Working at St. Luke’s has been a blessing to my family. One of the things I remember from when I started in 2009 was that I was responsible for filming and editing a Christmas movie where we highlighted the ministries of the church that year. This movie would be shown at the All-Church Christmas Party early in December.
Over the last 13 years, we have done several spoofs of various movie themes; a James Bond movie, Back to the Future, TheSanta Clause, and many more. We have had fun creating these movies that share the message of the ministries that has taken place each year. My first year, a team of staff members worked on the movie plot for A Christmas Carol. The story had Bob acting like Ebenezer Scrooge and three ghosts had him looking at the past, present, and future of St. Luke’s.
The Ghost of Christmas Past took us back to 1991 when there was discussion of building the Christian Life Center and all the things that would happen in that space. Contemporary Worship was not even thought about at that time as there were two traditional services in the Sanctuary. It was in 1998 that LifeLight was started in the Christian Life Center.
It was then that the Ghost of Christmas Present showed up celebrating the things that took place that year. It was the first anniversary of Threefold, the church was growing, and there was dreaming of what the future would hold. But the Ghost of Christmas Future came and discussed what the dreams were at the time. In 2009 there were no dreams for streaming the worship services or of an Edmond Campus.
This year, as we are looking at the theme of A Christmas Carol, I can remember many things that have happened in the past that I’m proud of. I am not able to imagine what God has in store for the future of St. Luke’s.
As you think about your past and future, remember, God has done many things for you in your past that have prepared the way for where you are today. He also is doing things in the present that will affect your future in ways you cannot imagine. Take time during Advent to be on the lookout for what God is doing in your life.
You can go back and watch the Christmas Party movies on our website at stlukesokc.org/studio.
– Brent Manning, Director of Communications
