Sunday Sermon Series Ephesians 2

Hello everyone. Today I have an illustration from a sermon I heard on Ephesians 2:1-10. To listen to this sermon click here.

It is very easy for me to see the sins of "others" and over look my own. Jesus said something about seeing a speck in your brother's eye, but missing the log in your own. Hmmmm... So often I think of sin as an isolated action such as telling a lie, or making a selfish decision to put myself before the person in front of me. But here scripture tells me(verses 1-4) that sin is not just an action, it is a condition of my heart. Dead in sin, my condition is critical. Try as I might I cannot escape that on my own power. No amount of good deeds can balance out the weight of my sins.

Only God can save us through Christ. BUT GOD... had a plan to save us: GRACE. He sent Jesus to live among us, to die on the cross, to pay the price for our sins so that we might be reconciled to God the Father, able to be with God in Heaven for all eternity.

Then the result of salvation is good works. To live as Christ, love one another. The good deeds I do, the unselfish actions, the merciful and compassionate actions are a result of and reflection of Christ in my life. They are not an attempt to earn my salvation since my salvation comes entirely from my faith in Christ as my savior. All to Him I owe.

Grace is the cause, the means is faith, and the result is good works. Keep it simple.

I hope that you have enjoyed my synopsis of the sermon, and my illustration. Please go and listen to the sermon by Pastor Ryan there is good truth revealed in this scripture. I hope that you are challenged or encouraged by my post. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me, if I don't have the answer I'll ask my pastor and get back to you. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan

Patriotic Project August, 2023

Hello everyone! Much has changed in my life since I last posted. My wife Angela and I gathered up our family and all our belongings and have moved to the midwest, specifically Winfield, Kansas. It has been quite a journey, with many unexpected challenges, and many blessings along the way. Today I have drawings from a freelance job I was blessed with last month (when our family most needed it).

I was asked to create some illustrations with a patriotic theme, to be eye catching and brightly colored. For this project I was sending my client original artwork, instead of the usual digital files. So I set to work trying to figure out what images would convey patriotism. As you can see from these roughs I started out illustrating the song America the Beautiful. Then I tried charicatures of founding fathers, and great presidents. Abe was a winner, but I couldn't capture George quickly, so I gave up on that concept (I've never been great at charicatures). I also tried an Uncle Sam whom I have tried to draw before but never done a good drawing of, and of course a bald eagle.

America the Beautiful was just a little too ambitious, in the space I had to work with. I never progressed beyond thumbnail sketches with it. If I could have done each section and put them together digitally that probably would have worked, but it still would have taken too long to produce.

The Liberty Bell and the waving flag elements worked and were an easy choice. All those stars on the flag proved a big challenge at the size I was working at. So I switched to waving stripes.

Patriots, a minute man, another tighter, more refined eagle, and a colonial flag round out the group of final elements that I roughed out. I ended up using all of these as guides for my final drawings. Below is a draft of the Liberty Bell. I've never drawn it before, and I wanted it to be accurate. I think it came out pretty good. I looked at these tighter drawings in my sketchbook, using them as reference for the final drawings.

And here we have scans of the final artwork for the project. The client was happy with how it came out, and so was I. I hadn't used colored pencils for a piece of finished art in quite some time. It was fun to do something different for a change. I hope that you have enjoyed this break down of the process, seeing the rough work, and my final illustrations. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series 1st Samuel - March 24, 2023

Hello my friends! Today I have drawings from a sermon I heard back on February 12, 2023 at NW Gospel Church. The title is When God Comes To Town. You can listen to that sermon here. The scripture covered is 1 Samuel 5:1-7:1.

At this point in the story the Isrealites brought the Ark of the Covenant with them to a battle without being told to (by God), and it is captured by the Philistines who bring it back to Ashdod (as a trophy, or prisoner of war) and put it in the temple of Dagan (the father of Baal). The next morning the Philistines find that Dagan had fallen face down. So they took Dagan and propped him back up(verse 3). The next morning Dagan is on the floor again, only this time the head and hands have been broken off, only his trunk was left intact. From this point on the Philistines changed their religion to say that no one may step on the threshold of the temple where their god lost his hands, head and feet to Yaweh. Yaweh alone is God.

