Past billboards
Below is an archive of past billboards displayed at Willows Presbyterian Church. You are welcome to copy and adapt these ideas for your own Christian group or church. We would be pleased to know about any response you get to using these ideas with your group too, so drop us a line.
We have an in-house creatives who come up with these concepts, and then hand paint them directly onto large corflute sheets with arcrylic paint. The final work doesn't always match exactly what you see here on this page, but this adds to the attraction sometimes, as we are so used to seeing highly refined, printed billboards that when a hand-painted one is seen, it becomes eye-catching.
Asylum seekers: all welcome
Over successive governments, Australia has had an issue with asylum seekers arriving on its shores. The population is split between a fear of the unhindered arrival of multitudes of uninvited strangers (or even terrorists), and a compassion for people less fortunate than ourselves who are fleeing war zones and persecution. Politicians seek to both portray themselves as being concerned for Australia’s security (and in control of immigration numbers), and satisfying humanitarian treaty obligations.
God’s kingdom is an entirely different matter, and just as well for us. He has said plainly that there’s plenty of room for all, and in a humanitarian treaty to end all treaties he offers asylum to anyone who will come, no matter whether you have supporting identity documents, money, skills, a war-torn background, or even a criminal record. Matter of fact he’d prefer it if you didn’t plead your case, but just came as you are.
This is what the bible says: “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him” — John 3:16 (The Message version)
Imagine a world as in the movie Avatar, but not biologically integrated. Instead it was fractured in its relationships from soon after its creation, and especially divorced from its creator through its own will.
‘Where’s Wally’ books are popular with kids and parents alike. Find Wally on each page, as he wanders on his travels through time and places. Not so easy amongst pages filled with hundreds of small human figures and Wally look-alikes up to mischief and the mundane.
Finding Christmas today could be just as fun a challenge, if it weren’t also such a tradgedy. Jesus Christ, the whole point of Christmas, has become obscured under a mountain of other usurpers, distractions, and banal platitudes.
We would prefer to hide Jesus away, because if it were true that he was God’s Son and died on a cross, that makes us culpable for our wrongs against God. Why else would a loving, all-knowing God send his own Son to die in our place, if it weren’t the only way to save us and we weren’t wholly corrupt in the first place? Those who miss Christ in Christmas find only banality. Find Christ in Christmas and you find the meaning of life itself.
Christmas service 8am, with coffee & cake from 7:45am.
Take down the 'No Vacancy' sign
Places to go, relatives to visit, food to prepare, presents to buy and wrap. No time to relax. Get up early to unwrap presents, figure out how to work the new toy, boil the kettle for coffee, mend a grazed knee thanks to the new bike, make a salad, jump in the car to go see the first lot of relatives...
Strange how this is the season where it's expected you'll take a break from work and yet you're busier than ever.
Even stranger though, that the reason for the season is celebrating Jesus' arrival as a baby into this world, and yet just as with the first Christmas, Jesus — Lord of all — is relegated by us to a small corner of the universe.
It's time to make a change.
Join us on Christmas morning. We're making room for Jesus.
Top Gear
What does Jesus have to do with high-performance vehicles?
Next year, if all goes according to plan, the V8 Supercars will be coming to Townsville. Rumour has it that all the available accommodation is already booked out for the event.
Anyone who follows the V8 Supercars events probably also watches the very popular "Top Gear" which now has its own Australian version. High performance vehicles, witty reviews, and the sort of challenges dreamt up amongst blokes having a bbq on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The attraction of the program is all the things many guys wish they could do themselves if they had the money, friends & time—and the amusement of seeing grown men lose out to the ironically unexpected.
Jesus said that what you put your effort into counts for what you will end up with in the end. If you put all your effort into your business and forget about God, in the end you will lose everything. But if you make friends in high places, you will not only gain life, but life with more abundance that you could imagine.
Unlike the accommodation next year for the V8 Supercars, there’s plenty of room in God's kingdom for all who choose life. To put your life into top gear, only Jesus has the wheels — everyone else is selling a lemon.
BWS
BWS shops are ubiquitous in Townsville, and reflect a long love affair between humanity and alcoholic drinks. Over-consuming though, has been given much media attention in the past year. Particularly binge drinking.
Jesus wasn’t opposed to drinking, and in fact rescued one particular party which was in danger of running dry. He was at a wedding when his mum told him they had run out of wine. At first he asked what that had to do with him, but then told the catering staff to fill some water containers nearby with water and take a sample to the master of ceremonies. The MC was astonished, saying it was remarkable that the better wine had been saved for now (when everyone was probably sloshed) rather than served first! This was no mere party trick, and those who saw what happened now knew Jesus was no ordinary man.
