The dazzling lights, the electrifying atmosphere, the chance to test your luck and strategic prowess – the allure of casino games is undeniable. But for those new to the scene, the vast world of online casino games at platforms like Nuebe Gaming can seem intimidating. Fear not, budding player! This guide will illuminate the path to your online casino adventure, highlighting the best games for beginners at Nuebe Gaming and equipping you with the knowledge to navigate them with confidence.
Nuebe Gaming: Your Safe and Secure Playground for Online Casino Exploration
Before diving into specific games, let's prioritize safety and security. Nuebe Gaming takes this responsibility seriously. They employ state-of-the-art encryption technology to safeguard your personal information and financial transactions. Additionally, they promote responsible gambling by offering tools like deposit limits and self-exclusion options. With Nuebe Gaming, you can focus on exploring the exciting world of online casino games with peace of mind.
The Art of Choosing Your First Game: Understanding Key Concepts
Before selecting your first game, grasping some fundamental concepts is crucial:

• Random Number Generators (RNGs): These complex algorithms ensure fair play by producing random outcomes for every spin, roll, or card dealt in online casino games, mimicking the randomness of a real casino environment.
• Return to Player (RTP): Expressed as a percentage, RTP indicates the theoretical amount of money a game pays back to players over time. Higher RTP generally means better odds for the player in the long run.
• House Edge: This represents the casino's inherent mathematical advantage in each game. Understanding the house edge for different games helps you make informed decisions about where to place your bets.

Unlocking the Fun: Beginner-Friendly Games at Nuebe Gaming
Now, let's explore some of the best online casino games for beginners at Nuebe Gaming:

• Slots: The Gateway to Online Casino Fun: Slots are undeniably the most popular online casino game, and for good reason. Nuebe Gaming offers a vast library of slots, catering to diverse preferences. Beginners will appreciate the ease of play – simply choose your bet size and spin the reels. Look for slots with lower volatility for more frequent, smaller wins to build your confidence. Utilize the demo mode (if available) at Nuebe Gaming to familiarize yourself with the gameplay before wagering real money.
• The Timeless Charm of Roulette: This classic casino game offers a thrilling blend of simplicity and excitement. At Nuebe Gaming, you can place bets on where the ball will land on a numbered wheel. There are various bet types, offering different odds and payouts. Beginners can start with outside bets, like red/black or odd/even, which offer lower payouts but higher winning probabilities.
• The Allure of Baccarat: A Game of Chance with a Twist:** Baccarat is another excellent choice for beginners at Nuebe Gaming. It's a simple card game where you bet on which hand (player or banker) will have a higher score closer to 9. The minimal player interaction makes it a relaxed and easy game to grasp. Understanding the house edge for both player and banker bets is crucial before placing your wagers.

Beyond the Games: Additional Features at Nuebe Gaming to Enhance Your Experience
Nuebe Gaming understands the needs of new players and offers additional features to make your online casino journey even more enjoyable:

• Mobile Compatibility: Enjoy your favorite games anytime, anywhere, with Nuebe Gaming's mobile-optimized platform. Play on your smartphone or tablet with a user-friendly interface, perfect for quick and convenient gaming sessions.
• Lucrative Bonuses and Promotions: Jumpstart your online casino experience at Nuebe Gaming with generous welcome bonuses and ongoing promotions. These incentives boost your bankroll and extend your gameplay time, allowing you to explore more games and hone your skills.
• User-Friendly Interface: Finding your way around Nuebe Gaming is effortless. The platform boasts a clear categorization system and game filters based on genre, features, and even volatility levels for slots, making it easy to find games that suit your preferences.
• 24/7 Customer Support: Nuebe Gaming's dedicated customer support team is available 24/7 through various channels, including live chat and email. They are committed to addressing your questions and concerns promptly and professionally, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable online casino experience.

Embrace the Adventure: Your Online Casino Journey Begins at Nuebe Gaming
The world of online casino games awaits, brimming with excitement, strategic challenges, and the potential for significant rewards. Nuebe Gaming provides the perfect platform for beginners to embark on this adventure. With a diverse selection of beginner-friendly games, innovative features, a commitment to responsible gambling, and a user-friendly interface, Nuebe Gaming empowers you to learn, play, and potentially win.

Hey there all, back with another request, this time for a cool poker game.
So what is Balatro? Allow me to explain in casino terms...you go to a casino with $5 in hand and a full standard deck of 52 cards. The dealer draws 7 cards to the table and asks you to form any poker hand you want with those 7 cards. You manage to pull a Straight Flush out of those cards and easily beat his blind...but then you're brought to a shop where you can enhance your deck and buy jokers to increase your score either with more chips or more mult. Eventually, you reach a point where that standard deck of 52 cards is now 124 cards large that consists of all polychrome red seal King of Diamonds and a set of 15 jokers that upon playing JUST one card exponentially increase your mult AND chips causing a black hole to open right in the casino and suck everything in...then after you cash out $10. THAT is Balatro. A fun and entertaining roguelike deckbuilder where your aim is to play poker hands to buy jokers and other things to increase the scoring potential of those poker hands.
Why do I want it? That's a very simple answer...I've always wanted to learn how to play poker since I've never done so in my life. Add the fact that this also seems like an AMAZING twist on the roguelike genre, and you have yourself (maybe) the first ever casino roguelike game! Plus, I've heard that people have actually started to learn how poker works from playing this game...and I want to be one of them.
Hopefully my explanation of the game isn't TOO out there, tried my best to make it as accurate to the game as possible. And I really hope you take the time out of your day to read this request and consider getting the game for me.
Steam Account: https://steamcommunity.com/id/thelupinedevil
Game Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/

With the age of dominance that comic book movies had at an end, and big franchises like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings nowhere near the heights of popularity they once had, especially due to recent products from the franchise being lackluster, it seems there's a void for the next big franchise to take over.
For me, I vote the James Bond franchise. Here's why:

• With Daniel Craig's tenure over, the next actor is going to be picked, and during this time it's probably when the franchise experiences quite a bit of exposure in the public due to various fan castings and theories for who'll be the next Bond. I mean the fact that Aaron Taylor Johnson was trending quite a bit prior was already a sign.
  
• Now once the first movie with this new Bond is released, debut films tend to do pretty well, with the last two debut films making a lot of money in the box office (Goldeneye and Casino Royale). My guess is people are going to want to see what the new Bond is like.
  
• With people tired of "THE MESSAGE", an unapologetically masculine badass main character in a plot that is relatively controversy free might be something audiences need. Even during NTTD which was seen as the "woke Bond movie" the movie honored the Bond franchise and didn't cheapen his character. Look at shows like Reacher and The Terminal List on Prime. Both were hardly politically correct (hardly political period) and went on to get high ratings and viewership numbers from the audience. People like these kinds of shows nowadays.
  
• The franchise is old and has a dedicated fanbase. It's well known by almost everyone. But while it's nostalgic enough to throw some references and appreciation to the older movies, it doesn't solely rely on it as we generally get original stories.
  

However I feel this isn't enough to truly launch it into the pop culture prominence that the MCU had. So here are some moves that EON should take.

• Cast Henry Cavill. Yes I know he doesn't fit the bill as the Bond franchise tends to pick actors with rising fame, but an exception can be made. Cavill has a very dedicated fanbase and is generally beloved by mainstream audiences. Add to the fact he's a popular fancast and how sympathetic the public are to how he's gotten screwed over and you're going to have mainstream audiences flock to the cinemas. Also outside of not exactly fitting the bill in terms of being an A list actor, he's an uncontroversial pick. He's the same race as Bond, so there won't be cries from people for race swapping Bond, and he's well liked by various fans. Also Cavill wants to play Bond so really it works out. That being said he's probably going to have to slim down a bit.
  
• Hire Christopher Nolan as director. He's been on record multiple times saying he wants to direct a Bond film. If you watch his movies, you'll see numerous Bond influences ranging from the ski chase in Inception (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) to the plot of the Dark Knight Rises (The World Is Not Enough). He clearly loves the franchise and even though there's the danger of him going too far out of the Bond formula, I'm doubtful he'll make a bad Bond movie as he'll probably do some interesting stuff with the Bond formula. Not to mention the amount of box office pull he has in cinemas. For crying out loud he was able to make a biopic about the guy who made the atom bomb into a box office success and influential during the 2023 summer blockbuster movie with just his name alone. I guarantee he's going to make a terrific Bond movie. Give us a trilogy of Bond movies by him and it'll be the most memorable Bond run.
  

Tldr: The Bond franchise has the capable to be in the cultural mainstage because it's gearing up for a new era, the first movie tends to be mega popular, isn't a controversial franchise and is already famous but isn't relying on nostalgia. If EON productions gives Henry Cavill the role and Christopher Nolan the director's chair for three movies and the Bond Franchise can reach heights it's never seen.
Edit: Based on what i've seen, you guys are probably right regarding live action/animated adaptations of video games. If anything they're following the exact same pattern as comic book movies did in the early 2000s, where initially they were seen as goofy and low quality, but lately we're seeing a surge in high quality products relating to this. 2023 was a phenomenal year for live action/animated adaptations of video games, with The Last Of Us (even though I myself am not a fan of it), Twisted Metal, The Super Mario Bros movie and the Five Nights At Freddy's movies being a success.

