Mosaic Church - At Walt Disney World: Recent Episodes
Mosaic Church
The author of Hebrews reminds us that our forgiveness, redemption, and future resurrection has been purchased by the blood of Christ and Christ alone. This reality pushes us to continually choose life! Not out of obligation, but in great joy—knowing that our conscience has been cleared—that we may serve the living God.
The author to the Hebrews contrasts the old covenant with the new, helping us see that Jesus offers a better promise and covenant through the gospel. Through Jesus and Him alone, rather than old covenant rituals or our own performance, we can confidently access the presence of God now and forever.
The New Covenant, established and obtained by Jesus, is superior to the Old Covenant because of its unconditional nature and the inside-out, transforming power of the Spirit. Followers of Jesus may find themselves in a dangerous chapter, but are always in a safe story because of the eternal covenant of Christ.
As the people of God in a new and better covenant, the authors of Hebrews remind us of the glorious truth that we have a high priest in Jesus. One who sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven and who daily intercedes, prays, and ministers on our behalf.
To be immersed in the way of Jesus is to be ‘all in’ on the teachings of Jesus. “It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us.” Christ declared it is impossible to serve both God and money. We then, as followers of Christ, have the opportunity to shove back the gates of hell not only by how we live, speak, and walk–but by how we spend. ‘For where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.’
The Bible is clear, eternity is much longer than we can imagine and much more real than the reality we currently experience. Because of this, The New Testament calls us to live our lives on earth in light of the eternal life and inheritance that awaits us. Every follower of Jesus must take the time to consider how they may steward their relationships, resources, and circumstances for the glory of God and the good of His people.
It is an assumption of Scripture that when we come to know Jesus, our entire life would be immersed in Him and His way. Why? ‘Because it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us, and the life we now live, we live by faith.’ Life then, is not a place we are in, it is not a place we are going. Life is found within the King and Creator of life–Jesus!
How is Jesus the only one able to remove complete condemnation from those who trust in Him? The Hebrews author lifts up Jesus as the only perfect High Priest who lives forever, intercedes for us always, and gave Himself to atone for our sins. Jesus’ person and work is completely sufficient to save his followers without any boundary or limit.
All of us are building our hope on something, whether on the sand or the rock. We build our hope on sand when we trust in our circumstances to hold us up. But when we build our hope on Jesus, we find ourselves on a rock that is able endure any storm that inevitably comes our way.
God encourages us through the prophet Jeremiah to call out to God, for He “will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” May we be a people who seek to know, love, and share the Word of God–recognizing that these very words are the key to life, light, and freedom for the people of God.
This sermon delves into the beauty of Hebrews 7:11-17, exploring the theme “The Power of an Indestructible Life.” We address the inherent tension in human striving, which often falls short, and reveal the central truth that Jesus’ resurrection provides the Priest King we desperately need.
It’s easy to forget all that our good and generous God has given us. We can be tempted to believe we are owners rather than stewards. When we think we own our “stuff”, it can actually start to own us. Just as Abraham was moved to respond to Melchizedek’s greatness with generosity, how much more should we, as followers of Jesus, respond to His greatness with open-handed generosity?
True peace comes from knowing God’s abundant generosity toward us in Christ so that we can live in right relationship with God and others.
In this message, we explore a biblical framework of how people can come to experience Jesus and how we can live our lives in alignment with that belief. This framework is vital for us as we live as people who are Daringly Missional, so be encouraged because we were created to partner with God in His work!
What does it mean to be daringly missional? Does it mean turning every moment and every person into an assignment? In this message, we look at the heart of a missional people and discover how we live in light of who we are.
As a church, daringly missional is not just a series of things to do but a reality that we live in. In this first of a brief mini-series, we focus at the level of identity what it means to be daringly missional.
Can we trust the promises of God? This is a question and doubt that has plagued humanity from the beginning of the Bible and in this passage the author brings us a teaching that meets us where we are at and beckons us to process that question through a deeper understanding of Jesus, discovering in Him is God’s promises on display.
On the heels of a weighty passage on God’s justice the author brings us to our ultimate security found in Jesus as well as the epic call to serve as his apprentice in every aspect of life.
