Movies Previews during Church

This is an excerpt from an article posted on MSNBC. "At some of the largest and most influential Christian churches in the country, the lights dim and congregants watch a sneak preview of a new movie — about golf."(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9441868/page/2/)Few things:1) I am wondering what everyone thinks about the showing of movie previews during Church service? Is anyone part of a Church who engages in this activity? 2) Also, since the movie, "The Passion" grossed so much money, movie studios are jumping on the Christian Market eager to cash in. Fox has now devoted a website for Christian media (http://www.foxfaith.com), and Disney is especially chasing after this untapped market. So, I was wondering what everyone thought about "non-Christian" media companies creating "Christian" movies? Also, how does everyone feel about this new goal of companies to bring in more "Christian Values" into movies? Is this a beneficial thing or not? 3) Do you think God will raise up craftsmen and artists to develop media (like movies and video games) to teach His people and speak His Word?In Christ,Blake

Um, ...Hi Blake, there was a bit of discussion on all this in general. Do a search on "The Passion" or similar here.

one baptist church I attended for a while doesn't have movie previews, but the pastor always throws in some secular movie (often pg-13)'s clips, he makes some spiritual point from the movie clip. That is disgusting to me, bringing the world all over the church, and encouraging people to go see the rest of those moviesNow if they were even remotely bible movies, that would be better (like the Jesus film).

Dear Blake,Church is a place where we are to worship God.Now a days you can't tell the World from the Church.The Word of God teaches us to come out from among them, and be ye, Seperate.The Young people have the World, and they are looking for a Church that will offer them God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.Believe me, they know the difference.I'm hungry for more of Jesus myself, and the Church isn't the place for Movies.There is so much of the Word of God to preach and teach on.God Bless youNellie :-)

We should not even need to have this discussion. The church is the gathering of the called-out ones, the bride of Christ, the house of God, to serve Him, love Him, and wait for His coming back. Where exactly do movie previews fit in?

The church we attend had one of the elders give a sermon and used the movie "Incredibles" to use as a sermon point how we are incredible in Christ, and God's superpowers, etc. Showed an exerpt of the movie in church... While there are a few parts where the movie it blasphemes God, the movie is entertainment.in Christ,Doug

While I don't think that every person involved with the producing of a movie must be a born-again Christian to make a 'watchable' movie, it is true that the vast majority of movies are done to satisfy human lust. I don't see showing of a preview of a movie helping with the service, however, there may be some exceptions. For the most part it seems strange.To be honest, one of our services at our church show Christian music videos before the service on the screen. If I were in charge I probably wouldn't do that, but to tell you the truth, I really don't even watch them, as I am usually talking to people until the service starts. I was given a book to do Sunday School classes by, which I didn't use by the way, and one of the ideas was to use a clip from an Adam Sandler movie. I think this is ridiculous. Any movie that has outward obvious sins, like profanity and sex, should not be promoted. If you are a Christian and you watch some movies that have scenes with these things, you shouldn't be promoting sinful things, no matter how small, at the expense of entertainment.All this said, there are good movies made by Christians, and there are good movies made by non-Christians (Sgt York is great), there is a time and place for someone that wants to watch them, and even show clips of them. But when advertisements start being used in church, something is wrong. Just imagine, 'This service was brought to you by Sprite. Seek God. But drink Sprite.'

When the world takes the treasures of our faith and exploits them for their own purposes, it is exactly as when Babylon emptied the treasury of the Jerusalem temple.

When I think of showing movie previews, which are merely advertising geared toward selling, I think of the time Jesus entered the temple and threw over the tables of the money changers. It was one of the few times Jesus exhibited anger. As far as using movies for sermon illustrations, I am not sure. I can see arguments for both sides. Church should be a place kept Holy and a place of devoted worship to God. But then again, so should all our life, not just Church time. Don't you all think that using a movie clip for a sermon illustration is a bit different? The purpose is to illustrate and teach. Even Jesus taught in parables. Maybe it's the showing of the clip. Would it be different if the teacher/preacher were to tell it rather than show it?Also, I wonder, what do you think about telling jokes during a sermon?Blake

I agree with you all, but my friends, including the pastor of my Chi Alpha campus group, who has done this before, likely would say that this is like how Paul would quote secular poets, or the "To An Unknown God" statue in Acts 17. How would you all respond to this?

