Seven Spheres of Influence Series (Arts, Entertainment and Media )
Connecting to our Culture
The Great Commission …
Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT)
19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
How can we make disciples if we don’t speak in a language the world can understand? WE CAN’T!
The church must learn to communicate in a language that is heard and understood.
King David was an artist.
Psalms 8:3-4 (NIV)
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?
The Psalms, the book of Job, the Song on Songs are some of the most prominent examples of Biblical poetry.
Drama is first mentioned in the Bible when Ezekiel is instructed to “act out” a drama depicting the siege of Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 4)
David was a skillful musician and songwriter. (1 Samuel 16:18)
Solomon wrote over 1,000 songs. (1 Kings 4:32)
Kenaniah was a great vocalist and song leader. (1 Chronicles 15:22)
Bezalel was cited as a gifted visual artist. (Exodus 35:30-33)
The Arts, Entertainment, and the Media are all driven by creativity.
Creativity is a gift from God.
God created us to be thinker AND feelers.
Our relationship with God is not all about our intellect.
Our relationship with God is not all about emotion.
Thinkers, it is OK to feel. Feelers, it is OK to think.
The presence of caring Christians in the Arts, Entertainment, and Media communities, combined with a strategy to impact these spheres of our culture, can have an incredible impact on our culture at large.
Illustrate: Trailer from the Passion of the Christ
The images you place before your eyes have incredible power.
The Philippians 4:8 filter.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
“Entertainment is fantasy with an agenda, but the media is an agenda with fantasy.”
Illustrate: NEWS FOOTAGE - See John’s Email
Scripture teaches us to contend for the faith (Jude 3) and contextualize to the culture.
1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (NIV)
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
“Is Seymour First acting as the presence of Christ in the community and the surrounding area?”
Am I acting as the presence of Christ in the community?
The church should be sending people to serve the community just as missionaries are sent to take the gospel to the mission field.
It is not about sharing the gospel it is about living it out each and every day.
John 20:21b (NIV)
21As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
The most effective churches in the world today are those who have learned to think like missionaries in their cultural context.
SERIES PRAYER
O God, open our eyes to see the things that are happening around us. Quicken our minds and hearts to interpret what we see so that, as You are trying to speak to us, we will always be ready to listen. — Theodore Parker Ferris