Today we see deconstruction journeys, disillusionment with the church, and a desire to blend Jesus with other faith traditions into something more palatable. All of these do not lead us to life, but unknowingly toward death… this is the assertion of Hebrews in this powerful passage. Through it we do not only receive a dire warning but an important reminder to recognize the difference between what brings life vs death.
This message focuses on a reality for many who follow Jesus, the challenges of complacency. We discover in this passage a biblical understanding of God’s vision for his people to grow in maturity in a way that wakes us up and draws us near.
In our modern culture riddled with anxiety and chaos there is a great desire to feel understood and protected. Yet none of the options our world provides has the power to fulfill that completely. In this message we discover how in Jesus we have access to the one who we all long for and can fulfill our greatest needs.
Sabbath rest is God’s invitation to His people to live into the freeing rhythm of working hard and resting well. Ultimately, Jesus is our true and better rest who is able to meet our weary hearts as we draw near to Him together in community.
Our triune God gets all the glory in the salvation of His children. The Father is the adopter of His kids. Jesus is the author and finisher of their faith. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee and seal of those who believe the word of the gospel. Believers can rest in the assurance that they are perfectly loved and kept by the faithfulness of God, rather than their own faithfulness.
Jesus is continually drawing us closer. Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. Instead, allow His spirit to kindly convict and guide you back as you look to His never-ending faithfulness. He is worthy of our trust. Beholding His past and His future, enables us to hold on to our original confidence firm to the end, and encourage others to do the same.
As holy siblings and citizens of heaven, our calling is to fixate the attention of our hearts on Jesus as the one greater and more glorious than anyone else, including Moses. Such consideration of Jesus fuels trusting Him no matter the cost.
This Easter Sunday we remember the profound significance of why Jesus came to die and rise from the dead foreshadowed in the story of Lazarus. Namely, that Jesus’ death and resurrection overcame sin and death for those who trust in Him by faith. Our death, darkness, and bondage is defeated by Jesus’ life, light, and freedom. Hallelujah!
Why do we come back to the cross every year? We come to remember Jesus’ willing sacrifice that washed us clean with his blood, and to anticipate the empty tomb that changed everything.
Journey with us into a special one-off message where we explore the spiritual discipline of prayer, utilizing a method that dates back through the ages. Utilizing the prayer of examine, we get the opportunity to press into understanding God’s presence in all of life as we review our days. This message explores the prayer of examine by using Psalm 139 as our basis.
As followers of Jesus, we have lifelong freedom because God, being just and merciful, took on human form and paid the debt we owed for our sins. The death of Christ has overcome the fear of death in every way, and now death serves to refine our faith and lead us to a heavenly glory this passing world cannot fathom.
During times where it is difficult to trust God with our pain, we can look to Jesus, our true older brother, who willfully took on the suffering of humanity to be the Messiah who would redeem us into the family of God.
We are on a collective mission as the body of Christ to be ambassadors of Jesus. Anyone we encounter should experience what it was like to encounter Him. Our last three values are vital to how we go about accomplishing this mission because they embody the identity of our King. Jesus is extravagantly hospitable, fearlessly generous, and daringly missional, so we will be too.
As we pursue why we exist and where we’re going as Mosaic Church, it is helpful for us to consider our code of conduct – our values. Values are defining marks of our identity that lead to our activity. Our first three values are the following: We follow Jesus. We are one. We are gospel-centered. As those who are followers of Jesus, we are united in Jesus and view all of life through the lens of who Jesus is and what He accomplished for us.
To belong to King Jesus is to participate in His mission with Him. The mission of Jesus, through the church He is building, is to bring His kingdom and push back the gates of darkness until the territories of darkness are no more. As the commissioned church, it is necessary for us to gather up and brief ourselves on the vision and values through which we will accomplish our mission. “We” is a series for us as Mosaic Church to lay out our values; our identity and code of conduct by which we will realize what Jesus has called us to do.
Jesus, the embodiment of true greatness, is worth our heart’s full attention because He is the suffering servant who condescended from glory to dwell among us and bear the death that we deserved for our sin. Having fully paid our debt with His blood, He is now risen and reigns over all things forever.
