Episode 201: October 6, 2024 - Re-Enchanting The Text - Part 2

Eternity Church PodCast

A Sunday morning sermon by Pastor Brett Deal. When was the last time you were completely absorbed into a movie? You sat down to watch something, and before you knew it you were fully grafted into the story. It wasn’t until the credits rolled that you felt yourself peeling away from the screen. I remember the first movie I ever watched in the theater. I was six, and my parents had dropped my older brother and I off at the cinema. I was still coming to grips with being in America, and then once I had my ticket in hand, my brother bought himself a ticket to a different movie. In the darkened theater I watched as an entire wall of the room submerged me far beneath the ocean surface (my little island heart was so full!). I was transfixed as singing crabs and colorful fish filled my field of vision. Without having the words, I saw myself—a little boy alone in a different culture, awkwardly navigating a place like a fish out of water—in a little mermaid. Film is a combination of the arts and storytelling that rapture us from where we are into a different place and time. We see the world through another’s eyes and find new perspectives we’d never considered before. Where cinema uses light and color, symphony and storytelling, the Bible is brought to life by the indwelling Holy Spirit. When we sit down to hear Paul’s letters or read Ezekiel’s prophetic visions, in Christ we have a built-in audio-visual system without rival. Gene Veith and Matthew Ristuccia once observed, “Imagination lets us relive the past and anticipate the future.” This has profound implications when we set our imagination toward our Creator and His revelation. “When God captures our imagination, He captures the rest of our mind, including our understanding and will.” This week as we turn our eyes to Ezekiel 1, ask the Spirit to adjust your inner AV system. Perhaps your reading of scripture has grown too dim. Ask the Spirit to brighten it. Perhaps the soundtrack of your life has swallowed up the dialogue. Ask Him to adjust the volume settings. As we fix our eyes and ears on Christ, let’s ask the Father to overwhelm our senses with His manifest presence.