
Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father awaken in each of us a desire to create something. Father, you are the great and wonderful Creator of all things. And we are made in your image. Help us to consider ourselves, what we are making, what we are creating. You have made us to be creative and sometimes it is easy to forget how broad and deep your call to creativity is. Perhaps we cannot sing or write or do some other thing as well as someone else can. But you have not made us as that other person. Father you have made each of as only ourselves. Help us, in the name of Jesus, to embrace the special way that you have made each one of us to create something. And let our embracing your image on us bring us into the deep joy of living worship!
Your Morning Song: "Rescuer" by Rend Collective
Your Monday Morning Sermon Recap: Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
...
In the beginning, when God made all of creation, he said again and again that it was good. But when he made man and woman, he said that we were very good. We are the pinnacle of God's creation, the only part of creation that is in his image.
Ephesians adds a very interesting layer to this, naming us as God's handiwork. As often happens, English pays poor tribute to the Greek word used here in the verse above. The Greek says that we are God's poiema, his artistic masterpiece, his great work of art. The emphasis here goes so much further than "handiwork."
How do you see yourself? Yes, because of sin God's very good creation, his poiema has been marred and broken and perverted. But his intent, his work, his design is still beautiful. How much more grievous is sin then if it spoiled something full of beauty and worth rather than something ugly and worthless?
But we have been saved. We have been claimed. And even though our flesh remains broken, we are spiritually reborn, welcomed into God's family as his children. And he still declares that we have been made "very good." He still declares that we are his wonder-full masterworks of art.
How wonder-full? Imagine a poem that itself wrote more poems. Imagine a song that itself sang other songs. The idea seems a bit much, but it is not. It is exactly what we are. Church. We are God's poem that continues writing. We are God's song that continues singing.
Church. God made you. What are you making? You are a son or daughter of the Creator. What are you creating? It could be something small, something personal, something quiet and hidden. But what is it? It could be something big and loud and public! But what is it? Who are you? What do you love to do? Sing? Write? Crochet? Cook? Bake? Draw? Paint? Talk?
What are you making?
The goodness of the good works God prepared in advance for us to do is about more than just morality, although it is also certainly that. The goodness of the good works prepared for us to also includes creativity and beauty.
What are you making? And how can you share that with others around you to encourage and bless them? How can you encourage and support others to live a more complete expression of the image of God they were made in?
May we be known as those who invite God into our whole lives, not just our Sunday mornings.

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