Lent 2024

“I am alone”
”I’m in control”
”I’m not worthy of love”
”My mistakes define me”
”God breaks his promises”

Over Lent, our art team created visual representations of these lies. Each week a new lie was added to the collection for us to reflect upon. The installment was completed on Good Friday, with the addition of “It is finished”.

The enemy uses lies to cause us to doubt God’s grace and love to us. Easter is a reminder of just how treasured we are. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we have been purchased and we are redeemed - It is finished.

Holy Week 2023

This year the artists from Revelation Church, under the leadership of Jessica Lambas, designed an installation that would be created through the participation of the congregations of Revelation Church, All of Life Church, Doxa Church and Transform Ministries.

Individuals were asked to write prayers, scriptures, encouragements, song lyrics, or any other meaningful statements related to the salvation we have in Jesus Christ on strips of paper that would be woven together into four tapestries. When hung, the negative space between the tapestries forms the shape of a cross.

“Unity,” weaving with paper.

Advent 2022: Silhouettes Incarnate

This year for Advent we put together a 4-week series answering the question “Why Did God Become Human?” We took a look at important sections of scripture that speak to this question and incorporated the work of Athanasius in his On The Incarnation to help us. Our artists were tasked with expressing the four reasons we came up with visually.

Jess Lambas, Cassie Roltgen, Laura Murphy and Kira Lambas created an installation of four chiffon panels, with each panel corresponding to a specific facet of the incarnation. A panel was added each week, and the backlit panels overlapped and played off one another once the piece was completed.

The four panels, from back to front, are:

  • BECAME: God became human to fulfill Old Testament prophecy.

  • QUELL: God became human to conquer death.

  • BRIDGE: God became human to show us what God is like.

  • COMMUNE: God became human to share the divine nature with us.

Good Friday 2022: 3 Church Tenebrae Readings

This Good Friday Doxa Church hosted Revelation Church and All of Life Church for a tenebrae service. In between songs reflecting the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we commissioned 7 readings from members of our congregations centered on the 7 sayings of Jesus from the cross. We paired those readings with similarly inspired imagery from artist Scott Erickson.

 
Abba Father
Sovereign God
Who allowed the world to bear upon your Son
Your son,
The innocent lamb
Prepared for slaughter
Led to the hill to die
On a cross,
For us.
Faltering
Broken
Suffering People,
And then Our King, Jesus
Suffering
Breaking
For us.
Jesus
Most loving
Full of compassion
On those who betrayed,
and will come to betray
again
and again
And again.
Betrayers
Not them, but all of us
Joining in killing Jesus
Each pounding the nails
Driving deep into his flesh.
Sin, through our words
Deeper
Sin, through our actions
Deeper
Sin, through our thoughts
Deeper
Sin in our deeds left undone
Deeper still.
And the penalty for sin?
Death.

And yet, A rescuer
Our only Hope
Jesus, our atonement
In our place
For our sins
Our guilt
Held up
by our nails.
In the midst of agony
Pronouncement of guilt
For we are guilty.
And yet a request
Forgive them
Forgive us
Because they do not know nor us
And yet
Ignorance excuses not the guilty
For debts must be paid
Convict us of our ignorance
Open our eyes to see
Let us not roam as blind sheep
Unaware of
What we are doing
What we have done
The Good Shepherd
Knew
He came for us
Was betrayed by us
Hung on the cross for us
And Died
for us
His request for our forgiveness
For we are guilty
His surrender
His kindness
His love
His compassion
His life
His death
All of it
For us.
“Father, Forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.”
A sky, discolored as a bruise,
Wounded by the pain of its Creator.

A hill, raising up the King of the Universe,
Not for worship, but for scorn.

A people, blind to their Rescuer,
Mistaking their God for their enemy.

A cross, carried by the King of the Jews,
Whose sentence was unearned.

A Savior, giving his life in love,
But suffering our rightful punishment.

Criminals, condemned justly,
At the right and left of the Most High.

A sinful man, who saw the Messiah
And acknowledged his transgressions.

A question, asked by a sinner,
A plea to the Lord for impossible redemption.

A Redeemer, whose forgiveness is endless
And whose burden is light.

A new life, extended to all the unworthy,
Bestowed by the Son of God.

