creative

Purpose

The purpose of this assembly is to show that God is an incredibly creative God. As Christians, we believe that God created the world. Who or what else could have created something so incredibly varied, creative and colourful?

Exercise

Just take a look at the people next to you. It's an interesting sight I'm sure, it may even be a horrible sight. But enough about having to look at me.. When you look at people, buildings, the weather, plants, animals - it's incredible how different we all are.

If you want to, get 5 people up on stage, who all look different. Then, say only positive things about each of them. I cannot stress this strongly enough. Only make fun of yourself (and that's if you have to, and do so lightly). With young people up front, always affirm, encourage and praise. Please note this. Talk about how they look different, wear different clothes etc. Be careful and uplifting! Give them a mars bar each as they walk away (or something equally appropriate).

Some Random Facts

1. Today, 6.3 billion people live on the earth.
2. The world's population grows by 100 million each year.
3. There are 194 countries in the world.
4. There are 5 major religions in the world today. Christianity is the largest. Christians count themselves by conversions (people becoming Christians), Islam counts its numbers by births alone.
5. In 2004, the US had 73.9 million pets. 63% are dogs, 34% are cats.
6. The British love to have pets more than any other nation in the world, mainly cats, dogs, birds and fish.
7. Makeup was first invented in Egypt and Rome around 1000BC.
8. Lipstick was first manufactured in the U.S. in 1915. Kiss-proof lipstick came out in 1925.
9. There were 7 ancient wonders of the world. There are 7 modern day wonders of the world (click here for them).
10. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
11. It is likely that 10 to 15% of the Earth's flowering plants have not yet been described.
12. There are 250,000 species of flowering plants in the world.

Exercise

For this, you need to visit the photography page on the website and assemble a few of these, or of your own photos (to show the creative world) - or you can click here for a Powerpoint show (538KB. This is a zip file which you download, then double-click to 'extract' the .pps file). Alternatively, if you are artistic, do a few drawings, put them up on a sketch board, or scan them in and put them into a powerpoint (or similar) file.

So let's look at a quick visual show of the kind of creative world we live in.. (play the powerpoint show file or put the images up on an OHP, flipchart etc). Then you may want to leave the last slide on the screen (of a rose).

Point - What an incredibly creative world this is that we live in. Think about the places, plants, animals, people, colours.

What does the Bible say?

The Bible says that God has revealed himself in creation. A book called Romans says this:

But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. (The Message)

The evidence of God smacks you in the face, from the smallest microcosm to the biggest star system - all trademarked 'God'. And it doesn't take a genius to work out what God's like from what he's made. No excuses. You can't miss it. Unless you're not looking! (Rob Lacey, The Street Bible, Zondervan, 2003, thewordonthestreet.co.uk)

As Christians we believe God is a creative God and that he put creative abilities into each of us to reflect him. God has revealed himself to all of us through this creativity. Our choice is how we respond to what God has shown us and given us.