SMAShing Sermons: Remember

I really like my new project (Smashing Sermons). Using the Smash Book to record my sermon notes while reflecting on the meaning of the sermon has brought my attention to the word of God in a new and prolonged way that helps me really absorb what I have heard. I am reading a book by Dallas Willard called "Hearing God". I have just begun the book but already I see parallels in what I have begun to do with my Smashing Sermons and with "Hearing God".

To make the above Zentangle I painted black chalkboard paint onto the paper. Next I glued one of my origami crosses to the middle of the painted space.  I then used a white paint pen with a small point to create the Zentngles. This was so much fun. The effect of the white on black was fun to work with, it reminded me in a weird way of those velvet posters that can be colored with markers and also of black light posters from the 70s.

As I've mentioned before the Smash Book comes with some of the pages already printed with images. This is no problem with gluing things in because you can just glue things over the image - however if you are trying to embellish notes or add designs of your own it presents a challenge. This layout had a picture of a subway train station on the left hand page. I glued on a quote from the sermon: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" from George Santayana, an American philosopher. I also glued on a verse from the sermon, Deuteronomy 8:2 "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these 40 years". This was the Memorial Day sermon and the point was to not only remember the heroes of our military past who have sacrificed for the freedoms we enjoy today but to also remember what God has done for us. And not just the gift of His son and His sacrifice but all the specific big and little things of our own history that remind us of the never-ending provision and love of God.

 The title of the sermon was "Tie the String Around Your Finger, A Message from Deuteronomy 8". I printed a graphic from the internet of a finger with a string around it and I tied a cord around a toothpick and glued it to the hand of the drawing figure to reinforce the idea to REMEMBER.

 This layout included an Easter eggs image on the right hand page. Rather than try to compete with the busy pattern I typed a verse from the sermon onto white paper and pasted it in. The verse is  "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see, Hebrews 11:1. I also previously mentioned that the Smash notebooks have accessories that can be purchased separately. I purchased an accessory that allows you to add pages at any point in the notebook. The green striped strip at the center of the layout is an insert-able strip that is really two strips. The insides of the two strips have peel off tape that reveals the two sticky strips. You can insert any page between these strips and then press the strips together to hold the piece of paper in place. I used the strip to attach the sermon notes page from the church bulletin with my notes recorded on it. On the left is the cross and chalkboard paint with white paint pen. Underneath that is the image I cut from the front of the church bulletin. 

My favorite point from this sermon is that Faith Frees from the Bondage of Bitterness! Pastor Gerald mentioned that after he preaches people come up to him and say "you read my mail today" meaning they felt that the pastor or God was speaking directly to them about some specific issue they were having. He told us not to think that about this point. He said that EVERYONE struggles with bitterness.  I found that comforting because when things go wrong rather than be a tower of strength and stoic optimism I fall back on self-pity and bitterness. Not every time but often enough that it makes me sad that I must be so disappointing to God. He has provided the solution right there in His Word and must wonder why I can't get it. The verse Pastor Gerald used to illustrate this point was Genesis 50: 20-21, "You intended to harm me, but  God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.". This verse of course refers to Joseph following his time as a slave. His brothers sold him into slavery and after many years and many turns of events he held a position that allowed him to save a nation from starvation. Their meanness was used by God to help not only Joseph but many other people.

Can't we all benefit from that message? Whatever is going wrong, large or small, the world may mean it for evil but God will use it for our good and perhaps even for the good of many others. There is meaning in all suffering. And going back to the previous week's message we must actively remember the times in our past when God has brought good out of evil and know that He will do it again. Amen.

***podcasts of Preston Ridge Sermons are found here.

SMASHing the Senior Day Sermon

THE WORLD IS CHANGING DRAMATICALLY. Speaker John Randalls delivered the Senior Day sermon at Preston Ridge last Sunday.  While many of the High School seniors may not have heard a sermon based on 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 most athletes have come across this passage a time or two.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, bu we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."   

The main points of the sermon were:

• Champions run to win. (This is a command)
•  Be Disciplined
• Set goals
• Strive for Excellence
• Love God, hate sin

One of the things Mr. Randalls pointed out was that the last person a coach wants on his team is someone who just wants to make the team. If we do not want to win then we are likely to do more harm than good. Those who try to do just enough to "make the team" usually bring others down to their low standard. I have mentioned the Awesome Bible Study Ladies before and will likely mention them many more times. One of the things I most appreciate about them is that they are in the game to WIN. No one there is sitting idly by, just glad to know Jesus and slide into heaven by GRACE. My Awesome Bible Study Ladies want to finish strong...they want to cross the finish line with hearts that are  more like Jesus than when their race started. I want to be changed. I want to be sanctified not just justified by Christ's sacrifice for me.  

 I created the circle on the left page by following the directions given in this video on YouTube (video by Millande). Millande calls this a Mandala Zentangle. Since I began with a circular theme, I continued by punching out some circles and then learning a new circle based tangle. I also added dots to the border picking them up from the inside of the circular Zentangle. I repeated other motifs from the circular zentangle throughout both pages.

 The border around the scripture is Snircle. I first saw it on Pinterest, it's original source is tanglebucket. There are complete instructions on this site by Sandy Hunter.

 A closer look at the Mandala Zentangle. I purchased some circular cardstock from Michael's. I painted the white circle with watercolors to match the existing pages before I tangled the designs. I used paper tape to add interest (striped red and white). I placed one piece of tape across both pages for continuity. 

 As in my first Smashed Sermon I used a page from the Smash Pad to record the scripture from the sermon.

