What is that collage of words just outside the youth room? When did that get there? What does it mean?
Last fall the youth from our church and others took time during the EPIC Lock-In to paint a mural on the wall outside of the youth room. They wanted to paint a mural for the entire congregation that would help them to remember the journey we were finishing through the Gospel of Matthew. They chose a wordle.
In plain terms, a wordle is created by dropping a block of text into a program which causes the words that appear more often to show up larger than words that appear less often. This exercise can show us what themes run through a certain block of text.
What’s Behind the Painting
After we spent time going through the book of Matthew as a congregation, the youth decided to remember this journey by creating a wordle out of the text of Matthew. This would help us to remember recurring themes and words.
What words jump out at you as you look at the Gospel of Matthew wordle?
Jesus: As God’s Son, Jesus was sent by Him into this world to seek and save that which was lost. Jesus said in Matthew 9, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Disciple: As followers of Christ we are his disciples. We do what we saw our master doing. We love God and love our neighbor.
Kingdom: In our baptism we are brought into a new reality of freedom through Christ with all other believers. This starts at baptism and continues into eternity!
Over the next few months and years as we walk by this mural, let’s not let it disappear in our minds. Let’s take the time to look at it and remember Jesus words that have the power to change our lives!
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20