How good are you at waiting?
Life is:Fast paced with fast food, ever changing fashion, music now it’s in, now it’s not.
Trying to keep up is a tricky occupation. Quick choices quick decissions. Time is money, life is short.
How good are you at waiting? Patient or impatient? Don’t mind queues, can not stand queues?
Always pursuing faster connections, quicker access.
How much visual stimulation do you use with the young people you are working with? If we are not careful we can limit our thought of sight to using a DVD clip before or during our talk to help make a point but there is so many other ways to stimulate sight.
Colour plays a massive part and has loads of potential in worship and teaching. Each colour of the spectrum provokes a response in us.
In the simplest use think about the room you meet in and how that makes people feel, on a deeper level you can change the colour and mood using fabric or lighting, this can be done relitavely easily and cheaply.
Some traditional churches have a rich tradition of using colour to mark out different seasons and this is a great resource to tap into and can be very powerful with a little explanation. Last lent I had a series of response boards mounted round the walls of the youth room in purple and gold (royal colours) which then changed to bright blood red for good Friday, the over all impact made quite a lasting impression.
Here are some common thoughts about colour, red enegizes, green is harmonizing, white calms, blue is said to stimulate communication and help consentration. Yellow is considered a happy colour.
In the church calender the following colours are used to signify the season. Advent violet is used it is considered the colour of penitence and dignity.
Christmas gold and white are used as they represent rejoicing and purity.
Ash Wednesday sackcloth works well as it reminds of repentance with sackcloth and ashes.
Lent as already has been said Purple and gold or left quite plain and bare to signify fasting then the burst of colour for Easter. Red is used at Easter to speak of blood and royalty.
Red is also good for Pentecost to represent fire.
Trinity Sunday white is used to represent holiness. These are some of the traditional uses but why not experiment and see what impact it has.
Again as in the first article the media takes great care and money on the colour it uses for packaging etc, we are not here to copy them but we can I believe learn from them.
We live in a visual age, it is said young people see ten thousand adverts a week which is stagering but why not use text around the place to similiar effect. Passages being used dotted around, quotes that fit what you are talking about all help what is being said go in and stay in.
Art and photography can be used to great effect whether you refer to it or it is just there.
There are some great resources like Every Picture tells a Story by Mark Oestreicher that uses black and white photos to stimulate discussion and reflection and can be very profound.
What about in our worship in some areas V-Jing is starting to be used, live visuals mixed like a DJ does with music can really help people move into God’s presence.
There is so much potential for engaging the sight in our teaching and worship if we start to think outside the box, if you like there is more to sight than meets the eye.
Once upon a time there was a grumpy old man who lived by himself at the heart of a tiny isolated community, over the years he had become bitter, lonely and sad. He had worked hard at making a shell for himself so hard that no one would be able to crack it or intrude, if I let no one in, I will be alright, happy and content and no one will hurt me.
I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. <P>
I have Holy Spirit Power, the die has been cast. <P>
I’ve stepped over the line. The decision has been made. <P>
I’m a disciple of His, I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. <P>
My past is redeemed; my present makes sense; my future is secure. <P>
I’m finished with low-living, sight-walking, small planting, smooth knees, colourless dreams, vain visions, mundane talking, cheap giving and dwarf goals. <P>
As a youth worker, an ordinary day in the office lay ahead of me. Sipping a mug of coffee- feet up, listening to a CD and wondering why my computer had to always take so long when all I wanted to do was check my e-mails.
When they eventually arrived oÂn my screen I had recieved oÂne from a friend who is currently a missionary in Mozambique. Even though it was just an update oÂn his day to day life, his words gave me a well needed dose of reality.