Followers of Jesus must pay much closer attention to the reliable word of Christ delivered to us through the apostles. Our good Father provides this loving warning to keep us from drifting into things most dangerous for our soul. We pay attention and keep from drifting by having the word of God richly dwell in us, gather regularly with community, and daily walk by the Spirit.
Jesus is greater than all messengers before Him, including angels. In contrast to the angels, Jesus is the heir of David, God incarnate, and Messiah, who is to be worshipped by all creation. When we see Him for who He truly is, we turn from worshipping God’s created gifts to worshiping the infinitely greater one, the only one worthy, Jesus Christ.
Is it truly worth it to follow Jesus even in the dangers and heaviness of life? When we realize that Jesus is completely sufficient for us because of His supreme authority over everything, we have a solid foundation to remain faithful. As those who are always sustained in the safety of the God-man, Jesus Christ, through His authoritative Word, we will always have reason to look at Him and declare, “That’s my King!”
An anonymous author with an incredible handle of the totality of Scripture and a direct relationship with Jesus’ first followers writes to Jewish Christians experiencing difficult persecution for their faith. The author begins to hold up Jesus as worthy of our perseverance because He is greater than the angels and Torah, Moses and the promised land, the priests and Melchizedek, the sacrifices, and the old covenant. Jesus is worth our all because He is greater than all!
Our God is on the move and this year as a church we’re going to intentionally join Him in His redemptive work in the world. We’ll do this by staying close to Him, offering Him our weakness, trusting that His Spirit will equip us through church leadership to be faithful witnesses of the power of the gospel. Our first step together is to simply come before God daily and say, “I’m here. What can I do?”
In this final message of our advent series we celebrate the arrival of Jesus as we consider how God calls us to respond to His presence in our lives.
In this third week of Advent, we look at how God reveals Himself to be faithful and true by using even the most unlikely of people to lead to the eventual birth of Jesus.
In this second week of Advent, we discover the patriarchs of Jesus’ family line give us a window into a God who reveals Himself to be faithful and true, glorified even through human weakness.
In this first week of Advent, we look into the family story of Jesus, a genealogy that demonstrates a God who is faithful and true even when we cannot see Him or fully understand what he has been doing all along.
As Jude calls us to contend for the faith while extending mercy to false teachers, we must do so with our gaze fixed upon the One who is able! Our God is able to preserve us until the end and present us blameless before His glory with all joy. He is worthy of our contending, our everything because to Him belongs all glory, majesty, power, dominion, and authority forever!
Jude calls believers to posture themselves to continually experience the love of God through building themselves up in the faith, praying in the Spirit, and waiting for Jesus to return and make all things new. As we experience His love and mercy, we get to extend His mercy to all people, even those most opposed to the gospel.
Jude shifts from engaging with the false teachers who have crept into the church to now engage with the Lord’s beloved people. Believers are called to contend first and foremost by vigilantly guarding their hearts in the remembering of God’s word. We guard ourselves knowing that we battle in a spiritual war that has already been decisively won in the victory of the risen Christ!
Jude uses another culturally respected, extra-biblical source, 1 Enoch, to further remind his readers of the coming justice of the Lord toward the false teachers who have crept in. One of the main fruits of the false teacher’s lives is discontentment. As believers, if we’re not careful with who we allow to influence our lives, we can likewise be tempted toward discontentment that breeds destruction. We can grow in contentment as we allow the Word of God to be our primary influence through biblical meditation.
False teaching has been around since the beginning of time as Jude brilliantly shows with multiple Old Testament references. With them, we are reminded that when God and His Word are not the ultimate authority the inevitable end is utter destruction and gloom. No false gospel has a chance when believers have clarity of the true gospel. Abiding with the Holy Spirit regularly as we study Scripture in the context of community enables us to bring and release the real lion who needs no defense.
In this message, Cru missionary, Lindley O’Brien, shares about God’s heart for the nations and our calling to participate with our Rabbi in bringing His good news to the world!
As Jude uses Old Testament realities to remind the church of the inevitable end of false teaching, whether bondage or wrath, he exposes how these teachers crept in. Forgetfulness of the gospel provides a way for false teaching to creep into our midst. In the end, it is better to pay the price of remembering than to pay the price of forgetting.
