SPEAKER_00: Hello, I'm Pastor Crayton, and thank you for tuning in to USun Churches Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: We're a gospel center church in Portugal, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.
SPEAKER_00: May God bless you today through his life-giving word.
SPEAKER_02: Our second reading this morning is from the book of 1 Peter, chapter 1, verses 13 to 15.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, preparing your mind for action and being sober-minded.
SPEAKER_02: Let your whole at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: But as he who calls you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.
SPEAKER_02: Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.
SPEAKER_02: The word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This morning it's my pleasure, my privilege to welcome a dear friend of our parish, uh Patty Bowman Kingsley, is familiar to many of us.
SPEAKER_00: Patty is a visual artist who lives in Bowmanville and works both in blending together studio practice, community life, and education.
SPEAKER_00: She was born and raised in Edmonton, now lives, as I say, in Bowmanville and has spent more than 40 years creating art through studio work, collaborations, live art, community projects.
SPEAKER_00: Her work often explores the meeting place of divinity and humanity, inviting reflection and transformation.
SPEAKER_00: In everything that Patty is involved in, she lives by the conviction that art has a job to do, which is a missional statement if ever I've heard one.
SPEAKER_00: Building community, inspiring meaningful change.
SPEAKER_00: Patty, it's a pleasure to have you join us and open up the word with us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Can I pray for you?
SPEAKER_00: And we will open up the word together.
SPEAKER_00: Come on up.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, we give you thanks for our sister Patty.
SPEAKER_00: We uh thank you, Lord, for uh the gifts that you have given her and how it is, Lord, that you have empowered her uh to serve you.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray, Lord, that you would open up our hearts to your word once again, that we would catch uh a greater glimpse of your heavenly beauty.
SPEAKER_00: And in Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Patty.
SPEAKER_01: Starting with this up here so that you would have something to look at while I'm getting ready, and it's to clearly test your IQ.
SPEAKER_01: So, for those of you who aren't familiar with this, I'm told people with an IQ of 130 up can solve this with no problem.
SPEAKER_01: Um, sometimes you have to turn things upside down in order to find solutions, right?
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, there you go.
SPEAKER_01: You can take that home and try it at your leisure.
SPEAKER_01: In earnest, these last couple years, the folks within the charity I lead, my local church, your local church, uh, intercessors, prayer partners, donors, they have all been trying to discern with me how to explore leadership and care, what kind of model we might use in order to design outreach within local communities and within this nation and be informational difference in someone's lives.
SPEAKER_01: What have what do we have?
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to talk this morning about double-click, there we go.
SPEAKER_01: Sacred architecture.
SPEAKER_01: I think everything just caught up.
SPEAKER_01: Um and sacred architecture is about changing or designing the reach to reach humanity.
SPEAKER_01: It could be in many forms.
SPEAKER_01: In our case, in my case, it's the arts.
SPEAKER_01: Um, in specific, it's I have to drill down because of the length of my runway versus my on-ramp, which means I'm focusing specifically on visual artists.
SPEAKER_01: But this model works in breadth across many areas of service within this congregation and beyond.
SPEAKER_01: And FYI, if you listen to things on 1.5 speed, that's about how fast I have to talk to be able to get everything in here in 15 minutes.
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, sacred architecture.
SPEAKER_01: Um, my assignment is to work with makers and mystics, right?
SPEAKER_01: Uh to engage culture with the love of God, and we engage in community models focused on transforming the well-being of individuals we serve.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So, for yourselves, why sacred architecture?
SPEAKER_01: Well, architecture is in this context, it's it's where outreach occurs.
SPEAKER_01: It refers to the intentional design of physical of spaces that foster purpose, reflection, and collaboration.
SPEAKER_01: And I've also just realized that my text is going to be too small in everything I've prepped.
SPEAKER_01: There we go.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, too small to see here.
SPEAKER_01: Um But um in this context, what makes the forms of architecture sacred, it's not about there, we're gonna we're gonna figure this out, guys.
SPEAKER_01: Hang on with me.
SPEAKER_01: You'd almost think this was my first time working a PowerPoint deck.
SPEAKER_01: Um so what we're gonna look at is what makes the architecture sacred is not um the object itself or the container itself.
