Sermon for January 10th, 2021

Usually, in our annual sermon series on Faith & Film, we explore biblical and spiritual themes in movies that came out in the past year. And every year we've done this, people have asked me, "how come we can't do such and such movie that came out back in 1983--it's the best movie ever! And my usual response is that the films that we make, and flock to see, hold up a mirror to the things we're currently thinking about and experiencing. Current movies give us insight into who we are right now, and how we perceive our faith. That's been the rule for the past eight years, anyhow.

Then along came Covid19, and movie after movie scheduled to be released was canceled. As a result, the academy awards for this year have been pushed back all the way until late April. I'm sure the effects of Covid19 will feature prominently in movies for the next several years, but this year, there just weren't many to choose from. So we're looking instead at the best movies from the 20th century--the movies that shaped us all in childhood or throughout our lives--and the biblical and spiritual connections that you may or may not have ever picked up on.