Series Artwork

Throughout this sermon series, titled Invited: A Life-Changing Invitation from Jesus, our worship will include art created by our very own members. Our prayer is that this element will draw you into deeper and unique consideration of what God is inviting you into as we all learn from Jesus’ example of radical love and inclusivity through these artists’ inspired work.

Over almost thirty years of living on this coast, which feels like edge of the western world, I have been deeply moved by light on the ocean throughout the day and in every season of the year…never constant, yet always compelling. While each hour is its own source of joy and gratitude, deep twilight cannot be duplicated — dark orange against midnight blue is simply too beautiful to ignore…and virtually impossible to paint. God alone can create such atmosphere, and we are privileged to breathe it in. 

That said, I keep trying to capture the essence of light and water and all the subtleties of their interplay. 

I called this painting “Day is Done”, but a better title might be “Thank you, God, for the after-glow of another day. To You be all the glory.”

-Gail Steel

“The Keeper of the Gate (A Moment Before Revelation)” reflects a sacred moment of waiting—when the soul stands at the edge of God’s calling, unsure of what lies ahead, but certain of who holds the future.

Drawing from Christian imagery, the gate represents the entry into deeper faith, eternal promise, and divine purpose. The proteas bloom around the figure as symbols of life after trial, personal transformation, and the fruitfulness of walking in obedience.

This painting honors the still, holy moments where God invites us to trust Him—even when we cannot yet see what’s beyond the gate. Althia, this shift in framing enriches the piece without altering its aesthetic mystery. It gives believers an anchor to see what you see—and those outside the faith a glimpse into the symbolism you live by.

This painting now reads as a spiritual allegory—a moment of pause at the edge of transformation, as the soul prepares to enter a sacred garden, or perhaps, the kingdom of God itself.

-Althia Prinsloo

As followers of Jesus we have experienced a love that is beyond human explanation with words. We desire that everyone we know experience it too. Because it is sometimes hard to describe to people, our lives can act as billboards and attract the curious, but still there are always those who are reluctant to explore. If only they would come, just take a step over that imaginary line and check things out. The wonder and majesty they would see (and experience) is beyond imagination, depicted by the yellow rays and celebratory designs. 

I considered drawing a very thin line between the two words “come” and “see” but instead used the rays and small designs to sharply begin just at the far left side of the letter “s”, suggesting that imaginary line.

-Angela Tapley

Many of us wrestle with a wrenching, complicated question: How do I love people when it feels like they've betrayed me?

Jesus offers a scandalous invitation to Matthew, a local traitor, and then offers other seats to the despised. All kinds of troubling people arrive for dinner.  

Jesus is inviting us to a table where mercy is the main course. We are all welcome, including the people with whom we're angriest. 

Are we going to show up?

-Heather Caliri

1986 Sunset, Lofer, Austria

Someone said that a photo is a mirror of what is in the heart. If so, this photo of a sunset in the Austrian Alps reflects the calm serenity of the Holy Spirit within me. Carole and I had left the ministry, under-cover, behind the Iron Curtain. As we left Lofer, this startling sunset shone God's miracle across our path, a reminder of his presence every moment  as we discipled Christians living under Communism. 

-Cliff Stabler

I took this photo maybe eight years ago. I was out flying with a dear friend in a weight shift trike aircraft. Think of a hang glider with a Rogallo wing and an engine. The two of us sitting fore and aft like on a Harley Davidson. It is spring, following a wet winter and the wildflowers between Palomar Mountain and Ranchita were going crazy in golden splendor. We were down flying low, nap of the earth, and that tree presented itself with just the right light and dared me not to take the photo. For me it’s a wonderful representation of creation. God strewing the landscape just because He can.  And for us, happy observers, trees produce oxygen, shade, often fruit, and always the beauty of creation.

-Tom Close

I painted this pleasant scene for a one day women’s retreat here in 2014. (I’m grateful to Paula Taylor for resurrecting the context.) 

The retreat with author Jan Johnson was entitled Sacred Space, an introduction to a lifestyle of abundant simplicity; it was an invitation to slow down, take a breath of fresh air and connect with God. I was blessed by the task and the process, as I felt the Spirit flowing in that open window with every stroke of my brush.

oh, how refreshing it is! 

I’ve made Lord GOD my home.

Psalm 73:28 (The Message)

-Gail Steel

1991 Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia

Carole and I had completed pastoral care of missionaries in the wilds of Papua New Guinea. When we stopped in Australia for R&R, the Lord spread his peace over us like this cloud in the mountains.

-Cliff Stabler

2004 Withington, England

Our first ministry trip to Africa brought mosquitoes by the hundreds; sunburn so severe that I slept seated on the end of the bed four consecutive nights; but also great blessings as the Holy Spirit spoke deeply to the hearts of the West African pastors we discipled. When we stopped in Withington, Glos., U.K. afterward, the Lord gave us R&R in a worship space in the local church building. The Holy Spirit led us into solitude and silence.

-Cliff Stabler 

This painting is of a trail along the central coast, which we enjoyed about ten years ago. It was a glorious day, a day made for worship-walking.

he leads me beside quiet water, 

 he refreshes my soul. 

He guides me along the right paths 

 for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23: 2b-3

-Gail Steel

“She Who Holds the Cracks” is a visual meditation on the redemptive beauty that flows from surrender. The figure, cracked but peaceful, represents the believer who has walked through suffering yet knows she is not alone.

Her fractures are not signs of failure—they are signs of healing in progress. The proteas rise around her as evidence of life after loss, beauty after fire, and the quiet faithfulness of God at work in hidden places.

This painting is a testimony that Christ meets us in the brokenness—not after it’s mended, but within it—and from that place, He brings forth new life.

This painting speaks tenderly and powerfully of what it means to be broken yet beloved, wounded yet restored, shaped by suffering yet rooted in grace.

-Althia Prinsloo

"What Must I Do?"

Jesus gives the rich young ruler--and us--a shocking answer to the question of how to get eternal life. He tells us to move past our to-do lists and share our hoard of resources with our neighbors. Are we ready to leave the map we've made of "goodness" and experience the wild ecosystem of heaven right now?

-Heather Caliri

I’ve always been drawn to Asian art — the colors, repetition and simplicity. In this painting, inspired by Japanese sacred gates, the cross, while not the intention of the original form, is clearly visible to the Christian. I added a faint middle cross with the stroke of a brush to subtly suggest Calvary. It is only visible to those with “eyes to see.”

-Gail Steel

Be With Me (Paradise)

In the midst of their pain and agony on the crosses, Jesus acknowledges the faith of the thief who believes and tells him of what is awaiting them just beyond their physical deaths. Paradise. The colors I used to portray the rays of light and goodness are bold, bright and beautiful, the exact opposite of what they are living through in that moment. 

-Angela Tapley