- Well, hey everybody, man. I wanna welcome you to Highlands today. Let me welcome all of our locations. You guys, up in Marion and Bluefield and Bristol, and all of you that are watching today, online and also on TV, we're very grateful for you, and just your extended encouragement and kindness week after week. So today, I get to kick off brand new series. It's gonna be phenomenal. It's one of my favorite series all year long. We call it, "At The Movies." And I'm not a big movie goer, all right? When you got five kids, I realize I'm a little behind the scenes when movies actually come out and when I actually watch them, 'cause normally it's a lot cheaper to watch 'em on Netflix than it is at the cinema, right? So we usually wait and often I think, well, I'm getting ready to watch a movie that's brand new, and then somebody tells me it's been out 10 years, dude. You're so far behind the scenes, but today I wanna kick off this "At The Movies" series with a movie that I love. And where these are family friendly movies, okay? We're not gonna encourage you to bring a friend and watch Dracula or something. I mean, it's gonna be good. So every week, I wanna encourage you to come. And the movie that I wanna talk about today is the movie "Up." Now, again, I was thinking when I watched it a couple of years ago, that was fresh out. And Pastor Tim told me it was 10 years old. So you may have seen it 10 years ago, or maybe you haven't seen it. I'm not gonna ruin it in case you haven't seen it because if you haven't, I hope you'll go watch it. But I just wonder around the room today here at our admin location, how many of you have actually seen the movie "UP"? Can I just see your hand? All right, all right, everybody almost. Well, couple back on the camera, they have not seen the movie "UP" but everybody else seems to have seen the movie. So let me just encourage you as we go through this movie series to think about how these messages could actually apply to your life 'cause here's what we're gonna do each and every week. We're gonna touch on a key aspect, a theme of that movie and that story. And then we're gonna connect that story from the movie to a biblical story. And my hope is, as we share that time together, looking "At The Movies" story, that parallels with the biblical story, we then are gonna apply to a very, very important story, which is your story and my story. And hopefully, as we look at the themes, we find in the movies and in the biblical stories, something that will strengthen us and will strengthen our own personal story. So I'm really glad you're here today as we kick this off, we do a series like this called "At The Movies" intentional. And the reason we do a series like this is because this series out of all the series we'll do this year is the easiest series for you to invite an unchurched friend, all right? I mean, when you invite friends to church, they know what they're gonna get, but when you invite a friend to the movies, it's a lot different invitation, isn't it? So we give you four weeks that you can invite folks than your sphere of influence that are not in the Christian family yet to come to a movie at the church you attend. And I think it's gonna be really, really fun. So this series they'll be able to relate to, and I think you'll be able to relate to it as well. So let's think about this. Here's a question I wanna think about today. What makes a movie great? What makes a movie great? Now for some people you would say, oh, it is the director. It's the director. And anytime I've ever seen that person that directs it, man, when they direct it, I'm gonna see it. They're incredible. For some of you it'll be the actors, right? I mean, anytime that this person, this lady or this man is in that movie, every time I've seen a movie they're acting in, it is incredible. I'm gonna go see it every time. For some of you, it's that word cinematography. Now I don't even know what that word means, but I like pronounce, I like saying it. It's sort of cool when you say it, isn't it? But for some of you, it may be that. For my kids in these days, especially Bill and Timmy, what makes them love a movie is what they call special effects. And it's the culture in which we live, right? Again, I'm sort of behind the scenes. However, I think what really and truly makes a great movie is this a great movie has with it a main character who is yearning for something. Hey, that main character is pursuing something with all their heart. It's something they want desperately. And yet to get that they have to overcome an obstacle or two. Well, that's what we find in the movie "UP" that I'm gonna talk to you about today. So right in the beginning of the movie we meet old guy, and his name is Carl Fredricksen. Now the voiceover it's animated because again, we're kid friendly and the voiceover is Ed Asner, which is just perfect for grumpy Carl. He's older, he's a retired balloon salesman. So if you haven't seen the movie, that's the reason we have our balloon prop up here. So you can identify 78-year-old. And again, he's this retired balloon salesman. So at this point in his life, he is finally about to pursue a lifelong dream that he has had since he was a child. Now this lifelong dream that he carries in his heart, that's still so important to him is one that his wife, when she was just a little girl, right in the beginning of the movie, the second time they meet, she shares this dream and this dream draws Carl into it when they're just young children. So I wanna show you this scene because online and on TV, we can't show these clips from the movies. It's not allowed for us, but we're gonna walk through some pictures of how Ellie, this childhood friend of Carl's, who eventually becomes his wife and eventually becomes his dream bear shows Carl this dream. So as you notice this picture, she comes flying through his bedroom one night and wakes him up. And Carl startled with everything in him. And she brings her adventure book with her. And in that adventure book, she says, "All right, Carl, I want you to cross your heart. You can't ever share what I'm about to share with you because I have this dream. And this dream is I'm gonna go to a place in South America, which is like America, only south. And it is called Paradise Falls. And it is gonna be absolutely amazing." And Carl says nothing throughout this whole encounter when she shares a dream, right? And so she goes through everything they're gonna do. She got her adventure book with all these blank pages for all the excursions they're gonna go on. And then she heads out when Carl agrees to pursue this dream with her and she leaves, and Carl has just left and he goes, "Wow." And that began setting the tone for this great pursuit that Ellie inspires and plants this dream in Carl's heart to one day, travel to Paradise Falls in South America, which is like America, only South. So she helps him get this dream planted in his heart, even when they're just little kids, such that when they grow up, even when they get married, even when they have this incredible life together, the dream has never been realized and is still there. And finally, he arrives at a point when we see him in the movie 78 now, and he's thinking I gotta pursue that. I wasn't able to do it when we were together. I gotta pursue that. But of course, great movie that it is. If he's gonna pursue that dream, and go after what he wants most in life, then he is gonna have to face some obstacles, right? I mean, that's what makes a great movie. The first obstacle that you meet sort, as you begin to watch the movie is somebody who's pretty famous through the years. And he runs into this particular guy and it's an obstacle he has to overcome. Again, I don't wanna ruin it in case you haven't seen it. And then another obstacle he faces, it's a long journey, right? I mean, that's how he gets there. Knowing his past, as a balloon salesman, he finally puts together how he can actually get all the way to South America, but it's an obstacle he has to overcome. But then this last obstacle that he faces to get where he's trying to get is actually the most precious, lovable little obstacle in the entire movie. And that obstacle is a little boy named Russell, and Russell just captures your heart, right? I mean, he's a little guy who is a boy scout. He is a wilderness explorer, and Russell is one bad shy of what he needs to complete of receiving all the badges for the stage of getting his great badge, the Wilderness Explores certification. And he is in hot pursuit of that. Now what this last badge is about that he has to get, it's the badge that he receives for helping an elderly person in some way. And that's how he comes into Carl's life in the first place. So adventure is in the air. Carl has a dream, he wants to grab hold of. He wants to take off and pursue this, but he knows he's gonna face a few obstacles. Now that's the story of Carl, the story of up that we'll get back to. But I wanna parallel that with a biblical story that I think is extremely similar and we find in Luke's gospel in chapter 19, another great story. The Bible is filled with great stories, and there is a main character who is pursuing something that he desperately wants in his life and he desires to attain it. But in order to attain it, he has to overcome some obstacles just like Carl. So let's turn our attention from Carl to the man we find in scripture, and let's look Luke 19:1. This is what the story is, this is what it says. So Jesus entered Jericho. He's passing through. I've been to Jericho two times now. And actually there is a sycamore tree right beside the Jordan River that our gods have told us probably is the tree all these years later that this guy climbs, right? So Jesus is heading to Jericho. He's passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector. That word chief is important. Chief tax collector and he was wealthy. And actually the term wealthy here, he was very wealthy, all right? He was a cut above other tax collectors. And he wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he couldn't see over the crowd. So Zacchaeus ran ahead. He