SPEAKER_01: It could be a method, it could be a meeting framework, it could be an operational plan.
SPEAKER_01: That can also be designed and architectural if you like.
SPEAKER_01: Um so whether people know God or they don't know God, they are sacred.
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So if they're designed in his likeness and image, which we are, Genesis 1.27, that means everyone has been created in his likeness and image.
SPEAKER_01: Whether or not people yet believe in Christ or they don't believe in Christ, my job is not to convince them of that, though I'll give it a good try.
SPEAKER_01: My job is to introduce people that to the connection they can have with God Himself, who will speak, who has spoken, who has worked and has done a work in my life and has done one in yours.
SPEAKER_01: But it isn't to um clobber people, it's to collaborate in communities, serving one another, serving the greater common goods, trusting that the Holy Spirit will in fact do what he has said he would do in his love for us.
SPEAKER_01: So, service here is a model of outreach that's key to transformation.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I believe many of you know that if you want to have authority, serve.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to have influence, serve.
SPEAKER_01: And look at how you're serving if you want your influence to expand.
SPEAKER_01: If you're finding you don't get traction with people, well, I look in the mirror.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about any of you, but that's where I go to check that out.
SPEAKER_01: So we l we heard this word this morning already.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, prepare your minds for action.
SPEAKER_01: I love this because Peter the Apostle is speaking directly to us.
SPEAKER_01: Prepare your mind our minds for action.
SPEAKER_01: And commentators will tell us that this passage was written literally to the electors of the diaspora in the provinces of what we now know as Turkey.
SPEAKER_01: So talk about relevant for us.
SPEAKER_01: Be sober-minded, set our mind, our hope fully on the grace to be given us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: But just as he who was called is holy, so we are to be holy.
SPEAKER_01: Be holy because I am holy.
SPEAKER_01: What has been quickened for me in this as I was approaching 2026 was that it just lifed my being to say, I can prepare my mind for action.
SPEAKER_01: I have a mind that sometimes gets in the way of progress.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes I get hung up on things and I have to go so deep or broad.
SPEAKER_01: But you know what, for all those of you who are tend to be a bit more cerebral, it takes minds and hearts.
SPEAKER_01: But this is an affirmation that we get to use our mind for the purposes of God.
SPEAKER_01: We get to discern with Him, with Holy Spirit, how it is that we're supposed to know what we're supposed to know, do and be like as we're connecting within our church frameworks, in our families, in our communities, in our businesses.
SPEAKER_01: So, in short, I read this as saying we are to deliver action in marketplace settings as the diaspora of the kingdom of God within the context of holiness.
SPEAKER_01: Now, where we have holiness, I believe we have wholeness.
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe we can have one without the other.
SPEAKER_01: But it does require his transformational holiness in my life.
SPEAKER_01: For those who are listening, you may not believe the same things I believe, you may not follow Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to get to know you truly, because this is my passion, and I'm honored that here we can sit in this setting, and we may not always agree on every detail.
SPEAKER_01: We may not always know the same God, even when we're working a community.
SPEAKER_01: But how is it that we can come to know?
SPEAKER_01: How is it people can come to know what we believe, and if in fact we do not put ourselves in a place where we're connecting with the community at large?
SPEAKER_01: Again, who are all made in his likeness and image if we believe the full counsel of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: So here we're going slowly.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to use my computer because apparently my clicker decided it's not working.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and now I've resumed on ahead.
SPEAKER_01: Wow, super, super fragile clicker today.
SPEAKER_01: So when we talk about being sober-minded, it's about being thought out and thought through in our methods for action so that we have traction in a community.
SPEAKER_01: If you're business owners, you understand this.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not having traction in the marketplace, well, we look at why not.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Why is there no traction?
SPEAKER_01: Why people aren't responding?
SPEAKER_01: Why aren't they buying this?
SPEAKER_01: But you know what?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes in the kingdom we don't look at that.
SPEAKER_01: We just go, yeah, no, no, I'm out there preaching the word, I'm out there doing it, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, but we have no traction.
SPEAKER_01: Which may be the voice crying in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes maybe we thought we were the voice crying in the wilderness and we just were not being heard.
