My Paintings and the Stories Behind Them: Forgiven

Posted: March 16, 2020 in Sermon, Speaking ministry, Thoughts on art ministry and life
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Some of my best ideas came from my prayer walks. This was one of those. I knew I wanted to speak on forgiveness, but how could I express it in a way that would stick? I walled a couple of miles when it hit me. At first I just thought I was just being distracted, which happens far too often, but no it turned out to be the right image for the story. I started thinking about Pink Floyd’s album The Division Bell These two monolithic/robotic looking heads that when seen at a distance appear to be one face. Cool design, but the connection didn’t come right away, but then I thought about it. What if instead of two statue like heads, I did two human faces? And what if I make them look like they are about to fight. I put large frowns on their faces.

Then at the crucial moment near the end of the presentations, I pick up the paint and join the faces together. The large frown becomes the mustache, and the finished product is one face, the face of Christ. The idea is simple. There are many things that would keep us in conflict but there is one who gave His life to bring us together. For the message text I use Matthew 18, starting with Jesus teaching about how to deal with conflict and moving into the parable of the unforgiving servant. Here’s short clip to show you how it goes.

How would you illustrate forgiveness?

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