SOJOURNERS AND PILGRIMS — January 2022
This show strives to bring our community into deeper understanding and worship of our Lord who has called us to be exiles. Indeed, as the lyrics of the old spiritual go, we find our hearts sometimes saying— “this world is not my home.” In addition to celebrating the truth that we, as Christ followers, sometimes will find ourselves out of step with the currents and values of this world, the exhibit highlights our unity with Christ who in His incarnation, sojourned among us.
There are many ways this theme might be approached and each of our participating artists exercised freedom to select a unique perspective and message. There were many possibilities-- paintings of pilgrims, nomads, tents, travel trailers, and artifacts that portray the temporal as it contrasts with the eternal, and on and on. May God bless you as you contemplate this precious truth—our citizenship is in heaven.
1 Peter 1:1-2
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”
1 Peter 2:11-12
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”
Pilgrimage
By Mandy Poe
“This hill, though high, I covet to ascend; The difficulty will not me offend. For I perceive the way to life lies here. Come, pluck up, heart; let’s neither faint nor fear. Better, though difficult, the right way to go, than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.”
John Bunyan “The Pilgrim’s Progress”
Pilgrim’s Map
By Mandy Poe
This beloved hymn penned by John Bunyan in “A Pilgrim’s Progress” was inspired by Hebrews 11:15-16a
“If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”
Eyes Focused
By Sophie Nozzarella
This piece shows how we are wandering along in life but can always look to God to guide us. The inclusion of the drift wood is to symbolize how we all drift along with the world around of us if we don’t keep our eyes focused on God.
Pure Water
By Mike Lane
Sojourners and pilgrims know what is essential; they value and relish the things that really give life. “Pure Water” highlights this fact. Can you see the small figure on the stairs carrying water with the shoulder pole? He has come a long way to find pure water. This reminds me of the pure water that washes us.
Hebrews 10:19-22
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Girl In Refugee Camp
By Mark Beers
