Our new sermon series, Have You Heard?, is a three-part series on the Gospel, centering on the essential ideas of justification, adoption, and sanctification.

To engage with this narrative, we have created a gospel triptych connecting three works of art. The purpose of this image, and the resources below, is to encourage devotional engagement with the series throughout the week.

On the far left, we have a classic image of Christus Victor from the Archiepiscopal Chapel in Ravenna, dating to the late 5th or early 6th century. Christ is depicted as a victorious warrior, trampling a lion and serpent beneath his feet, an image drawn from Psalm 91:13. Here, Christ's victory over the forces of evil reminds us that he frees us from our bondage and becomes for us our refuge and fortress.

On the far right, you will see Gustave Doré's The New Jerusalem, a wood engraving from his 1866 illustrated Bible. The image depicts an angel revealing the holy city, the New Jerusalem, to John as it comes down from heaven. It points us toward the promise of restoration found in the Gospel: that Christ will ultimately make all things new, bringing about a new heaven and a new earth.

At the center of the triptych, the central moment of the Gospel narrative, is Christ on the cross: the event at the heart of our justification. James Tissot was a French artist who created What Our Lord Saw from the Cross between 1886 and 1894 as part of his series The Life of Christ. Executed in gouache over graphite, the work offers a compelling perspective on the crucifixion, inviting us to look into the faces of those Christ loved so deeply that he gave his life for them.

The Gospel, we see, profoundly confronts our bondage to sin, our need for forgiveness, and our longing for all things to be made right. We invite you to look closely at these images as we study the Gospel of Jesus Christ and consider what it means to become embedded in the story ourselves.

The purpose of this image and the resources below is to encourage devotional engagement with the series throughout the week. From Monday through Saturday, we invite you to read, pray, and worship in preparation for our Sunday gathering.