Have you ever been preparing a message and you have good content, but you’re struggling to come up with a great story to illustrate and drive home your point? You know that people connect with and remember stories way more than “content.” You’re desperate. You need a good story. But your kids didn’t do anything crazy this week, and you haven’t done anything worthy of America’s Funniest Home Videos, and you’re plumb out of Civil War stories. So what do you do? Well, probably preach the sermon without a story. It will still have the good content; people just might not connect with it and remember it so well. Oh well…
This is part of the beauty of doing a movie series. You’ve got the story to illustrate your point. And it’s a good enough story that someone spent millions of dollars to have it made. Someone else took those millions of dollars and made sure it was told in a funny or powerful, and memorable way. Sweet.
You may pick a movie based on a biblical theme or text you’re planning on preaching on. Like maybe you’re planning on preaching on the “end times” so you choose “I Am Legend.” Or it could be that you let the movie pick your text. You decide to do “National Treasure” and that leads you to do a sermon about seeking God and to your text – the pearl of great price.
And you don’t have to use some old Tony Campolo story, or force your kids to do something funny, or pretend that something that happened to John Ortberg really happened to you. Why not? Because you already have a multi-million dollar blockbuster story to tell. So just tell it well!
- featured on newchurches.com
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Preaching: Movie Style (Pt. 2)
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16 comments:
Um, maybe you will explain this, (or maybe you did already and I missed it), but do you show actual clips of this movie as part of your sermon or do you just talk about it?
If you show clips, can you tell us:
1. How you "copy" the movie clips so you can pull just the clips you want out.
2. How you get permission from the movie comapnies to do this, and how much it costs.
If, of course, you're just telling the story, then all these questions go away...
Well, okay, one more...
Do you ever use a website like movieministry.com to help jump start your thinking about the themes of a movie?
when I think of incorporating movie clips into your sermons jeremy I am always reminded of a old Judas Priest song...Breaking The Law Breaking The Law. I guess you can just lift them discreetly off the net or something. I can't quite remember what that FBI warning says at the beginning of DVD's but maybe churches are exempt:)
ummm, what Jeremy said.
P.S. - I'm unabashedly pimping my blog today. Check it out (it's a guest blogger, so I think that makes it okay to make a post like this, right? right? maybe?)
I am not a pastor, nor do I play one on TV. However, I do hover around on the internet and read blogs from those that either are or play one on TV. A while back a read an interesting blog on this topic that I thought I would share...
http://the20yearbaton.wordpress.com/2007/04/11/its-all-creative-until-someone-gets-sued/
i will talk a little about using clips later in this series. as far as the legality of it: we try to do basically everything we can to be legal. so we have all the licenses you can buy, including the movie one (i forget, what is it, the mmpi or something like that?). often we'll show the preview for the movie - because it incorporates a lot of clips and tends to give a good overview of the whole movie. but sometimes if there's a perfect scene that illustrates the point, we will show that scene. is that illegal? i don't think so. my understanding is that you can't make money off of showing a DVD, but i don't think it's illegal to show a short clip. i would think the movie company should pay me to show it, because i'm promoting their movie for them.
well, if it's illegal, i guess don't tell me. i like being blissfully ignorant.
Wow some strong stuff from that 20 year baton link above
"Finally, I have to confess that I shamelessly used TV and Movie themes quite liberally while in youth ministry. As I look back, I see an attempt on my part to be “relevant” in a way that seems contrived. The thing is, many of those sermons were probably strong enough to stand on their own without the branding and such.
Therefore, I wonder how much of the expediency in using other people’s art/creativity was more about my lack of confidence in the Word to stand on its own…or simply laziness for not thinking of our own themes to build the sermons around. Either way, I wouldn’t do it again and I grieve over having participated in this trend.
When you boil it down, statistics say that pastors spend very little time in the Word of God on a regular basis (outside of sermon prep). I believe this fact alone speaks to why we rely so much on culture for our “creativity”. There was a day when the cultural creatives came from the Church of Jesus. Sadly, that day seems long passed. Perhaps Jesus will gift us back our creativity when we begin spending more time with the creator and not the creation (TV, Movies, Music, etc.)"
I wonder if Jesus would watch much tv or go to the movies? I know he would be culturally relevant but I wonder to what end? Movie series are fun though:)
Anonymous #1, Vince, and Anonymous #3,
Thanks. Yeah, I don't want to do anything illegal...
Of course, I read recently that even playing some songs (whether Christian or secular) in a church service is illegal...even if you have that CCLI license plastered everywhere.
And I kind of think Jesus would watch some TV and go to some movies, but it's hard to say. Probably anything that has James Earl Jones playing the voice of God is safe. However, I am absolutely certain He wouldn't go to some of our churches.
I regularly use movie clips for illustrative purposes at our church. Here's what we do to cover all the bases...
Go to www.cvli.com for licensing info. There are two licenses you can buy--go with the more expensive one, because it covers all the major Hollywood studios (you can show any clip you want, legally). It costs us about $180/year. The only stipulation is that you're not supposed to edit the footage (that means no bleeping out profanity, violence, etc., so be careful with what you choose).
If you really don't want to rip footage or get a YouTube ripper, you can do some extra setup in your Audio/visual area during your service. Most modern projectors allow for multiple hook-ups. It requires setting up the clip ahead of time, and may result in a little "down time" if you have a technical hiccup. We do, for technical smoothness, rip the footage and embed it to play it. I'm not sure on the legal issues of this, but it's the same as playing the clip, just a different way to do it.
As Jeremy said, movieministry.com is a good resource for looking for clips for any sermon, and they stay up to date.