SPEAKER_01: You know, maybe there's something we can look at and examine in our sober second thoughts, in our sober first thought, where we think out, we think through what it is that God is asking us to do.
SPEAKER_01: And so, as I mentioned, as we started, for two years I've really been pressing in with colleagues and friends saying, God, what is it you want to do with this life?
SPEAKER_01: What is it that you wish me to do with the lives of those you've walked that are walking with me, that have been assembled, if you like, collectively?
SPEAKER_01: And you know, that's a tad scary because it actually you have to be responsible for influence.
SPEAKER_01: But as again you get closer to the end of your life, and yeah, I'm 62, no big shock there, but it's it does cause me to reflect and say, who have I deposited in?
SPEAKER_01: What has come out of this life?
SPEAKER_01: What has come out of our lives?
SPEAKER_01: And what is it we want to do?
SPEAKER_01: Now that means if I've been doing a homework group every Friday afternoon in a local community, believe me, you're done.
SPEAKER_01: If you have affected, no, that's me speaking, not necessarily Holy Spirit, but if you've literally been showing up for young people every Friday of your life, yeah, you go.
SPEAKER_01: Because you're done.
SPEAKER_01: That's an enormous contribution to influence and shape a nation.
SPEAKER_01: And you may not know that, but I want to say that publicly because I want you to know that for me, where I sit, I watch what happens to young people who have had that kind of influence and consistency and constancy of the presence of someone who loves them in their life.
SPEAKER_01: So, transformation requires architects, weavers, dreamers, alchemists.
SPEAKER_01: We ponder things.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you may say I'm a dreamer, but I I know I'm not the only one.
SPEAKER_01: And we I I know I'm not the only one.
SPEAKER_01: Like literally, you're all dreamers in this house.
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we look through the window of God's provision and his purposes and his word, and we say, what is it you want?
SPEAKER_01: What is it you have for the vast landscape of time here to be realized in our lifetime?
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you're looking on the left, you can see a finished tapestry.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it shows up better on your screen than it does on my computer.
SPEAKER_01: If you're on the right and you like that better, I might suggest that you might be a culture worker.
SPEAKER_01: You could be a culture worker because if you actually see vision for what's coming on the other side from the underside, Pastor, you might actually be a culture worker.
SPEAKER_01: Because you watch the transformation of people's lives, everything that everyone else doesn't see, and then you get to you get to present them within a congregation where we all see their beauty.
SPEAKER_01: But boy, we know you've seen everything else.
SPEAKER_01: And you still love us.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it means.
SPEAKER_01: So in the tent of meeting, the call was specific to Betzel, a holy abbot.
SPEAKER_01: I've preached on this before, and all those whom God had given skill, as well as everyone who was willing to work on the tent of meeting.
SPEAKER_01: Well, for what purpose?
SPEAKER_01: The purpose was to host the holiness of God in proximity to his people for a habitational relationship with them.
SPEAKER_01: So I submit to you that his heart is the same today as it was then.
SPEAKER_01: It was the same in creation when he walked in the garden.
SPEAKER_01: It was the same in the tent of meeting.
SPEAKER_01: It is the same all throughout scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 84, she builds herself a nest near the throne of God.
SPEAKER_01: Her responsibility to build the nest, habitation near proximity to the throne of God.
SPEAKER_01: That is what he's been trying to do in all of us forever.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing's changed.
SPEAKER_01: And not to oversimplify the word, but it's everywhere in Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: So that being said, I have a dream that he is going to do the same thing in us.
SPEAKER_01: In Romans 10, 14 to 17, in the message, it says that this is, and uh actually, this isn't in your bulletin.
SPEAKER_01: For some reason I thought it was going to be, but I wanted to reference it because how can people call for help?
SPEAKER_01: In the message translation, it says if they don't know who to trust, and how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the one who can be trusted?
SPEAKER_01: And how can they hear if nobody tells them?
SPEAKER_01: And how is anyone going to tell them?
SPEAKER_01: Unless someone is sent to do it.
SPEAKER_01: That's why scripture exclaims, a sight to take your breath away.
SPEAKER_01: Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God.
SPEAKER_01: When I read your bulletin and your announcements, and I see that you're on Queen Street for Bible study, I'm going, yo, yes.
