Made by us to glorify Him!

This special issue of the BTS highlights artwork created and shared by the people of ACC during our Prayer, Worship and Art Night, so if you missed it you can still enjoy what was created… but sorry the cookies have all been eaten!

Heritage

By Launa Grunau and the People of ACC

When we, as members of God’s kingdom, sew the small things that are given to us, like the farmer in the parable, we will see growth that is life changing and life giving. We, as the church, become a safe place for families to nest and nurture. We provide shade and shelter, strength and sustenance.

As all of our families are grafted into the vine along side each other we become a spiritual family. This becomes our family tree. This becomes our heritage, generation to generation. Just like in a natural family, the family tree is ever changing; new people are added by marriage, birth or adoption, and people leave too. But at any given time you can look at a family tree and tell where you have been and where you are headed. Even though our church is changing, growing, being pruned, grafting new people in, this picture tonight is our snapshot. 1 year, 5 years, even 10 years down the road, we don’t know what this tree will look like, what new leaves will be added, which ones will be gone, but we can look at this and see our heritage, where it started. I hope that in the years to come we need a much bigger canvas to hold all the thumbprints.

God made a divine appointment for you to be a part of something bigger than yourself. He wants you to be connected to the Vine and to his Kingdom, offering the small seeds of your life to Him and to His people so he can grow an abundant harvest.

(This piece will be on display this Sunday where you can add your finger print to our heritage tree)

Seize My Heart

by Rebecca Varpness

It is said that there are more stars in our ever expanding sky then grains of sand on the earth.
And on our earth, so small and fragile lying in the vast universe,
On one of its beaches on top of a few grains of sands stands a girl
With two feet, supporting two legs, holding up one body containing one heart
One small heart, alone in the huge universe, beating a faint rhythm.
And on that heart, written in words only seen by the soul is
The Word
and The Word  says this:
“I love you”
“If you love me”, the girl replies,” seize my heart and order it.
Order it as you have ordered the stars, moon, land and waters.
Calm it as you do the storms.
Devour its wretched longings as the red sea devoured your enemies.
Purge it  from its wild emptiness.
Mold it as you molded man from dust.”
And the creator of every star in the ever expanding universe
reached through  time,  galaxies, and sin
and seized her small heart.
The heart that was created by Him to glorify Him,
the heart whose faint rhythm was set  by Him
was now in His hands.
The Visitor
By Jason Fuller
The  artwork  is  called  “The  Visitor”  and  is  a  collage  of  photos  that  were  taken   while my son Seth  was  in  the  hospital.  Some  of  the  photos  were  taken  to  help  us  and  the   doctors  chart  the  physicians’  progress,  or  lack  thereof,  against  the  aggressive   bacterial  infection  surrounding  his  eye.  These  pictures  chronicle  moments  of  sorrow   and  joy  interwoven  throughout  Seth’s  two-­-week  stay.  Attached  to  the  photo  collage   is  a  mask  made  from  hospital  visitor  bands  I  collected  from  our  friends  and  family   during  his  stay.

The  idea  for  this  piece  came  after  the  night  of  Seth’s  second  surgery.    When   we  got  the  news  that  a  second  surgery  was  inevitable  because  the  infection  was   threatening  his  eye  and  making  its  way  towards  his  brain,  I  began  to  unwind.  Jesus   seemed  distant  from  us  in  my  family’s  time  of  need,  and  I  found  myself  unable  to   stay  strong  for  my  son.    I  retreated  to  the  hospital’s  serenity  garden  and  mustered   the  strength  to  say  to  God,  “Help  us  to  reflect  your  glory  through  all  of  this.”  It’s  hard   to  reflect  God  when  we  are  controlled  by  our  worry;  I  had  to  let  the  worry  go  and  let   God  fill  me  with  his  peace.   Instead  of  anger,  I  had  to  receive  His  joy.  When  I  became  willing,  even  in  my  weakness,  God  did  what  I  couldn’t,  and  he  was  faithful  to  answer   my  prayer.  Family  and  friends  arrived  to  wait  with  us,  pray  with  us,  and  even  laugh   with  us  as  we  waited  for  the  second  surgery  to  end.  Before  I  realized  what  I  was   thinking,  I  knew  that  Seth  was  going  to  be  okay  because  even  in  this  unexpected   place  Jesus  could  be  felt  and  seen  in  the  hospital  that  night.

The  next  day  I  realized  that  Jesus  had  made  his  presence  known  through  the   loved  ones  who  had  visited  us  that  evening  as  well  as  throughout  our  entire  stay.    It   was  as  if  each  visitor  allowed  us  to  see  that  “The  Visitor”  was  with  us  the  entire  time.     Thus,  the  mask  represents  Jesus,  who  brought  his  presence  and  his  peace  to  us   through  our  community  of  friends  and  family;  that  is  why  his  face  is  made  of  their   visitor  bands.
On  the  mask  I  covered  up  the  right  eye  as  a  reminder  that  Jesus  was  not   unfamiliar  with  my  son’s  sufferings.  It  is  likely  that  on  the  cross  Jesus’  eye  was   swollen  shut  from  the  beatings  he  received  for  our  healing…  including  my  son  Seth’s   healing.  On  the  mask  Jesus  is  not  wearing  a  crown  of  thorns,  but  a  crown  made  of   the  tubes  from  Seth’s  IV.  During  the  two-­-week  ordeal  Seth  endured  20  pokes  from   near  daily  blood  draws  and  IV  treatment.    This  crown  of  tubes  is  a  reminder  that   “The  Visitor”  also  spilt  his  blood,  but  he  did  so  that  we  could  be  with  him  forever,   whether  in  Heaven  or  in  Room  612.

Seek and You Will Find the Light of the Cross
by Neal Maddox
seek and you will find

This piece was made by ACC’s Neal Maddox, who is only 11 year’s old!

Look for the sparrow, the lion and the lamb hidden within the artwork.

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