4-Part Church Sermon Series Illustration

Grace Bible Chapel

A medium sized church in a rural area of the US, with an even mix of both men and women, aged between high school age, to older retired folks (16 - 65). The church is evangelical (not catholic), non-denominational, non-fundamentalist. We try to be relevant to people in real life, and provide teaching that is helpful,relevant and useful in every day life.

I want an art/image concept to illustrate a 4 part sermon series.

The 4 sermons will be focused on the common theme of leveraging who you (each person) are, the gifts/talents/skills you’ve been given, and the circumstances you’re in to make a difference in the lives of others.

The Pastor wants to challenge church members to leverage whatever it is that THEY have been given (whoever they are) to make a difference in the world.

The idea is that every person should strive to find opportunities to flourish or bloom or succeed right where on is, within the circumstances one is in and with the skills we have.

Visual concept/illustration should be simple, minimalist, clean, and gender neutral. Should appeal and communicate to both men & women.

One POSSIBLE concept would be to illustrate this concept by illustrating the idea of "Bloom where you're planted". But, if you have a different valid idea, I'm looking for creativity that communicates the concept in other ways.

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VERY IMPORTANT:

We avoid traditional religious symbols, so art concepts that include cross, angels, doves, Christ-figure, heaven, Christ-hands, etc. will be likely rejected. The artwork needs to communicate the concept in a normal, everyday, non-religious "language."

VERY IMPORTANT:
I don't want an overtly FEMININE art concept. So, if you submit a "flower" concept of any kind, you should figure out a way to make it masculine and it should resonate with a male audience. Color, pretty, or pink'ish artwork will not get very far.

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NOTE FROM THE PASTOR:

For my next sermon series, I’m planning on preaching 4 messages with the common theme of leveraging who you are, the gifts you’ve been given, and the circumstances you’re in to make a difference in the lives of others. For example, in the first chapter of the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah is burdened to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. To do so, he must approach the king at great risk to ask for permission to go to Jerusalem. Well, we know that he does so and the king is favorable to his request. He receives many other blessings from the king, too.

The key verse (for me) in this passage is in the Bible in the book of Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 11 where it simply says at the end of the verse, “I was cupbearer to the king.” Nehemiah leveraged his position as the king’s cupbearer to make a huge difference in the history of Israel. I want to encourage our people to leverage whatever it is that THEY have been given to make a difference in the world, too.

This art/illustration will be used in a sermon power point, and in a printed brochure. One illustration/file will be needed.

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Here is the church website where you can get a feel for the logo. Black isn't necessarily a preferred or brand color -- previous graphics artist liked it too much.

http://gracebiblechapel.org/

I don't know how I would illustrate "masculine" flower...but, if you can illustrate the concept of blooming that isn't to "girly", I'm fine with a flower visual concept. Otherwise, I'm hoping your creative skills can provide alternative ideas to communicate "flourishing where you are".

As for color options, avoid "pastels" that might feel more soft or feminine. Earth-tones are great. Textures are one way to avoid illustrations feeling to soft.
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