SPEAKER_01: That means you're actually in culture, not just here, in this house.
SPEAKER_01: Which, for some organized church frameworks, the fountain has become a fortress where we come and we enter in ourselves for encouragement, where people in the community may or may not see us the same way we see this place.
SPEAKER_01: But you guys are taking the fountain and you're sharing what it is that you have.
SPEAKER_01: You share your building, like you literally share your building with the community.
SPEAKER_01: How incredible is that that the fountain the fortress has become a fountain for the community.
SPEAKER_01: And as we push into 2026, I want to press this further with you guys by saying that I believe we share DNA.
SPEAKER_01: We have a common DNA strand, and it's the divine nurturing assignment for artists.
SPEAKER_01: Plural.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, did you catch that?
SPEAKER_01: The divine nurturing assignment.
SPEAKER_01: The DNA of my heart, I believe the DNA of this house.
SPEAKER_01: So I would submit to you this paraphrase from Ed Zavoso.
SPEAKER_01: We're here to transform any system within our spheres of influence that keeps people poor spiritually, relationally, materially, and motivationally.
SPEAKER_01: We have a divine nurturing assignment.
SPEAKER_01: For me, for you, in many aspects of this assembly, but not the complete picture, I would substitute the word artist here.
SPEAKER_01: My passion and commitment is that artists would be transformed spiritually, relationally, materially, and motivationally.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't take a lot to transform a life.
SPEAKER_01: You actually only have to influence one of those things.
SPEAKER_01: You press, you put your foot on that, you put your foot on one of those things, motivation.
SPEAKER_01: You put it on relations, you put it on materials, you put it on motivation, you'll transform someone's life.
SPEAKER_01: It's amazing if you give them just that little extra emphasis, the care, the nurture in one area, how it opens up every area of their lives.
SPEAKER_01: So if you like, this is my picture of evangelism based on Genesis 127.
SPEAKER_01: If God gives us all the same equipment, something that functions to receive the frequency of heaven in our inner being, we should also be able to all hear.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So my job, our assignment, is to encourage people to recognize that there could be a God who loves them and that they have the God-given equipment to hear him.
SPEAKER_01: Is that oversimplified?
SPEAKER_01: As you notice, the job is to encourage people to plug in their equipment.
SPEAKER_01: Well, once they've plugged in the equipment, can I leave it to him?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, honestly, if I have a tight relationship, I'm gonna go to the mat with one of my friends.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna wrestle.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna wrestle this or that, or what God is saying, or what he has for them, or I'm gonna get frustrated and they love me enough that they'll excuse my frustration to have a conversation.
SPEAKER_01: But the average person we're seeers serving, they just need to know the difference between this picture and this one.
SPEAKER_01: Like it just isn't rocket science.
SPEAKER_01: But you can you can use the yellow arrow if you need to to just try and make it as clear as we can.
SPEAKER_01: But do we actually believe that the God we read about in scripture this morning, he will bring justice, he will not cry aloud or lift, he he will a bruised reed, he will not break.
SPEAKER_01: Do you see he's not like a smash and grab guy?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's times in scripture I know where you can see that aspect of his ferocious nature.
SPEAKER_01: The voice of the Lord strips the forest bear, one beat of the tambourine, puts the enemy to flight.
SPEAKER_01: We see his power, but here I read today a bruised reed, he will not break.
SPEAKER_01: Those bruised reeds, those are the people that I'm called to serve.
SPEAKER_01: That's what my assignment is.
SPEAKER_01: And I believe it's yeah, I believe it's a shared assignment, as I've already said.
SPEAKER_01: So my job is to convince people to consider that there could be a God, that he loves them, he has plans for them, and that they have the equipment to hear that directly from him.
SPEAKER_01: And they have to plug their equipment in to hear his voice.
SPEAKER_01: Just that simple.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we exchange, but for the grace of God, uh, for that person.
SPEAKER_01: Can we just use that a bit more?
SPEAKER_01: I have found myself wanting to use that a bit more.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not omniscient, I'm not omnipresent.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just not God.
