Artwork
Painting by Jillian Harding
When considering the theme of hope for our first week of Advent the imagery that kept coming to my mind was light shining in the darkness. Hopelessness reigns in the deep darkness of the weight of sin, but Jesus is the light of hope who has appeared to redeem humanity, to reconcile us to God, to make new all that has been broken, to make right all that is wrong. The light of hope is in God alone. It is in His face that we find hope. When we look around us and see the effects of sun through injustice, sickness, broken families, betrayal, and death it is the God of all creation we put our hope in – the one who has created all things from nothing, who has brought life and beauty out of chaos, and who has caused light to shine in the darkness. For those who know Him and have surrendered our lives to Him we now Have the light of His face shining in our hearts revealing the light of His glory defeating the darkness. Apart from God we have no hope, but having now seen Jesus we have hope eternal in Him.
2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Contact information:
jillianlaneharding@gmail.com
615-289-1652
Painting by Eli Moody
Before I started painting, I felt I should use the color orange and that I should paint a mountain, so that’s where I started. I tried to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit as I went along. I think that part of feeling peaceful is things being settled, and a mountain made sense to me as an image of being settled, unmoving. I think that may be one of the reasons mountains are pleasant to look at, at least for me. God is often referred to in the psalms as a ‘rock’, an unmoving and unchanging giver of shelter and relief from trouble, and hopefully looking at this painting reminds you that God is your rock and that thought brings you peace as well.
Contact information:
elim@belmont.org
615-767-5315