Jesus by no means advocated drunkenness however. There are several places in the bible which warn about being given to too much drink.
Just as in everything else though, he is able to rescue us from the spiritual effects of a life that is out of control. If you put your trust in him, he is able to save you from the ruinous effects of a “pickled” heart. A heart which has led its owner on a merry chase following its own whims, and ended up destitute and in the gutter. That’s what the story of the Prodigal (reckless) Son is all about.
Listen, my son, and be wise,
and keep your heart on the right path.
Do not join those who drink too much wine
or gorge themselves on meat,
for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Little W
Big W is moving in across the road in 2009. By comparison we have a modest budget and less paid staff (one and a half to be exact), but we hope our impact on the community will be longer lasting: eternal. As "Little W"—Willows Presbyterian—we are about something of far more value than all your possessions put together. Jesus likened the kingdom of God to a man who found buried treasure in a field and promptly sold everything he owned to purchase the field. We are ambassadors for Jesus, whose kingdom is a treasure worth giving everything you have in order to "purchase".
He heals the broken-hearted
The nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty doesn't mention eggs, but we thought the association was apt for this time of year, with Easter having just past.
All the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty together again. Whoever or whatever Humpty was, Jesus has the means and desire to put lives together again, no matter what the starting point is. Better than this, he has provided a means to mend the most important relationship we have: between us and God.
Cricket Footy Life
Our current bill board is a visual rhyme — sticks planted in the ground. Wickets, goal posts, crosses.
Sport and Christianity have many similarities on the surface: Passionate followers, spectators, heroes, team captains, glorious stories, ignominious moments, grassy hills and stadiums.
One of Christianity's major figures, Paul from Tarsus (in modern day Turkey), spoke of winning a prize in a race, but he was talking of a prize far greater than a grand final trophy or Olympic medal. One which when won, can never be lost — eternal life.
Want to know more? Contact us, or read this short presentation.
Jesus stops here
Around our neigbourhood at this time of the year you can find numbers of small signs planted on front lawns saying "Santa stops here". We're putting a twist on this which points to what the real historical Santa might have thought about Christmas.
St Nick was a Christian. That's why someone put the "Saint" in front of his name, and that's where the "Santa" in "Santa Claus" comes from. As a Christian he would be certain to say that Christmas is about Jesus — so never mind "Santa stops here", Christmas is about Jesus coming to town. Not just once a year to give people presents, but to give up his life for us and then be restored to life so that we too might have hope of eternal life — if we put all our trust in him to do this.
Want to know more? Contact us, or read this short presentation.
Don't vote like a donkey
The federal election is almost here, and while some of us ponder who to vote for, it's worth remembering that other big poll we vote in with our lives: what we put as number one importance.
As a matter of life and death, we believe that the way you live matters. What a horror it would be to die and discover that God took your wrongdoing seriously. What a calamity to discover that Jesus really was the only way to eternal life. What a tragedy if you discovered that being a nice person didn't count as insurance against ignoring God. Check now, or you could regret it forever!
Want to know more? Contact us, or read this short presentation.
How ard is it?
This is the question we pose with our present road-side sign.
With a federal election almost upon us, the two main contenders Mr Howard and Mr Rudd are hard at it, campaigning for election to the nations top job.
But as followers of Jesus Christ, we believe that who leads our country is of secondary importance to who leads our very lives.
As creator of this world, Jesus deserves his rightful place as ruler of it. Sadly, many people have voted 1 for something else — themselves, family, money etc. If it's offensive to the office of prime minister not to be given his or her due, how much more the office of creator?
Fortunately, Jesus is withholding the judgement of treason, to give everyone a chance to take advantage of his one-time-never-to-be-repeated offer of clemency. All you need to do is Vote 1 Jesus, and he will forgive you, having already taken the punishment for treason upon himself, so as not to subvert justice.
You don't need to be 16 to learn
This is the theme of our current billboard sign at the church.
Queensland is changing it's licence-to-drive rules so that you must now be 16yrs old to get a learners permit.
Our point is that you can learn the gospel message at any age. The liberating truth about life the universe and everthing is open for all to hear and act upon, no matter what your age, or past "driving" record. You can learn more about this good news here.
Domini Pax: Peace of the Lord
Domini Pax is Latin for Peace of the Lord. The current church billboard is a play on words with the more familiar text.
See here to find out how you can have Domini Pax, peace with God, delivered free.