Bookstore Discussion

A friend and I are having an informal discussion about the Christian aspects of this movie at Border's bookstore with whomever wants to come. The manager was very excited about this.

School Outreach

At our church we purchased 300 copies of the book and gave them to all the fifth graders in the two schools that service our community.  In each book was a Narnia book mark (product from Outreach.com) with an invitation to our Narnia event printed on the back.  At the event, the first one hundred elementary aged kids and their families (church members excluded) to arrive will receive a pass to an advance showing of the film on December 8.  Another 100 tickets will be sold to church members to off set the cost.  We also left book mark/invitation at our public library.

Narnia Themed Services

We are running our series on Sundays from Nov 27-Dec 18, then ending with a Christmas Eve service. For the first 4 services, people will be doing monologues which I wrote based on material from the books.  Each week, a lit lamppost will be onstage, and people will enter the auditorium through a "wardrobe."  One of the weeks we will serve each person one piece of Turkish Delight, and have made a replica of the Stone Table for another week.

Narnia Sermon Series (A Creative Approach!)

I am indeed planning a Narnia sermon series:

11/27 "Aslan is on the Move" - regarding St Mark's little apocalypse in the Gospel lection
12/4 "What's so Delightful About Turkish Delight?" - regarding Lewis' wonderful presentation of the significance of the coming of Christ in the battle for Good and Evil (I will also incorporate learnings from Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters this week and the church is going to have a TAFFY PULL to make our own version of Turkish Delight and to illustrate just how GOOD what is not so good for us can taste, smell and look like sometimes! I will also emphasize Lewis' connection to Father Christmas and the gifts he gives us to battle with and to salve our wounds!
12/11 "The Deep Magic" This is the day that I will share that moving depiction of Aslan being sacrificed at the stone table (it makes me cry each time I read it). The baby of Bethlehem has a future and it is all about sacrificial love.

My series skips a week because of a musical presentation on 12/18 and so then I will conclude a four part message series on Narnia on Christmas Eve with a message I plan to call "The Deeper Magic" - mainly I intend to focus upon Lewis' depiction of Christ -the gentle baby born in a manger - as the Lion of Judah.  An image which is very compelling for me.  I love the prospect on Christmas Eve of exploring what it means that the child of Bethlehem is "good but he is not safe!" It lends so much richness to the notion, for instance, that Herod feels threatened by Jesus' very existence and sends the Wise Men to spy.  I also plan to make something out of the fact that in Narnia the children are kings and queens and that Christ means for us also to rule with him there, in the kingdom of God.  ie. in the acceptable time and place for God we are what Paul calls "more than conquerers." My ambition, though I haven't scoped it out yet, is to present the children, during my Christmas Eve Children's message, with a real live lion cub. You don't know where I can borrow one do you?!<

Book Give-a-way

Each week we give a book away as a gift to our 1st time guests.  Typically we give away Rick Warren’s PDL, but we’re going to switch to TL, TW & TW during the Christmas season.

Resource Center

We’re also stocking our Resource Center with hundreds of copies of the new “movie tie-in” versions of the paperback, hard cover and full Narnia collections, selling them (and other Narnia related books) at discounted prices, encouraging EVERYONE in the church to get a copy of the book and read it together AS A FAMILY!

Movie Night

We’ve purchased 1,000 tickets to the [Dec. 8 Screening], renting out the two largest theaters at our local AMC 24; we’re advertising it as “Trinity Night @ the Movies!” – encouraging parents to make it a “date night” so they can see the film together, making an informed decision on whether or not the film would be too intense for their younger children…it’s looking like we may sell out, so we may try to get another 500+ tickets for a second (9:30pm) showing later that same night!

Christmas Season

We’ve entitled our Christmas theme “Always Winter, Never Christmas?  This Year, Discover the ONE Who Changes Everything!”  We’re building a semi-replicated version of the wardrobe and lamppost to place on our platform for the entire month.  We’re working with our Christmas décor company to set up an outdoor/rustic/winter feel across the platform, using flocked trees, boulders and other natural elements to create the “winter in Narnia” feel.  On Christmas Eve we’ll turn on all the white lights on the trees, bring in extra decorations and celebrate the fact that “Winter Ends; Christmas Begins!”

The week BEFORE Christmas Eve we’re doing our big evangelistic push for the season.  As a part of the invitation to faith, once people have decided to make Jesus Lord or their lives, we’re going to invite them up on the platform to WALK THROUGH the wardrobe as a statement of faith (crossing over to the new/true reality of the Kingdom) and touching the lamppost (representing Jesus, the light of the world…)

The week before THAT we’re inviting people to a special “Sinfully Sweet Weekend: A Celebration of Chocolate!”  (see image below)

Drawing on Edmund’s experience w/Turkish delight, we’re going to discuss the inability of the things of this world to ultimately satisfy us…that the enemy tricks us into giving ourselves to lesser things, to the detriment of ourselves and those around us.  We’re going to have four large banquet tables round the auditorium, packed full with chocolate of all kinds (cupcakes, cakes, cheesecake, chocolate-covered cherries, truffles, fudge, etc.)  Everyone who comes will get some free chocolate! Immediately before the message our band will perform David Crowder’s new “Turkish Delight” while people are enjoying their chocolate…

Narnia Night

A businessman envisions a Narnia Night where people gather at a downtown theater where I will talk a little about the story, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; then everyone will be bused to the cinema [about six miles]; then, after the move, all will be bused back to the downtown theater for refreshments, to receive a free copy of the book and to listen to an explanation of how the movie is an allegory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He sees this as a fifty/fifty deal; for Christians to come they must bring a non-Christian friend. He also thinks that by the 8th of December an invitation that says “Be the First to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” will draw a huge crowd of young adults, college and high school students.

Walk Through Narnia

Our church, Centennial Evangelical Lutheran, is hosting a Walk Through Narnia, where we are decorating the church social hall as the Narnian forest would look.  Guests will walk around and meet many characters from the book who have an important allegorical relation to the biblical drama.  A guidebook is being printed for use at the event and after the movie (discussion questions included) and lunch is being served.  Our pastor is giving his Christmas Eve children’s sermon on the movie so we are handing out invitations to the service at our event.