Grace - fresh vital worship since 1993

June 2007: Spirit

june 2007 grace flyer

Sensory experience

Down one side of the church we set up a sensory experience - doormats, pilates mat, blanket, slate and carboard on the floor; bubble wrap, foil, felt and a bath mat on the wall in between the windows and ledges; cut oranges and lemons at the start and an oiil burner at the end; and then right at the end a surround-sound experience of whispering music where you stood disorientated until you heard someone calling your name.

We started the service in the polygon. One by one people took off their shoes and were blindfolded, then made their way through the sensory experience and into the service.

Resensitising ourselves to the Spirit

Jesus said: ‘The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’ We cannot see the Spirit of God with our eyes, so we need to use different ways to sense the presence of the Spirit. Your journey into the service tonight hopefully awoke your senses other than your sight. What was that experience like?

How often are we aware of the spirit of God? We are so used to our busy-ness, to the tangible, demanding world that we live in, that we forget to tune in to the presence of God. A prayer:

Where our lives have been so crowded with noise that we have drowned out the voice of your spirit
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

Where our hearts have been so overwhelmed with busy-ness that we have squeezed out the presence of your spirit
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

Where we have become defensive through stress and fear and we have shrugged off the touch of your spirit
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy

Eternal God
awaken our hearts to the reality of your spirit
invigorate our senses with the purity of your spirit
break down our defences with the beauty of your spirit
fill us afresh with the presence of your spirit
In the name of Christ
Amen

There was an opportunity to be anointed with oil as we sang a couple of songs of worship.

Experience of the Spirit

We used the Breathe Nooma DVD – 'is the name of God the sound of breathing?' followed by space for people to encounter God.

Where is the Spirit?

Jonny talked about being at the Mind Body Spirit festival on Pentecost Sunday. The gifts of the Spirit are not for internal ego-massage in the church, but are for using out in the world, in contexts like these. We invited people to make a kite, to say that they want to be blown by the Spirit out into the world.

Photos

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We cannot see the Spirit of God with our eyes, so we need to use different ways to sense the presence of the Spirit. The journey into the service is a blindfold, barefoot sensory walk, intended to awaken our senses other than sight. Kathy guides Ethan onto the start.

The fruit is for smell. Textured objects are on the floor and walls.

Ethan finds the bubblewrap, after walking on the shale ["ouch!"].

Aluminium foil on the window piers, smooth and crinkled.

 

The walk ends in a space filled with garbled sounds from all sides. The blindfolded walker is turned by a helper to disorientate them. This is very effective - at the end you don't know where you are.

After a moment, Ben calls the walker's name, who then has to walk towards Ben guided by sound only. When they have emerged from the sound space the walker can take off the blindfold and join the rest of the congregation in the centre of the church.

Doormats and fruit

 

 

 

 

Lynda finds the bubblewrap.

The main space. People are still arriving via the sensory walk.

Anointing with oil as a sign of desire for the Spirit.

The gifts of the Spirit are not for internal ego-massage in the church, but are for using out in the world. We invited people to make a kite, to say that they want to be blown by the Spirit out into the world.

 

We hang the kites on the line.

 

 

 

At the end of the service. Most people have gone into the cafe but it's good to lie around and enjoy the ambience.

Joel DJs in the cafe afterwards.

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