The first of these two videos is probably the second worst sermon ever preached. It is all law and no gospel. The greatest sermon ever preached is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7.
Instead of watching one of the new movies that include violence, twisted sexual situations, and crude language, make yourself some popcorn and sit down to a clean movie that includes an all-star cast. “Pollyanna” came out in 1960. You will find it at the local library and the second video here is part of the entire movie found on YouTube.
Many of you who read this blog probably feel that I am anything but Pollyannaish. Well, this movie is one of my favorites. That should say something. I have always leaned on the side of grace.
There is the law and then there is the gospel. Any pastor worth his salt will discuss both. It doesn’t have to be perfectly balanced in each sermon, but over time there should be a balance between the two. Jesus is the only one who has ever done it perfectly.
There is no question the preacher depicted in the first clip speaks nothing but the law and ignores the gospel.
In the second clip he is practicing to do the same again.
Then there is the quote from President Lincoln:
“When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will.”
Our 16th president evidently thought we shouldn’t just look for the bad in man all of the time. I would agree with that but one must balance this idea with scripture.
The Bible says that “all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
In Mark 10:18, “Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”
Ecclesiastes 7:20 states: “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.”
After reading these verses, one might conclude that he Mr. Lincoln was mistaken. Maybe we should look for the bad in mankind.
Yet, one must correctly divide the Word.
Matthew 12:35 says: “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.” These are also the words of Jesus.
So which is it? Does the Bible contradict itself? I don’t think it does because I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
No man is continually good, but men may be good at times. As Mr. Spurgeon has said in his commentary on Numbers 20:11 – “The best of men are men at best.”
I think we should look for the good in people, realizing that they are sinners just like we are. Sins should never be excused and only God can forgive them.
There are mysteries in the Bible as there are two sides of a coin. Anyone familiar with the ideas of free will and predestination knows there are things we’ll never understand this side of heaven.
A preacher should rightly divide the Word and let the Holy Spirit do its work.
Anyone in a pulpit who claims to know all the answers is a person I wouldn’t trust.
I think I lean of the side of the gospel is because I have read the last three chapters of the Bible. If heaven isn’t Pollyannaish, I don’t know what is.
If you haven’t seen it, I hope you enjoy the movie.
Chris Reimers
Posted by Chris 
Wings of the Wind 
Quotes #6…Reverand Paul Ford (Karl Malden) Early 1900s’
September 22, 2025“Death comes unexpectedly. And the God Jehovah will execute his vengeance on ye who despise his dying love and trample his benefits underfoot. The unconverted soul, the foolish children of man do miserably delude themselves in the false confidence of their own strength and wisdom.
Now the great King of heaven and earth will abolish and annihilate this pride, will crush the hardened wretch of the polluted infinite abomination and rain on him a deluge of fire and brimstone…”
This is the first half of the second worse sermon ever preached.
Here is the full two minute sixteen second video of the second worse sermon ever preached.
This is the sermon that Reverand Paul Ford (Played by Karl Malden) “preached” in the fictional town of Beldingsville, Vermont where the movie Pollyanna (1960) was set. When I first saw it, I called it “the second worst sermon ever preached.” What is the law without the gospel after all?
Preacher Ford is a legalist who thinks that he can bully his congregation into good behavior (and maybe salvation) by preaching sermons that are all law and no gospel. Any sermon like this one, devoid of the greatest message given to the world through Jesus Christ our Lord, is an abomination to the purposes of God. There, I have given the legalist his own medicine.
One of the central themes of the movie, Pollyanna, is the power of optimism. Would I rather Preacher Ford give a sermon containing only optimism, completely ignoring the law? Absolutely not! I would consider a sermon like that possibly “The third worse sermon of all time.” A sermon like that would sound like something done by Joel Osteen, Robert Schuller, or Norman Vincent Peale. Most of those sermons weaken the gospel message by understating the seriousness of the law. This creates a misunderstanding of the power of the gospel. If a person doesn’t understand the importance of the law, a person doesn’t understand why we need the gospel. Sermons that don’t attempt to balance the truths of the law and gospel distort the truth found in the Bible.
CR
Note: I have highlighted the movie Pollyanna on this blog before. I enjoy the movie because the acting is great and it captures some truths found in a small town, both good and bad. They have done a good job of capturing the time period as well. It is a secular movie because it does not include the gospel message even though there are Christian themes within.
Here is my previous post about this movie from 12 years ago.
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