Jesus calls us to be “in the world not of the world”. My pastor has recently delved into this concept to prepare the congregation for what promises to be a contentious political environment this year. Not an endorsement of either political party, we are discussing the tools and commands that Jesus left with us to deal with divisive times like these. The intention is not to spark political debate, but to remind ourselves that we are called to identify as followers of Christ first, not necessarily exclusively with one political party or another. While our faith certainly informs and motivates our votes, we are reminded to put our faith in Jesus, not in any earthly political figure. But, where is that balance point between impassioned views and beliefs and treating others with love and respect above all else?
Link to the sermon – https://livestream.com/columbia/events/8945224/videos/200671835
As a church we are diving into this subject, and I am already taking so much out of this sermon series. Check out the process for my Bible entry below:
I was excited to work on this page and to utilize a few supplies that I have not had the opportunity to use before. For the background of the page, I began with a watercolor wash in shades of blue. After the color was on the page, I took a large, dry brush and carefully applied strokes from the top of the page to the bottom in order to create a smoother blended look. The shift between shades of blue is subtle, but very pleasing! I also chose to add a few splatters of metallic watercolor, just to add a hint of shine in the background.
The next step involved a gorgeous snowflake stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop and a new set of texture stamps from Sweet N’ Sassy Stamps. I coated the stencil with Pixie Spray and then placed it on my page. Then, while alternating between two shades of Distress Oxide Ink, I stamped the texture stamp through the stencil. The result was a very subtle feeling of snowflakes in the background of this page. It was an interesting effect and technique, and it is definitely one that I will be repeating in the future.
I took away three main points from the sermon this week:
- The church is called to be informed but not entangled.
- The church is called to be engaged but not enraged.
- The church is called to love not loathe.
To highlight these points on my page, I chose to use three printable library cards from By The Well 4 God in shades of blue. Then, I had a fabulous time creating my own unique die-cut pieces using a People Builder stamp set from Sweet N’ Sassy Stamps. This is such a fun set, and I actually bought the whole bundle so I would have tons of options. These are a great option for creating unique pieces. I simply stamped out the girls on a white piece of paper, colored them in with Prismacolor pencils. Once I was pleased with their look, I fussy cut them out and added them to the page.
Once all the paper pieces were cut out, the page finished up very quickly. I added my main take-aways to the library cards with alphabet tile stickers from By the Well 4 God. I’ve been enjoying using my new Adhesive Tape Glider from Scotch, and I used it to adhere all the pieces on this page. The title “Functional Independent” was added with metallic alpha stickers from Hobby Lobby.
This was a fun winter-themed page to put together, but more importantly, the topic is very timely. I’ve really garnished a lot from reflecting on this “In Not Of” series, and consequently I feel better prepared for the contentious year ahead.
Keep it creative,
-The Scrappy Wife
Supplies Used: (Some of these are affiliate links. They do not cost you any more, but go toward supporting this blog and my YouTube channel!)
- Illustrating Bible
- Koi Watercolors
- Waterbrush
- Metallic Watercolors
- Distress Oxide Ink (Tumbled Glass)
- Distress Oxide Ink (Stormy Sky)
- Texture Tile Bundle Stamps from Sweet N Sassy Stamps
- People Builder Bundle from Sweet N Sassy Stamps
- Versafine Onyx Black Ink
- Prismacolor Colored Pencils
- Snowflake stencil (TCW)
- Pixie Spray
- Alpha Tile Stickers (BTW4G)
- Adhesive Tape Glider (ATG Gun)