An answer to his plea, spoken by the Prince of Peace,
‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
 
What do you say, to a mother who's watching.
What words are there for the pain
How to go on, oh how to keep going,
When the bitter taste of death stings
My friend is dying, his mother is crying and I can do nothing but watch.
Oh God, my God how to go on
Consumed in heartache, broken in sorrow
Things I'm unable to say
Every word that He speaks I cling to.
Can these be His last?
How long can this last?
And then a whisper, a cry from my savior
"Woman, here is your son"
I look to the mother crumpled in sorrow
Feeling the weight of my grief
Feeling the weight of her grief.
How to go on, oh how to keep going
When the bitter taste of death stings
How to live up to the son she is losing.
How to do anything but watch
The words come again:
"Here is your mother"
The man I call friend is in agony
Hanging in shame He sees my mourning
He sees the despair of His mother
What do you say, to your mother that's watching
What do you say as your brother dies
Is this the end or just the beginning
Was all that He told us just lies?
Is there hope in this moment or simply grief
Do we look to the future or just weep
As the Son of God bleeds and dies
As the waves crash and the rocks crumble
As the sky turns dark
And the curtains come down
Where is there peace?

. The words ring out in my mind
"Woman…" He says to her
The weight of trust of a man who is dying
The weight of my agony
The weight of despair
A brief light of direction in a sea that is crashing

Woman, here is your son

I cannot see the future
I cannot hope right now.
I cannot look at my savior, my friend.
I cannot look at His mother.

My mother.

We cling to each other, desperate for warmth
Desperate for something to soothe
Desperate for peace
And desperate for answers
All I can see is the gloom
Is the sky going grey,
or is that just my mind
Are the clouds growing near
or am I falling behind
The chaos and pain I cannot describe

I am the disciple whom He loves.
I am the disciple whom He loves.
I am the disciple whom He loves
I will cling to His words and I will do as He asks
I will not succumb to this grief.

Woman, He said. here is your son.
And to me, here is your mother.

It was a beautiful morning. The sun was warm on my face and birds sang to each other between the buildings that line the streets of the city. I love the spring, the new life God effortlessly coaxes out from under the dull days of winter. This morning was like that. - I think. It’s hard to remember.

My eyes are burning, swollen with sweat and blood, a brine of suffering, over my eyelids and onto my lips. The pressure of the wooden beam on my back soothes the marks left by the Roman whip…as long as I hold still.

My head is throbbing. With every beat of my heart the blood pushes against the inside of my skull. It bangs against my chest demanding to escape.

My lungs are beginning to protest. They quiver with a forceful determination as they advocate for my life, first quietly, but then louder and louder, shouting at me to breathe.

Breathe!

Now my back speaks to me. It drags along the splintered log it was resting against as I give my weight to the spike through my feet, pulling apart the oozing wounds and quickly undoing a moment’s work of healing.

That fire gives way as the deep ache in my feet and my wrists make their way to the front of my mind. I am grateful for the rush of air into my lungs on which I can let go a gasp as it slowly sputters out into the spring afternoon.

I raise my eyes to see the world around me has aligned itself with the world inside me. The sun has hidden itself. Light has hidden itself. Life has hidden itself. It’s cold. I can’t hear the birds anymore.

For a moment I’m unaware of my body. The pain has numbed and my mind is clear.

I feel dirty.

Some strange new pain has implanted in my soul.

I feel sick.

They are looking at me. Everyone. All of them are staring at my naked body.

I feel ashamed.

More than anything I want to hide. From them, from You!

This is what they’ve done. Everything that they’ve done. All of it.

I can feel it. I can hear it. I can smell it. I am it.

My God!
My God!
Why have you forsaken me!

As he hung there, weeping, bleeding, breaking,
Son of God nailed to a tree for the taking
Of blame, mumbling in a stupor of pain
the soldiers mocked on the rock of the skull
Christ knew that nothing was vain, his pain would not come back null

As the soldiers gambled garments, scattered hither and thither
The God-man slowly sunk down, his life beginning to wither
He took a breath that rattled
His very bones did battle on themselves
Rebelling against the swelling that dwelled
In his wrists and his feet,
Warm blood was pooling beneath
And he struggled and stammered, prophecy not yet complete

A quick breath in, a release
The smell of sweat and of feces
Believe me, there was no simple ease in this treatise
"I thirst" the Christ whispered, declaring humanity, profanity, the prophecy maintained through insanity
An inmate's last rights, a sip from hissop to quench his thirst
A sponge would be raised, a mocking blessing and curse, to him
And drip drip drip wine droplets slipped from his lip
And dribbled down into the score marks that were left by the whip
Vinegar burned and it stung, making him gasp as he hung
And bringing clarity to thoughts that were beginning to numb.