So for a while or so I've been playing older Sonic games just to see if they still held up. So far a majority of the games I played were at the very least good with some of the best ones being Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic rush. But something that might be my biggest Sonic hot take ever is that Heroes is one of the worst games in the entire Sonic series(unpopular opinion I know but let me explain myself). And just a heads up this is gonna be a long one because I got a lot to say about this game.
Because this game has a lot of aspects that I don’t like, I'm going to first touch on some aspects I actually like about the game. Even though not every character was written the best I will say some stand out characters I enjoyed are Cream and Omega, especially Omega but I wanna touch on Cream first. Ever since reading the IDW comics I've always had a soft spot for Cream just from how innocent and adorable she was and that sentiment continued with how she was paired with Blaze in Sonic Rush. I was admittedly nervous about how she would be portrayed in Heroes for reasons I'll get into later but she was handled alright. Nothing too groundbreaking but she kept her cute nature and even had some small moments of sass which was nice. The real star of the show was E-123 Omega. He really only has one thing on his mind with destroying Eggman and doesn’t really go through any sort of character arc, but that’s fine with me because the dude’s funny as hell with how aggressive and angry he is. He doesn’t have much of a face or eyes that are able to emote but you can still tell exactly what he’s thinking. I can’t explain why but every piece of dialogue that comes out of his…mouth?....speakers?...is hysterical. From “ANNIHILATE” to “USELESS CONSUMER MODELS” even down to when he says “GOOD” every time you pop an item box or balloon every quote is comedy gold with how monotone his voice is. The chemistry each team has with each other is nice to watch since from their dialogue you can tell that these trios have known each other for a while, are good friends with one another, or in Team Dark’s case just work friends(but their banter is still entertaining with how Omega keeps telling them to stay focused). And the music is good but as a Sonic fan that’s par for the course at this point. What I’m Made Of is a stand out banger for me.
But unfortunately that’s where all the positives end as we move into the negatives with one of the biggest being the physics of the game being poorly optimized. Throughout my playthrough I have run into so many bugs or victims of poor game design that I’ve lost count. But over half of my deaths have been due to the fact that there are no invisible walls to act as safety nets for players incase they misclick or even do something as simple as do a homing attack or perform a 3 hit combo with a power character, the latter happening way too often because power characters are the most reliable way to deal with enemies. Enemies bumping you are also a common way to die but not because of running out or rings, but because of the lack of walls keeping you on the platforms. Speaking of the homing attack, with how the movement physics work with speed characters I never use them because they end up being too slippery to control with instances where it feels like I'm fighting for control just so I can move forward in a straight line or hit a boost pad on a loop. The Light Speed Dash works whenever it feels like it and there’s no way to aim the homing attack so you pretty much have to press A twice and pray that rn-Jesus does you nice, otherwise you’re falling down a pit like you’re Scrooge McDuck diving into a vault of gold coins. And remember how I said enemies bumping you off cliffs was a common way to die? Well they can also just combo you for free because this game has no invincibility frames meaning you can get hit once and then instantly die if you or one of your teammates doesn’t pick up a ring right after being hit. This is especially apparent in horde fights like Robot Storm where you can get easily swarmed. And a staple mechanic from Sonic Adventure 2 that was butchered in this followup was the rail grinding. It was super fun to build up speed by balancing and crouching but now you just mash B with any real sense of speed being from a speed character. And heaven forbid you decided to grind rail with a flight character unless you like sliding at the speed of a snail, but you might wanna do that anyway to be save because if you switch rails the game doesn’t magnetize your character to it risking you to just shoot yourself off the map just for swapping rails or getting off of a rail.
Another awful aspect with the game is the team mechanic itself. It’s an interesting idea on paper to be able to swap between 3 characters to perform different actions based on what the level throws at you. But the problem with that is not every formation is balanced. The flying formation is awful in every way. The totem formation itself looks weird and looks especially janky with how it looks when going off a set of springs or going through a dash panel loop. How it controls itself makes absolutely no sense either; you jump and jump again to fly which drains a meter, which makes sense since Tails worked in a similar way back in Sonic 2 and still works like that in every other 2D classic style game. But I didn’t learn until the last story that the gauge only drains if you move forwards and won’t drain if you don’t move forward which not only makes no sense but doesn’t work like that in Sonic 2 at all. And whenever the meter runs out you might think that you would just glide down to the floor right? No. Instead the game halts all of your momentum and has you fall straight down like a boulder making flying based platforming impossible which was not the case in Sonic 2. And for some reason there’s a limit for how high you can go even though there’s already a limit you can fly for. Wanna know what game allows you to fly as long as you want until you run out of stamina? SONIC FUCKING 2 ON THE SEGA GENESIS/MEGA DRIVE. Sonic Heroes not only came out 10 years after Sonic 2 but was released on more powerful consoles so I'm baffled that they didn’t even try to make any of this shit work in any similar fashion. And this gets even worse for Sonic Heroes because you know how I just described how they would have improved the flying mechanics in Sonic Heroes? Well it WORKS EXACTLY HOW I JUST EXPLAINED IN SONIC ADVENTURE FOR THE THE DREAMCAST 1999. What the hell were they thinking with this!? This makes absolutely no fucking sense. And the Thunder Shoot attack? It doesn’t do much except paralyze enemies and hit targets meant to help you move forward in levels. Except it only does one of these things correctly since the game doesn’t auto target the targets meaning 90% of the time you’ll be constantly throwing your teammates into the ether while missing entirely as you try again and again to change your angle to hit the target just so you can move on with the average 10 minute level. And the switches you’re meant to pull are janky in their own right but the switches you have to fly for are the worst since no matter how close you get to that switch the game won’t register what you’re trying to do which is annoying as balls. And as the finishing touch all flying character have no differences in gameplay despite slight animations and apparently they have this unique attack they can do if they don’t have party members to throw with Thunder Shoot by pressing B again...but the game doesn’t tell you that and even knew that you’ll never see it in practice because if you toss a teammate with Thunder Shoot they’ll come back almost instantly.
And the biggest failure is that you can no longer spin dash in this game. It’s no big deal, it’s not like they removed one of Sonic’s most essential moves in his arsenal that was present all the way from Sonic 2 and was even in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, useless crap like that. Instead you have to use the stupid Rocket Accel which can’t be activated instantly like the spin dash with instead having the player get a running start to have your teammate boost you forward that doesn’t go as far as the spin dash in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. It’s an alright concept that would be fine to keep if the spin dash remained in the game and not replaced with some trash faker that doesn’t hold up to the original. Which leaves us with the power formation which is the best formation by far but not by much. Power is the easiest one to control since it allows you to properly control your character at a moderate speed, a novel concept I know. But combo attacks that involve the character moving forward in a short burst are risky to use since you could wind up pushing yourself off the map which happens way more often than you’d think and more often than it should. And because they have to share data with all the playable teams they away Knuckles’ ability to climb walls in favor of a tacky looking team glide for platforming just like they took away the Spin Dash.
Another team related mechanic the game introduces is something called the “Team Blast” which has a gauge fill up every time you deal damage to enemies or collect rings no matter how you collect said rings(remember this for later). When a team gauge is filled you can perform a Team Blast by pressing Z that acts as a screen wipe that clears almost every enemy on screen. I say almost because it doesn’t really remove every enemy on screen because some doof over at Sonic Team thought it would be a good idea to give an ultimate attack that’s meant to wipe out all enemies on screen with a limited range, which is smaller than you’d think by the way. Each Team Blast has their own special effect that appears for around 10 seconds after the attack is used which i’ll be talking about when I talk about each team on their own but know that after Team Sonic’s Team Blast Sonic will be able to use the Light Speed Attack from Adventure 1 and 2…but that’s useless when you’re able to still fight as Knuckles and it fucks up your Thunder Shoot when attacking bosses.
And the next fancy mechanic they try adding in is the new level system. And I hate this system so much. The idea of the level system is that your character starts off dealing an ok amount of damage but can get stronger the more you level up by collecting orbs that can drop from enemies. Speed characters get a stronger spin dash, flight characters get a stronger Thunder Shoot, and power characters get stronger combo enders. The problem is that in terms of combat no Sonic game has ever worked like this. For the most part every enemy in a Sonic game that came out before and after Heroes is able to be one shot by a simple jump, roll, spin dash, homing attack, mech shot, boost or punch with the only exceptions I can name off the top of my head being Sonic Rush, Sonic Unleashed’s night stages, and Sonic Frontiers. But those 3 examples are excusable since with Rush it’s only one enemy that has more than 1 HP that doesn’t spawn often and with the other 2 being based more on combat than speeding through levels as fast as possible. Your team will only be satisfying to play after everyone as at the maximum level of level 3 which can be difficult to do since whichever orbs enemies drop when defeated are not only random for when exactly they’ll drop but it’s also completely random who the level up is meant for. Imagine needing to level up your power character to get through a large horde of enemies but instead all the levels go to the other 2 teammates that are virtually useless in a fight. “Ah dammit, I needed a power orb to get to level 2…ah well might as well give my other teammates their 50th orb of the fight.” The only ways to get guaranteed levels for a certain character is with certain item boxes and balloons scattered throughout the level and with checkpoints but the latter only works for the character leading the formation when touching the checkpoint, not to mention they’re single use only. And say you grinded all those levels so you can blitz through this level, guess what, if you die all of your levels get reset and it doesn’t matter if you only lose a life or game over. And i’ve made it very clear how easy it is to unintentionally kill yourself in this game.
Something else that isn’t properly explained is the hidden difficulty system. The problem is that each team campaign has a hidden difficulty system but the game doesn’t tell you that at all unless you want to willingly listen to Omochao(note that I played the tutorial and afterwards I actively avoided his tips on the main menu). The difficulty from easy to hard is Teams Rose, Sonic, Dark, and Chaotix being a gimmick team but the game orders them from Sonic, Dark, Rose, Chaotix which is bad game design because not only are people gonna wanna play as the main character Sonic the Hedgehog, but with how the stories are laid out players would instinctively play from left to right causing them to play the game on normal, hard, easy, and then gimmick which doesn’t make too much sense. I knew the difficulty levels before going in but I played in order of Sonic, Rose, Dark, Chaotix because I like Sonic as a character. But what I wasn’t prepared for is that this game is kinda hard even on the normal difficulty because the game is full of jank that can just kill you for playing the game as intended.
But now for Team Rose and Team Dark. Team Rose is so piss easy that it’s insulting for players who are well affirmed with the series. For one they force you to play the tutorial even after you’ve completed a story previously. Which btw this is the most bullshit tutorial in the history of gaming. Most games have pop ups with button commands and visuals to help the player out or they let the player figure things out themselves. Sonic Heroes does neither of these but instead have this little annoying ass robotic fuck hold your hand throughout the entire thing. What makes this worse is that every time he pops up to tell you what to do your character is stuck in place as you gotta wait for him to shut up so you can play the game only for you to be stopped by his rambling again and again and again until it’s finally over. And most of the skills players can learn on their own since it’s not that hard to just press a random button and get immediate feedback of “oh this button does this? cool beans''. Their moveset is also broken with Amy’s tornado attack being a moving projectile meaning you don’t have to willingly get in contact with the enemy in order to use it, Big having a combo that doesn’t have him move so he can’t fall off the map along with a broken belly flop that’s good for not only combat but weirdly enough platforming, and Cream…she’s just the flier. Their Team Blast is just a win button for no good reason. Not only does it give all of your teammates a free level, not only does it give your team a shield, but it makes your entire team INVINCIBLE. Ok game I get it, stop treating me like a baby. And the finishing touch is that all the levels are cut in half. Awesome. Setting up unrealistic expectations for newcomers and disrespecting older players in one foul swoop.
And then there’s Team Dark…oh Team Dark…when they said this was the “hard” mode they were lying. Because it should’ve been called “kaizo” mode. Enemies are everywhere including places they shouldn’t be, the amount of rings available is greatly reduced, And the bosses become borderline impossible to beat at times(except for the rival fights but we’ll get to that). And not only are there more enemies but the stronger variants of said enemies spawn more frequently. And you’d think their Team Blast would make things better, well yes and no but here’s why. Their Team Blast freezes time completely and I mean completely. Rings don’t spin, projectiles don’t move, even the timer doesn’t tick down. But the most annoying part is if you’re using your Team Blast to try and move forward the puzzles are stuck in time too until the gauge runs out so you gotta sit and wait to move on. And even after you move on the game will probably toss 3 giant armored robots at you at once that fight like mini-bosses(if you know you know) immediately after your Team Blast just ran out.
But before I talk about the final team with Team Chaotix I wanna talk about the level design! Yippee! Except not really because it’s all terrible. The locations and themes are unique in their own right but each level suffers from their own issues coupled with all the bugs that can kill you outright without the player having any time to think about what just happened. Ignoring the main bugs, Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace are fine first levels in all honesty. Power Plant’s elevator section is long and tedious and it’s worse if you have a character than use the Light Speed Dash along with a super stressful rising lava section that you gotta hurry up to climb or else you’re dead. But oooh nooo it’s not that easy because the lava moves faster along with the player which means if you’re too slow, you die and if you’re too fast…you die. Casino Park and Bingo Highway have pinball mechanics that will leave you stuck in one of the tables forever unless you’re a pinball god or just lucky. And we just love games marketed at children that encourage gambling addictions, especially if said gambling minigames are rng. Rail Canyon and Bullet Station rely entirely on rails which don’t work properly as I said before and Bullet Station in particular has a cannon that’s supposed to shoot you onto another rail track but in actuality it fires you straight into the death zone if you’re unaware about this and hold forward…and because it’s a Sonic the Hedgehog game you’re gonna do that. “Gotta go fast” and all that. Frog Forest and Lost Jungle have flying flowers that are so jittery they’re impossible to control, swinging vines with an awkward timing window, and it ends on a chase sequence against a giant crocodile that relies on the janky vines that last way too long. Hang Castle and Mystic Mansion are puzzle-filled mazes with ghost enemies that show up at the worst of times to jumpscare you…which is all the time, and everything else(we all know these levels sucks moving on). Egg Fleet and Final Fortress have tons of bullshit cannons that can home in on you, can snipe you out of the air which can hit you out of a platforming segment and send you falling to your death, crumbling floors, everything’s in the sky so there’s almost no floor to stand on, and rails. The worst part about it all is that all 4 campaign’s use the same exact 14 levels. You heard me right. ALL 4 CAMPAIGNS USE THE EXACT SAME LEVELS. Sonic Adventure 2 had 2 campaigns with levels that heavily differed from each other one way or another. Each campaign has either a speed level, a treasure level, or a mech level and even then it’s not equal to how many levels each type of level gets and each level has a different setting and music track. Rush is the one case I can think of where the campaigns had minor differences. Only thing is that those differences are huge. The levels are the same but they’re in a different order for Sonic and Blaze, Blaze plays completely differently from Sonic, Blaze gets her own music tracks, and Sonic has to use special stages to get the Chaos Emeralds while Blaze doesn’t need any to get the Sol Emeralds. And at the end of every other stage you gotta face off against-
