Difference between revisions of "Sermon for January 7th, 2018"

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1 Samuel 16:6-7

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Colossians 3:8-13

8 But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices 10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 11 In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Faith & Film VI: Wonder

Today begins a seven-week series on Faith and Film--specifically we'll consider eight films that came out in the past year, spanning a wide variety of genres and styles, and we'll consider the places where those films intersect with questions of faith, spirituality, and our own Christian story.

This is also the sixth year in a row we've done this, and while some of you are very familiar with the reasons why we do this series every year, some of you may not be, so it bears repeating.

Films are the great storytelling vehicle of our era. I believe that hundreds of years from now, we will be remembered for our films in the same way that we remember the Victorians for their novels, the Elizabethans for their Drama, and the Ancient Greeks for their epic poetry. That doesn't mean that all films are good (there were plenty of lousy Elizabethan plays and terrible Victorian novels, too!). But good, bad, or great, every story that we as a culture tell and flock to see in droves, also tells us a story about ourselves.

It's become popular in some churches to denounce "Hollywood" as a godless, immoral seducer of young minds, but I think that's giving Hollywood too much credit. Writers, directors, producers, actors--like storytellers of every age--are most inclined to tell the stories that people most want to see and hear.

Sometimes a great story can make us think or inspire us to change, but more often, our stories are simply a reflection of what we value, what moves us and stirs us, what hopes, fears, dreams we cling to, and what's on our collective minds in any given moment.

Three Minute Film Summary

Film Clip #1 - Trailer

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

Augie - August (to increase) - pullman

David (david and jonathan), Jesus

Through a Glass, Darkly

Fantasy/Reality 1 Corinthians 13:12 "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known."

Choose Kindness

Film Clip #? - Choose Kind