He thought of wine and of friends, those faithful few he would send,
A vow that he would only drink with victory won in the end

A bloody inauguration
Christ stepping into his station
His kingdom come, his will was done, his blood would rescue a nation

The perfect God-Man struck down
Thorn twisted into a crown,
Declaring now and not yet Divine and human he bowed down
And said
"I thirst"

The Father who was with His Son
With the Spirit the mighty three in One
Made a covenant together as the Plan
Ere before the worlds Began

The Greatest Father and Son moment the world has ever Seen
This is my beloved Son with Whom I am well Pleased
Then the Spirit descended like a Dove
This is Respect this is Love.

The Son of God The Son of Man
The Son who obeyed His Father’s perfect Plan
At Last when his final hour had Come
He said to his Father not Mine by Thy will be Done

For the Joy set before him He endure the Pain
He glorified the Father Despising the Shame
A Father to His Son He also Glorified
On that good day that Death began to Die

The Holy One who came to Save
A World of debt with His life he Paid
Sinners ruined by the Fall
A Prophetic Priestly King crushed the dragon’s Skull

A mighty man of Valor climbed up upon that Tree
To give life to the Dead and set the captives Free
The Toughest man who has ever Lived
Head of the family he took responsibility for Our sin.

A New World a New Creation as things begin Change
Through one man’s Death the many have Life this is the great Exchange
I saw Satan fall like Lightning from heaven
By Faith alone we now Conquer using the Word as our Weapon

With Infant Faith a new heart sprinkled clean in Baptism
Signed and Sealed a new Start and new Life begins
Through Water and Word and given a new Name
In Christ we are buried in Christ we are Raised.

With Bread and Wine we now Feast
We Celebrate the life the death the Victory
So raise your Cup and Break the Bread
And Do This as My memorial just as Jesus Said

The King of Kings who conquered Satan and Sin
He is most glorified when We are most satisfied in Him
This is your Purpose so don’t waste your Time
No Fear in our death no No guilt in this Life

Now we too Pray not my will but Thine be Done
On earth as it is Heaven and Let thy kingdom Come
The victory was Won but not at the end of the Story
Now to Him be Dominion Power and the Glory
Crying out in a loud Voice he said as he Gasped
He gave up his Spirit and He breathed his Last...
More than just Story though Unique I do Admit
Father Into your hands my spirit I commit

Death was our penalty It seemed a fitting price for our sins
A price suited for our depravity.
That first taste is what sealed our fate-
Condemning ourselves to a life of shadows…
A life plagued by Death…
And all those tastes since?
They served to widen the rift between us and our Creator.

Death was our penalty.
Time and sin pulled us away from You.
Away from our Hope
Away from our Light.
All our attempts to cling to You
To Your words. .. to your laws proved futile
Our sins were too great. The payment too costly.

So Death was our penalty.
Again and again
We managed to find our way back to You.
Attempting worthiness.
Attempting Holiness.
Wandering, grasping, clenching
Our way through the darkness…
Only to fall away again.

And Death was our penalty.
But in the distance
There were whispers of a Promise.
Proclamations of a King- of a Savior.
Someone to free us from the cages we build for ourselves.
And Hope found its way through the shadows to our ears… our souls.
So we waited. We prayed.
And we trembled with Creation in anticipation of You.

Death was our penalty-
But then You came.
Savior, Redeemer
King of Kings, Prince of Peace
Word Made Flesh, Begotten Son
Perfect Lamb
You came to pay our penalty.
You came to draw us near.
To give us Life
Though you hung there.
Bloodied
Beaten
Slaughtered.
Though You hung there- pinned beneath the weight of my sins.
You hung there. On that cross.
And there is where you closed the rift we made with our arrogance
The impassable rift made with our sins.
And drawing us into the Holiest of Holies you washed us.
You Freed us.
Our penalty is paid
Our wandering, grasping, clenching is over.
It is finished.

Advent 2021: 4 Churches Art Collaboration

This Advent we looked at the 4 attributes of the Messiah from Isaiah 9:6: Wonderful Counseling, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Revelation Church, All of Life Church, Transform Ministries and Doxa Church all worked through the series together and each church was responsible for creating a section of a wooden shelf sculpture in the style of Louise Nevelson. Each quadrant of the sculpture was on display at the church responsible for the work throughout Advent. On Christmas Eve we gathering for a combined service and the art team combined the 4 pieces into one large shelf with the Advent star in the center.