SPEAKER_01: I'm supposed to be like him, I'm supposed to be reflection, but boy, you know, when I'm frustrated with some human and I'm looking over at them and I realize they've missed this and they didn't get this.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, right, because they're not omniscient, are they?
SPEAKER_01: And they're not omnipresent.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, they might forget things like me.
SPEAKER_01: They might miss a social cue.
SPEAKER_01: They may not have the equipment you have, they might not have the resources we have.
SPEAKER_01: They could be the woman at the well, or they could be the one who buried their talent.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm already at the end of my time, but I want you to uh uh just for a moment um doors unlock with the key that fits the door.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we're designing with intention, going back to that original text service, authenticity, and values that will make a difference in people's lives.
SPEAKER_01: I believe it is key for us here in Port Perry, in Skew Gog.
SPEAKER_01: I live in Durham, I don't live in Port, not to pretend I do.
SPEAKER_01: But we're gonna introduce to you today, and we have before this concept of artists learning communities, to identify specific strategic needs and provide feedback, verifying what we've heard, to connect to community partners who care for artists, because we're not the only ones who care at all.
SPEAKER_01: And we're not even the only ones who care in Jesus' name, right?
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of people who care about artists.
SPEAKER_01: So, how do we connect and partner in community?
SPEAKER_01: Because everyone is made in his likeness and image, that means the common good and the common grace of God applies to everyone for the benefit and the well-being of communities, just like our governors are expected to see the water level rise for everyone, not just for one group over another, right?
SPEAKER_01: That's our commitment to the human endeavor.
SPEAKER_01: So we structure opportunities for artists to gather and work in community with a clear focus on skill development, well-being, and spiritual care.
SPEAKER_01: What's that look like?
SPEAKER_01: That means that hey, I may not understand what someone believes.
SPEAKER_01: And they may come here as an example to a learning community, and they might say, Well, I don't believe in what you believe in.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, what do you believe in?
SPEAKER_01: Great.
SPEAKER_01: Can I sit down and can we just have coffee?
SPEAKER_01: I want to hear.
SPEAKER_01: I want to listen.
SPEAKER_01: I was outside the RMG the other day, and a young man said, Oh, I believe I said, Where do you get your spiritual guidance?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you get your the care to keep yourself in peace as you're serving your family and serving the community?
SPEAKER_01: He said, um, martial arts.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Oh man, see, I want to listen.
SPEAKER_01: I want to hear about that.
SPEAKER_01: Because I get mine from the tech the scriptural, my scriptural background framework, my relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a Christ follower.
SPEAKER_01: I can say that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not convincing him of anything, but we're having a conversation.
SPEAKER_01: And those are the kinds of conversations I believe will transform nations.
SPEAKER_01: So there we go.
SPEAKER_01: I put the acts scripture in black and white so you could see it in black and white, but connection, respect, trust, partnership.
SPEAKER_01: That's what we're after.
SPEAKER_01: And um we often hear about a lament about how society is going.
SPEAKER_01: I would really challenge us that for my life, it's to become a lament.
SPEAKER_01: It's to mirror Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_01: And to say, when he says, hey, if you mistake this attitude of despair and self-pity, oh man, what's happening with the church?
SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, you're less than 10% of the population, church.
SPEAKER_01: Like what's happening?
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
SPEAKER_01: Perhaps perhaps God is doing something in us that in humility we would become a lament for our communities instead of lamenting.
SPEAKER_01: May we embody the grief and the intercession that's necessary to love people from the moment we meet them and greet them through to the place where they may or may not choose transformation, but it isn't up to us.
SPEAKER_01: It was never up to someone else whether or not we believed in God.
SPEAKER_01: It was always up to us.
SPEAKER_01: And no matter what we tried to do to convince someone else, we will never convince a partner, a spouse, a family member, or a stranger.
SPEAKER_01: God is the one who will convince.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one who is seeking to save all who are lost.
SPEAKER_01: Can we partner with him in this common good and this grace?
SPEAKER_01: Because what does it cost to reach the soul of a city?
SPEAKER_01: Well, what does it cost if we don't?
SPEAKER_01: That's my question.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today.
SPEAKER_00: If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.
SPEAKER_00: Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us.
SPEAKER_00: Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us.
SPEAKER_00: If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution.
SPEAKER_00: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.