As we move closer to Easter, won’t you take moment to reflect on the forgiveness offered to you in Christ’s death on the cross?
Then press play and as you listen to Bach’s Mein Jesu (My Jesus) from Leopold Stokowski’s Symphonic Bach, head over to read this powerful story of forgiveness, about a young widow offering the forgiveness of Jesus Christ to the killers of her husband who was serving the Libyan people in Benghazi as a teacher. There’s also a news report video worth the watch there.
The Stations of the Cross (or the Via Dolorosa), often done on Good Friday, represent a spiritual and physical pilgrimage to commemorate the Passion of Christ. Most often practiced in Roman Catholic Churches, today I will refer you to “The Cross as Journey: The Stations of the Cross for Protestant Worship” by Dennis Bratcher. The article provides historical description and background material, as well as a simple Service of Worship with preparations, supply list, the liturgy and song suggestions.
paradosiballetcompany.com
Paradosi Ballet Company shares the Love of Christ through dance, drama and personal witness. The first professional ballet company in the Pacific Northwest, they serve under the direction of Joel and Tennille Carver.
This is the company performing “Amazing Grace” in Avignon, France. I love the backdrop of BEaUtiful architecture behind them!
Creative Lenten Worship is a blog with creative worship ideas for the Lenten season, Holy Week, and Easter for pastors, worship leaders and creative arts teams. There are ideas for decorating your altar space for worship (with photos), as well as a reading for four voices for communion. There are also ideas for visual reminders such as Lenten nail pocket reminders and bags with thirty pieces of silver for family devotions. Instructions included for everything offered.
Let this spoken word piece by Oraia deepen your devotion, inspire your week, and remind you of His amazing grace!
“Death Could Not Exist in the Same Skin as Him”
Need some fresh ideas for Easter at your church or for your ministry? Here’s a list of Creative Worship Settings and Elements from The Worship Closet: The Place for Creative Worship Ideas. It also includes ideas for Mission Projects. Lots of great ideas! Happy hunting!
worshipcloset.com
Want to make Easter something more than just another commercialized holiday for the children in your life or the children you serve in your ministry? Want to make Easter about Jesus? Then check out Christ-Centered Easter Ideas for Families from Erika {sweeting} Dawson. She has links to ideas and devotionals and crafts and books and more! She’s sifted past the springtime Pinterest posts and found creative resources centered on Jesus!
erikadawson.com
ShareFaith has a variety of videos for use in your Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter worship services. Watch this example:
Dese’Rae L. Stage is an artist on a mission—a mission to save lives through her innovative project called Live Through This. Often times as artists we forget that our work has power to heal and bring hope and life where there is darkness and death. This photographer is not only bringing healing, hope and life but also awareness to a problem that affects far more people than we could ever realize.
http://www.livethroughthis.org
Dese’Rae L. Stage
From now until Good Friday, I will be posting resources and inspiration geared towards Easter. Perhaps you or church will be inspired to do something creative to help others experience the breadth and depth of the Easter season.
Journey to the Cross is an interactive prayer walk focusing on the stations of the cross. It was done by the worship arts ministry of Level Ground Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, BC. The entire service with participant directions, readings, audio and video walk-through instructions is posted on rethink worship.com. If you’ve ever wanted to do Stations of the Cross but wasn’t sure where to start, everything is all laid out for you.
It’s another Facebook Friday!! CHRISTIAN ENTERTAINERS-Authors, Actors, Producers, Comedians, Screenwriters is a group for professional Christian entertainers.
Easter Devotional and Creative Prompt (i.e., Challenge)
We are two weeks into Lent; Easter is only a month away. It’s important to journey through this season intentionally with your heart open to what the Holy Spirit has for you creatively. So take a deep breath, saying a prayer of openness, and move ahead letting Him move you as you read…
As you read the passage below, imagine the scene as part of a larger drama unfolding. Think of the setting (Ancient Israel; very early in the morning at sunrise; Springtime, chill still in the air), the plot (Mary finds tomb empty; brings Peter and John to investigate; they find it as she reported; the body of Jesus is missing), the characters (Mary Magdalene, angels, Jesus) and the dialogue (try to hear it as you read). Continue reading
Today I want to connect you to this great video on the making of The Hobbit. The actors are revealing what it was like to return to the set for the making of the movie—which has been a great journey for them as professionals playing incredibly memorable characters. Whether you’re a Tolkien fan or not, there are some great ideas to mine from this clip. Listen in:
Prophetic minister John Paul Jackson passed away February 18th after an eight-month battle with cancer. In memory of this fine man, I want to refer you to this video of Jackson reading 365 “I Am” names of God from scripture. This is a longer, meditative video so I recommend you grab a cup of coffee, sit back and use this time to contemplate the greatness of God. Or perhaps grab your tools and start creating while you listen! Let’s see what we create (and feel free to post it below)!
Introducing The Worship Studio, an equipping resource for artists, a hub for creative communities, and a catalyst for creativity around the world, founded by Matt Tomney, an amazing artist with a passion for connecting artists. Matt offers a wide variety of resources and tools through his website. We won’t reveal all of them today! 😉
Carrie Todd @mystudio13
http://www.mystudio13.com
This week’s creative resources have been all about Artist’s Journals and Art Journaling! Hopefully you’ve found some creative inspiration.
Keeping in line with Facebook Friday, I wanted to share a couple of Facebook groups specific to the week’s topic of art journaling. So if the week has inspired you, perhaps you should join to connect with others who art journal to keep you motivated? Continue reading
Carrie Todd @mystudio13
http://www.mystudio13.com
This week’s creative resources are all about Artist’s Journals and Art Journaling!
Here’s more great resources from two different sources!
Artist and blogger Antoinette shares on God Bless Your Art blog — all about art journaling your Bible Study. She also offers a 31 day challenge for March! No better time than the present to begin!
31 Days of March (2015): Art Journal Your Bible Study
Also, the link below was from March 2014 and there’s no reason all ideas couldn’t be applied to March 2015 (or any other year) as well! 🙂 You might want to start at the bottom of the page and work your way up through the posts on this link to see the process from last year: Continue reading
Carrie Todd @mystudio13
http://www.mystudio13.com
We continue this week exploring Artist’s Journals and Art Journaling!
Today’s post is an interview with Dianne Marra, a Christian art journaler who did 30 art journals in 30 days. Click here to read about her experience on her art journaling journey! There are also links to her BEaUtiful website, Adore Him Creations.
Carrie Todd @mystudio13
http://www.mystudio13.com
This week’s creative resources are all about Artist’s Journals and Art Journaling! Great for creative spirits of all art forms, mediums and genres, and you do not have to be an artist to benefit creatively and spiritually from this practice!
Journal52 is an online art journal workshop to keep you motivated, inspired, and creating all year long. They post weekly prompts, have a Facebook group, and a Flickr gallery. Check out Journal 52 here!
Carrie Todd @mystudio13
http://www.mystudio13.com
We spent the first week of February looking at journaling through expressive writing. This week’s creative resources are all about Artist’s Journals and Art Journaling! If you’ve had difficultly with writing journals, perhaps this idea is better suited for your personality? Great for creative spirits of all art forms, mediums and genres, and you do not have to be an artist to benefit creatively and spiritually from this practice!
Nurturing the Creative Spirit Within 