Bosses! They all suck for different reasons. The mech fights boil down to mashing homing attacks like it’s a Mario Party minigame, the rival team fights are a joke, and the horde fights…oh my god the horde fights. I’m just gonna rip the band-aid off here. ROBOT. FUCKING. STORM. This is not only the worst “level” in Sonic Heroes but the worst boss fight out of any Sonic game I have ever played. Team Sonic’s is hard enough as is, Team Rose’s is a pushover(as is every boss in their campaign really), Team Chaotix…we’ll get to them later. But Team Dark’s has to be the boss fight that throws the bullshit at you. Don’t believe me well then let’s see here, we got; a long robot gauntlet that feels like it takes years to get over with, more enemies that spawn with a lot of them being the stronger variants of the enemies we’ve already be accustomed to, multiple giant hammer wielding robots paired with either robots that heal them or robots that sap all your rings which because it’s a Sonic game it’s basically life steal, and because this game was programmed with monkeys holding hammers the enemies will constantly knock your ass off the map and there is NOTHING you can do about it except pray. Pray to rn-Jesus that you can make it out alive with what little sanity is left in your body. And after all that Eggman has the balls to say what I'd call the worst line in any Sonic game, “Don’t get too excited boys! Those were the easy ones!”. It’s genuinely unbelievable that such a level exists. This was marketed towards kids. How is fucking little Casey who just got Sonic Heroes as their first video game gonna beat this shit? He’s not. Because the developers didn’t think about that just like they didn’t think about anything in this game except making a “fun” gimmick. But that’s not all. Because there’s one more boss...
Egg Emperor…and the bullshit continues. I definitely know what true evil is when facing this boss all right. The fight consists of running across a few platforms before making your way over to a bigger arena. The boss only has 3 attacks but 2 of them are what make this boss a slog to get through. He can fire energy waves by swinging his lance like he’s Cloud Strife and a charge attack that has no weaknesses that the game says activates whenever you’re too far from him. Because this is a Sonic game I figured that meant he can only charge if you’re too slow, but if you manage to run ahead of him he’ll charge anyway. But if you get too close to him you could risk either getting hit by a lance beam or by his massive hurtbox. And you might be thinking “why don’t you homing attack the body at that point?” and that’s because he has a shield that blocks all attacks and it’s only worth attacking his body after the second part of the fight where you go to that arena section. In the arena section you have to destroy some cannons and defeat some enemies before getting to the big man himself. You can make him drop his shield by using Thunder Shoot and follow up with your Power character but you probably wouldn’t do as much damage as you were hoping for since in order to do any real damage you’ll have to level your Power character up to level 3 which could take forever in this fight. After a certain amount of time the boss will flee causing you to chase after him again and repeat the boss cycle. But don’t go too fast because then you’ll wind up smacking right into his body or he’ll swat you out the air like a fly with a lance beam attack. And you can’t go too slow or else he’ll just charge at you which if he does it at the wrong time he can intercept your approach and boop you off the map meaning you’ll be dead. And if you thought that was enough, because the developers don’t know how to properly make things different between campaigns you have to fight this motherfucker 4 SEPARATE TIMES. And it doesn’t matter what campaign you go through because you’ll always have a tough time regardless of difficulty. I know it’s the final boss and that it’s meant to be a challenge but holy shit tone it down, there’s kids playing this shit.
And the last campaign involves Team Chaotix and they’re by far my favorite team to play as…and they still have problems. Instead of going through levels the same way you did 3 separate times already it instead focuses on missions. And I have mixed feelings about this. It’s great because it finally keeps things fresh and gives the player another way to experience the game that isn’t platforming focused. The problem is the fact that it’s still the same levels, levels that were meant for an action platformer instead of things finding an x amount of…I don’t know seashells. While the treasure hunting stages were my least favorite aspect of Sonic Adventure 2 they at least did a better job with the concept than some of the collecting missions in Heroes since the maps are built specifically for this kind of gameplay and there was at least a tracker telling you if you were going in the right direction. The Chaotix has you searching through levels you’re meant to speed through while not giving you any sort of tracker to tell you if you’re in the right direction. The Casino Park one in particular was the worst one because of the instructions: “Win 200 Rings!”. Anyone who sees this probably assumes they mean to use the slot machines since we’re a casino level with slot machines built into the pinball tables. But the thing is you can easily just collect 200 rings by playing the stage. But the game doesn’t say collect 200 rings, it says win 200 rings which is the dumbest piece of misinformation in this game and that’s saying something since this game loves to withhold information from the player for no reason. Like did you know you can fire your Thunder Shoot at nothing to charge your team gauge? Or that even though the game says to use a Speed character’s tornado to deal with shield enemies Power characters can punch right through them no problem? You probably didn’t because the game doesn’t tell you this. Anyway the stealth missions are the best ones because Espio’s invisibility is broken. And their Team Blast causes any enemy destroyed to turn into rings and for the duration of the meter any enemy destroyed turns into rings. This is the most broken move in the game. Why? Well remember when I said that the Team Gauge charges from attacking enemies and collecting rings? Well the game counts any rings collected towards the meter. Meaning if you destroy enough enemies at once with this attack you can immediately get your gauge back to repeatedly use again and again. It’s such an easy exploit to pull off that I'm not even surprised that this was left unchecked in all honesty. It even makes the dreaded Robot Storm look like a joke.
So that’s it. You beat all the 4 campaigns and you’d think that it’s time for the usual last story, right?...right? Well unfortunately special stages make a return and with that the 7 Chaos Emeralds. And this is by far the worst one. In the past special stages were unlocked by method of holding at least 50 rings until the end of the stage and jumping into a warp ring in Sonic 1 or holding at least 50 rings and jumping into a star post in Sonic 2 or by jumping into a giant warp ring hidden in the level in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Sonic Heroes decided they wanna be a bit quirky in a horrible way. In order to access the special stages in this game you have to collect a key hidden in the stage and bring that key with you until the end of the level or mission in order to unlock the special stages and collect the Emeralds…there’s so much wrong with this…Not only is it already easy for the game to send your ass to the shadow realm for existing but if you get hit and lose your key it doesn’t just fall out like rings do, it disappears completely meaning you’ll have to reload at a checkpoint or worse, restart the entire level every single time you get hit. And after you get through that bullshit we get to the special stage itself…if you’ve played this game you already know what’s up. The special stage acts similarly to the half pipe in Sonic 2 but except it’s a full enclosed pipe you run around in. The goal is to collect orbs to fill your boost meter and speed ahead to catch the emerald. It sounds very simple but remember, this game was coded by monkeys with hammers so the physics don’t function. Your character will constantly jitter around while moving making positioning yourself impossible when trying to collect the orbs. You have to pick between a Power or Speed character because Flight characters are too slow to do anything but even then you’re picking your poison. Do you wanna control your character better at the cost of speed or do you wanna go fast in order to get the emerald quickly at the cost of controlling your character? ‘Cause that’s exactly what it feels like. And I'm still not done because each Emerald is locked into every other stage. Sonic 1, 2, and 3 & Knuckles allows you to get the Emeralds as easy as the first 2 or 3 zones if you know what you’re doing. If you miss an emerald in one of the few stages they appear in you’ll have to repeat the level and do everything I just explained ALL OVER AGAIN. WHAT KIND OF COLLECTOR HATING SADISTIC BASTARD THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA WHEN THE EMERALDS ARE REQUIRED TO BEAT ALL OF THE STORY!? Before going in I knew how bad the special stages were while being blissfully unaware how bad the unlock requirements were so I used save states(yes I used an emulator) to collect the emeralds in a timely fashion. Not only did this end up taking longer than expected even with save states but I was forced to keep using them for every time I got hit, sent off the stage, or missed the Emerald causing my save file to corrupt and erase all my data. Which caused the auto save to fail and use exclusively save states to progress. And let me tell you, nothing’s scarier than booting up the game and discovering all of your save data has been completely erased even after you completed 2 campaigns previously.
Before I get into the last couple topics of discussion I'll touch on some minor things that don’t warrant their own paragraph individually. The voice acting is hit or miss with stand outs like Omega and Sonic and then there’s instances of some of the worst voice acting in the series with Tails where they deadass brought an 8 year old to voice the character. “Look at all those Eggman’s robots!”. But it gets weirder since Cream was voiced by an actual voice actress and Charmy was voiced by a teenager. Doesn’t help that the game has the characters not stop talking for every single damn action in the game. It’s the same cheesy lines for the entire playthrough. The game looks ugly with the admittedly improved models having textures that look like they’re plastic toys ready to be sold in some Walmart or Target. The pre rendered cutscenes might be revolutionary at the time but are horribly dated by today’s standards and the in game cutscenes that start at the beginning of boss fights and levels look extremely jittery and stiff with characters’ arms flailing to move into position, Omega’s eyes constantly bugging out, and the camera repeatedly having a stroke. Some assets feel like they are copy/pasted and slapped onto characters that don’t make sense. Omega and Big share the same aura color along with Espio and Sonic sharing the same aura color, purple and blue respectively. Omega’s triple glide animation looks exactly like Knuckles’ even though he could’ve been animated to use his thrusters. Rouge has a weird outfit change that is never used again. Some might think that it could be for censorship reasons but her chest is still exposed through a cleavage slit in the outfit which makes me wonder why they even bothered to change it. Plus her pink eyeshadow is less aesthetically pleasing than her iconic bright blue. It’s unclear if all the teams are doing everything at the same exact time or not making things really confusing.The way the characters are written are all over the place with a mixed bag across the board. Team Dark’s great as characters but then you have Tails who’s portrayed to act like some scaredy baby and Amy who’s been turned into a hyper thirsty yandere that’s willing to beat Sonic into marrying her. But all of that is nothing compared to how dirty they did Shadow.
Every team has their own mini story that drives their plot forwards; Team Sonic has to find and defeat Eggman, Team Rose is looking for their lost friends, Team Chaotix is tryna get the bread, and Omega, specifically Omega, is out to look for Eggman for revenge for locking him in a vault. Shadow though…ok first off, why is he here? He literally sacrificed himself to save the planet Earth from the space colony Ark with characters honoring said sacrifice and mourning his death, Sonic included…But then they decided to bring him back along with amnesia and a clone side story that makes him question who he is. The clone story is the dumbest shit in this entire damn game. As if it wasn’t enough to make him forget all the events of Sonic Adventure 2, which can kinda make sense if he was sent into a coma after crashing on Earth. But now he has to go through some midlife crisis level shit to try and figure out his past and if he’s even real, which spoiler alert: this game doesn’t resolve either plot point. These points were further developed and resolved by the next game; Shadow the Hedgehog which wasn’t the best game by all means but it gave more of a fuck to have a concrete story than Heroes ever did. And what’s worse is if the clones were gonna be brought up again in Shadow the Hedgehog and then be resolved in that same game then what the fuck was the point of doing any of this shit in Heroes!? All that did was leave Shadow’s story on a cliffhanger that accomplished nothing but made fans confused and left them with unanswered questions for 2 years until Shadow the Hedgehog came out.
But finally, after collecting all 7 Chaos Emeralds and beating all 4 Team campaigns you’re rewarded with the Last Story which reveals that Metal Sonic was the real mastermind behind everything that happened in the game so he can copy everyone’s data and assume a powerful new form…that takes way too long to transform into…with Metal Overlord…just to beat Sonic. Not even world domination, just to beat Sonic. While his dedication is admirable it’s a really shallow goal. Plus the buildup towards him being the main big bad isn’t handled as well as it could’ve been. All we get are a background element that people would miss if they’re too focused on just beating the level, an extra animation at the end of a boss cutscene that only appears for Team Sonic and Shadow’s story, and a few lines of dialogue from Team Chaotix’s “client” that makes it clear that it’s Eggman. But it would’ve been better to actually know how all of this happened in the first place. Metal Sonic shows up as Neo Metal Sonic as the first time we see him in this game with no explanation as to how he got this form or how he found out he can copy others’ abilities. Not even a cutscene or backstory from Eggman in the final story, instead he just complains about how they can’t defeat him without the Chaos Emeralds. Without prior knowledge I wouldn’t blame anyone for thinking that Metal Sonic just got a redesign since he hadn't made an appearance in the Adventure era at that time. How cool would it have been to have been given cutscenes showing us Metal Sonic twisting and contorting his body to not only show how he managed to do this in the first place but how far he’s willing to go to beat Sonic without spoiling the final form to leave the audience in suspense before the final act? And him not revealing that he copied Team Rose and Team Chaotix data kinda comes off as him not recognizing their strengths and calling them too weak to copy from, even if he didn’t say so himself. The segment where the teams do their best to weaken Metal Madness for Team Sonic is fine enough except the coding monkeys did it again and made it so that Flying characters can’t do any damage. But then there’s the final battle with Super Team Sonic…Team Super Sonic…uh…a Chaos Emerald powered Team Sonic. Admittedly the fight is really cool with Metal Overlord chucking entire battleships at the player and talking about how he believes he’s the real Sonic as What I’m Made Of blasts in the background. But there’s 2 major things that bring this fight down for me. Sonic Adventure 2 did a similar sequence of the cast of characters help Sonic and Shadow go super and defeat the big bad. Only difference being the buildup was more elaborate and the stakes were higher as if they failed the entire planet was at stake along with the presentation of the final fight being better in every way. One fight takes place in outer space while the other takes place in the sky a vague height above the ground. And most insulting of all they robbed us of bringing back Super Knuckles and Super Tails. This might’ve been because of the retcon of super forms only being possible with male hedgehogs but that was a massive missed opportunity. And after the fight is done Sonic drops one of the corniest one liners in the franchise, the 5th set of unskippable credits scrolls on screen, and the game tells you to do everything again but get to A ranks this time as one final fuck you.
In conclusion the game had a lot of…interesting ideas to say the least in terms of mixing up the Sonic formula. Unfortunately they used too much gas when trying to cook and sent the entire dish ablaze. I think if they let this game simmer a bit more and took at least a year to iron out all the bugs and mishaps since this game was developed in 20 months. As a comparison Sonic Adventure 2 took 18 months to develop and was still better. And while I've made comparisons to past Sonic games I wanna make it clear that I am aware of the flaws those other games have. After all, nothing is perfect. But Sonic Team at least could’ve made sure that their game was worth it in spite of these flaws by tweaking some game mechanics to make them more fun. And feel free to say why you’d think this game is peak Sonic. Alright that’s all, thanks for reading this far and have a fantastic day.