Jude calls us to contend for the faith delivered to believers because false teaching so easily creeps into the church unnoticed. This teaching spreads ungodliness and a denial of the authority of King Jesus. And yet, while Jude’s audience has failed in guarding the gospel, he contends for their faith by reminding them of their true identity. We need to know who we are in the gospel as we contend for it.
Jude greets his audience as mutual recipients of the grace of God. Jude, Jesus’ own half brother, formerly rejected Jesus. But now, by God’s grace, acknowledges Jesus as his Lord and King! Likewise, his audience having failed in contending for the gospel, are addressed by their identity in the gospel: called, beloved, and kept. Jude desires that everything he writes, though corrective, would work to multiply mercy, peace, and love among them.
Not only do we get to be recipients and participants in the gospel, but we also we get to be partakers of the fruit and joy of the gospel! This participating and partaking is showing up amidst the local gathering of the church, serving with our gifts, sharing our resources, living on mission as we scatter, and praying for one another. When we participate in such ways, we make up the local expression of Jesus’ church, which then makes up the cosmic expression of Jesus’ church.
All of us who are recipients of the gospel are called to participate in the gospel with our presence, time, gifting, and resources. When we participate in the local expression of Jesus’ church, we get to be a part of something extraordinary. What will be your part in God’s unfolding story through his church in the world?
What is God’s plan for His church in the world? According to His word, the Church is to be a force that shoves back the gates of hell, a sermon that declares the wisdom of God to the cosmos, a family that relates to one another as brothers and sisters, a temple that represents God’s tangible presence, and a bride that loves and is loved deeply by God. We live out these various facets in our gathering and scattering as we seek to demonstrate and declare the gospel together.
As Paul concludes his letter to Titus, we are reminded that the same God who caused unity and flourishing in the creation of the world is the same God who provides unity and flourishing in the Church today. In avoiding what sows disunity, we kneel together at the cross, embracing things that cultivate a kind unity that is from Jesus and for Jesus.
The world should experience us as we experience Jesus! Jesus extends goodness to all, even His enemies. He saves those that don’t deserve saving. As recipients of his loving kindness, we are to be gentle, courteous and devoted to good works as we live out our heavenly citizenship.
Grace has appeared in Jesus! Through Him alone are we saved and being trained in God’s life-giving ways. As those who belong to His Kingdom of life, we are called to exhort one another away from death toward the comfort of life with God.
As those who know and are delighted in by the God who does not lie, we can live lives that are a fitting adornment to the gospel. Even within our contextual limitations, whether older men or women, or younger men or women, we are provided the opportunity to point to God right where we are.
Paul reminds us that God has always intended Jesus’ church to be led—not by one leader—but by a plurality of them. Not only are the leaders to be plural, but godly and worth following. They must have character that stands both the test of time and the watchful eye of the entire church body. Ultimately, God’s desire is for godly leadership within the local church to be influenced by God’s character rather than the world’s culture.
Paul writes to his long-time disciple Titus in order to preserve the church in the strategic but rebellious island of Crete. Our trustworthy God, unlike the lying, false gods of Crete, will be made known when the church grows in the faith and knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness and hope. All of this is only possible as we are filled with the grace and peace of the gospel that overflows into a lost and broken world.
The Gospel is the story meant to completely transform our story. In this message, we look at how we take the Gospel into the world around us to see God’s Kingdom come through us into the world He loves.
In this message, we look at the incredible invitation we hold in participating in bringing the Kingdom of God into our world in the everyday realities of life, at WDW and beyond.
Is this world as good as it gets or can we have hope for more? In this concluding message in 2 Peter, we explore final Peter’s desire, for the church to set their hope on a future that will radically alter the here and now.
Peter reminds the church that false teachers were predicted to come and mock the coming justice of Jesus in the last days. These teachers assume that Jesus’ delayed return means no return, and therefore, they live after their sinful desires. However, they fail to realize that the Lord’s delay is actually the Lord’s patience that all should turn from sin, escaping the coming justice. As recipients of God’s patience, we can participate in His patience toward all people, even our enemies.