 This bee appeared in the video for the Mandala Zentangle, I repeated him on both pages for 

continuity OR because he is fun to draw!

 Bee!

 Another bee!

 More circles to go with the theme. I liked the three keys sticker, it reminded me that many sermons have three "key" points. Though this particular sermon had more.  I love this project. I enjoy thinking about the sermon, coordinating the colors, planning the layout of the pages, creating tangles and embellishments to include on the pages and the freedom.  I feel free to experiment, to try new things, to do what I want since it's my SMASHing Sermons journal and doesn't have to meet any ones expectation except my own.

SMASHing Sermons

 SMASH: "for the moments and musings that stick"

At the end of "Making Crosses", my project for Lent, I stated that I wanted to find another project that would allow me to focus on God and use creativity on a regular basis. I found it!!

Every Sunday I take notes on our pastor's sermons in a small notebook for that purpose. I don't like the notebook because the spacing of the lines is weird and sometimes I use all the lines and pages (2 per sermon) and sometimes I don't. All that blank space bugs me. The notebook itself is very bland and not very exciting. Most people probably don't care if their notebook is exciting but as a lover of pens, paper, school supplies and The Container Store I want my notebook to be pretty!

Recently I went to Michael's Craft store to purchase some supplies for the third grade Sunday School class and I saw some wonderful notebooks called SMASH books. The idea for these is that you use them for projects. They have a pen with a marker on one end and a glue stick on the other attached to the notebook. That way the glue is always handy and you can easily glue things into your notebook as you find them. Examples of things people use these for: wedding planning, decorating or remodeling, a place to collect ideas for projects, a place to save favorite quotes and sayings and as a planner. Art journaling is very popular right now and this is a modified version of that. 

What I think is really cool about things like this is that I love to take something designed for a "normal" or secular purpose and use it for something spiritual. I bought a SMASH book! I am using it to paste in my sermon notes. I am then taking time during the week following the sermon to go back over the notes, look up the scriptures mentioned in the sermon and then create something decorative around the sermon notes and the scriptures. The SMASH purpose is to record "the moments and musing that stick". I want God's Word to "stick" to me!

I did the first sermon this week. Our pastor presents interesting and challenging sermons, ones that make you want to change something about yourself or to do something differently. Each sermon is based on scripture and is full of meaning. This week was the Mother's Day sermon. Mother's Day was so hectic for us this year. I had spent several days preparing to teach the third graders and teaching them just fills your head with kids. If you've ever taught children then you know what I mean. They are so funny and they talk so much. After I leave them I need time to let it all settle. This doesn't leave much room in my brain for reflection on the sermon. Since it was Mother's Day we rushed to Chipotle after church to eat lunch and then catch an afternoon movie (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - my Mother's Day present). Dean has work going on all the time and Parker has had AP tests so both wanted to get home and have time to do things in the evening. Anyway, life is always like this so I rarely take the time to go back over the sermon, even the ones that seem like they were written just for me.

This week I worked on the SMASH sermon pages several evenings which meant I thought about the Scriptures and the Sermons several times and let them sink in. I was very excited with how the pages came out. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can come up with for the next sermons. Below are pictures of the notebook and accessories. Yes! the notebook has it's own accessories! Sadly notebooks don't wear shoes, however there is an elastic band to go around it that holds extra pens, there are little flags and stickers, some striped paperclips with little flags on them, Smash pads which are for recording certain kinds of information like quotes or family events, and there are pockets. I did not purchase all the mentioned accessories. I need something to look forward to!

 SMASH notebook and glue/pen.

 I glued one of the pockets on the inside cover. I keep grid paper in the pocket to take sermon notes on. I also keep some of the pages from the small smash pad that I use to record the sermon's scriptures.                                                                                                                                                                 

 Some of the pages in the notebook are already "decorated" in some way. This is the first page of the yellow Smash notebook.

 This is the two page spread of the sermon and the scriptures. I pasted the sermon notes onto the left hand page and then later wrote the scriptures from the sermon on the smash pad pages and glued them on the right hand side.

 I stamped some butterflies onto watercolor paper and then painted them and cut them out. I then glued them onto the notebook page. Then I began tangling around the butterflies.

 In the Sermon our pastor, Gerald Griffin talked about what Moms do. They protect. He mentioned three ways Moms protect.
1. Moms protect by living the Word of God.
2. Moms protect by Living Their Faith
3. Moms protect by Modeling Service.

 

 The scriptures used in the sermon were: Psalm 103: 8-12, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, and 2 Timothy 3:16

 The quote card is from the "blank" smash pad. The tangle that looks like a zig zag is called Pea nuckle and it is new.

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 Some pages in the SMASH book are simple and some are pretty busy.

 Blank SMASH pad.

 Quotes SMASH pad.

 More pockets and pages.

This is the elastic band pen holder that goes around the notebook!

When I made the crosses for Lent sometimes I found myself more focused on the process of making the cross than on the MESSAGE of the cross (but not always). I think it will be the same with the SMASHing Sermons project. When I was stamping, painting and cutting out the butterflies, I was thinking about the butterflies. But when I was writing the scriptures on the SMASH pads, I was thinking about the scriptures and I was going back over the sermon notes. When you are blessed with really good teaching it is a shame to hear it on Sunday, talk over the particularly meaningful parts with your husband and family and then just sort of let it go. I don't want to let ANY of God's Word go.  I have mentioned my ladies Bible study and how much I get from studying God's word in depth. Those lessons stay with me. Maybe this will be a way for the truth of God's Word from Sunday's Sermons to also stay with me, SMASHed upon my heart. Happy Smashing!