P.D. Weekly Email

Hello Great Family,

We are headed into Thanksgiving week!  I hope you will join us on Tuesday at 6:30pm for our annual Pie, Prayer, Praise event.  Just bring a pie to share (store bought is fine but please slice it before bringing it – request from our pie servers).  Come ready to sing praises of thanksgiving and share testimonies of the goodness of God.

Now I know Thanksgiving comes first but I just have to get this off my chest. I know people who love Hallmark Christmas Movies. I think they are cheesy and predictable. Girl meets guy, but the relationship seems improbable, but it all works out perfectly. I know that they are going to kiss at the end. Most likely, there will be a dog in the storyline. This is why there is truth to the plotline generator meme attached below (take a look, it will make you smile).

But people don’t care, they make them feel good. This year alone, the Hallmark Channel plans to add forty-one films to its roster, with each film being released during Hallmark’s annual ‘Countdown to Christmas’. Every year, millions of people sit down to watch Hallmark or similar types of films — and yet, it seems the consensus is that Hallmark movies are not particularly good. So, why do people watch them?

One writer calls it the Hallmark Movie Paradox. The popular opinion seems to be that in terms of quality and originality, Hallmark movies pale in comparison to other existing films — they are unrealistic and fraught with clichés. They lack diversity and many characters are practically walking stereotypes. But, despite this, they remain popular.

There are several reasons why they are popular. First, Christmas is a crazy time, and people are looking for stress relief, and it provides a temporary glimpse of optimism and hope. Second, people are nostalgic. We love to reflect on simpler days and the good times we had. And last, even though we are cynical, we like it when love wins.

I want to focus in on the last point. The message of Jesus is the ultimate “love wins’ story. The life of Christ, though only 33 years long and only containing three years of public ministry: proclaimed to the whole world that God had come to live among us and to lead us into a loving relationship with Him, the Savior of the world, through His death and sacrifice on the cross. One of the most memorized verses in scripture is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It summarizes God’s love mission for mankind.

Greater than any Hallmark movie ever written, God lovingly pursues and draws us into the greatest happily ever after. A love story from now and into eternity!

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  (Romans 15:18)

We will be blessed to have our missionary Dave Schutes with us this Sunday.  Come join the great family at Oakwood as we worship together.

God Bless,
P.D. (Psalm 139)