Johnson said he didn’t mean to sermonize but it’s clear he’s the kind of artist who sees the stage as a pulpit and the arena as a church.

In other moments, though, modern lingo and mismatched performances make “Manhunt” feel uncomfortably like “Drunk History,” particularly when characters are either crying or sermonizing.

This type of sermonizing language hardly shocks his fervent followers, who might indeed believe that there is an evil entity in the world, possessing the ability to deceive anyone.

As a character, Miss Liza Jane combines the hauteur of opera diva Jessye Norman and the sermonizing wisdom of Maya Angelou.

At times, Christian movies can feel formulaic and forced, sometimes preferring sermonizing to storytelling.