At the Movies week 4

Through the story of Les Misérables, we explore the contrast between grace and law through the lives of Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert. One allows grace to transform his identity and begin a new story, while the other cannot accept it. God’s grace has the power not only to save us, but to free us from our past and completely change our future.

This week's At the Movies takes on Wicked, the story of Glinda and Elphaba and how a friendship gets tested when one of them decides truth matters more than popularity. It's the same choice believers in Thessalonica faced in Acts 17, and the same one we face today: do we accept what we're told, or do we test it for ourselves like the Bereans did? We're unpacking Paul's charge in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 to "test everything, hold fast to what is good," and what spiritual discernment actually looks like in practice. Because what we don't know can hurt us, and it's never too late to see the truth.

It's Family Worship Sunday at Maury Hills as Russ is joined by special guest Luke Chapman, a third grader from Maury Hills, for a unique message in our At the Movies series. Using The Lion King as a backdrop, they explore the difference between fear and identity, discovering that our greatest confidence comes from remembering who we are in Christ. Through scenes from the movie and passages from Scripture, this message reminds us not to be consumed by worry, to embrace our identity as children of God, and to face life's fears with the confidence that comes from walking with the King.

For generations, Christians have debated the rapture, the tribulation, and the millennial kingdom. But what does the book of Revelation actually say? In the final message of our Revelation series, we'll separate popular ideas from biblical teaching, explore the three major views of Revelation 20, and discover why this book wasn't written to fill us with fear about the future, but with hope and faithfulness in the present.

(Revelation 20-22)

Revelation 4–19 contains some of the most mysterious and debated imagery in all of Scripture, but its central message is clearer than many people realize. In this message, we explore the four major approaches Christians have used to interpret Revelation—the Futurist, Preterist, Historicist, and Idealist views—and discover that faithful believers have disagreed on these chapters for centuries. Rather than focusing on predicting dates or decoding every symbol, we examine what all Christians can affirm: God is on the throne, the Lamb is victorious, judgment is coming, and followers of Jesus are called to remain faithful no matter the cost. Whether you see Revelation as future prophecy, first-century history, timeless spiritual truth, or some combination of the three, the book ultimately points us to the same hope—God reigns, Jesus wins, evil loses, and the church must endure in faith until the end. (Rev 4:1-19:21)

(Revelation 2:1-3-22)

Revelation is often considered the Bible’s most confusing, debated, and misunderstood book. In this opening message of our series, It’s Revelation, Not Revelations, we step back from charts, timelines, and end-times speculation to explore the book’s original purpose and historical context. Who wrote Revelation? Who was it written to? What was happening in the Roman Empire that prompted John to write this message of hope and encouragement? By understanding the world of the first-century church, we begin to see that Revelation is not primarily about predicting modern events but about calling followers of Jesus to remain faithful in the face of pressure, persecution, and competing allegiances. The central message of Revelation is as relevant today as it was then: Jesus is Lord, evil will not have the final word, and in the end Christ will prevail.