The Hollywood movie industry, plus the Organized church system equals the World.What union has light with darkness? Does the Bible teach that the unbeliever should be yolked (or joined) to the believer? Having been kicked out of a group of "christians" seven years or so ago, because of my proclamation that the "Green Mile" was not a movie sent BY God. That the Hollywood movie industry, HAS NO place in the body of Christ. This is still my stand today.The blind do not see, the deaf do not hear. It is so clear why Jesus wept. Revelation 18:4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.The question posed in my mind is this: Is the term, "her" meaning the Organized Chruch System? Not just the Catholic church but All organized churches. 2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.1 Peter 4:17For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?The Seventh Day Adventist spend lots of church time in front of the Big Screen. Then wonder why so many of their own watch so much t.v.? I say, "Go figure". Someone, somewhere, once said that, "the eye is the gateway to the soul" referring to tele vision.The Prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles (the latter who it is recorded, turned the world upsidedown) did not need such devices...they had God himself. The Holy Ghost. I have not watched nor will I ever watch the Passion...by who? A man, promoting humanitarianism, by crucifing Christ afresh.I have heard and read the passion many times, God's version. To this day it can make me weep. There is no real need to see it on the Big Screen.Remember this...The Fruit of the Spirit is Love. A Love with such power as to completely change a deceitful and desperatly wicked human heart for all enternity.Psalm 89:8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Psalm 71:19 Chronicles 6:14 Micah 7:18 grace and peaceEileen

Her is Babylon. Her is all false religion. An organized group of Christians is a church, which translated from Greek means a 'called out assembly.' So it is not the organizing, or the assembling that makes them false, it is whether or not they are worshipping the LORD in truth and spirit. Some think as long as the word 'God' is used that everything is okay.So a church is false if it is not worshipping God in truth, whether it is organized or underground. It is not the sign in front of the building that determines whether or not God sees the group as true or false, but whether or not He has some people in the building that have His Spirit inside of them. Some people get saved in false churches, and usually come out not long after from what I have heard, but some faster than others. They are part of the body of Christ, too.BTW, I don't think I have ever noticed that verse from Peter. Thanx for that.

That the Hollywood movie industry, HAS NO place in the body of Christ. This is still my stand today.Wait a minute. We need to be careful with generalized statements such as this. I have a friend who got saved watching Jesus Christ Super Star – a film that in its day, was condemned by the church as being straight from the pit of hell. Regarding this issue of using movie clips in church, I ask: What did Jesus do? Movies weren’t around then, but Jesus sure made some graphic “video clips” to drive home truths in his day. Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Today he would likely show that “clip” with an atheist homosexual instead of a Samaritan to show that even the most disliked sinners of the world can be better at showing compassion than many of the religiously upright in the church. Jesus would still show clips that are very offensive to the hypocrites in the church, just as he did back then. While it is true that, GENERALLY SPEAKING, the church has been drifting along with the world, there will always be the true remnant within it - as the above post pointed out These people will GET IT. They can see spiritual messages in pictures created in the world. And they will shrewdly use the things in the world to build God’s kingdom. For example: Here is a church where the pastor uses movie clips to drive home his point. You will be very surprised at the depth of his faith, insight, and the effectiveness of his preaching. Check it out: The Meeting HouseThe purpose for the use of movie clips is largely determined by the user – ie the pastor. If he is lukewarm in his walk with God, he will likely be merely tickling ears. On the other hand, if he has the heart of Christ, and he is a good thinker, he can use clips to drive home truths that may normally be glossed over, or missed because of overused expressions and clichés. Diane

draw the line at movies that have ANY immorality in themWell then, you couldn't even use the Bible. Or not even Sound of Music because there is immorality in it - immoral rulers using domination and control. If you are going to make RULES, then you are going to have to make EXCEPTION CLAUSES all over the place. And you end up like the Pharisees - rule upon rule upon rule. We humans are so eager to make black and white rules: ex From now on there must be NO this or NO that, or ONLY this will be permited. So we're left with bland safe sugar sweet movies (if we permit even that) that may feel SAFE but don't necessarily bring conviction to anyone. They just make all the church goers feel righteous 'cause they NEVER have movies with any really bad sin in them. You mentioned the sins of immorality in movies, but what about the sins of materialism, humanism which threatens the church more than anything else. In trying to control this issue, man is still in charge - making rules for everybody else. Why not leave room for the Spirit, let people learn to develop discernment. As one gets more and more centered on Christ - they will grow in discernment. There is another issue: While a church may be careful to keep itself pure from all the evil of the world, they have no control over what its members are doing during the week - what they are watching ALL week on TV that affect their minds a lot more than what happens for one hour a week in church. Do you avoid a small clip in a movie that gets the point across just becaue somewhere else in the movie there is a swear word, or bad scene? I can't answer that. Some even seemingly "innocent" movies have a bad, defiled spirit about them - that should be avoided because they may be oppressive to the viewers. Maybe, and maybe not. But I say, without spiritual discernment we are left to our own opinions. Let love for others be our motive - to see others develop a strong, godly conscience and a strong love for God and fellow man. And sometimes it may mean walking on their turf and speaking their language - like Jesus did. Be in the world but not of it. Diane

If the clip is from... a movie like Remember the TitansA couple of weeks ago our assistant pastor, at a Saturday evening service, ran the bus loading scene from Remember the Titans to talk about unity. "Whose your daddy?" :-D MC