Releasing Creativity

I am not all that creative. I cannot draw, paint, sing or play a musical instrument. If God wants musical / artistic creativity to flow here then I am not the guy. Yet I would love the Church to be brimming with artistic and musical creativity.

It was a real thrill this week when a member of our Church came in with a painting that he felt God had put on his heart.

It depicts the crucifiction scene from above, with the activity of the Holy Spirit surrounding the cross, while drops of blood, a whip, hammer and nails serve as a stark reminder to the suffering endured.

On Good Friday we used this as an opportunity to reflect in silence and meditate on what Jesus went through for us.

I love the idea that God is speaking across the Church family to people and through their gifts, and this serves as an example to that. I hope is the start of something more.

Update

The talk on spiritual gifts went well and certainly raised the issue!

We have had several excellent contributions since then, including spiritual songs, and new people contributing. Both are really exciting, as are reports of tongues and interpretations in cell groups.

It is amazing how "charismatic" so quickly becomes "contemporary" and the gifts of the spirit take a backseat.

It is all food for thought, and part of the journey our Church is on.

Following something through

On Sunday our service will be a little different.

I am preaching on "Spiritual gifts in worship"

We will have a couple of songs to start, then the kids go out and we do notices.

Then I preach.

Then we will worship, with a real call, and an encouragement to bring spiritual gifts in worship.

I guess this is part of my journey, to make the teaching I have heard a reality in both my life and the life of the Church.

So much so, we are changing the entire structure and flow of our meeting to seek God and to step out in a fresh way in this area.

An interesting picture

On Sunday morning in the prayer meeting before our Church service I saw the following picture.

I saw a blank canvas, stretching as far as the eye could see in either direction. It was almost infinite.

We had just been singing "One day every tongue will confess you are God, one day every knee will bow" from the song "Come, now is the time to worship".

I could see that scene way in the distance on the canvas ahead of us.

But the focus was on the here and now, and instead of painting with brush strokes it was almost as thought he painter (God) was not brushing paint but placing people.

It really felt as though as a painter mixes paints to make the shade he wants, and then spreads them to make the scene he wants, God was bringing together and mixing together people here to make something wonderful.

The canvas seemed to be God's plan through history for the salvation of mankind, with future glory mapped out ahead and this was a glimpse of the here and now, for us, that each individual person was being shaped and moulded into the scene together.