Stars and our Stories

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his craftsmanship.”
Psalm 19:1

“We are his craftsmanship.”
Ephesians 2:10

A few weeks ago, we ran a blog post about stars, expanding on themes from David’s sermon series on creation. Stars have more in common with us than it may seem. They are intricately made and known and named by God. They display his craftsmanship and artistry. They are born, worship, speak, sing, and die. And they tell stories.

This retreat will focus our attention on our own stories. Like the stars, our stories point to the God who made us and to his ultimate story. So we thought it appropriate to create a hands-on, visual representation of our church’s “night sky” – the collection of all our individual stories, each handcrafted by our creator, assembled together to declare God’s glory.

This sky will surround us throughout the teaching on the retreat, represented by dark blue papers hanging around the room. Over the course of the retreat, when you have a spare moment, take down a sheet and use the ink pads provided to place your fingerprints in the sky, representing your unique identity and story. Give your kids their own sheets of paper to do the same. Then re-hang your paper and watch as our empty night sky gradually fills with light, beauty, and stories over the weekend. It’s as simple as that. This is not high art – just a simple way to use our hands to craft a story in the sky.

– Amy Rowe