La Croix at the Movies sermon series to inspire faith

The first worship service of La Croix Church was held in a movie theater and this Sunday the church will bring movies into its worship service.

La Croix at the Movies will be a series of sermons starting Sunday, Oct. 8 through Sunday, Oct. 29, where they will show clips of recent films each week and discuss core messages and parallels of the Christian journey.

Brett Cheek, Spiritual Formation and Teaching pastor at La Croix, said one purpose of the sermon series is to talk about how God is at work everywhere in the world, even in the movies we watch. He said they will look at films that explore themes of humanity, longing and lostness and stories of people looking for significance, community and love.

"Those themes bubble up in history through the stories people have always told whether that's books or ancient mythology or the Marvel Cinematic Universe," Cheek said. "Cinema is one of the primary ways that our culture tells stories, and our discussions for the next month will focus on how those stories and themes are connected to and coming out of a larger story that we think God is trying to tell in history."

Cheek acknowledged some might see it as inappropriate or "gimmicky" for a church to use films in its sermons, "and I can understand why." However, he said La Croix has been doing the series for more than 15 years and it's been a good way to bring in people curious about God and church who might not feel comfortable coming to a traditional worship service.

He said movies they have studied in the past include "Encanto", "Les Miserables" and "Black Panther".

Services at La Croix begin at 9:15 and 11 a.m. at its Cape Girardeau location, 3102 Lexington Ave., and may also be viewed online at www.lacroixchurch.org.

More information about La Croix Church or the La Croix at the Movies sermon series may be found online at www.lacroixchurch.org or by calling (573) 339-0302.