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como se juega al blackjack
Reglas del blackjack
El blackjack es un juego de cartas emocionante que se juega en casinos de todo el mundo. Para disfrutar de este juego de manera responsable y maximizar tus posibilidades de ganar, es importante conocer las reglas del blackjack. Aquí te presentamos algunas reglas básicas que debes tener en cuenta antes de sentarte en la mesa:

1. Objetivo del juego: El objetivo del blackjack es vencer al crupier sin pasar de 21 puntos. Si tu mano supera los 21 puntos, pierdes automáticamente.
   
2. Valor de las cartas: En el blackjack, las cartas numéricas valen su valor nominal, las cartas con figuras valen 10 puntos y los ases pueden valer 1 u 11 puntos, según convenga al jugador.
   
3. Turno de juego: El jugador y el crupier reciben dos cartas al principio. El jugador puede pedir más cartas (hit) para acercarse a 21 o quedarse con las cartas que tiene (stand). El crupier debe seguir reglas predeterminadas sobre cuándo pedir cartas adicionales.
   
4. Ganador: El jugador gana si su mano es más cercana a 21 que la del crupier, siempre y cuando no sobrepase los 21 puntos.
   
5. Blackjack: Si un jugador obtiene un as y una carta con valor de 10 puntos en las dos primeras cartas, tiene un blackjack y gana automáticamente, a menos que el crupier también tenga un blackjack.
   

Seguir estas reglas básicas te permitirá disfrutar del blackjack de forma segura y divertida. ¡Buena suerte en la mesa de juego!
Estrategias para blackjack
El blackjack es uno de los juegos de casino más populares y emocionantes. Aquellos que desean mejorar su juego y maximizar sus posibilidades de ganar a menudo recurren a diferentes estrategias. Aquí hay algunas estrategias útiles que puedes implementar en tu próxima sesión de blackjack:

1. **Conteo de cartas**: Aunque no está permitido en todos los casinos, el conteo de cartas es una estrategia efectiva para muchos jugadores de blackjack. Consiste en realizar un seguimiento de las cartas que se han jugado para determinar las probabilidades de las cartas restantes en el mazo.
   
2. **Estrategia básica**: Aprender la estrategia básica del blackjack es fundamental para cualquier jugador. Esta estrategia implica conocer la mejor acción matemática en función de tus cartas y la carta del crupier. Seguir la estrategia básica puede reducir significativamente la ventaja de la casa.
   
3. **Gestión de bankroll**: Es importante establecer un presupuesto y ceñirse a él. La gestión adecuada de tu bankroll te permitirá jugar de forma consciente y evitar pérdidas significativas.
   
4. **Dividir y doblar correctamente**: Saber cuándo dividir parejas y cuándo doblar la apuesta puede marcar la diferencia en el resultado final de una mano. Aprender las situaciones adecuadas para implementar estas jugadas puede aumentar tus posibilidades de ganar.
   

Al implementar estas estrategias y practicar regularmente, puedes mejorar tu juego de blackjack y aumentar tus posibilidades de éxito en el casino. Recuerda que, al final del día, el blackjack sigue siendo un juego de azar, por lo que es fundamental disfrutar del juego de forma responsable. ¡Buena suerte en la mesa!
Objetivo del blackjack
El objetivo del blackjack, también conocido como 21, es obtener una mano con un valor lo más cercano posible a 21 sin pasarse. Este juego de cartas es uno de los más populares en casinos de todo el mundo y combina la suerte con la estrategia.
Para alcanzar este objetivo, los jugadores deben sumar el valor de las cartas que reciben. Las cartas numéricas suman su valor nominal, las cartas con figuras suman 10 puntos y el as puede valer 1 u 11 puntos, dependiendo de lo que beneficie más al jugador en cada momento.
El jugador compite contra el crupier, que representa al casino. El crupier también intenta acercarse lo más posible a 21 sin pasarse. Si el jugador supera los 21 puntos, automáticamente pierde la mano, independientemente de la mano del crupier.
Una vez que los jugadores reciben sus cartas iniciales, tienen la opción de plantarse (mantener su mano actual), pedir más cartas (hit), doblar su apuesta original (double down) o dividir sus cartas si reciben dos cartas del mismo valor. Estas decisiones estratégicas son clave para maximizar las posibilidades de ganar en el blackjack.
En resumen, el objetivo del blackjack es vencer al crupier obteniendo una mano con un valor total más cercano a 21 sin pasarse. Con la combinación adecuada de suerte y habilidad, los jugadores pueden disfrutar de la emoción y la adrenalina de este popular juego de cartas.
Valores de las cartas en blackjack
En el blackjack, un juego de cartas muy popular en los casinos, es importante conocer el valor de cada carta para poder tomar decisiones estratégicas durante el juego. Las cartas numéricas del 2 al 10 conservan su valor nominal, es decir, el valor impreso en la carta. Por otro lado, las cartas con figuras, como las J, Q y K, valen todas 10 puntos.
El as, por su parte, puede tener un valor de 1 u 11 puntos, dependiendo de la conveniencia del jugador. Esta versatilidad del as es lo que lo convierte en una carta muy valiosa en el blackjack, ya que puede ayudar a completar jugadas ganadoras sin pasarse de 21 puntos.
Cuando se trata de determinar la puntuación total de una mano, se suman los valores de las cartas que la componen. Por ejemplo, si un jugador tiene un 7 y un 9, su puntuación sería de 16 puntos. En cambio, si tuviera un as y un 9, la puntuación podría ser de 10 u 20 puntos, dependiendo de la estrategia del jugador.
Es fundamental comprender el valor de las cartas en el blackjack para poder formular estrategias efectivas y maximizar las posibilidades de ganar. Con práctica y experiencia, los jugadores pueden aprender a tomar decisiones acertadas basadas en el valor de sus cartas y las cartas visibles del crupier. ¡A disfrutar del desafío y la emoción que ofrece este fascinante juego de cartas!
Modalidades de blackjack
El blackjack es un juego de cartas muy popular en los casinos, y cuenta con diferentes modalidades que ofrecen a los jugadores diversas opciones para disfrutar de la emoción y estrategia del juego.
Una de las variantes más conocidas del blackjack es el Blackjack Clásico, donde el objetivo es sumar 21 puntos con las cartas sin pasarse. Otra modalidad es el Blackjack Surrender, que permite a los jugadores rendirse y recuperar la mitad de su apuesta si consideran que su mano es débil.
Otra variante popular es el Blackjack Switch, que permite a los jugadores intercambiar las segundas cartas de sus manos para mejorar sus posibilidades de ganar. El Pontoon es una versión británica del blackjack donde se usan términos diferentes, como "twist" en lugar de "pedir carta".
El Blackjack en Vivo es una modalidad que se juega con crupieres reales a través de video en tiempo real, brindando una experiencia más inmersiva y cercana a la de un casino físico. Además, existen otras variaciones menos convencionales como el Blackjack Double Exposure, donde las cartas del crupier se reparten boca arriba.
En resumen, las modalidades de blackjack ofrecen a los jugadores la oportunidad de experimentar diferentes dinámicas y desafíos dentro del juego, lo que hace que este clásico del casino siga siendo uno de los favoritos en todo el mundo. ¡Atrévete a probar nuevas variantes y descubre cuál es tu favorita!

Hey there all, back with another request, this time for a cool poker game.
So what is Balatro? Allow me to explain in casino terms...you go to a casino with $5 in hand and a full standard deck of 52 cards. The dealer draws 7 cards to the table and asks you to form any poker hand you want with those 7 cards. You manage to pull a Straight Flush out of those cards and easily beat his blind...but then you're brought to a shop where you can enhance your deck and buy jokers to increase your score either with more chips or more mult. Eventually, you reach a point where that standard deck of 52 cards is now 124 cards large that consists of all polychrome red seal King of Diamonds and a set of 15 jokers that upon playing JUST one card exponentially increase your mult AND chips causing a black hole to open right in the casino and suck everything in...then after you cash out $10. THAT is Balatro. A fun and entertaining roguelike deckbuilder where your aim is to play poker hands to buy jokers and other things to increase the scoring potential of those poker hands.
Why do I want it? That's a very simple answer...I've always wanted to learn how to play poker since I've never done so in my life. Add the fact that this also seems like an AMAZING twist on the roguelike genre, and you have yourself (maybe) the first ever casino roguelike game! Plus, I've heard that people have actually started to learn how poker works from playing this game...and I want to be one of them.
Hopefully my explanation of the game isn't TOO out there, tried my best to make it as accurate to the game as possible. And I really hope you take the time out of your day to read this request and consider getting the game for me.
Steam Account: https://steamcommunity.com/id/thelupinedevil
Game Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/

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There is an Episode of the Love Boat, and one of the plot lines was, "Your Money Or Your Wife". A few different twists and turns, and typical Aaron Spelling Love Boat schlock but the plot is essentially a husband being offered forgiveness of a $20,000 debt if he agrees to have his wife go on a 'date' with the man offering it. (There is even a casino scene). Seems a pretty blatant redo/rip-off. There may be other instances as well of the same plot, but this one seems pretty relevant.

