Check out these paintings.
Onn has lived the story. Now she is putting it into paintings that come out of her experience and imagination. We just discovered her gift late last year, and now she is creating amazing work. We have sent a few paintings to the U.S. for sale to benefit Onn and to begin to fund an art center at The Well in Thailand. Take a look at Onn's page and let The Well know if you are interested.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
grace and peace, among other things
I can't put them in order yet, but here are some notes from my pastor Bryan's words on Sunday. They are what I have been thinking all week.
-Colossians 1. All of Paul and Peter's letters in the New Testament begin with grace and peace.
-Paul changes the standard greeting in the Roman empire from one forms of the word "grace" to another. It means acceptance and favor. Be filled with joy and peace, no strings attached. It is saying that someone desires the best for you: whole life goodness. Both of these words carry depth and weight.
-How do we remember to give grace and peace to people instead of just focusing on our own agendas?
-When Paul writes about peace, he doesn't just mean happiness, but the deep sense of Hebrew shalom- peace in the world and rightness in all things.
-Genesis is the story of God's mercy- they all deserved death, but God chose mercy.
-Ezekiel 34:25-31 says, "I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord."
-In order for peace and justice to exist, we have to put an end to destructive ways of being and self-seeking actions.
-The peace that Paul writes about is present now.
-He writes about peace, favor, security, and wholeness from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
-What if our first thought every day was grace and peace?
-"There is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8). This is both for us and for others.
-"It is by God's grace that we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17).
-Paul's entire meaning in life was to draw attention to and live in God's grace.
-Think of the everyday gifts of God's grace to us.
-What would it look like to be so rooted in grace and peace that you could forgive even the people who have broken your heart?
-May we be prepared to be broken bread and poured out wine by speaking grace and peace to others, even to our enemies.
-Colossians 1. All of Paul and Peter's letters in the New Testament begin with grace and peace.
-Paul changes the standard greeting in the Roman empire from one forms of the word "grace" to another. It means acceptance and favor. Be filled with joy and peace, no strings attached. It is saying that someone desires the best for you: whole life goodness. Both of these words carry depth and weight.
-How do we remember to give grace and peace to people instead of just focusing on our own agendas?
-When Paul writes about peace, he doesn't just mean happiness, but the deep sense of Hebrew shalom- peace in the world and rightness in all things.
-Genesis is the story of God's mercy- they all deserved death, but God chose mercy.
-Ezekiel 34:25-31 says, "I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord."
-In order for peace and justice to exist, we have to put an end to destructive ways of being and self-seeking actions.
-The peace that Paul writes about is present now.
-He writes about peace, favor, security, and wholeness from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
-What if our first thought every day was grace and peace?
-"There is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8). This is both for us and for others.
-"It is by God's grace that we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17).
-Paul's entire meaning in life was to draw attention to and live in God's grace.
-Think of the everyday gifts of God's grace to us.
-What would it look like to be so rooted in grace and peace that you could forgive even the people who have broken your heart?
-May we be prepared to be broken bread and poured out wine by speaking grace and peace to others, even to our enemies.
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