Coming Up Sunday, August 15

The "Summer Blockbuster Sermon Series 2: The Sequel" continues on Sunday, as we look at another of this summer's big movie hits and explore their religious and spiritual themes.

This Sunday's movie is "Toy Story 3" the sequel (threequel?) to "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2," both from Pixar. The animated movie continues the story of Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the other toys. Their owner, Andy, is now a teenager who is preparing to move away to college.

Here's the trailer:

At the root of all three "Toy Story" films is the theme of love: a young boy's love for his toys and their love for him in return. Over the films, though, Andy grows from a young boy to a high school graduate, and his love develops and changes. In "Toy Story 3" the issue of love and loss, as the toys wonder what will happen to them when Andy moves away, is at the forefront.

The great Biblical text on love is 1 Corinthians 13, where Paul gives a lengthy description of love. So powerful and evocative is this text that it is often read at weddings, sometimes even at non-Christian weddings. Often overlooked in these verses is one in the middle, where Paul describes the setting aside of childish things. Some think that the verse is a distraction from the theme of love, but I think that suggests that Paul has a much deeper appreciation of love than he is credited. He recognizes that love goes through stages, and that we cannot develop into the type of people (in general, or in faith) that God hopes us to be if we are stagnant/unchanging in our love.

We will consider the nature of love, as explored in both 1 Corinthians and in "Toy Story 3," on Sunday.