False teaching, in Peter’s day and our own, would have us believe that true freedom is life without any restraint, following our desires as our highest authority. However, this kind of freedom is an enslaving illusion that leads to death. If we do not overcome our sin by the Spirit, it will overcome us. True freedom is the ability to choose the good that leads to life and freedom in Christ.
Peter is lovingly serious about us experiencing life in the truth of the Gospel among the community of God’s people. Because of this desire, He is likewise serious about us not becoming blind and arrogant toward the deadliness of sin, along with false teachers in the church. We, therefore, must be a people of gospel truth, able to discern false gospels that take sin lightly and miss grace completely.
In Peter’s final Old Testament illustration of God’s sparing “righteous” Lot in bringing justice upon Sodom and Gomorrah, we find that God’s sparing anyone from judgment is based purely on His mercy. Lot’s righteousness, like our own, still find’s itself in need of grace. Through the lens of the Gospel, we see that Lot’s story points to Jesus, the true righteous One, who would be destroyed for the sake of the unrighteous. God is able to save from judgment those of us who, though unrighteous and undeserving like Lot, trust in God’s grace through Jesus alone.
Our God reminds us through Peter that His constant presence relentlessly holds the cosmos and all of humanity together. The life of Noah was but a foreshadowing of God fulfilling His plan to preserve humanity through the only righteous one, Jesus. Choosing to live in our own way apart from Him always leads to death, darkness and destruction but His way is life, light and freedom, and we should desire that now and into eternity.
Our God is spreading the glory of His presence, our true Home, to the ends of the earth through His people, the Church, as they are empowered by the Holy Spirit. God invites all of His children, followers of Jesus, to joyfully, dependently, and actively join Him in His work of reaching the nations.
The historical reminder of the justice God did not withhold toward the demonic angels when they rebelled against Him reveals that our God is able to keep His people safe as He will one day execute justice to protect His faithfulness, promises, and people.
Not all prophecy is God’s prophecy. In contrast with the reliable truth of Scripture revealed by God, false teachers will rise up with intentions of deception and manipulation among God’s people. Although God is patient with such teachers, there is coming a day when justice will prevail in their final destruction. In the meantime, by God’s grace, we have the truth of Scripture in order to discern false teaching, both around us and within us.
Believers today often long to have been with Jesus and to have seen what the first disciples saw. However, Peter actually tells us that what strengthens our faith is not ultimately what we see, but the word revealed by God through man as they were carried along by the Spirit! Let us then be diligent to “pay attention” to the lamp of God’s word until Jesus comes again to bring grace and justice to the earth!
The common view of our culture is that the old is useless and the new is better. Yet, Peter is encouraging believers to be regularly reminded of the ‘Old Truths’ that our faith has been founded on. Why? Because we are prone to forget what we know! Therefore, as we gather together, let us learn to be intentional and consistent in our efforts to remind one another of the grace that stirs us up to love and good works.
Knowing that his death is imminent, Peter urgently reminds Christians that the virtuous life can only be sustained by worshipping in response to the grace we have received and continue to receive. Therefore, now that we have received all things for life and godliness, we are invited to deeply enjoy the glory of life in the Kingdom, remembering the incredible reality that we have been rescued from worldly corruption to become partakers of the divine nature!
Peter begins his last letter to the Church, all of whom are of equal standing before God with the apostles, to encourage us to open ourselves to more of the grace God multiplies to us. Believers can either close themselves off to the experience of grace multiplied or they can open themselves more fully to the God who is not merely the God of all grace, but the God of MORE grace.
Why is Easter Sunday such a big deal? On this day, we remember and celebrate that Jesus ransomed people from every nation with His blood and has made us conquerors with Him in His victory over death. As Home comes with light and life to fill the earth, pushing out death and darkness, we will get to forever enjoy the glory of our risen Christ, the only one worthy to carry forth God’s plan to make all things new!
Good Friday provides us the sobering opportunity to remind our prone-to-forget hearts the mind blowing reality of Christ crucified in our place. While we deserved death and eternal separation from God, yet our Savior became flesh to take our sin upon himself and tear the veil that previously kept us distant from where we belonged all along. Our true Home, God’s holy and loving presence, has come after us and near to us through Jesus. This is what makes Good Friday, so “Good”.
