August 5, 2018

It’s the 11th week of Christ in the Psalms, our annual summer series. This week we’ll be in Psalm 88.

For a few years now, one of the ways we study and enjoy the psalms is by having different artists do a piece each week for the respective psalm we’re in. Our artwork for Psalm 88 is a collage by Jeremy Grant. Learn more about Jeremy’s piece and all the preceding Christ In The Psalms artworks right here.

Here’s how you can prepare for this week’s service:

1. Read through our text, Psalm 88.

In Psalm 88, the author writes from a place of intense darkness, holding back no emotion from God and the human hearers of his song. His final line reads, “darkness is my only friend.” Jesus entered into our darkness that we might have hope in Him. Though darkness can last a long time, it shows us God’s grace and can teach us to have an indomitable spirit. Our Savior, no stranger to darkness Himself, meets us there.

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 121:1–2, Welcome (From Immanuel Nashville):

To all who are weary and need rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares,
To all who fail and desire strength,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
This church opens wide her doors
with a welcome from Jesus Christ,
the Ally of His enemies, the Defender of the guilty,
the Justifier of the inexcusable, the Friend of sinners.
Welcome!

God Is Able (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan, arr. Shane and Shane)
King Of My Heart (John Mark McMillan, Sarah McMillan)
How Deep The Father’s Love For Us (Stuart Townend)

CONFESSION OF SIN: From Every Season Prayers by Scotty Smith:

Dear Heavenly Father, we love You because You first loved us and gave Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. We humble ourselves before You today because of Your promise to complete Your work in our lives. We praise You for Your loving welcome, daily mercies, and sufficient grace.

Forgive us for treasuring the pleasures of the world more than the riches of grace.
Forgive us for dwelling too much on our fears and too little on Your beauty.
Forgive us for rehearsing the failings of others more than the truths of the Gospel.
Forgive us for being quick to whine and slow to worship.

We offer our confession in Jesus’ name and for Your glory. Amen.

Oh God (Zach Bolen)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Romans 8:1–4

GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION
RESPONSE: Song & Prayer

Come Ye Sinners (Joseph Hart, arr. Robbie Seay)
Jesus Paid It All (Elvina Hall, Kristen Stanfill)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

Psalm 88—Artwork

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.

Person: Jeremy Grant

Jeremy Grant is an emerging artist and award-winning creative director. He was born in California in 1985. He received a B.S. in Graphic Design and Illustration from John Brown University, (AR), in 2007. Grant has exhibited his collage and assemblage artwork in individual and group gallery shows since 2008. His work uses association to uncover themes of destruction and creation, death and resurrection, and chaos and familiarity. Jeremy Grant currently lives and works in Denver, Colorado.

Piece

Collage

PROCESS

Walking alongside Hemen through this song, I feel the pain with him. I relate to the feeling that “suffering never ends”—there’s always something else. If God cares about me, why have I continued to suffer, so repeatedly, so…pointedly? And all the theological questions about God “causing versus allowing” suffering—we know God is all-powerful, so what’s the difference? Hemen points straight at God and says “Your wrath has swept over me,” and “You have made me a horror to my companions.”

Hemen pulls no punches in this song. He is ferociously real. He brought raw and deep wounding, anger, depression and doubt to the people of God in the form of a song. There isn’t a happy resolution or moral, the song doesn’t give an answer. Psalm 88 ends with a haunting phrase, “darkness is my only friend.”

My response, in the form of this collage, is to acknowledge and honor the pain—to visualize it without rescue or resolution. I get the image of someone screaming in the dark. Struggling to stay lucid through waves of pain. Gasping and sobbing.

“Can you hear me? Are you there?
You are the only one who can save me, God…
Why don’t you answer?
Have you left me alone here? In Sheol?”

A dark figure is at the center, covered in raw red streaks, eyes puffed closed, darkness and fire all around. Sheol, the background, is visualized as ambiguous, formless darkness, creation reverting back to chaos, absent of anything but pain.

The only comfort offered here is the assurance that our pain is real, and our only hope is to be honest about it with each other, and with God. Real relationships will weather the difficult conversations, the anger and the pain. God can handle our honest emotions.

in Blog • Christ in the Psalms Artwork

Marcy McGovern

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Our guest is Marcy McGovern. She’s the Executive Director of Alternatives Pregnancy Center!.

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3:00 – Who Marcy McGovern Is 10:00 – The Alternatives Approach 13:45 – What Post-Abortion Counseling Looks Like 15:00 – How People Find Them (And Who Is Coming) 16:40 – How They Support Women Who Don’t Choose Abortion 18:15 – How They Keep The Lights On 21:10 – Recent Success (And Failure) 24:10 – What A Web Page “Slug” Is 25:30 – Rapid Fire Questions 28:15 – Where She’d Put A Billboard And What It’d Say
in James Lepine • Park Church Podcast

July 29, 2018

We’re in week ten of this year’s Christ in the Psalms, our annual summer series. This is week is Psalm 87.

One of the ways we study and enjoy the psalms each year is by having different artists do a piece each week for the respective psalm we’re in. Our artwork for Psalm 87 is an oil painting by Anna Spickard. Learn more about this piece and all the preceding Christ In The Psalms artworks right here.

Here’s how you can prepare for this week’s service:

1. Read through our text, Psalm 87.

The city of God is where glory resides, the place true satisfaction is found. Some remain outside this city. Others are within it, but live with lingering shadows of shame. Still others forget the radical grace that brought them in. Here we learn true glory—the King of the city dies to give life to the estranged, ashamed, and arrogant. And here we see genuine hope—the city and its citizens are being made whole again. “Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God.”

2. Read, pray, and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Revelation 4:8, 11, Welcome (From Immanuel Nashville):

To all who are weary and need rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares,
To all who fail and desire strength,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
This church opens wide her doors
with a welcome from Jesus Christ,
the Ally of His enemies, the Defender of the guilty,
the Justifier of the inexcusable, the Friend of sinners.
Welcome!

Doxology (Louis Bourgeois, Thomas Ken)
Great Is The Lord (Joseph Pat Barrett, Daniel Bashta, Ben Smith)

CONFESSION OF SIN: Ephesians 2:1–3

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Ephesians 2:4–10

Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson, John Wyeth)
Build My Life (Barrett, Kable, Martin, Redman, Younker)

GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION
RESPONSE: Song & Prayer

All Glory Be To Christ (Dustin Kensrue, arr. by Kings Kaleidoscope)
Go Tell It On The Mountain (John W. Work, arr. David Crowder Band)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

Psalm 87—Artwork

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.

Person: Anna Spickard

My name is Anna Spickard. I’ve been in Denver for a little over three years, enjoying everything the outdoors has to offer. I have always loved art, and my high school art teacher instilled a true passion and confidence in me to embrace my style. I have not formally studied art, but enjoy painting and photography as a hobby, often paired with my love for outdoor adventures.

Piece

Oil painting.

PROCESS

I chose the color palette to mimic the desert tones of Zion National Park, with blues and greens sprinkled in to insinuate abundance, growth, and life in the midst of destitution. Crimson shadows add depth to the painting and remember Jesus’ death, resurrection, and redemption.

I began my creative process began by reading and studying Psalm 87 and other places in scripture where the holy city of Zion is described. My anchor verses include Psalm 87:1,3, and 7, and Ezekiel 47:12.

Oil paint has always been my preferred paint type because of the texture it provides. It can be smoothed into silky lines with a brush or layered with a palette knife to create a rough texture. I used both techniques in the composition of this piece. As I began painting, I referenced a photo of a lush valley in Zion National Park, using this visual to frame the piece. As I continued, I found myself getting stuck as I referenced the photo. I took a few days to reset, and came back with fresh perspective. I chose to stop looking at the photo and let my imagination take hold. It was during this iteration that loose strokes and fresh colors appeared to create the free-flowing and bright piece that you see today.

in Blog • Christ in the Psalms Artwork

July 22, 2018

We’re in Christ in the Psalms, our annual summer series. This is week nine and we’ll be in Psalm 86.

