Wall Street Response Video
September 30, 2008 · Print This Article
Preview/download the video now.
On Tuesday morning, September 30, I woke up early with a message on my heart. I’ve become really good at dismissing these messages as stupid ideas that will never work. I tried to do this, but God kept pushing me with ideas, scripting, and even camera shot movement. I knew that we’d need to write, shoot, edit, and upload the video all in one day. Good luck with that. We couldn’t get an actor at such short notice, so I decided to do it.
I showed this video to a friend (Scott McClellan), who’s the Editor of Collide Magazine. His quote is perfect: “…it seems as though a lot of Christians put their trust in their 401k’s and mutual funds to take care of them while they live, and put their trust in Jesus to take care of them when they die.” How true is that?
The result is a video we’re proud to offer you. Check it out here. Download it and show it in your church this week. Then please come back to this post and comment on how you used it in your unique church. What were the elements surrounding the video? Did you have anyone respond as a result of the worship service?
When it all comes down, it’s all about God’s love for us, and our trust in that love. It really doesn’t get any deeper than that. May we trust in God, when the (blue) chips are up, and when they’re down. The events of Wall Street over the past two weeks have not caught God by surprise. It’s not like God thought, “Crap. Never saw that one coming.” May we learn to trust His love for us, and respond in worship more than ever, during this crazy period.
One final important note: For the initial two weeks following the creation of this video, we offered it for free. As of Monday morning October 13, the video is available for $10 – still half the price we normally charge for our mini-movies.
Very Good shoot! Thanks for being obedient, timely and on the cutting edge of what’s going on NOW in the world. I will use this in 2 weeks talking about FAITH. Thank you again for the FREE download. May God truly bless you for that.
This is odd, but I’m going to respond to my own blog. I was a full-time pastor forever, and I used to plan worship services every week.
This is important: Our churches don’t need to abandon the week’s theme to talk about Wall Street. They also don’t need to pass on talking about Wall Street because they’re in the middle of a Marriage Series. In my opinion, to not say anything is the worst thing we can do.
Here are some ideas for using a video like “This Is Not This”…
* Do a few up front songs, then play the video with no verbal intro. Move into a time of prayer, encouraging people to open their palms, indicating that they’re not holding onto anything. Without ending the prayer, ask the worship leader to lead the congregation singing “I Surrender All” (the hymn), or “I Surrender” (Marc James).
After that, move on with the theme of the day. Don’t break between the prayer and the follow-up song. Make the whole sequence reverent and worshipful.
* During your verbal welcome, just admit that everyone (including you) has obsessed a little about Wall Street the past couple of weeks. Tell them that you found a video that’s a good reminder during times like these. Play the video. During the video, have key church leaders, staff, and/or Elders come forward, so that when the video is completed, they can pray FOR the congregation. This is a HUGE part of shepherding people. After that, say something like, “We’re not staying here for the rest of the morning. We just gave this thing to God, and now we need to leave it in His more-than-capable hands, and move on.” Break into a time of “up” singing and worship.
* Have an extended time of singing, praise, and worship up front. Song about God’s faithfulness work perfectly during times like this. Then, as part of your verbal welcome, walk out into the congregation and do an impromptu “Donahue” style interview (the roaving mic). Ask REGULAR ATTENDING EXTROVERTS: When you think of Wall Street, money, or finances these days, what one word describes the way most people are feeling?” After a few people respond, play the video. Break into a time of either singing or prayer immediately following.
One final random idea: Tear up a $20 bill in front of everyone. Use it creatively.
May God’s favor rest on you this weekend, because your people, in all probability, have a severe need to be loved, and re-convinced that their trust in God’s love is the only thing that’s really important right now..
[...] Gary Molander responds to the Wall Street crisis with this video. [...]
[...] would serve Christ’s church around the country. We’re still offering that to you as a free download. As I write this, the video has been downloaded over 2200 times. Obviously, that message was [...]