Using the Arts to teach

After a thought-provoking and eye-opening sermon on "Christian Response to the Arts", Pastor Chong Keng Sen conducted a very interesting workshop on the "Positive Use of the Arts for Bible Teaching".

Here's what happened. We were divided into 10 groups of about 3 to 4 persons each. Each group was given an empty flower pot. We were then asked to write or draw anything that came to mind on the pots.




Next, we were told to smash the pots into pieces! Ouch! The adults were a little apprehensive at first but the kids just could not wait to do the "honours"!




So, now what? We were then required to piece them back together, that's what. Okay, that's not going to be so easy.





So, armed with a glue gun, we began trying to stick the broken pieces together.




If that does not work, maybe cellophane or masking tape might...




Well, if you don't know where the pieces go, this solution may work...




Now, that is one really smashed up pot. But, no fear... with some glue, lots of cellophane tape (and patience!) and paint, it's transformed into a work of abstract pot-ty art!




Wow, this one looks like new.




This sure is one masterpiece. So creative. What was once a flower pot is now a, well... New Creation.



Another work of art...




Time to reveal the exhibits.




So, what was this exercise all about? It's about how we were once broken (we sinned) and now in the hands of the Great Potter (God), we are made anew. Pieces that are useless and do not fit anymore are discarded.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Corin. 5:17

One commentator states, "For Paul, "the old" which has gone, is the condition of alienation from God and its bondage to sin. "The new" which has come is our relationship with God in Christ, a relationship which empowers us for a kind of living in which the continuing reality of sin can be overcome again and again.

To be a "new creation" is not to be perfect or faultless, or immune from anger and pain, or insulated from the tough experiences of life. Rather, to be a "new creation" is to live a life turned toward the God whose grace has reclaimed us in Christ."

(Brauch, Manfred T. Hard Sayings Of Paul. 1989. Downers Grove, IL InterVarsity Press. p. 186).

It can be concluded, therefore, that just as Adam and Eve lived unbound from sin at least for a time in the Garden of Eden we can thus live unbound from sin in Christ Jesus today.

The Arts, if used in a positive and creative way, can be a very effective means to share the Gospel and teach Biblical truths.

Special workshop

Pastor Chong Keng Sen from Hope EFC will be preaching at Faith this Sunday (20th April). After the refreshment, he will be conducting a workshop on the "Positive Use of the Arts for Bible Teaching."

If you or your family members wish to attend this workshop, please bring a small empty flower pot each (4-5 inches and made of clay) this Sunday. The session will last for about an hour.

FEFC Family Retreat

This year's Church Family Retreat will be at the Trolak Country Resort in Sungkai, Perak from May 17th-19th 2008. Interesting programmes have been planned for this retreat. Among them are visits to places of interest including a hot springs.

We have booked the place for 60 persons and hope that many will take advantage of this retreat to escape the bustling city for a time of relaxation, refreshment and rejuvenation.

Registration forms are now available. To facilitate the Retreat Committee in the planning, please register by 20th April 2008.

The Book of Isaiah: An Overview

The Isaiah Scroll, found in the caves in Qumran.
It is the oldest existing copy of the Book of Isaiah and is over 2,000 years old.

Isaiah divides into two natural sections, even as the entire Bible divides into two great sections--the Old and New Testaments. The first great section consists of the first 39 chapters and the second section consists of the last 27 chapters. The 66 chapters of Isaiah are analogous to the 66 books of the Bible.

The Historical section in Isaiah, chapters 36-39, look backward and forward, just as the Gospels are Historical and draw from the Old Testament and point to the future. Chapters 36-37 represent the conclusion of the Assyrian period and chapters 38-39 are preparatory for the beginning of the Babylonian period. It contains key sections and revelations about God, and the Messiah expressed through the themes of a Servant and Sovereign Lord. From the study of Isaiah, we can understand God better, see the unfolding of His purposes through the Savior, and have a confident hope for the future.

1.	Chapters 1-6	This section is introductory in nature. Its purpose is to point out the relationship between the sins and sufferings of Israel, and the necessity of future judgments, as God's means for purification and salvation. This section includes prophecies of Messiah's rule, and describes Isaiah's call to ministry. The themes that occur here run throughout the entire book.
2.	Chapters 7-12	Sometimes called "The Book of Immanuel" because of the great prophecies of Christ in chapters 7-9. These chapters also present the prophetic perspective of Israel's relationship to Assyria, the representative of all world power.
3.	Chapters 13-23	Judgments against foreign nations.
4.	Chapters 24-27	These chapters comprise a type of finale to the judgments of the nations in the previous section. Eschatology features prominently in this section: the end of the Great Tribulation, the battle of Armageddon, the resurrection of the dead, and the restoration of national Israel.
5.	Chapters 28-33	This section pertains to the relationship of Israel to Assyria during the reign of King Hezekiah. Included are five discourses, that begin with present distress, forbid relying on false means of deliverance, and mingle the near-salvation with far-off, eschatological salvation brought about by the return of the Messiah.
6.	Chapters 34-35	These form the cap to the first section. Isaiah's great themes of judgment and salvation are mirrored in these chapters: chapter 34 features judgment, while chapter 35 predicts salvation and millennial life.
7.	Chapters 36-39	These chapters are historical in nature. They are paralleled in 2 Kings 18:13-20:19.
8.	Chapters 40-66	This section contains vivid prophecies of the Christ, His work and ministry as the Servant of YHWH, the raising up of King Cyrus and the deliverance from Exile, the return of Christ in judgment, the creation of the new heavens and earth, with descriptions of millennial life unmatched in the rest of Scripture.

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