The Ashdod were then stricken with a plague of tumors. And they got together with the lords of the Philistines and decided to send the Ark to Gath. But God inflicted the people of Gath with the plague, so they sent it to Ekron, where the people panic. They've been following along, they know what is going to happen to them. So they decide to send the Ark back to Isreal. The Philistines are learning that Yaweh is sovereign. God can and will take care of things Himself. We are living in His world.

So the Philistines send the Ark back, making 5 golden tumors, and 5 golden mice as a guilt offering. They put the Ark and the offerings in a cart yoked to a couple of cows (listen to the sermon to hear Pastor Andrew lowing like a cow) who headed straight the border at Beth Shemesh.

C.S. Lewis: "The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God's acquiial. But the important thing is that Man is on the Bench and God in the Dock."

No sinner can stand before the Lord, this holy God. We learn about God's judgement in this message, and also about Jesus' provision. Grace, and mercy. This is not the end of the story. There is so much more to this message, that I cannot cover here so be sure to listen to the full sermon.

I hope that you have enjoyed my synopsis of the sermon, and my illustration. I hope that you are challenged or encouraged by my post. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series 1st Samuel 2:12-36

Good day my friends. Today we have a message that will encourage God's people through contrasting the failure of sinful leaders with the ministry of the Great High Priest. The sermon I listened to as I drew this illustration was on January 22, 2023 and can be found here. Please give it a listen, it's a good one. It is both challenging and thought provoking, and most important of all it reveals God's nature to us.

This scripture is very clear "the sons of Eli were worthless men" (2:12). Hophni and Phinehas were using their position and power amongst the people of God for selfish gain. They used food (meat from the animals brought forth for sacrifices) and women however they pleased, and God is clearly not pleased. We are all too familiar with worthless men and failing leaders. The Lord meets us here, as he promises a faithful priest, one who will do His will, cover the sins of his people.

Sadly, those with any window into religion know that the scene of Eli's sons is all too familiar. We have all seen and been burnt by religious hypocrisy and depraved, selfish leaders. The Lord sees it as well. He promises not only to judge the wicked, but to bring a faithful leader to save his people.

The failing of religious leaders is one of the great stains on the reputation of the church. This failure has been happening for thousands of years. The Christian perspective is unique in this sense - it is not about man's search for or journey to God (as all other religions are), it is about God's constant pursuit and faithful provision for us, in his son, Jesus Christ—the only leader who has never failed. Jesus has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins (because he has no sin) and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself on the cross.

Samuel is seen here watching the sons of Eli as mentioned in verse 26. He is growing in stature and in favor with the Lord and man. He sees what they are doing, he knows it is wrong. In the next sermon at Northwest Gospel Chursh we learned about how it worked out for Samuel and Eli, and his worthless sons. Give it a listen too.

I hope that you have enjoyed my synopsis of the sermon, and my illustration. I hope that you are challenged or encouraged by my post. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan

Trusting God Through the Storms of Life

Hello again. Today (February 21, 2023) I have an update for this post. I have created an animation to go along with the illustration. Here we see our character tossed about by the storm. It's startling, but he trusts in God to be there with him through the storm. So many people ask why bad things happen. We live in a fallen world my friends, and despite of our choices and the choices of those around us God is with us and will guide, strengthen, and encourage you through it. Talk to Him, pray-pray-pray, and trust in Him.

Hello my friends. I hope you are all doing well. Today I have a drawing from the beginning of January. I hope to create a short simple looping animation of the main character here floating above the background.

Is Jesus the focus of your life, or just a part? Trials in life force us to deal with this question. Jesus is the reason we are all here, the purpose of life is to figure out what we are going to do about Jesus. But once we figure out we are broken sinners, repent, and ask Him to reign in our lives, our work isn't done. We must live as Christ: "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33) In good times, easy times, hard times, trials, every decision, everything we do and say should reflect Jesus. We are called "to live as Christ"(Ephesians 4:22-24). Love God, and love one another.

The sky in this drawing is mostly clear, with a few light puffy clouds. It seems tranquil. I drew it that way because many times on the outside things can look fine, but inside they really aren't. A storm is raging. You have to really know someone to know if they are walking through a challenging time. No one knows us better than God. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah1:5 He is there, reach out to Him. He loves us so much. Remember that, and talk to Him. Pray. Pray often like Jesus did.

