Into Something Beautiful (14' x 8'; Summer 2012)
Location: Lincoln Berean Church, Lincoln, NE
Created for: 50th Anniversary Celebration for Lincoln Berean Church
As leader of visual artists at Lincoln Berean, I was asked if we could create something that would be used to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church. At the same time, we were brainstorming an idea to work on a collaborative art piece that would be worked on during three consecutive weekends in which the sermons focus on time, talent, and treasure. Thoughts of some conversations I'd had with Kelly See, a lady who came through an art class I was teaching in the spring, came to mind and we began seriously talking about the project. She had the vision of creating a large mosaic cross and was thinking through the idea of the cross -- an instrument of pain being made into a beautiful symbol by Christians.
While on a vacation, sitting by the pool, the sketch for this project came and I passed it along to Kelly to see what she thought. The ball started rolling there and her husband Craig got the industrial strength windows created and we began working on the piece in late August. The congregation took great pride in working on the piece. They came with their children, young and old, to place their pieces on the cross and share a memory. Over three weekends and one 50th celebration event, the cross was just about complete. A team of artists finished adding pieces to the cross and grouted it in the weeks to come.
The cross first appeared on stage during the Easter service in 2013. It is such a large piece, it then took two more years to find the right location and was finally installed and debuted on Easter 2015. Now it stands as a reminder of the community of believers that call Lincoln Berean Church their home church. It also represents the stories of those we met in the process.
WHAT WAS WRITTEN ON THE CARD WE PASSED OUT EXPLAINING THE PROJECT
DID you know we are all creative in some way?
It's true! We were made in God’s image and the Word says, “In the beginning God created...” (Genesis 1:1). So, if He is creative, then we are too!
God is creative; He is also a God of transformation. Christ paid the debt for our sin on the instrument of pain called the cross,
completing a work we could never hope to accomplish. In rising again, He defeated death and transformed the ugliness of the cross into something glorious.
We are creative in His image; did you also know your life and mine is like a piece of stained glass? Each of us a small bit of broken glass with rough, sharp edges, completely unique in its own way. When we allow Jesus, the master artist, to align us into His plan, our lives will transform, becoming one beautiful piece in the amazing work of art Christ calls His bride, the Church.
As you place your piece(s) of glass into the design of the cross, remember you are creative, unique, and an integral, beautiful part of something far greater than you realize.
Transformation. Agony to joy. Death to life. Ugliness to beauty. Let His light and life shine though you, bringing the beauty and creativity of His Kingdom to this earth!
Location: Lincoln Berean Church, Lincoln, NE
Created for: 50th Anniversary Celebration for Lincoln Berean Church
As leader of visual artists at Lincoln Berean, I was asked if we could create something that would be used to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church. At the same time, we were brainstorming an idea to work on a collaborative art piece that would be worked on during three consecutive weekends in which the sermons focus on time, talent, and treasure. Thoughts of some conversations I'd had with Kelly See, a lady who came through an art class I was teaching in the spring, came to mind and we began seriously talking about the project. She had the vision of creating a large mosaic cross and was thinking through the idea of the cross -- an instrument of pain being made into a beautiful symbol by Christians.
While on a vacation, sitting by the pool, the sketch for this project came and I passed it along to Kelly to see what she thought. The ball started rolling there and her husband Craig got the industrial strength windows created and we began working on the piece in late August. The congregation took great pride in working on the piece. They came with their children, young and old, to place their pieces on the cross and share a memory. Over three weekends and one 50th celebration event, the cross was just about complete. A team of artists finished adding pieces to the cross and grouted it in the weeks to come.
The cross first appeared on stage during the Easter service in 2013. It is such a large piece, it then took two more years to find the right location and was finally installed and debuted on Easter 2015. Now it stands as a reminder of the community of believers that call Lincoln Berean Church their home church. It also represents the stories of those we met in the process.
WHAT WAS WRITTEN ON THE CARD WE PASSED OUT EXPLAINING THE PROJECT
DID you know we are all creative in some way?
It's true! We were made in God’s image and the Word says, “In the beginning God created...” (Genesis 1:1). So, if He is creative, then we are too!
God is creative; He is also a God of transformation. Christ paid the debt for our sin on the instrument of pain called the cross,
completing a work we could never hope to accomplish. In rising again, He defeated death and transformed the ugliness of the cross into something glorious.
We are creative in His image; did you also know your life and mine is like a piece of stained glass? Each of us a small bit of broken glass with rough, sharp edges, completely unique in its own way. When we allow Jesus, the master artist, to align us into His plan, our lives will transform, becoming one beautiful piece in the amazing work of art Christ calls His bride, the Church.
As you place your piece(s) of glass into the design of the cross, remember you are creative, unique, and an integral, beautiful part of something far greater than you realize.
Transformation. Agony to joy. Death to life. Ugliness to beauty. Let His light and life shine though you, bringing the beauty and creativity of His Kingdom to this earth!