After the manifest presence of God departs from the architectural temple, God promises of a better temple to come. This promised temple pictures a river flowing from it giving life to everything it touches. Today, God is faithfully bringing about this vision as those who come to Jesus are filled with the Spirit and now have “rivers of living water” flowing from their hearts. Mosaic celebrates its 20th anniversary as one of the many ways our faithful God has been bringing light and life into the world through His generational and global church to push back the gates of hell.
As Jesus prepares to leave His disciples, He promises that the Spirit inside them will be better than Himself beside them. The Spirit coming is to our advantage because He has been sent to fill our hearts into order to push out the realm of hell and it’s power in our lives. Hell is evicted where God’s presence moves in. Knowing we have the indwelling of His presence and power, we can pray, “Spirit of God, transform the hell out of my heart.”
The inhabiting God in a building now becomes the incarnate God in a body. For hundreds of years, the temple served as a means of the glory and grace of God in the midst of sinful people. Now a new temple has arrived: receiving worship, fulfilling the law, and extending forgiveness. This new and greater temple is embodied in the person of Jesus, the lamb who was slain for us, to gather all kinds of people from all nations to receive the worship and glory due Him for all eternity.
After the Tabernacle, The Temple became the permanent structure where the presence of God dwelt with His people. Despite the staining power of humanity’s sin, the Temple showed God inviting His people into His presence of concentrated goodness by showing them how and providing the way for them to come close. Jesus is the spotless lamb of atonement whose life addressed our sin problem and made the presence of God a constant reality. His life and death on the cross provided the ransom for our life and our purification so that we can run to His throne of grace without fear.
The Tabernacle serves as a tangible representation of life with the God who dwells with His people. The layout and furniture of the Tabernacle were patterned after the realities of God’s merciful rule and reign over all of creation, His invitation to fellowship with Him through His provision, and the light and life that we have in Him now and forever. The story of the Tabernacle reminds us that despite our rebellion, God’s heart is to move in among us to redeem and restore us.
In the beginning, God created heaven and earth, overlapping one another in the beautiful life of the expandable garden of Eden. In this narrative, we glimpse God’s life-giving presence and his human image-bearers living in right relationship with one another. However, very quickly, the beauty in the garden shattered through our rebellion. And yet, God is clear that his plan is not undone, and in no way over. The garden points to the better end where Home comes for eternity, where the two realms overlap and God dwells with His people as their God, in their midst, forever.
As we come to the close of Paul’s first letter to Timothy, we are reminded that the aim of everything we do as Christians is love, and are amazed that God has chosen us to be vessels of His love on the earth. We recognize our deep need for grace to accomplish this mission. Additionally, 1 Timothy reminds us of what matters as we fulfill this calling: love, truth, the Church, and our faithful perseverance in godliness, contentment, and generosity. As we live these things out, we are truly “guarding the deposit entrusted to us”- the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The God, who owns all and is the Giver of all, invites His people into the adventure of generosity. Those with an abundance of God-given resources are especially called to be rich in good works rather than setting their hope on what is passing away, sowing into gospel stories that endure into eternity.
In Paul’s third poetic praise toward God in writing to Timothy, we get another glimpse of where the power to walk in godliness comes from. We walk in the fight of faith, fleeing gain in this world in order to pursue godliness, because we have been made outposts of God’s kingdom, both for the benefit of others and ultimately for the glory of our King Jesus. In essence, awe of Jesus empowers faithfulness to Jesus.
We can discern false teaching when it conflicts with sound doctrine, the teachings of Jesus, and what accords with godliness, producing people who are depraved, deprived, and deceived. A common false teaching, both in Ephesus and in our culture, is that we can use the appearance of godliness to gain worldly things, such as money. But content, genuine godliness is gain in itself because of the incomparable worth of knowing and having King Jesus in this world and the next.
In our varied roles and relationships, those in Christ have the incredible opportunity to both represent and participate in bringing the Kingdom of God. So whether people are over us in authority or under our authority, our aim is always love and to honor all people for the sake of the Gospel, rather than for our own selfish gain.
