Have you seen the movie Courageous yet? It is the newest release from Sherwood Pictures and by far the best visual quality- although I still prefer the moral lesson of excellence for God in Facing the Giants. The basic story of Courageous is four policemen who work and socialize together, joined by a construction worker, who face a tragedy that changes their perspectives on life. As always, it is intermingled with the right balance of humour.
What really strikes me is the courage it took this church (as in the people) to step out and do what God called them to do despite no previous experience and no other church filming big screen movies. Not only did they have the courage to obey God’s direction, but to film it with excellence and boldly proclaim the salvation message in each movie. Here is one of the six times the Bible records Joshua being told to be strong and of a good courage:
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Dt. 31:6
Movies are one of the ministries of Sherwood’s church members. God has called them to do this work and they step out in faith to do it. We are also called to obey God’s will in our lives. Besides our call to proclaim the gospel and to pray, the Lord has called each of us to particular works. We decide if we will obey.
Some people work with numbers, some clean, some cook, some teach, some lead worship, some fix houses and there are many more callings than I can list. For some reason, Christians tend to think of callings as only ‘spiritual’ ones such as preachers and teachers, but all of us are to use the gifts/ talents God has given us (Mt. 25), courageously to show forth His love and salvation to the world- and that is our calling. We must be obedient to do what God calls us to do with courage to face all challenges with love and His strength. (Php. 4:13)
It isn’t always easy, and there might be times we want to give up, but we can’t. Lives are at stake: friends, family, co-workers and neighbours. We must obey God’s will for our lives, be strong and of good courage, and fear not man or what they think of us. What will help us with this? Remembering that God goes with us in our obedience. He will not fail us. He will not forsake us. He does not slumber or sleep, (Ps. 121:4) but leads us on our way. (Dt. 31:8)
Be courageous… and step out in faith to do what God has called you to do.
FYI
If you watch the movie, check out the special features (if included on your disk). The deleted scenes and bloopers are great, but there is an interesting feature on prayer. {fyi- Storylines, plots, and endings are prayed for well in advance according to Kendrick and each actor is screened for solid Christian standards before 'hiring'.} It shows how the church begins the filming process with corporate prayer for the filming, and all the actors. They pray on the set every morning, before each scene and several other times of the day. In other words, each film is bathed in prayer from start to finish.