For the last installment of our Acts sermon series, we’re continuing the narrative and bringing the story to a close. The previous look showed the gospel reaching all people at different stages in their faith.
In this new iteration, Acts Fall 2, the artwork focuses on Paul’s speech to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:18–38. The design marks a new beginning for the Church, but it also carries the personal weight of Paul and the elders saying goodbye. In verses 18–20, Paul reminds the elders how he lived among them, served the Lord, and taught publicly. The landscape has now zoomed in on the hillside, where homes are scattered throughout, showing the gospel transforming individuals and entire households through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The houses, lit by the flame and filled with the gradient from the previous look, represent people who are filled with the Spirit. The outlined houses represent the Spirit’s continued work as people receive the gospel. Some houses have only one outlined window, representing a person who is on their way to becoming the first in their family to receive Jesus. The colorless homes represent places where prayer and intercession for our neighbors are needed, leading the viewer to ask: How can we share the hope of Christ where he has not yet been received?
Paul and the elders gather by the boat, with Paul looking toward Jerusalem, knowing that imprisonment and affliction await him as he follows the Spirit’s leading. The elders look to Paul, saddened that their friend is leaving. In verse 24, Paul reminds them, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself.” As followers of Jesus, we want to finish the course set before us, empowered by the Spirit.
The sunrise shows a new morning on the horizon. The gospel has been moving into the darkness, but night is ending. There is a weight to the shift in light, a tension between hardship and new beginnings. In verse 28, Paul calls the elders overseers of the flock. He is entrusting responsibility for the church to its shepherds. Sheep graze throughout the right side of the landscape. As a church, we need to remain alert for wolves. There is a scroll next to the boat, another symbol of Paul commending the elders to God and to the word of his grace.
We are now the witnesses. We have received the forgiveness of our sins through Christ, and we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now it is our turn, as the Church, to share the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth.