Beauty

“It goes without saying that this church is exquisitely ugly, bleak, and depressing….Why do I care? And why should you care? In short: because buildings preach. They proclaim a message to the world about what is true, what is good, and what is beautiful. This is especially true of our most public buildings.” - Mere Orthodoxy

“Consider Ephesians 2:6-7: ‘God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace.’”- Randy Alcorn

“[B]efore God granted us new sight, we were blind, utterly unable to see God’s beauty (2 Corinthians 4:4). Like a blindfolded man in a furniture store, we walked around smacking our shins against majesty, tripping over splendors, repeatedly running face-first into glory in God’s word and his world, and yet we could not see…how all the beauties point to God.” - Desiring God

“Psalm 27 unveils David’s heart for God in the midst of danger and the threat of death…. By both example and exhortation, David kindles our Godward longing to enflame our Godward pursuit. In short, David calls us to be on the Beauty hunt.” - Desiring God

“How often do we take time to pay attention to our surroundings and look closely at the intricacies and beauty of God’s creation? Do we know the plants and animals that inhabit our backyards or our local parks?… Do we view them with a sense of wonder? Does it even matter if we don’t?” - By Faith

“God isn’t just in life’s monumental things. He’s present in the little things: rain drops, the artistry of spider webs, and the sound of an acoustic guitar. A child’s laugh…. If we disregard these and thousands of other gifts, we don’t just fail to notice them, we fail to notice God.” - Randy Alcorn

“because we’re the image of God, yearn for beauty. It’s in our DNA; we can’t help but admire it. On the other hand, we routinely destroy it.” - By Faith

“When artists, be they Christian or not, create works of art, they are participating in God’s superabundance in one of four ways. First, their work bears witness to the reality of God.” - IFWE

“I love the way Jesus responds to Mary’s beautiful, useless gesture and recognises it as something that is always worthwhile, something that will live forever, for all the carping and criticism of Judas, then and now.” - Malcolm Guite