Welcome to another Indie Sunday! This event starts at 12 AM EST and will run for 24 hours.
Please read the below guidelines carefully before participating. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to send us a modmail.
A reminder that Rule 8 is not enforced during this event for submissions which follow the participation guidelines.

Submission Restrictions

• Games may be unreleased or finished
  
• You must provide video footage of the game in action. This can be a prototype, alpha, beta, etc. Images and concept art are nice but you must include a trailer or video of gameplay footage of the game.
  
• No key/game giveaways
  
• Only developers may make submissions for their games - if you would like to highlight a game on your own, please do so in this hub thread
  
• The same game/developer can not be shared more than once every 30 days.
  

Submission Format

• Submission must be a self-post (No direct links)
• Title: Game Name - Company (or individual) Name - Short description (for example: "classic turn based RPG" or "platformer inspired by Metroidvanias")
• Flair: Indie Sunday
• Body: Any links to trailers/footage, a description of the game, plans for release (platform, target date, etc), any additional information you'd like to add.

Weekly Spotlight

• TH3-M15 Guild - Capybara Forge LLC - Action Roguelike, Bullet-Hell, with Roguelite Elements
• Erenshor - A "Simulated MMORPG" - Burgee Media
• Rebel!: Prologue - Four Pixels Games - 3D arena horde shooter where you fight back against an oppressive government as a guerilla fighter! We're in the Endless Replayabilty Festival!
• KINGDOM OF FALLEN - DigitalSouls - A New Medieval Survival with Unlimited Building (RELEASE IN NEXT WEEK MAY 15TH)
• A2C:Ayry seems to be playtesting a 2D runner shooter from Cci - Imaginary Traveller - A 2D side scrolling runner shump ,with a bit of (meta)visual novel
• Galacticare - Brightrock & CULT Games- Sci-Fi Hospital Management Sim inspired by Two Point & Theme Hospital
• On Track - GIGATANK 3000 - Free cozy productivity game set aboard a train designed to help get stuff done
• Primordial Nation - Vezeko - A 4X / Grand Strategy with a Civ+Total War Style that allows you to build up a nation and survive the echoes of time! (Solo-Developer)
• Freenergy - Mir - a game about a brilliant engineer captured by a corporation, threatened with his life, he is forced to create combat robots. None other than Into the Breach inspired me to develop it.
• Casino Simulator - Lodos Games - Simulation game
• DROSS - Team Derelict - DROSS is an FPS Roguelike set in a derelict facility infested with alien bugs
• Outer Space Shack - Open Lowcode - a realistic space base building game starting in the 1960s on the Moon - R1.5 update is out, focusing on quality of life improvements
• 💰Forum Mortuorum ⚔️ - Vittoria Games - Gladiator Management (Free Demo on Steam!)
• Critias Empire - Crystalline Green Ltd. - Non-violent 4X with improved demo
• Werewolf Party - AbsamStudios - A social deduction first-person multiplayer game.
• Paper Perjury - Paper Cat games -An Ace Attorney inspired mystery game (Demo on steam)
• Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons - Blast Programming - Idle Dungeon Crawler Where You Manage A Guild Heroes And Explore Dungeons For Loot and Glory in the Endless Replayabilty Festival
• Surfers Code - More Than Fun - Chill Surfing Themed Game, But So Much More . . . Adventure, exploration, surfing, and amusing conversations
• DDS2 (full title censored) - Movie Games - first-person co-op sim set in a dynamic open world. Make contacts, cook %&#, and manage your cartel on Isla Sombra, where power is the only law.
• Snowbound: Dead of Winter - Galaxasaurus Games - A farming tower defense roguelite (Steam demo out now!)
• Graveyard Gunslingers - Pyro Physics - roguelike horde survival with resource gathering
• The Nightwatch - Astrow Games - A highly customisable exploration survivors-like, come try out the demo!
• Eggstraction - TwoShoedGames - A chaotic game about chickens breaking into a farm.
• Eden Crafters - Osaris Games - Factory building and terraforming game where you transform a whole planet into a new haven for humanity
• The Bugs Manor 🦋 - Moonthsoft - A Free 2D Pixel Art Horror Game
• HOTLOOP - Tntlaxy GDS - top down space shooter with real physics, gravity and orbits
• SPELLHACK!! - Computer Dream - Meta retro deckbuilder with a game-within-a-game aesthetic
• Galaxy Burger - Galactic Workshop - a cooking game without annoying timers, just relaxing.
• Operation: Polygon Storm - Toxic Studio - Tug-of-War strategy game with RTS & Tower Defences (PC, PS4/5, Switch, Xbox)
• Warcos 2 - 4tale - (FPS, multiplayer shooter, with unique melee combat system, parkour and abilities)
• Anomaly Agent - Phew Phew Games - 2D, Pixel Art, Action Platformer
• Polygon of Reality - Dark Games DGG - First-person Survival horror with cunning and clever enemies.
• Medal winners 24 - Dual Gen Studios - Retro 2D sports video game about the Olympics
• Please Be Kind To The Chickens - Demanding Bear - A Challenging 3D Puzzle Adventure
• Munch - Mac n Cheese - A fantasy action game where you play an evolving monster
• Distant Isles - worldform - a RTwP party-based RPG where you explore an unknown island, fight creatures and search for loot and treasure
• Astral Throne - Zero Sun Games - Fire Emblem-inspired Roguelite (Demo Available Steam Endless Replayability Fest)
• Shoomer Booter - Tommy Gun Walrus - retro pixel art FPS with modern lighting
• Paw Paw Destiny - Daiyu.studio - 🐱Cat / Dog🐶, a cosmic horror comedy
• Rain Tactics - Ervya Studios - Tactical RPG inspired by Fire Emblem and Shadowrun; play a god who wants to die
• rRootage Reloaded - MadTriangles - Console port and remaster of an old bullet-hell classic.
• Rogue Voltage - Horizont Computergrafik - The Engineering Roguelike
• Just Crow Things - Unbound Creations - Play as little crow, collect shiny things, use variety of tools, and and poop on unsuspecting people (Demo Available)
• Emberward - Refic Games - Roguelite tower defense with maze building [New Demo Update!!]
• World’s Worst Handyman – Baby Lumberjack – Think Untitled Goose Game Meets Banjo Kazooie
• The Biggleboss Incident - BUNKWORKS - A pointy-clicky corporate thriller
• Echo: Defy Death - 3Hills - Roguelite that uses Echolocation, you play as a blind assassin!
• Novus Orbis - Seizo Games - A Combo-based Deckbuilder Roguelike
• Airships: Lost Flotilla - David Stark - a brotatolike steampunk autoshooter
• Star Mission: Remote Sectors - Ralph Schaedler - Sci-Fi Adventure Inspired by the Hopeful Visions of Golden Age Sci-Fi
• Sporeborn Dark - ValiantLight - is a mystical horror of dark labyrinths inspired by Darkwood.
• Gentoo Rescue - Cyclicity Studios - Puzzler inspired by Baba Is You and Patrick's Parabox
• Into The Grid - Flatline Studios - A narrative-centered Cyberpunk Deckbuilder with some real twists! Become a hacker and steal juicy corporate secrets!
• TROLEU - andrground - Wacky First-Person Physics-Based Trolleybus Conductor Simulator
• Alien Frontier - After Hours Games - An open world roguelite where you play as a prospector on a dangerous alien planet.
• Together After Dark - RedForge- Co-op Psychological Horror Game
• Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot - ichbinhamma - Dwarf Warband Simulator RPG
• The Last Question - Bill - An Existential Platforming Experience
• Tyrant’s Twilight - Caio Ramaglio - A mix between realtime and turn-based Tactics
• Mortal Glory 2 - Redbeak Games - 2D Turn-based Gladiator Roguelike
• Aim High Lofi - Thomas Wray - Fast-paced whimsical FPS with Lo-Fi music
• BrainZ Defender - Mint Creative - Tower Defense FPS
• Cozy Marbles - Pixel Pea Games - relaxing physics sandbox building game about creating marble runs
• Echoes of the Stars - Alchimia Studios - Hand Drawn, 2D, Spectacle Action RPG/JRPG/Anime inspired.

Previous Indie Sunday

Feedback

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below, or send us a modmail if it is urgent.

Discussion

• Any of these games catch your eye?
  
• Any games you want to personally highlight that haven't been shared yet?
  
• Any projects that have had interesting development journeys?
  
• What indie game recommendations do you have?
  