climbed a sycamore tree to see Him since Jesus was coming that way, it's almost like if you can imagine, it's parade about to happen. Jesus is coming down through the parade route and Zacchaeus can't see Him for everybody else that wants to see Him. And so he climbs up in this tree because he was short so he could look over and he could see Jesus. So when Jesus gets to the spot that Zacchaeus is in the tree, He looks up and He says to him, "Zacchaeus, come down, immediately, get down outta that tree. I must stay at your house today." Now He's not saying I wanna come over Zacchaeus and have dinner with you like He often did with tax collectors and other notorious sinners. He's saying, "I'm gonna eat with you. I'm gonna stay with you. It's gonna be more than just a couple hour dinner. I'm staying with you." And so it's pretty bold of Jesus, but He knows exactly what He's doing. And when He makes that statement, all the religious leaders, the Pharisees, Sadducees are in that group, they begin to think He has lost His mind. "What in the world is Jesus doing, wanting to stay at this guy's house?" So story goes on. He came down at once. Zacchaeus does, and he welcomed him gladly into his house. All the people saw this, they begin to mutter. "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, here and now I give half of all my possessions to the poor. If I have cheated anybody out of anything, I'll pay back four times the amount." And Jesus said to him, "Zacchaeus, today salvation has come to this house because this man too is the son of Abraham for the son of man came," Jesus gives His mission of why he left heaven, "to seek and save the lost." And I love this story too. I wanna see three things out of this story. Here's first thing. When we initially meet Zacchaeus, clearly, from the story, he is at this point in his life, he's in the wrong story. He's just in the wrong story. Meaning simply when we find Zacchaeus, he is clearly not living the story that God desires for him to live. And how can we confidently know this without any doubt for this reason he's tax collector, he's chief tax collector. And a tax collector in Jesus day is not what we might think of, of tax collectors in our day. Although some of you might still think of that way. I hope not, but a tax collector in Jesus day was not a guy who collected reasonable taxes on behalf of a reasonable government. That's not how it worked. First off in that day, taxes were terrible. Most theologians believe is somewhere you gave 50% of your income to the government, all right? Just right off the top. That was what they required 50%. They were not fair in any way. But you add to that, that a tax collector in Jesus day would collect these taxes that were owed to the government. And then the tax collectors had the freedom to assess penalties on you for whatever penalty they could come up with. And most time it was just stupid stuff, right? But they would assess you. And many times that would get another 10 to 15% that they would just put into their own pocket. Now, Zacchaeus did this, but he was a chief tax collector. So he was like a broker for the tax collector. So he was getting a two or three percentage of every other tax that was collected by his colleagues. And why would they extort the poor? And why would they get more taxes that was owed than what was necessary to maintain the government? One and only reason, just to add to their immense wealth. And think about this, while Zacchaeus may have wanted to end up in the right story, he was now in the wrong story. And I doubt, honestly, if there was a day when Zacchaeus woke up and said, you know what I want outta life? I wanna work hard. I wanna become the chief tax collector. And I wanna be such a self-absorbed guy in my immense wealth that everybody around me will hate me. I doubt that was the story Zacchaeus desired for his life. It just doesn't happen. And while he may not have wanted to end up in the story, he was in nonetheless selfish decision after selfish decision, misguided choice after misguided choice, that's where he is. Now, the good news in the midst of all this, as soon as Zacchaeus thinks about the story he's living out, he realizes a few things. It's not a story that he likes. I mean, obviously it's not, he's seeking something else when he climbs the tree. It's not even a good story because he's heard about what Jesus can do in a person's life. And when he looks more closely at his life and his story, he begins to realize that his story can actually change if he wants it to. And then I think, secondly, when I look at this story, I want you to notice that just because Zacchaeus is caught up in the wrong story when we meet him, it didn't mean that he had to stay there. If he was willing to make some changes in his life. Go back, let's look at the scripture one more time. Here's why it says, "Jesus entered Jericho as he's passing through, a man was there by the name of Zacchaeus, who was in the wrong story." All right, he's not the story he wants to be in. He was chief tax collector. He