Vince mentioned trailers--you can go to www.movie-list.com and find a ton of trailers, both current (they get them as soon as they come out) and past movies. Some are only streaming, but most are downloadable. You do need Quicktime to play them, and you may need to convert them to use them in your church's multimedia software (depending on what you use).
Holy cow, that's almost a book. Sorry!
I've got to be honest and say that I REALLY disagree with "anonymous" (the anonymous who is against using tv and movie themes/clips/etc and who grieves over having done that in the past. Was it wrong for Jesus to use popular stories and images in His teaching? I mean, He could have just spoken about heavenly things, or just taught straight from the O.T., but He didn't. He spoke about everyday, cultural stuff. And what about Paul? He said that he became all things to all men. And do you think he later grieved about his use of Greek "art" in his sermon on Mars Hill, where he very strongly relied on culture for his creativity? I doubt it.
Sure, it's possible to use pop culture as a substitute for strong bible teaching, but using pop culture isn't necessarily a sign of not strong bible teaching. It's a bridge to your audience. The same kind of bridge Jesus and Paul used.
I could go on forever I so passionately disagree, but I'll just quit now. I've got to go watch some reality TV ...
Hey Vince I think you may have gotten what I copied and pasted from that other blog confused with what I was writing. I can actually see though what you are saying but also what the guy from that other blog was saying, both can be right. And yes Jesus and Paul related the real world into their illustratons but come on what good communicator doesn't? It's funny I think most people when communicating want to relate to their audience except for maybe a few southern baptist old school preacher types.
When I said to what end though would Jesus or say Paul go to be culturally relevant what I meant was would they necessarily use movies or tv? I can't see Jesus plucking down the bucks to go see a movie! I think both Jesus and Paul could be way relevant without movie series though. Does that mean I think they are wring? Nope, I was merely thinking out loud asking if Jesus would watch movies. And it was more in this context...I can't see Paul or Jesus going to say the Roman colisseum(sp?) and watching gladiator's fighting to the death or Christians getting eaten and that was Romes culture I mean instead of going to see There will Be Blood the Romans went to see killing for entertainment. So our modern movie series would be like the early church having a throw the christian to the lion series. That's what I meant when I said to what end? How far would Jesus go with his illustrations. I do think movie series are good ways to relate to unchurched people but I just wonder would Jesus have used the method or taken another route. I think you can make the argument for either side of that question and it's only fair to look at both sides I think
Well, thanks for the respectful way you're discussing this, that's cool. But I still have to disagree with you. I really don't think watching a movie today is the equivalent of watching an innocent person get fed to the lions. C'mon, seriously? They're the same? You can't be serious. I'm having trouble even thinking about that comparison.
And ... would Jesus go to movies? Well, obviously I don't know. I do know He went to parties. Parties where people were sinning - getting drunk, probably cursing, over-eating, probably hints of sexual immorality. So would He go to a movie? I don't know, but I can't see why it would be worse...
Vince I don't think watching a movie is anywhere near as bad as watching someone get fed to a lion well unless your watching Jerry Mcquire or something, Ha gotcha I knew that was one of your favs. Anyway If you would have asked a Roman citizen if watching a person get fed to a lion was wrong they would have said heck no, same as us with a movie. It's an extreme cultural difference in perspective. The just of what I am saying is that I think Jesus would have been culturally relevant but he probably could have and I think would have done it without movie illustrations. Does that make us wrong for using them, no I don't think so but I think making the Jesus comparison maybe a touch overstated. Yes he would have used modern culture but we can not be sure what he would have used. The bible too is unclear to me at least, on what exactly he spent money on(if any( Far as I know he had no where to lay his head and a few women it seemed supported the disciples financially maybe? Well then going to parties would probably be free Unless some guy was charging a cover! Movies cost some snaps!!
But all that is speculation and splitting straws and a waste to try and figure out exactly what Jesus did and would do. We should probably just focus on what we know he did and that was give us life.
Alot of Jesus' life is speculative at best though and we in the modern day I think may read a bit much into the holes to make our case at times.
Plus the blog is boring when everybody just agrees with you:)A little jousting in the arena of ideas keeps everybody thinking
Besides if Jesus went to a movie think of how many fish the disciples would have to catch to collect enough coin to pay those outrageous prices.
Okay, maybe we're just going to have to let this discussion end (but, by the way, I do agree that it's more interesting if everyone doesn't agree). But I still think you're comparison is crazy. Comparing feeding people to lions and abortion might be an apt comparison, but feeding innocent people to lions and seeing a movie? Wow.
Also, it's at least a little interesting (in the context of this discussion) that Jesus used the word "hypocrite" which, until Jesus used it, was only the word for actors in the theater. (Jesus gave it a whole new meaning.) That certainly doesn't prove He went to the theater, but it does show that He referenced it...
oh come on now i can talk about something cutting like a scalpel that doesn't mean I perform suregery. I think using Jesus' know ledge of theater to say he went is as nutty as you say my comparison is.
Face it unless you can ptoduce a ticket stub with a Jesus thumb print I'm not buying it.
Seriously yes I can see that my comparison is extreme but I also think when we make the argument that Jesus was culturally relevant because he did so and so and I am culturally relevant because I do such and such then that means I am doing what Jesus would do. so and so and such and such are not necessarily equal. a+b=c does not prove that x+y=z. So then Jesus preaching on farming does not necessarily equal Us doing Movie series. Could it? Yes, but to say it does or to say it's biblical. That could be a stretch.
whoops insert "is too" after "Jesus would do" above
All of this has not brought me any closer to agreeing with you or seeing your point, so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
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