the year is "authentic". This is interesting because even just a few years before, researchers were saying that nearing half of people in our culture were starting to believe that there is no truth. And very quickly as people and culture adopted this thought, that there is no truth, people realized what the world is like without truth. And so they're searching for something that is authentic. Why is truth important?

Extra reading: Jeremiah 29:7-14a

Preacher: Leslie Shillinglaw