In a culture that both idolizes and crushes its leaders, we in the Kingdom of God treat our leaders differently. Knowing that character holds more value than talent, we are not quick to elevate leaders to a platform based on talent alone. When established leaders lead well, we extend double honor. When a leader persists in unrepentant sin, we extend loving accountability. We do all of this trusting that God will bring everything unseen into the light, whether sin or good works.
Being close to Jesus, our Rabbi-Teacher, means being covered in the dust of the path He walks. This path is marked by finding Him in the rhythm of the same few things. If He’s not eating or sleeping, you might find Him proclaiming and demonstrating the Gospel. You might find Him sitting fireside, teaching truth to those who would listen. Or you might not find Him at all as He disappears into the quiet with His Father. Jesus invites us to find rest in journeying with Him by His Spirit along this light and easy path.
As we enter a new year with new goals and ambitions, we remember that Jesus always calls us to pursue the freedom of child-likeness in the way we express curiosity, simplicity, and wonder at the majesty of our God through the world He made.
In this special installation of the Sent series, we’re reminded that Christmas Day presents a unique opportunity to enjoy the wonder of Jesus’ coming, sent to bring life where there is death, light where there is darkness, and freedom where there is bondage. We, who are awe-inspired recipients of this incredible work of God in Jesus, are compelled and sent into the world to “sing loud for all to hear” so everyone may know that the One who is good at what we needed most has come!
In the second installation of our Elf-themed Christmas series, Sent, we centered around the “weirdness” of our Sent Savior, the One who is light that came into the darkness. We may have become so acquainted with the Christmas story that we have lost our wonder at the amazing absurdity of a Savior King, born in a stable. He who called those with influence to give everything up, and promised those with nothing everything. This Christmas we reflect with awe and gratitude on the beautiful absurdity of the God-man, who came as a baby to save the whole world.
Our new Advent series, Sent, will use the iconic Christmas movie Elf to illustrate the wonder of what God accomplished for us in Christ. We kicked off the series today looking at the true need of our world: not to be removed from the naughty list or to have Christmas cheer, but ultimately to be rescued from the power of sin and death. When we had no hope otherwise, Jesus was sent to us and for us! He is good at overcoming death because He is life, abolishing slavery because He is freedom, and casting out darkness because He is light. So, this Advent season and forevermore, we celebrate that Jesus alone is good at what we need most!
So as not to be tempted into pride after being instructed to “not let anyone look down on you because you are young,” Paul opens 1 Timothy 5 with a reminder for gentleness and humility when correcting others, whether they be younger or older. Paul reasons that we are all family in Christ and ought to treat one another as such. Then, in a passage that seems at first to be all about widow care, Paul gives practical guidance for leading and loving any who have true need within the family of God. If we are going to love the Church like family, we must be willing to humbly admit our own real needs in order to receive, and sacrificially lay down our own preferences in order to serve.
or even today in America, mature character isn’t ultimately marked by age or talent, it is seen in immersing ourselves in the progress of becoming more like Jesus. As we become more like Jesus, stewarding our gifts to serve others, we get to have the unfathomable privilege of joining God in His work in the world.
After Paul clarifies what Timothy is to confront in the false teachers, he then qualifies Timothy’s ability for such confrontation. Timothy was able to lovingly confront false teaching because he was trained in the sound teaching of the Spirit. If Timothy weren’t trained in truth, he would have confronted out of speculation and division. Therefore, through Paul’s writing, God’s invitation for all of us is to be a people trained and devoted to God’s truth because it is valuable for all times in all things. Jesus is worth devoting our all to because He is the only living Savior able to save anyone who puts their hope in Him.
How did false teaching and destructive leadership get into the church in Ephesus in the first place? Some might have blamed the false teachers, but Paul brings us to the real source of false teaching. Any teaching, whether explicitly evil or seemingly good; but is opposed to the teaching of the Spirit of God is actually the teaching of demons! Therefore, Paul calls us to be a people who know God’s Word well in order to discern well and live well in God’s world.
Jesus is on mission right now in all of the world through his followers to redeem unredeemed spaces. Because Jesus has asked, invited, and empowered us to join Him, we individually and collectively invest our resources, not in temporary things, but in eternal stories of gospel influence.
After calling out false and destructive leadership, Paul calls up noble and beautiful leadership. Rather than seeking authority, power, and position in the church, leaders who follow the way of Jesus should see leadership as an opportunity to serve others.