was wealthy by the wrong means. He hadn't acquired his wealth in the correct way. He'd cheated his way to wealth and he wanted to see Jesus. But because he was short, he couldn't see over the crowd. So he climbed this tree that he could see him as Jesus comes through. When you hear those words a second time, wouldn't you agree with me? That what we see here is a man who is not content with his story, with where he is in life. And clearly, there is something in him to cause this short little guy to climb a tree and seek Jesus out. And at the very least this something within him, I think is this. He is questioning the life he's embraced. And that questioning leads him closer to Jesus. He hears Jesus, say, dude, I'm coming to your house. I'm gonna eat with you and I'm gonna stay with you. And in the end, what does all that do? It helps him to realize my story can change. Which leads me to a final thing. I want you to see from this biblical story. Ultimately, the key is that now he realizes he can change his story from wrong story to right story when he decides, all right, this is key. That when he changes what he's chasing after in life, when he changes what he most wants, deciding what is most important for him to pursue in life? 'Cause he's chased what the world told him was the route, right? Was the answer, success and wealth. He didn't find it there. And so he has to realize here, he's gotta change what he has most pursued for his entire life. We gotta realize Zacchaeus' story does not change just because he says, "Oh Jesus, I'm gonna give half of my wealth away." Now it's a good starting point, okay? But he hadn't moved to a new story yet, nor does his story begin to change simply because he decides to make restitution for all these poor people he has extorted for years and years and years. And he says, "Hey Jesus, if I've stolen anything, I'll give that person back four times the amount." He's still not changed, no. His story only begins to change when he is most pursuing in his life change for the long term. When he decides to pursue Jesus first and foremost, and embrace the values that Jesus teaches, his story truly begins to change. He becomes a man of contentment that he's never had chasing after the world's dreams filled with grace and mercy and kindness. Now back to the story we started with, because we find something very similar to Zacchaeus' story in our movie. We find our main character, Carl Fredricksen, retired balloon salesman. And when we get a glimpse of Carl, Carl is racked with grief. He is withdrawn from the world around him. He's just mean, I mean, he's a cranky old mean guy. And so when we meet Carl, we soon assess that something has happened to cause him to begin living the wrong story. And for Carl, just like Zacchaeus, there also comes a light bulb moment for him where he says, I can choose a different story. I can live a different story if I actually change what I'm pursuing most in life. And at the end of the movie, I wish we had time to show you some more scenes or another clip, but at the end of the movie, we see Carl sort of embracing this change more than actually getting to Paradise Falls like Ellie. And he wanted to do their whole life. Carl has this moment as he is been with Russell. And he says, "I wanna take care of this little obstacle in my life." He tends to need me right now because he's in harm's way, but he needs me more than right now. He needs a father figure for the rest of his life and he changes his story. And as soon as that pursuit begins to change, what happens is he moves from the wrong story to the right story. And as you watch that movie, you can see that change so much so that the end of the movie, you see Carl living the story, he was created to live, fantastic movie. So we've looked at movie story. We've looked at the biblical story, but what story haven't we gotten to yet? Your story, your story. In light of our time together, I wanna just ask you to think about this question. This is a great question. If your life was a movie, okay? When the credits are rolling on your movie, would those watching that movie be able to say that woman or that man, they are right where they are supposed to be? If someone made a movie about the story of your life up until this point, would people find in that movie, a main character who is growing, who is pursuing all the right things, even though it means that main character has to overcome many obstacles in life? I'm a fan of Donald Miller. I don't know if you ever read any of his books, but I would encourage you to read some of his stuff. And he wrote a book called "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." And this is what Miller says. He says, "If you watched a movie about a guy who desperately wanted a Volvo, and then he worked hard to get it and he finally gets it. And then he cries when he drives the Volvo off the lot. And when he tests out the wipers, you really wouldn't tell your friends and encourage them to go see that movie. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a man that wants a Volvo." And Miller says, "And yet we spend years pursuing such storylines and we hope our life will be meaningful." He concludes his thought with these words and they're on the screen. I want you to see this, what he says, it's important. "If what we choose to do with our lives won't make the story meaningful, it won't make life meaningful either." The truth is many people in our world are living in the wrong story. And truth be told that includes some of us that God, by His Spirit has drawn here today. And it's not that we wanted to end up in the wrong story. It's just that decision after decision after decision, let us there. And if there's a part of you today, as we gather, that would say, you know, pastor, I just don't think I'm in the right story, the one God would have me be in. Well, my hope is that first of all, you would recognize that and you would make a commitment today to get to the right story 'cause here's truth. There's no time like the present to go from wrong story to right story. But what it's gonna take for you to do that is this. You have to look at what you're pursuing most in your life. You have to look at what's most important in your life. And if that has led you to living the wrong story, you gotta change what you're pursuing. You gotta change what's most important. So as I wrap this up today, I just want ask yourself, what are you most pursuing in life? Ask yourself that. We all know, we can say, oh blah, I don't know, but we know. We usually know what's primary in our life. We do, we all know this answer. And if you can say, you know what, Allen, I am pursuing exactly what I should be pursuing, it's awesome, that's awesome. You're in the right story. Maybe you'd be here today and you'd say, wow, I look at my life and I've been pursuing the wrong thing. And I'm in the wrong story. I would just say a way to get to the right story, if you've been pursuing the wrong story, first of all is a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you over your life. He created you. He knows this story. He wants you to live. And by the way, friends, these changes can be made when you're a teenager, when you're in your midlife crisis, when you're my age and when you're in retirement age, all right? I mean Carl's 78-years-old and he goes from wrong story to right story. I would just encourage you because man, I love you. I want you to live in the right story. And if you don't know Jesus, it's hard to live in that story. But if you are a believer and somehow you got sucked into the rat race that we never win, or somehow you got sucked into somehow believing that what the world told you was fulfillment, and you've learned today that Kylie, it's really not the story that you wanna be in. Just change it. 'Cause I'm convinced that God will help you as you make the changes necessary to find that as we pursue Him, and as we put Him first in our life, everything else He promises will fall into place. The things I hunger for, the stage of life I'm in today is peace. Men, I want peace in the midst of chaotic world in which we live. I desire to be kind and encouraging to other people. I want that for other folks. I don't enjoy conflict, right? I mean, who does? And I've just found that when I live with Jesus first in my life, man, my story is so much better. So I appreciate Carl's story. I appreciate Zacchaeus' story. But man, what about your story? I pray today, you would live in the right story. Let's pray. God, I thank You so much for, we can be creative a bit today and look at something the world has produced in this movie "UP" and yet we see a similar story in scripture was Zacchaeus who is living the wrong story. But God, he had a meeting with Jesus and his story changed. And I wonder today, if somebody needs to have a meeting with Jesus, you've been in the wrong story. You've never trusted Jesus. And yet you've come to the place where your success has been empty. And even though you have wealth in the bank still at the end of the day, you know you were created for far more than where you're living. Maybe you would just simply say Jesus, I've made mistakes, I'm a sinner. I don't know why you would wanna love me the way you'd love me, that you would die across from me. But today, I cease being, God in my life. And I surrender my life to you and ask you to come into my life and help me to live the story that I was created to live. And if you made a decision like that today online, you can just click that little raised hand button. Man on TV, my email's there. Let us know that you actually trusted Jesus today. And in one of our in-person locations, if you trusted Jesus, grabbed somebody on the way out, and for all of us that know Jesus and somehow we've drifted into the wrong story, and God just help us to begin to put you first again, place you first in our life, and you promise God when you're first and we are where we need to be with you and everything else works out in our life where we can find the peace passes all understanding. We love you, Lord. Thank You for loving us in Jesus' name. Amen.