Full Sculpture on Christmas Eve

Lent 2021: Reflections On Communion

Multiple members of the church were asked to reflect on the meaning of communion and create something to share with the congregation for each Sunday in Lent. Each week a new work was displayed with hopes of inspiring thought or causing us to ponder communion in a new way. What resulted was a varied array of work including digital art, sculpture, painting, photography, film and an open table experience.

Beloved - Digital Art Print

Alyssa Lentsch

Inspired by the historic Jewish custom of betrothal. A potential groom would meet the woman at the city gate.  In front of all the elders, family and friends the man would offer the woman a cup of wine to drink from. If she accepted and drank, they were from that moment on promised to each other, they were betrothed.  

The man would go away for roughly a years time and prepare a room for him and is bride onto his fathers house.  When the room was ready and the father gave his blessing, the groom would come in a joyous procession to receive his bride.

When we take the cup in communion, we are not only thanking our savior and remembering His sacrifice, but are promising ourselves to Jesus, promising we will wait eagerly for they day we are together again. 

We are His beloved.

Alyssa can be found teaching art at www.effiesartbox.com/.

Gospel Communion Series - Three Acrylic Paintings

Cassandra Roltgen

Communion is intended to remind us of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for our salvation. It also causes us to reflect on our sin, of our need for a savior, and in turn lead our heart towards repentance. At the same time, it should fill us with praise for our God who demonstrated sacrificial love and deepen our longing for the future wedding feast with Jesus. Communion should spark more than just a remembrance, but spur us on to active participation with the body in repentance and praise.

Separate: Darkness Entraps can be interpreted to represent the sin that we are all born into as a part of the fall of mankind as well as the sin we may choose to walk in. The small glimmer of hope, represented by the lighter stripe of blue, is foreshadowing to an atonement or restoration. It also depicts a longing that all of us have in us for something more than what this world offers. 

Atone: Blood Poured Out was the first piece painted in this series which sparked the creation of the other two to complete this Gospel Communion series. This piece represents the sacrifice, power, beauty and love that demonstrated through Jesus’ death on the cross. The dripping of the blood demonstrates the sacrifice infiltrating the fallen world.

The final piece in the series is Restore: A Place Prepared. This piece was created with the intention of capturing the beauty of light, heaven, future hope of a new heaven and earth, restoration being completed, and being reunited with God. In the light of communion, its focus is on the hope we have in the future communion that will be experienced to fullest when we are reunited with our Savior.

Cassandra can be found teaching art @artfullycda on Instagram.

United In The Vine - Photography, Wooden Sculpture

Jerica Thomason

Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” We, as followers of Christ, are in Him and He in us.

As you look through these photos, you may see people you don’t recognize from our church. Whether we are visitors here, members, or a fellow believer who attends elsewhere, what matters is that each and every member of the body of Christ belongs together and should be united. Communion is something that brings us back to Jesus and His disciples in the upper room. Uniting us and them in a beautiful act of remembrance of the blood that was shed and the body that was broken for us. Not only looking back and giving thanks for the sacrifice He gave, but looking forward to the day when we can all be united with Him again for eternity.

Take This Cup - Steel Wire Sculpture

Spencer Lambas

 
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The cup is always given; it is a gift. Received with desperate hands, we know the gift is never deserved, but often forsaken.

Man Is A Hungry Being - Short Film

Jessica Lambas

A short film reflecting on the Eucharist through the words of Alexander Schmemann.

A Eucharist Supper - Open Table Experience

Kira Lambas

An engaging display meant to bring community back to communion.

The bread: encouraging the act of sharing; not just physical needs, but emotional needs as well. The grapes: a nod not only to the actual wine shared at the Last Supper, but also to the way we have been grafted into the family of God, and in turn to the people around us.

Advent 2020

For Advent this year we were focusing on four scenes from Jesus’ birth narrative the gospel of Luke. We looked at four characteristics of God on display in them and four different reactions to the good news. Our creative team constructed a large mural and represented each character/set of ideas through collage in quadrants.

Lent 2020

For Lent in 2020 we decided to work through the 7 Blessing statements in the book of Revelation. We planned this before we knew anything about COVID-19 and our hope was to reflect on the tension that we see it how those who are called “happy” are often the ones suffering and sacrificing in the book.

Our creative team came up with the idea of building a vertical agamograph at the rear of our communion table. As you approach the elements from the back of the room you saw a somewhat haunting picture on a black background. The nearer you got to the table the change in angle allowed you to see an image on white that echoed the promise of that week’s blessing.

Alyssa Lentsch designed each weeks works. Unfortunately COVID prevented us from finishing the series in person. We only got to experience the first four pairings. You can see them in a side-by-side format below.