One of the ways we study and enjoy the psalms each year is by having different artists do a piece each week for the respective psalm we’re in. Our artwork for Psalm 86 is an acrylic and oil painting by Benjamin Rogers. Learn more about this piece and all the preceding Christ In The Psalms artworks right here.

Here’s how you can prepare for this week’s service:

1. Read through our text, Psalm 86.

David cries out for the protection of the Lord from a “band of ruthless men.” Among the interesting things to note is that, while praising his God as the only one who can save, he also asks God, “teach me Your way… unite my heart to fear Your name” (v. 11). David identifies that at least part of his deliverance will be a deliverance from his own rebellion against God.

2. Read, pray and sing through the service:

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 86:8–10, Welcome (From Immanuel Nashville):

To all who are weary and need rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares,
To all who fail and desire strength,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
This church opens wide her doors
with a welcome from Jesus Christ,
the Ally of His enemies, the Defender of the guilty,
the Justifier of the inexcusable, the Friend of sinners.
Welcome!

Oh! Great Is Our God (Brian Eichelberger)
How Great Thou Art (Stuart K. Hine)

CONFESSION OF SIN: Psalm 86:11

Your Name Is Good (Psalm 54) (Joel Limpic, Scott Mills)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Psalm 86:12–13; 1 Corinthians 15:55–56

Seas of Crimson (Johnson, Bashta, Taylor, Strand)

GREETING, SERMON, & COMMUNION
RESPONSE: Song & Prayer

Rock Of Ages (Augustus Toplady, arr. Sojourn)
Lord I Need You (Carson, Maher, Nockels, Reeves, Stanfill)

BENEDICTION

in Preparing for Sunday

Psalm 86—Artwork

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.

Person: Benjamin Rogers

Benjamin Rogers is a full-time instructor of art at Red Rocks Community College. He has an MFA in painting from Arizona State University and his work has been exhibited across the country.

Piece

Acrylic and oil painting.

PROCESS

This painting exhibits the goodness of God in his protection from the surrounding chaos.  In this piece I have used a hippopotamus as a symbol for David, painting him in a manner that demonstrates how he is outside of the danger of the attacking lion. In this way, it shows that God is faithful and merciful to David. The scene in the background is difficult to discern at first, but when viewed at a distance, it becomes more obvious that it is a lion attacking a water buffalo in an African savanna. It is further obscured by the arcing lines throughout the painting which create a more chaotic scene and make the imagery more confusing. I used this device to communicate the natural world of the flesh, which is juxtaposed with the clearer and calmer hippo which peacefully grazes away from danger.

To create this piece I made a quick monochromatic acrylic painting of the lion attacking the buffalo. Next, I covered the entire surface of the painting with masking tape and drew out the designs of the arcing lines.  Once I had the shapes drawn out, I cut out the shapes with a razor blade and removed the negative shapes, leaving a masking tape stencil on the surface. Then I painted the lion attack in a very gestural manner so that it would only be visible from a distance. Finally, I painted the hippo on top as the final layer in oil paint.

in Blog • Christ in the Psalms Artwork

Psalm 85—Artwork

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms artwork and download artwork guides here.

Person: Hannah Wood

I am a student at Colorado Christian University, a team leader for Intermountain Young Life, and a backpacking guide for RMR Backcountry.

Piece

Painting, Poured art.

PROCESS

This piece describes the crux of Psalm 85— the harmony and restoration that manifests in God’s peace and righteousness colliding.

When I read through Psalm 85, I knew instantly what I was going to paint. I usually paint portraits or abstract poured art, so I decided to combine those for the first time in this piece. I am honing in my painting style and that combination just worked so well with the message of Psalm 85. As I made this painting, I became increasingly more aware of what a small, manageable reflection of God’s character this painting represents, and that His mystery is far more beautiful than I could attempt to capture.

in Blog • Christ in the Psalms Artwork