Every November, our church does this series called At the Movies. It is one of the most anticipated and fun series of the year and thousands accept Christ into their hearts every year.
Our pastor takes modern day stories (movies) and finds God’s truth in them – similar to how Jesus told stories to help others understand Biblical truth.
This year I decided it would be fun to share the movies we watched + the notes I took. Here we go 😉
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Wonder
I had heard of this movie but had not watched it yet. After this message, Aaron and I watched the whole movie that night. It really is a very sweet, inspirational and touching story.
Why does this story move so many people? Because it applies to everyone. We all have something we are insecure about.
So often, we do what Auggie did – we cover up our insecurities with something else. We wear a mask.
We ask, “what am I like this?”
Psalm 139:13-16 – “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
“If they stare, let them stare. You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.” -Via
We all have marks, and it’s human to want to hide them.
We try to hide our marks by wearing masks. The mom who has it all together, career success, etc.
Proverbs 14:13 – “Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief.”
The first step to finding freedom is to take the mask off.
Jack (Auggie’s friend) hurt Auggie but Augie still chose to keep the mask off. And because of that, he became friends with Summer who looked past his flaws.
You need a family of people who will go through life with you.
Galations 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
We have to take off the mask and let God do a work in us.
We are each fearfully and wonderfully made.
Imagine the life you could have if you fully embraced who God created you to be!?
2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
“Be kind. For everyone is fighting a hard battle. And if you really want to see what people are, all you have to do is look.” -Auggie
Hacksaw Ridge
This is one of my favorite movies and I was so excited to see our pastor pull such great Biblical truth from it!
God is raising up a generation that will save lives, not take them.
We can’t sit by and do nothing as we watch the world tear itself apart.
Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jude 1:23 – “save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
2 Timothy 2:23-25 – “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.”
Matthew 9:36-38 – “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
In anything that really matters, it won’t come easy.
The devil doesn’t like you making a difference.
At the end of the day, people are the only thing that matters. So don’t get weary going back for one more.
Romans 10:13-15 – “for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
What is we are “the beautiful feet” to give good news?
Isaiah 6:8 – “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Help us reach 1 more!
Breathe
I had honestly never even heard of this movie prior to this message, but I love true stories and thought this one was particularly inspiring.
What has taken the breath away from my soul?
Refresh: to put breath back in
2 Timothy 1:16 – “May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.”
We all ask “why?” but spending too much time asking that is dangerous.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 – “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”
“You are not dead, and that’s that!” –Diana
Robin took his tragedy and still lived a full life.
Romans 8:28, 35-37 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
God wants to take our mess and turn it into a message.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.”
My greatest tragedy is my greatest opportunity!
“I don’t want to just survive. I want to truly live.” -Robin
John 11:25-26 – “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
It’s a Wonderful Life
A classic that I’ve only seen once, I loved watching parts of this old film and remembering what a timeless movie this one is.
Discouragement is worse than physical sickness
Proverbs 13:12 – “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
When you leave discouragement unattended, you start to wander away from God.
Isaiah 53:6 – “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
When it comes to suicide, a lot of people don’t want to end their life, but they want to end their pain.
George realizes what life would be like without him.
Psalm 106:44 – “Yet he took note of their distress when he heard their cry.”
Hope is better than answers.
Hebrews 6:19 – “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
How you get hope:
- Hope requires trust
Romans 4:18 – “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Psalm 42:11 – “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
- Hope is an anchor. And anchors are anchored to something unseen
2 Corinthians 4:18 – “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
- Hope is found in a real relationship with God
Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Psalm 62:5 – “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.”
Isaiah 40:31 – “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
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Just like “Big Church,” the kids have their very own At the Movies series. Here are the movies they got to watch + the main lesson each movie taught.
All 4 of these kid movies are favorites in our home (we’re huge Disney Pixar fans) and we loved hearing about the Biblical principles our church pulled out of these movies.
Cars 3
“God wants me to help others!” was the message of this movie. I loved how they used Lightening McQueen and Cruz as an example!
Toy Story
^ this was Rylie’s face when she found out about Toy Story being played at Church. Unfortunately… they played it the Sunday she was home sick 🙁 but it was fun to watch the movie at home…. 7 times 😛
The main point from “Toy Story” was “God never gives up on me!” just like Woody never gave up on getting Buzz back to Andy’s house.
My own add-on to that is that God made us all differently and God loves each of us for our differences and our uniqueness make us better together.
Finding Dory
I have a purpose. God made us all different and he gave us all different talents and abilities so we can work together to tell others about the hop and love of Jesus. This is our purpose and if loving people is important to God, then it should be important to us.
The Star
To wrap up the series, our pastors directed the kid’s focus onto the Christmas story with this fantastic movie!
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It’s been fun! See you next year, At the Movies!