I hope that you are encouraged by my post. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series Acts 5

Hello everyone! Today I have my 200th post on this blog. Wow. That seems like a lot. When I started (September 24, 2007) I was just posting so that I could participate in Illustration Friday (a world wide group of artists who would illustrate a topic each week, then critique, encourage and praise each other sadly that site is long gone). Now my posts are mainly sharing the good news of Jesus Christ I hear in church. Today I have an illustration from a sermon I heard back on October 30th, 2022. The title is Rise of the Resistance. You can listen to that sermon here. The scripture covered is Acts 5:12-42.

At this time God's power is growing his people. This is a work of God, not of man. The apostles were not selling a popular movement with charisma. God was saving sinners, the gospel of Jesus was advancing. Jesus is the news, we are to spread the news just as the apostles did.

The spirit was working through the apostles and many signs and wonders were done in Jerusalem. Sick people were healed, and unclean spirits driven out. Even Peter's shadow was used as we are told that it passed over a man and healed him. People start to come from the outlying areas to be healed and to hear the good news, much to the chagrin of the Sadducees.

As the religious leaders bring opposition against the apostles, the witness of Christ is validated as an authentic work of God. But the Sadducees efforts to stop the apostles by arresting them backfires and helps to spread the good news. Every scheme of man bows to God's plan. During the night an angel of the Lord comes and opens the doors of the prison. The angel leads the apostles out and says "Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life." So the Sadducees find the apostles in the temple the next day preaching. They have them arrested and brought before the council again, angry that the apostles refuse to obey. Peter makes a fine speech, laying out the gospel for them, and saying that the apostles must obey God, not men.

Well that didn't sit too well with the Sadducees as you can imagine. They decided to kill the apostles. Old Gamaliel spoke up and said you'd better think about that again. He talked some sense into them, pointing out that killing the apostles would be like pouring gasoline on a fire, but if this was man made plan it would fail. So instead they beat the apostles and kicked them loose.

The final verse in this story sums it up well:Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. So remember, every scheme of man bows to God's plan.

I drew the dramatic scene of the angel of the Lord releasing the apostles from prison. As you can see I didn't go for the modern "winged baby angel" in a diaper but a grown warrior type. I gave him a glow, as they are often referred to as hard to look at because they are so bright.

I hope that you have enjoyed my synopsis of the sermon, and my illustration. I hope that you are challenged or encouraged by my post, and that you will go and listen to the sermon, it's another good one. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan

Sunday Sermon Series Acts 4:32-5:11

Hey howdy hey buckaroos!  Today I have drawings from a sermon I heard back on October 23, 2022, on the book of Acts.  I highly recommend that you listen to it  here.  Today we learn that Jesus is deadly serious about his people's witness.

As the story begins here we see that the early church is growing, flourishing. The members are living out "love one another" by helping each other with daily needs, to the point of selling land and sharing the proceeds of the sale with those in need. Radical generosity. Mt. Saint Helens May 18th style generosity.

Hypocrisy in the ranks of those associated with God's people has been one of the great scourges of church history. In this stark story, we see that the Lord is not OK with it.

But... "But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira...: Acts 5:1 Ananias and his wife lied about the price of the property they sold. They didn't have to give any of the proceeds of the sale, they didn't have to lie about what they gave, they chose to be deceitful.

Hypocrisy in the ranks of those associated with God's people has been one of the great scourges of church history. In this stark story, we see that the Lord is not OK with it. As we see God's justice swiftly punish sin, we are confronted by the grace of Jesus, who bore the weight of divine judgment on the cross. He paid the debt for ALL sin, for EVERY person, for ALL time. "Look what the Lord did to Ananias and Sapphira!" No! Look what Jesus did for you.

If you think Christian hypocrisy is a massive issue, so does Jesus. It's his name and reputation that falls into disrepute when people falsely claim allegiance to him.

The Lord fiercely guards his people's integrity because the church would carry on the witness of Jesus in the world.

I hope that you will listen to the sermon, and that this post has challenged and or encouraged you. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan