I hope you are doing well and keeping cool today. It looks like it is going to be a hot one. We are clearly venturing into the dog days of summer, which makes it perfect timing for the launch of a new summer sermon series on The Gospel in Film. For the next four weekends we'll be turning our attention to some of the highest grossing movies over the past year and pulling from them some insights that tie into our faith. This weekend we'll be looking at the movie, Wonder, based on the New York Times Bestselling book of the same name. Wonder tells the story of a 10-year old boy named, Auggie, who faces bullying daily throughout his time in the fifth grade. As I work through this movie, one of the things that I'll be focusing on is the topic of bullying and our ability to see the world around us the same way that God sees us. Along the way, my hope is that we will uncover the power of words, the impact we can have in the world when we choose to be kind, and our how quiet strength has the capacity to change the world. I hope you'll join me this weekend as we take a look at this great movie and how God might be trying to speak to us through it.
Also, I want to offer a disclaimer about this series, as people have asked why do we choose to preach on movies? Our purpose at Church of the Resurrection is to build Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians, and one of the things I am convinced of is that over the past year, a tremendous amount of people have ventured out to the movies to take in some blockbuster storylines. Now, admittedly, not all movies are created in order to be used in sermons, or even to convey principals of faith, but millions of people, including members of our church, pay to watch these movies. I believe there are gospel truths to be unearthed from every storyline, and my hope is that in talking about these movies over the summer we might be able to connect with people, non-religious and nominally religious people in particular, who are willing to go to the movies but who've never gone to church. I want to encourage you to consider inviting friends to join you for these sermons and my hope is that after preaching these sermons starting with Wonder, that people might watch these movies again (in spite of the violence or language in some instances, that I don’t condone), and we would together see the Gospel through them in ways that we didn't see the first time. I hope you'll join us this weekend in worship.
Also, I wanted to remind you that we'll be hosting five different bands in our building at 1522 McGee tomorrow afternoon for Middle of the Map Fest. This is a free day of live and local music in conjunction with #MOTMKC. Our doors will open at 12:30 pm, and live music will start at 1 pm. Check out their web site for tickets, lineup and other information here. Or just show up tomorrow afternoon.
The Caregivers Support Group will take a break this month and will not meet on Tuesday, July 3. Stay tuned for updates about the August meeting! This group is open to anyone, Resurrection attendee or not. If you're interested in joining this group in the future, or have any questions, please contact Kris Drummond at kdrummond6@gmail.com.
Finally, in light of the holiday next week, I want to be sure to communicate that our RezDowntown buildings and offices will be closed next Wednesday, July 4th. I hope you each of you have safe and happy weekend, but also a great Independence Day!
I'm excited to see you this weekend and I'm looking forward to diving into Wonder this weekend in worship! Have a great Friday!
With Grace, Peace and God's Holy Adventure,
Scott
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