The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The Gospel
John 17:6–19
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Commentary on Today’s Gospel Selection:
Today’s text, is a very poignant prayer made by Jesus shortly before his arrest and persecution, culminating with his death on the cross. I suggest that this is a poignant prayer, one that arouses deep emotion, because of the implications of verse nine.
“I pray for them: I pray not for the world , but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” (v. 9) This is a very interesting passage, Jesus is openly saying that he IS NOT praying for the entirety of humanity, but only for those God, his Father, has given him. At face value, it seems to contradict his words to Nicodemus in John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” However the answer to this presumably paradoxical position is found in the words of John 3:16, “whosoever believeth.” He is not praying for those openly hostile to his teachings and those of his Father’s, but rather he is praying for those who have accepted the calling from God to believe in him.
Just as God chose the Israelites out of all the people of the world as his own, he now chooses all humanity, he so loved the world, he so loved humanity that he gave his only Son so that those who make the decision to believe in him and his teachings, those who make an effort to live in the light of his teachings, will be saved and not perish, but have eternal life.
Some have suggested that those hostile to Jesus’ teachings, those who openly choose to deny him, are guilty of the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is to blaspheme against the Spirit. But to openly deny the existence of God or the life and resurrection of Christ, is this not also akin to blaspheming against the Spirit?
Therefore we can at least surmise that, Jesus is not praying for those openly hostile to him, God his Father, or even his disciples and devout Christians; but rather those who are receptive, who hear the word of God and cling to it.
“What strikes one… most in our Lord’s prayer is not even (Jesus’) moving loyalty to his friends, …but rather his unmistakable pride in them” (Gossip, 746).
It seems astonishing that Jesus would claim to be glorified in these disciples. They are a small and ordinary group of people who exhibit no unusual intelligence or talent. They seem unable to learn from the numerous clues that Jesus gives them concerning his future. No matter what Jesus says, they just don’t get it. How can Jesus claim to have been glorified in them?
Keep in mind that this Gospel was written quite late, probably after most of Jesus’ original disciples had died. The author has seen that, somehow, through the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed been glorified by these disciples. The church is growing and spreading. However imperfect these disciples might have been, they have succeeded in glorifying the Lord. In fact, when Jesus says that he has been glorified in them, he uses the perfect tense, suggesting an already completed glorification, showing full confidence that they have glorified him and will glorify him.
At the time when he made this prayer, Jesus has been the disciples’ protector, and gives his Father an account of his stewardship (v. 12). Now he is preparing to depart, so he asks the Father to assume the role of protector to these disciples who are in the kosmos (world) but not of the kosmos—those who belong to the Father but, but will continue to dwell in a hostile world.
In modern times, various ecumenical movements have worked to bring denominations together organizationally, their efforts reflecting concerns both for this petition of Jesus and for the church’s witness. The unity for which Jesus is praying, however, is deeper—a unity of heart and purpose. Denominational unity is only a first step. We must be equally concerned about disunity within denominations—within congregations—among individual Christians.
This is a prayer that, in many respects, has not been answered. The church has fragmented into many denominations and factions. Christians have spent too much time fighting one another.
And yet, in some respects, Jesus prayer has been answered. Christians work together across denominational lines in many ways—from sponsoring community worship services to financing relief efforts. There have been a number of efforts to bring together denominations, either in formal mergers or through shared initiatives and mutual recognition of clergy. It is not enough, but it is a beginning.
“And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” (v. 13) Some might believe that Jesus is implying here, that by following his teachings his followers will feel his pride in them, so to speak, but they would be wrong. Here Jesus is referring to that joy one feels from being creative and productive in service God and others. The joy of being in a correct relationship with God, the joy of knowing your feet are planted on a firm foundation—the rock Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:24—the joy of knowing and serving truth; these are the joys he is speaking of in this prayer.
Jesus has given the disciples God’s word—God’s logos—and that word has made them different. These logos-people do not belong to the kosmos-world—the world that is opposed to God. Their new identity, their separateness, draws the world’s ire.
The kosmos-world is suspicious—afraid of those who have rejected its ways. Kosmos-people feel insecure except in the company of other kosmos-people—those who accept their values and seek the same pleasures. We see that with drug-addicts, who cannot abide the addict who has quit using drugs. We see it in the criminal world that cannot abide the person who has “gone straight.” Kosmos-people know that the person who no longer belongs to them is especially dangerous, because that person knows their secrets but no longer shares their loyalties.
We see something similar in the shadowy world of enterprises (legal or illegal) that profit from people’s weaknesses—manufacturers of cigarettes or alcohol, people who run casinos and bars, pimps, sellers of pornography and the like. Kosmos-people move among a small circle of colleagues and see the rest of the world as their enemy. They hate anyone who opposes them, whether overtly or by wholesome example, and respond viciously to any perceived threat to their kosmos-enterprise.
We see it in the movies, where Christians are seldom portrayed in a favorable light—and in the news media, which seldom reports anything good about the church but delights in clergy-gone-awry stories.
Jesus has not overstated the case at all when he says that the kosmos “hated” the disciples “because they are not of the kosmos.” That hatred is fueled by guilt, fear of exposure, and fierce resistance to change.
The mission Jesus assigned to the disciples, has not changed but this torch is passed on from one generation to another, even to us. It is a mission to carry on Christ’s work in the kosmos-world. As Christians—the followers of Christ—we are to work in a world to which we no longer belong and in which we no longer feel wholly comfortable. The old gospel song comes to mind: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passing through.” The poetry might be less than wonderful, but the sentiment is correct.
Jesus does pray that God will “keep them from the evil” (v. 15). Jesus prays not that the Father will give the disciples of that day or us for that mater, pain-free lives, but that he will protect us from succumbing to the evil one.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (v. 16-17). The disciples are flawed people—just as we are— people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future. Nevertheless, as disciples, we have become different, because Jesus has given us the Father’s word.
This passage is a good one to keep in mind when you read or hear the incessant rants of those modern day counterparts of those who were hostile to Jesus, in his time on Earth. Like the disciples of two millennia ago we, modern day disciples, are flawed people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future, but we have been given the Word, the Logos, of God and we are making an effort to—as he told the woman in John 8:11—“go and sin no more.”
Modern day Pharisees, those choosing to live and believe in their own self-righteousness, who like the Pharisees of old twist the scripture to justify their own ends by conflating Jesus’ teachings of brotherly love and compassion with not just tolerance of sin, but acceptance of abominable sins, twist scriptures so as to guilt the unwary Christian—tearing down his defenses—in an attempt to get these unwary Christians to succumb to the snares of the evil one. These modern day Pharisees try to convince you that you are not to help a sinner out of the proverbial gutter, but to wallow in the gutter with him.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Jesus said whoever commits a sin is the servant of sin. When we learn the truth, the Word of God and what it means, we choose to be a holy people and choose to sin no more, we are sanctified in the Holy Word of God. Remember Jesus said in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” You will no longer be a slave to sin.
Jesus is not of this world, but emptied himself so that he might take on human form and live in the kosmos-world on a mission of mercy and salvation (Philippians 2:5-11). At the time of this prayer, he was preparing the disciples to continue this incarnational ministry in a world that will often require them to take up their crosses to follow Jesus.
Likewise, in a world that was already hostile to Jesus—but growing exponentially more hostile to Christians each day—we are often found having to “pick up our own cross” to follow Jesus.
“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” Jesus is saying he is making himself Holy, sanctifying himself for service to God so that we may be made Holy by the grace of God—set apart for a Godly purpose—”sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ”
As Jesus’ prayer works with the dynamic of ‘the world’, this passage certainly reflects the heightened tension of his farewell to his disciples. Its main elements, which constitute Jesus’ pleas on behalf of his disciples, include what it will take for them to continue functioning as disciples after he leaves them, the same elements that are necessary for us to function as Disciples even today.
Benediction:
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The Gospel
John 17:6–19
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Commentary on Today’s Gospel Selection:
Today’s text, is a very poignant prayer made by Jesus shortly before his arrest and persecution, culminating with his death on the cross. I suggest that this is a poignant prayer, one that arouses deep emotion, because of the implications of verse nine.
“I pray for them: I pray not for the world , but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” (v. 9) This is a very interesting passage, Jesus is openly saying that he IS NOT praying for the entirety of humanity, but only for those God, his Father, has given him. At face value, it seems to contradict his words to Nicodemus in John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” However the answer to this presumably paradoxical position is found in the words of John 3:16, “whosoever believeth.” He is not praying for those openly hostile to his teachings and those of his Father’s, but rather he is praying for those who have accepted the calling from God to believe in him.
Just as God chose the Israelites out of all the people of the world as his own, he now chooses all humanity, he so loved the world, he so loved humanity that he gave his only Son so that those who make the decision to believe in him and his teachings, those who make an effort to live in the light of his teachings, will be saved and not perish, but have eternal life.
Some have suggested that those hostile to Jesus’ teachings, those who openly choose to deny him, are guilty of the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is to blaspheme against the Spirit. But to openly deny the existence of God or the life and resurrection of Christ, is this not also akin to blaspheming against the Spirit?
Therefore we can at least surmise that, Jesus is not praying for those openly hostile to him, God his Father, or even his disciples and devout Christians; but rather those who are receptive, who hear the word of God and cling to it.
“What strikes one… most in our Lord’s prayer is not even (Jesus’) moving loyalty to his friends, …but rather his unmistakable pride in them” (Gossip, 746).
It seems astonishing that Jesus would claim to be glorified in these disciples. They are a small and ordinary group of people who exhibit no unusual intelligence or talent. They seem unable to learn from the numerous clues that Jesus gives them concerning his future. No matter what Jesus says, they just don’t get it. How can Jesus claim to have been glorified in them?
Keep in mind that this Gospel was written quite late, probably after most of Jesus’ original disciples had died. The author has seen that, somehow, through the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed been glorified by these disciples. The church is growing and spreading. However imperfect these disciples might have been, they have succeeded in glorifying the Lord. In fact, when Jesus says that he has been glorified in them, he uses the perfect tense, suggesting an already completed glorification, showing full confidence that they have glorified him and will glorify him.
At the time when he made this prayer, Jesus has been the disciples’ protector, and gives his Father an account of his stewardship (v. 12). Now he is preparing to depart, so he asks the Father to assume the role of protector to these disciples who are in the kosmos (world) but not of the kosmos—those who belong to the Father but, but will continue to dwell in a hostile world.
In modern times, various ecumenical movements have worked to bring denominations together organizationally, their efforts reflecting concerns both for this petition of Jesus and for the church’s witness. The unity for which Jesus is praying, however, is deeper—a unity of heart and purpose. Denominational unity is only a first step. We must be equally concerned about disunity within denominations—within congregations—among individual Christians.
This is a prayer that, in many respects, has not been answered. The church has fragmented into many denominations and factions. Christians have spent too much time fighting one another.
And yet, in some respects, Jesus prayer has been answered. Christians work together across denominational lines in many ways—from sponsoring community worship services to financing relief efforts. There have been a number of efforts to bring together denominations, either in formal mergers or through shared initiatives and mutual recognition of clergy. It is not enough, but it is a beginning.
“And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” (v. 13) Some might believe that Jesus is implying here, that by following his teachings his followers will feel his pride in them, so to speak, but they would be wrong. Here Jesus is referring to that joy one feels from being creative and productive in service God and others. The joy of being in a correct relationship with God, the joy of knowing your feet are planted on a firm foundation—the rock Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:24—the joy of knowing and serving truth; these are the joys he is speaking of in this prayer.
Jesus has given the disciples God’s word—God’s logos—and that word has made them different. These logos-people do not belong to the kosmos-world—the world that is opposed to God. Their new identity, their separateness, draws the world’s ire.
The kosmos-world is suspicious—afraid of those who have rejected its ways. Kosmos-people feel insecure except in the company of other kosmos-people—those who accept their values and seek the same pleasures. We see that with drug-addicts, who cannot abide the addict who has quit using drugs. We see it in the criminal world that cannot abide the person who has “gone straight.” Kosmos-people know that the person who no longer belongs to them is especially dangerous, because that person knows their secrets but no longer shares their loyalties.
We see something similar in the shadowy world of enterprises (legal or illegal) that profit from people’s weaknesses—manufacturers of cigarettes or alcohol, people who run casinos and bars, pimps, sellers of pornography and the like. Kosmos-people move among a small circle of colleagues and see the rest of the world as their enemy. They hate anyone who opposes them, whether overtly or by wholesome example, and respond viciously to any perceived threat to their kosmos-enterprise.
We see it in the movies, where Christians are seldom portrayed in a favorable light—and in the news media, which seldom reports anything good about the church but delights in clergy-gone-awry stories.
Jesus has not overstated the case at all when he says that the kosmos “hated” the disciples “because they are not of the kosmos.” That hatred is fueled by guilt, fear of exposure, and fierce resistance to change.
