Life Animated (Revisited!)
He (Jesus) did not say anything to them without using parables. Matthew 13:34)
Can you believe it? August marks the beginning of a new school year!! Back to school we go! What a great time to revisit this fun and exciting special focus! This year we will be using the classic animated children’s films Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. This is going to be a blast! It will be like “going to the movies” but even better! Come and check it out! And bring your friends! It just may make “going back to school” a little easier! Oh, and we just may have an “ah-ha” experience or two as we see how these stories reveal things about ourselves and how our stories intersect with the story of God for us in Jesus! Don’t miss out on this fun adventure!
Our lives are made up of stories. Perhaps this is why we are story tellers. Books. Plays. Musicals. Films. Aesop’s Fables. Ancient Greek tragedies. Shakespeare. It seems that humankind has always had a need to tell stories. Stories are meant to explain our existence. They point to a voice within each of us that whispers to us of a “backstory,” a greater story behind our stories which somehow intersects with our individual stories to make sense of our lives.
Through these stories we almost instinctively try to answer “the big questions” that are part of each of us. Stories are a window into our soul. They can touch our hearts or communicate a point to us in a way that mere words cannot hope to do. They can give us that “aha” moment of truth like no other medium. Jesus often told stories, called parables, even coming to the point where He only spoke using these stories. In this way, He intersected God’s story with our stories.
Embedded in the stories we tell are the longings of our souls…which all, finally, point to the only place these longings can be met; Jesus. On these three Sundays, we will use these three stories in film to examine our human condition, the longing of our souls, our need for a greater story, and how the greater story of God in the Savior meets us squarely in this place of need. Whatever your age, this series will connect with you in your story with the story of Jesus!
Sat./Sund., August 11th/12th Beauty and the Beast
Ok. This is a classic! Great characters! Wonderful music! But what does this movie reveal about ourselves and our stories….and how God’s story connects with our stories? What does this movie say of the ancient questions we are asking that are embedded in the stories we tell over and over again? What are we trying to explain? What are we trying to understand?...and where does God’s story in Jesus connect to it all? Come and see!...and maybe, for the fun of it, before this Sunday gather together your family and/or friends and watch the movie one more time!
Sat./Sun., August 18th/19th Cinderella
Another classic. A tale of evil making another feel worthless and alone. (Can you relate? Have you ever felt this way?) A tale of help given in a hopeless situation. A tale of good triumphing through love! Why do we tell such stories? Why do we call them “classics?” And how does this story fit into our story and how the story of Jesus intersects with ours? Come and see!...and maybe, just for the fun of it, before this Sunday gather your family and/or friends to watch the movie one more time!
Sat./Sun., Sept. 1st/2nd Sleeping Beauty
Once again, an absolute classic story! A story of intrigue and rescue! A story of good vs. evil. A story with a villain and with a hero. A story where love triumphs! Why do we tell such stories? And how do these things fit into our story and how the story of Jesus intersects with ours? Come and see! …and maybe, just for the fun of it, before this Sunday gather your family and/or friends to watch the movie one more time!