Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks Gallery

An A.M.O.K. approach to Max Lucadošs He Still Moves Stones Independent Study Project for Senior High Youth

By Dave Weiss
Over this past summer I started reading, for the second time, Max Lucadošs He Still Moves Stones. I read it once before as curriculum for an adult Sunday School class I was in. On rereading it, I was struck by the visual imagery of the book and the issues that it faced head on. I thought that it would be great for youth ministry. Well, we dug in and in the first few weeks I quickly began to see that it was not hitting the kids the same way that it hit me. I still thought that these topics were extremely important to teens but how could I make them see the relevance. A.M.O.K. to the rescue.

The book deals with how Jesus moves the stones in peoples lives, how He works in our times of struggle and pain and how His power is enough to bring us through anything. It is a very hopeful book especially for people living in the post World Trade Center world.

If you look at the first chapter of the book, Lucado looks at making a trip to a fictitious art exhibition called Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks. Planning to see a nature exhibition he goes. When he gets there he is faced with paintings back to back on easels. On one side is a hurting person from the Bible and on the other is the same person made whole by Jesus Christ. It was then that the key was revealed to me. My class would recreate the Gallery and your can too. The first step is to read the book and work through the study guide on your own (itšs only a little over 200 pages and is a very quick read.) If you think your kids can benefit from this study secure a copy of the book for each kid in your class.

We started independent study of the book. I created a study guide which you can use with your kids and have attached it to the end of this guide. Begin by reading the first chapter of the book and then discussing the gallery in greater detail. Hand out the study guide.

In He Still Moves Stones, most of the chapters begin with a passage from the Bible. The first step is to assign a chapter to each student. Then they need to go through the following steps:

  1. Each Student in the class will be assigned a chapter of He Still Moves Stones. Each of these chapters is based on a section from the Bible.

  2. First carefully read the read the scripture, then read the chapter of the Book.

  3. Go to the back of the book and answer the questions from your chapteršs study guide on the yellow sheet, take your time and answer them as accurately as possible.

  4. Read the Scripture again carefully. Look at the presentation guide at the back of this packet and answer the five questions on the page. This is important because everyone will give a brief presentation to the class on your chapter.

  5. Think about the person in the scripture before and after their encounter with Jesus and picture in your mind how each situation would have looked.

  6. Sketch and paint the before and after scenes to be added to the gallery.
Limit the time to a few weeks to finish the project. Time varies depending on how long your sessions are. Each student will have completed two pieces of art. One showing the person from the Bible story before Christ and the other after Jesus has touched his or her life. Some students will say that they have no art ability. For them, have a supply of magazines and other photos on hand for them to create collages. While this is an art project the main point is not to create great works of art but rather to illustrate the story and to learn the important points.

After the project is done, have each student do a presentation on his chapter for the rest of the class. During this time period, be sure to have studied thoroughly so that you can back up the student and cover anything missed. After all the presentations are completed you are ready for the two final steps of the project. Talk about salvation and share your testimony. Ask your students about the difference they would like to see in their lives or what stones they would like to see moved in their lives. Ask them about their struggles. Ask them if anyone in the bookšs story touched them. For those students who have already accepted Christ, ask them to share the difference that He has made in their lives. Have the students get together in small groups and talk and pray. Give an invitation. Then hand each student two blank canvasses and tell them to create their own before and after painting. If some in the group are still "pre-christian." ask them to create one painting of where they are now and on of where they would like to be.

Lastly, display all the paintings back too back showing the before and after shots. You may want to tie this in with a worship service and display the paintings in the lobby of the church and then preach on one of the selected passages.
For the study guide click here