The mission Jesus assigned to the disciples, has not changed but this torch is passed on from one generation to another, even to us. It is a mission to carry on Christ’s work in the kosmos-world. As Christians—the followers of Christ—we are to work in a world to which we no longer belong and in which we no longer feel wholly comfortable. The old gospel song comes to mind: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passing through.” The poetry might be less than wonderful, but the sentiment is correct.
Jesus does pray that God will “keep them from the evil” (v. 15). Jesus prays not that the Father will give the disciples of that day or us for that mater, pain-free lives, but that he will protect us from succumbing to the evil one.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (v. 16-17). The disciples are flawed people—just as we are— people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future. Nevertheless, as disciples, we have become different, because Jesus has given us the Father’s word.
This passage is a good one to keep in mind when you read or hear the incessant rants of those modern day counterparts of those who were hostile to Jesus, in his time on Earth. Like the disciples of two millennia ago we, modern day disciples, are flawed people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future, but we have been given the Word, the Logos, of God and we are making an effort to—as he told the woman in John 8:11—“go and sin no more.”
Modern day Pharisees, those choosing to live and believe in their own self-righteousness, who like the Pharisees of old twist the scripture to justify their own ends by conflating Jesus’ teachings of brotherly love and compassion with not just tolerance of sin, but acceptance of abominable sins, twist scriptures so as to guilt the unwary Christian—tearing down his defenses—in an attempt to get these unwary Christians to succumb to the snares of the evil one. These modern day Pharisees try to convince you that you are not to help a sinner out of the proverbial gutter, but to wallow in the gutter with him.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Jesus said whoever commits a sin is the servant of sin. When we learn the truth, the Word of God and what it means, we choose to be a holy people and choose to sin no more, we are sanctified in the Holy Word of God. Remember Jesus said in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” You will no longer be a slave to sin.
Jesus is not of this world, but emptied himself so that he might take on human form and live in the kosmos-world on a mission of mercy and salvation (Philippians 2:5-11). At the time of this prayer, he was preparing the disciples to continue this incarnational ministry in a world that will often require them to take up their crosses to follow Jesus.
Likewise, in a world that was already hostile to Jesus—but growing exponentially more hostile to Christians each day—we are often found having to “pick up our own cross” to follow Jesus.
“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” Jesus is saying he is making himself Holy, sanctifying himself for service to God so that we may be made Holy by the grace of God—set apart for a Godly purpose—”sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ”
As Jesus’ prayer works with the dynamic of ‘the world’, this passage certainly reflects the heightened tension of his farewell to his disciples. Its main elements, which constitute Jesus’ pleas on behalf of his disciples, include what it will take for them to continue functioning as disciples after he leaves them, the same elements that are necessary for us to function as Disciples even today.
Benediction:
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The Gospel
John 17:6–19
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Commentary on Today’s Gospel Selection:
Today’s text, is a very poignant prayer made by Jesus shortly before his arrest and persecution, culminating with his death on the cross. I suggest that this is a poignant prayer, one that arouses deep emotion, because of the implications of verse nine.
“I pray for them: I pray not for the world , but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” (v. 9) This is a very interesting passage, Jesus is openly saying that he IS NOT praying for the entirety of humanity, but only for those God, his Father, has given him. At face value, it seems to contradict his words to Nicodemus in John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” However the answer to this presumably paradoxical position is found in the words of John 3:16, “whosoever believeth.” He is not praying for those openly hostile to his teachings and those of his Father’s, but rather he is praying for those who have accepted the calling from God to believe in him.
Just as God chose the Israelites out of all the people of the world as his own, he now chooses all humanity, he so loved the world, he so loved humanity that he gave his only Son so that those who make the decision to believe in him and his teachings, those who make an effort to live in the light of his teachings, will be saved and not perish, but have eternal life.
Some have suggested that those hostile to Jesus’ teachings, those who openly choose to deny him, are guilty of the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is to blaspheme against the Spirit. But to openly deny the existence of God or the life and resurrection of Christ, is this not also akin to blaspheming against the Spirit?
Therefore we can at least surmise that, Jesus is not praying for those openly hostile to him, God his Father, or even his disciples and devout Christians; but rather those who are receptive, who hear the word of God and cling to it.
“What strikes one… most in our Lord’s prayer is not even (Jesus’) moving loyalty to his friends, …but rather his unmistakable pride in them” (Gossip, 746).
It seems astonishing that Jesus would claim to be glorified in these disciples. They are a small and ordinary group of people who exhibit no unusual intelligence or talent. They seem unable to learn from the numerous clues that Jesus gives them concerning his future. No matter what Jesus says, they just don’t get it. How can Jesus claim to have been glorified in them?
Keep in mind that this Gospel was written quite late, probably after most of Jesus’ original disciples had died. The author has seen that, somehow, through the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed been glorified by these disciples. The church is growing and spreading. However imperfect these disciples might have been, they have succeeded in glorifying the Lord. In fact, when Jesus says that he has been glorified in them, he uses the perfect tense, suggesting an already completed glorification, showing full confidence that they have glorified him and will glorify him.
At the time when he made this prayer, Jesus has been the disciples’ protector, and gives his Father an account of his stewardship (v. 12). Now he is preparing to depart, so he asks the Father to assume the role of protector to these disciples who are in the kosmos (world) but not of the kosmos—those who belong to the Father but, but will continue to dwell in a hostile world.
In modern times, various ecumenical movements have worked to bring denominations together organizationally, their efforts reflecting concerns both for this petition of Jesus and for the church’s witness. The unity for which Jesus is praying, however, is deeper—a unity of heart and purpose. Denominational unity is only a first step. We must be equally concerned about disunity within denominations—within congregations—among individual Christians.
This is a prayer that, in many respects, has not been answered. The church has fragmented into many denominations and factions. Christians have spent too much time fighting one another.
And yet, in some respects, Jesus prayer has been answered. Christians work together across denominational lines in many ways—from sponsoring community worship services to financing relief efforts. There have been a number of efforts to bring together denominations, either in formal mergers or through shared initiatives and mutual recognition of clergy. It is not enough, but it is a beginning.
“And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” (v. 13) Some might believe that Jesus is implying here, that by following his teachings his followers will feel his pride in them, so to speak, but they would be wrong. Here Jesus is referring to that joy one feels from being creative and productive in service God and others. The joy of being in a correct relationship with God, the joy of knowing your feet are planted on a firm foundation—the rock Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:24—the joy of knowing and serving truth; these are the joys he is speaking of in this prayer.
Jesus has given the disciples God’s word—God’s logos—and that word has made them different. These logos-people do not belong to the kosmos-world—the world that is opposed to God. Their new identity, their separateness, draws the world’s ire.
The kosmos-world is suspicious—afraid of those who have rejected its ways. Kosmos-people feel insecure except in the company of other kosmos-people—those who accept their values and seek the same pleasures. We see that with drug-addicts, who cannot abide the addict who has quit using drugs. We see it in the criminal world that cannot abide the person who has “gone straight.” Kosmos-people know that the person who no longer belongs to them is especially dangerous, because that person knows their secrets but no longer shares their loyalties.
We see something similar in the shadowy world of enterprises (legal or illegal) that profit from people’s weaknesses—manufacturers of cigarettes or alcohol, people who run casinos and bars, pimps, sellers of pornography and the like. Kosmos-people move among a small circle of colleagues and see the rest of the world as their enemy. They hate anyone who opposes them, whether overtly or by wholesome example, and respond viciously to any perceived threat to their kosmos-enterprise.
We see it in the movies, where Christians are seldom portrayed in a favorable light—and in the news media, which seldom reports anything good about the church but delights in clergy-gone-awry stories.
Jesus has not overstated the case at all when he says that the kosmos “hated” the disciples “because they are not of the kosmos.” That hatred is fueled by guilt, fear of exposure, and fierce resistance to change.
The mission Jesus assigned to the disciples, has not changed but this torch is passed on from one generation to another, even to us. It is a mission to carry on Christ’s work in the kosmos-world. As Christians—the followers of Christ—we are to work in a world to which we no longer belong and in which we no longer feel wholly comfortable. The old gospel song comes to mind: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passing through.” The poetry might be less than wonderful, but the sentiment is correct.
Jesus does pray that God will “keep them from the evil” (v. 15). Jesus prays not that the Father will give the disciples of that day or us for that mater, pain-free lives, but that he will protect us from succumbing to the evil one.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (v. 16-17). The disciples are flawed people—just as we are— people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future. Nevertheless, as disciples, we have become different, because Jesus has given us the Father’s word.
This passage is a good one to keep in mind when you read or hear the incessant rants of those modern day counterparts of those who were hostile to Jesus, in his time on Earth. Like the disciples of two millennia ago we, modern day disciples, are flawed people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future, but we have been given the Word, the Logos, of God and we are making an effort to—as he told the woman in John 8:11—“go and sin no more.”
Modern day Pharisees, those choosing to live and believe in their own self-righteousness, who like the Pharisees of old twist the scripture to justify their own ends by conflating Jesus’ teachings of brotherly love and compassion with not just tolerance of sin, but acceptance of abominable sins, twist scriptures so as to guilt the unwary Christian—tearing down his defenses—in an attempt to get these unwary Christians to succumb to the snares of the evil one. These modern day Pharisees try to convince you that you are not to help a sinner out of the proverbial gutter, but to wallow in the gutter with him.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Jesus said whoever commits a sin is the servant of sin. When we learn the truth, the Word of God and what it means, we choose to be a holy people and choose to sin no more, we are sanctified in the Holy Word of God. Remember Jesus said in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” You will no longer be a slave to sin.
Jesus is not of this world, but emptied himself so that he might take on human form and live in the kosmos-world on a mission of mercy and salvation (Philippians 2:5-11). At the time of this prayer, he was preparing the disciples to continue this incarnational ministry in a world that will often require them to take up their crosses to follow Jesus.
Likewise, in a world that was already hostile to Jesus—but growing exponentially more hostile to Christians each day—we are often found having to “pick up our own cross” to follow Jesus.
“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” Jesus is saying he is making himself Holy, sanctifying himself for service to God so that we may be made Holy by the grace of God—set apart for a Godly purpose—”sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ”
As Jesus’ prayer works with the dynamic of ‘the world’, this passage certainly reflects the heightened tension of his farewell to his disciples. Its main elements, which constitute Jesus’ pleas on behalf of his disciples, include what it will take for them to continue functioning as disciples after he leaves them, the same elements that are necessary for us to function as Disciples even today.
Benediction:
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The Gospel
John 17:6–19
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Commentary on Today’s Gospel Selection:
Today’s text, is a very poignant prayer made by Jesus shortly before his arrest and persecution, culminating with his death on the cross. I suggest that this is a poignant prayer, one that arouses deep emotion, because of the implications of verse nine.
“I pray for them: I pray not for the world , but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” (v. 9) This is a very interesting passage, Jesus is openly saying that he IS NOT praying for the entirety of humanity, but only for those God, his Father, has given him. At face value, it seems to contradict his words to Nicodemus in John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” However the answer to this presumably paradoxical position is found in the words of John 3:16, “whosoever believeth.” He is not praying for those openly hostile to his teachings and those of his Father’s, but rather he is praying for those who have accepted the calling from God to believe in him.
Just as God chose the Israelites out of all the people of the world as his own, he now chooses all humanity, he so loved the world, he so loved humanity that he gave his only Son so that those who make the decision to believe in him and his teachings, those who make an effort to live in the light of his teachings, will be saved and not perish, but have eternal life.
Some have suggested that those hostile to Jesus’ teachings, those who openly choose to deny him, are guilty of the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is to blaspheme against the Spirit. But to openly deny the existence of God or the life and resurrection of Christ, is this not also akin to blaspheming against the Spirit?
Therefore we can at least surmise that, Jesus is not praying for those openly hostile to him, God his Father, or even his disciples and devout Christians; but rather those who are receptive, who hear the word of God and cling to it.
“What strikes one… most in our Lord’s prayer is not even (Jesus’) moving loyalty to his friends, …but rather his unmistakable pride in them” (Gossip, 746).
It seems astonishing that Jesus would claim to be glorified in these disciples. They are a small and ordinary group of people who exhibit no unusual intelligence or talent. They seem unable to learn from the numerous clues that Jesus gives them concerning his future. No matter what Jesus says, they just don’t get it. How can Jesus claim to have been glorified in them?
Keep in mind that this Gospel was written quite late, probably after most of Jesus’ original disciples had died. The author has seen that, somehow, through the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed been glorified by these disciples. The church is growing and spreading. However imperfect these disciples might have been, they have succeeded in glorifying the Lord. In fact, when Jesus says that he has been glorified in them, he uses the perfect tense, suggesting an already completed glorification, showing full confidence that they have glorified him and will glorify him.
At the time when he made this prayer, Jesus has been the disciples’ protector, and gives his Father an account of his stewardship (v. 12). Now he is preparing to depart, so he asks the Father to assume the role of protector to these disciples who are in the kosmos (world) but not of the kosmos—those who belong to the Father but, but will continue to dwell in a hostile world.
In modern times, various ecumenical movements have worked to bring denominations together organizationally, their efforts reflecting concerns both for this petition of Jesus and for the church’s witness. The unity for which Jesus is praying, however, is deeper—a unity of heart and purpose. Denominational unity is only a first step. We must be equally concerned about disunity within denominations—within congregations—among individual Christians.
This is a prayer that, in many respects, has not been answered. The church has fragmented into many denominations and factions. Christians have spent too much time fighting one another.
And yet, in some respects, Jesus prayer has been answered. Christians work together across denominational lines in many ways—from sponsoring community worship services to financing relief efforts. There have been a number of efforts to bring together denominations, either in formal mergers or through shared initiatives and mutual recognition of clergy. It is not enough, but it is a beginning.
“And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” (v. 13) Some might believe that Jesus is implying here, that by following his teachings his followers will feel his pride in them, so to speak, but they would be wrong. Here Jesus is referring to that joy one feels from being creative and productive in service God and others. The joy of being in a correct relationship with God, the joy of knowing your feet are planted on a firm foundation—the rock Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:24—the joy of knowing and serving truth; these are the joys he is speaking of in this prayer.
Jesus has given the disciples God’s word—God’s logos—and that word has made them different. These logos-people do not belong to the kosmos-world—the world that is opposed to God. Their new identity, their separateness, draws the world’s ire.
The kosmos-world is suspicious—afraid of those who have rejected its ways. Kosmos-people feel insecure except in the company of other kosmos-people—those who accept their values and seek the same pleasures. We see that with drug-addicts, who cannot abide the addict who has quit using drugs. We see it in the criminal world that cannot abide the person who has “gone straight.” Kosmos-people know that the person who no longer belongs to them is especially dangerous, because that person knows their secrets but no longer shares their loyalties.
We see something similar in the shadowy world of enterprises (legal or illegal) that profit from people’s weaknesses—manufacturers of cigarettes or alcohol, people who run casinos and bars, pimps, sellers of pornography and the like. Kosmos-people move among a small circle of colleagues and see the rest of the world as their enemy. They hate anyone who opposes them, whether overtly or by wholesome example, and respond viciously to any perceived threat to their kosmos-enterprise.
We see it in the movies, where Christians are seldom portrayed in a favorable light—and in the news media, which seldom reports anything good about the church but delights in clergy-gone-awry stories.
Jesus has not overstated the case at all when he says that the kosmos “hated” the disciples “because they are not of the kosmos.” That hatred is fueled by guilt, fear of exposure, and fierce resistance to change.
The mission Jesus assigned to the disciples, has not changed but this torch is passed on from one generation to another, even to us. It is a mission to carry on Christ’s work in the kosmos-world. As Christians—the followers of Christ—we are to work in a world to which we no longer belong and in which we no longer feel wholly comfortable. The old gospel song comes to mind: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passing through.” The poetry might be less than wonderful, but the sentiment is correct.
Jesus does pray that God will “keep them from the evil” (v. 15). Jesus prays not that the Father will give the disciples of that day or us for that mater, pain-free lives, but that he will protect us from succumbing to the evil one.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (v. 16-17). The disciples are flawed people—just as we are— people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future. Nevertheless, as disciples, we have become different, because Jesus has given us the Father’s word.
This passage is a good one to keep in mind when you read or hear the incessant rants of those modern day counterparts of those who were hostile to Jesus, in his time on Earth. Like the disciples of two millennia ago we, modern day disciples, are flawed people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future, but we have been given the Word, the Logos, of God and we are making an effort to—as he told the woman in John 8:11—“go and sin no more.”
Modern day Pharisees, those choosing to live and believe in their own self-righteousness, who like the Pharisees of old twist the scripture to justify their own ends by conflating Jesus’ teachings of brotherly love and compassion with not just tolerance of sin, but acceptance of abominable sins, twist scriptures so as to guilt the unwary Christian—tearing down his defenses—in an attempt to get these unwary Christians to succumb to the snares of the evil one. These modern day Pharisees try to convince you that you are not to help a sinner out of the proverbial gutter, but to wallow in the gutter with him.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Jesus said whoever commits a sin is the servant of sin. When we learn the truth, the Word of God and what it means, we choose to be a holy people and choose to sin no more, we are sanctified in the Holy Word of God. Remember Jesus said in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” You will no longer be a slave to sin.
Jesus is not of this world, but emptied himself so that he might take on human form and live in the kosmos-world on a mission of mercy and salvation (Philippians 2:5-11). At the time of this prayer, he was preparing the disciples to continue this incarnational ministry in a world that will often require them to take up their crosses to follow Jesus.
Likewise, in a world that was already hostile to Jesus—but growing exponentially more hostile to Christians each day—we are often found having to “pick up our own cross” to follow Jesus.
“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” Jesus is saying he is making himself Holy, sanctifying himself for service to God so that we may be made Holy by the grace of God—set apart for a Godly purpose—”sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ”
As Jesus’ prayer works with the dynamic of ‘the world’, this passage certainly reflects the heightened tension of his farewell to his disciples. Its main elements, which constitute Jesus’ pleas on behalf of his disciples, include what it will take for them to continue functioning as disciples after he leaves them, the same elements that are necessary for us to function as Disciples even today.
Benediction:
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
The Gospel
John 17:6–19
6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Commentary on Today’s Gospel Selection:
Today’s text, is a very poignant prayer made by Jesus shortly before his arrest and persecution, culminating with his death on the cross. I suggest that this is a poignant prayer, one that arouses deep emotion, because of the implications of verse nine.
“I pray for them: I pray not for the world , but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” (v. 9) This is a very interesting passage, Jesus is openly saying that he IS NOT praying for the entirety of humanity, but only for those God, his Father, has given him. At face value, it seems to contradict his words to Nicodemus in John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” However the answer to this presumably paradoxical position is found in the words of John 3:16, “whosoever believeth.” He is not praying for those openly hostile to his teachings and those of his Father’s, but rather he is praying for those who have accepted the calling from God to believe in him.
Just as God chose the Israelites out of all the people of the world as his own, he now chooses all humanity, he so loved the world, he so loved humanity that he gave his only Son so that those who make the decision to believe in him and his teachings, those who make an effort to live in the light of his teachings, will be saved and not perish, but have eternal life.
Some have suggested that those hostile to Jesus’ teachings, those who openly choose to deny him, are guilty of the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is to blaspheme against the Spirit. But to openly deny the existence of God or the life and resurrection of Christ, is this not also akin to blaspheming against the Spirit?
Therefore we can at least surmise that, Jesus is not praying for those openly hostile to him, God his Father, or even his disciples and devout Christians; but rather those who are receptive, who hear the word of God and cling to it.
“What strikes one… most in our Lord’s prayer is not even (Jesus’) moving loyalty to his friends, …but rather his unmistakable pride in them” (Gossip, 746).
It seems astonishing that Jesus would claim to be glorified in these disciples. They are a small and ordinary group of people who exhibit no unusual intelligence or talent. They seem unable to learn from the numerous clues that Jesus gives them concerning his future. No matter what Jesus says, they just don’t get it. How can Jesus claim to have been glorified in them?
Keep in mind that this Gospel was written quite late, probably after most of Jesus’ original disciples had died. The author has seen that, somehow, through the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, Jesus has indeed been glorified by these disciples. The church is growing and spreading. However imperfect these disciples might have been, they have succeeded in glorifying the Lord. In fact, when Jesus says that he has been glorified in them, he uses the perfect tense, suggesting an already completed glorification, showing full confidence that they have glorified him and will glorify him.
At the time when he made this prayer, Jesus has been the disciples’ protector, and gives his Father an account of his stewardship (v. 12). Now he is preparing to depart, so he asks the Father to assume the role of protector to these disciples who are in the kosmos (world) but not of the kosmos—those who belong to the Father but, but will continue to dwell in a hostile world.
In modern times, various ecumenical movements have worked to bring denominations together organizationally, their efforts reflecting concerns both for this petition of Jesus and for the church’s witness. The unity for which Jesus is praying, however, is deeper—a unity of heart and purpose. Denominational unity is only a first step. We must be equally concerned about disunity within denominations—within congregations—among individual Christians.
This is a prayer that, in many respects, has not been answered. The church has fragmented into many denominations and factions. Christians have spent too much time fighting one another.
And yet, in some respects, Jesus prayer has been answered. Christians work together across denominational lines in many ways—from sponsoring community worship services to financing relief efforts. There have been a number of efforts to bring together denominations, either in formal mergers or through shared initiatives and mutual recognition of clergy. It is not enough, but it is a beginning.
“And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” (v. 13) Some might believe that Jesus is implying here, that by following his teachings his followers will feel his pride in them, so to speak, but they would be wrong. Here Jesus is referring to that joy one feels from being creative and productive in service God and others. The joy of being in a correct relationship with God, the joy of knowing your feet are planted on a firm foundation—the rock Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:24—the joy of knowing and serving truth; these are the joys he is speaking of in this prayer.
Jesus has given the disciples God’s word—God’s logos—and that word has made them different. These logos-people do not belong to the kosmos-world—the world that is opposed to God. Their new identity, their separateness, draws the world’s ire.
The kosmos-world is suspicious—afraid of those who have rejected its ways. Kosmos-people feel insecure except in the company of other kosmos-people—those who accept their values and seek the same pleasures. We see that with drug-addicts, who cannot abide the addict who has quit using drugs. We see it in the criminal world that cannot abide the person who has “gone straight.” Kosmos-people know that the person who no longer belongs to them is especially dangerous, because that person knows their secrets but no longer shares their loyalties.
We see something similar in the shadowy world of enterprises (legal or illegal) that profit from people’s weaknesses—manufacturers of cigarettes or alcohol, people who run casinos and bars, pimps, sellers of pornography and the like. Kosmos-people move among a small circle of colleagues and see the rest of the world as their enemy. They hate anyone who opposes them, whether overtly or by wholesome example, and respond viciously to any perceived threat to their kosmos-enterprise.
We see it in the movies, where Christians are seldom portrayed in a favorable light—and in the news media, which seldom reports anything good about the church but delights in clergy-gone-awry stories.
Jesus has not overstated the case at all when he says that the kosmos “hated” the disciples “because they are not of the kosmos.” That hatred is fueled by guilt, fear of exposure, and fierce resistance to change.
The mission Jesus assigned to the disciples, has not changed but this torch is passed on from one generation to another, even to us. It is a mission to carry on Christ’s work in the kosmos-world. As Christians—the followers of Christ—we are to work in a world to which we no longer belong and in which we no longer feel wholly comfortable. The old gospel song comes to mind: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passing through.” The poetry might be less than wonderful, but the sentiment is correct.
Jesus does pray that God will “keep them from the evil” (v. 15). Jesus prays not that the Father will give the disciples of that day or us for that mater, pain-free lives, but that he will protect us from succumbing to the evil one.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (v. 16-17). The disciples are flawed people—just as we are— people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future. Nevertheless, as disciples, we have become different, because Jesus has given us the Father’s word.
This passage is a good one to keep in mind when you read or hear the incessant rants of those modern day counterparts of those who were hostile to Jesus, in his time on Earth. Like the disciples of two millennia ago we, modern day disciples, are flawed people who have failed Jesus in the past and who will fail him again in the future, but we have been given the Word, the Logos, of God and we are making an effort to—as he told the woman in John 8:11—“go and sin no more.”
Modern day Pharisees, those choosing to live and believe in their own self-righteousness, who like the Pharisees of old twist the scripture to justify their own ends by conflating Jesus’ teachings of brotherly love and compassion with not just tolerance of sin, but acceptance of abominable sins, twist scriptures so as to guilt the unwary Christian—tearing down his defenses—in an attempt to get these unwary Christians to succumb to the snares of the evil one. These modern day Pharisees try to convince you that you are not to help a sinner out of the proverbial gutter, but to wallow in the gutter with him.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Jesus said whoever commits a sin is the servant of sin. When we learn the truth, the Word of God and what it means, we choose to be a holy people and choose to sin no more, we are sanctified in the Holy Word of God. Remember Jesus said in John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” You will no longer be a slave to sin.
Jesus is not of this world, but emptied himself so that he might take on human form and live in the kosmos-world on a mission of mercy and salvation (Philippians 2:5-11). At the time of this prayer, he was preparing the disciples to continue this incarnational ministry in a world that will often require them to take up their crosses to follow Jesus.
Likewise, in a world that was already hostile to Jesus—but growing exponentially more hostile to Christians each day—we are often found having to “pick up our own cross” to follow Jesus.
“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” Jesus is saying he is making himself Holy, sanctifying himself for service to God so that we may be made Holy by the grace of God—set apart for a Godly purpose—”sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ”
As Jesus’ prayer works with the dynamic of ‘the world’, this passage certainly reflects the heightened tension of his farewell to his disciples. Its main elements, which constitute Jesus’ pleas on behalf of his disciples, include what it will take for them to continue functioning as disciples after he leaves them, the same elements that are necessary for us to function as Disciples even today.
Benediction:
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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