Livingston Seventh-day Adventist Church (WA) hosted its fifth Bible in Bloom flower festival over the weekend of October 4-6.
This year’s theme was “This is Love”, with a total of 16 arrangements on display, each one showing a different aspect of God’s character of love.
State manager for Prison Fellowship WA (PFWA) and this year’s beneficiary, Sue Oliver, opened the event on Friday evening with a presentation on the work of PFWA and how the power of God’s love can change the life of even the most hardened criminal. Livingston church pastor Andrew Skeggs offered a dedicatory prayer.
On Sabbath morning, with floral interpretations of Bible verses recounting God’s love all around the church auditorium, Pastor Skeggs preached a sermon on the topic of “True Love”.
Church member and event organiser Linley Vogel said many of this year’s designers had been involved in previous years and looked forward to the event.
“Others were first-timers,” she said, “but every person involved was motivated by a desire to bring glory to God through their arrangements.”
The flower festival was open to the public on Sabbath and Sunday afternoons, with PFWA running a café in the church hall. Many church members took the opportunity to invite their friends, neighbours and work colleagues to view the stunning floral arrangements and then relax in the café afterwards—a very simple way of sharing faith.
Thanks to the generosity of the designers, sponsors and visitors, Bible in Bloom was able to contribute $A900 towards the work of PFWA.
“Bible in Bloom is a wonderful opportunity to bring God’s Word to life in a unique and beautiful manner. All those who came through were truly blessed and inspired by what they saw,” said Mrs Vogel. “Comments from the visitor pages include: ‘very impressive and meaningful’; ‘thought provoking and beautiful in so many ways’; ‘deep and meaningful in beauty and creativity’; ‘awesome displays by everyone concerned, terrific imagination and interpretations of the Scriptures’.”
Livingston church has expressed a desire to see Bible in Bloom run in other Adventist churches around Western Australia. If you feel inspired to run a similar event in your church, please get in touch with Livingston Adventist Church.
Pastor Skeggs’ sermon can be accessed via Livingston’s website or Facebook page.