Continuing in the context of Paul writing to Timothy to correct false teachers in Ephesus, there is a further need for correction among those influenced by their false teaching. This included both men and women within the church at Ephesus. Both are called to lovingly seek the good of others, in a manner consistent with sound doctrine.
In this message, Eddie and René Taubensee talk about the importance of pursuing a biblical community made up of people who are those before you, those beside you and those you bring with you.
If “the aim of our charge is love” (1 Timothy 1:5), then what does love as followers of Jesus look like? Who are we to love and how are we to love them? What about people who have hurt us? Paul shows us that loving others is to go as far and wide as the love of God, which is for all people. God invites us to lovingly pray for our enemies, for rulers, and for all people, not only to work in their lives, but also in us, that God may shape our hearts to reflect his own.
Paul brings further clarity and correction to the false teachers in Ephesus, who had wrongly taught the purpose of the law and our relationship with it. Paul reveals that rather than make us perfect, the law reveals our imperfection, and reveals God as the only righteous one. It is only through Jesus that the law empowers us for healthy, right living rather than bondage. Paul uses his own life as an example of how Jesus is able to save even the “chief of sinners,” while the law would always be unable to do so. In 1st Timothy 1:17, Paul pauses in his letter to Timothy, and exalts God in poetic praise. In this we are reminded that the glorious realities of the gospel are not information that we move coldly past. Rather, the gospel is eternal power (Rom. 1:16) that calls for daily remembrance, which fuels worship, no matter our circumstance.
In this message, Aubry Stitt brings her passion and experience in discipleship into a teaching on the importance of making disciples of Jesus as we are continually being made into a disciple of Jesus.
As Paul begins to instruct Timothy to faithfully deal with the issues caused by the false teachers in the church at Ephesus, we are reminded of our need for faithfulness to truth and sound doctrine, while recognizing that this truth must be rooted in love of God and love of neighbor.
Before Paul begins to unpack the intricacies of how Timothy is to faithfully deal with the issues caused by the false teachers in the church at Ephesus he reminds his dear friend and child in the faith of the foundational goal for which the church was established by God. The people of God were created and gathered to love God and love people. And this love Paul focuses in on is the love Jesus demonstrated: self-sacrificially giving ourselves for the good of the other.
We are so excited to begin our journey through the book of 1st Timothy. This is an extremely significant book for our unique time in history but before we get too far, we must understand how this letter fits into the grand story of Scripture. Without context, we are far less likely to grasp the wonders of what God has actually revealed to us in His Word. Join us in the adventure of discovering the context and purpose of this beautiful letter.
Three months ago we began a series called Revive Us. This series was unique in that it was not simply a series of sermons, but a collective prayer that we sought to pray together. We desperately need God to do what only he can do! As we conclude this series, our prayer continues, but with one more ingredient, gratitude. We have so much to be grateful for, to rejoice in. So as we move on from this series, we don’t move on from the desire for God to revive us and the gratitude for what he has done.
For this final message in our Revive Us series, we take time to draw near to the feet of Jesus through a few spiritual rhythms meant to focus our minds and hearts on Jesus.
When Jesus invites us to come to him he tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light, yet so much of this life feels hard and heavy. So how do we actually live in this world and not be crushed by the weight of it all? This week, we see that when Jesus ascended to heaven he didn’t leave us on our own to figure it all out, but in fact, he left us fully equipped for the journey.
God’s desire for His people is they would live united as a family, yet we live isolated and hurt by one another. Let’s discover together how Jesus desires to restore us into His forever family to live and love one another in a way that delights our Father’s heart and displays the Gospel to the world around us.
Society today tells us that we each have a life that is meant to be lived our own way, with our own truth. Jesus teaches something very different, He says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Walking the way of Jesus, believing the truth of Jesus, produces a life that looks like Jesus. That is the good life. That is a life that endures every storm. That is a life worth living.
The journey with Jesus was never meant to be a lone wolf adventure, but in an individualistic culture, this is exactly where our hearts naturally bend. In this message, we look into Jesus’ prayer for His Church for unity and oneness and discover how we can live in this reality together as a Biblical Community.
When we find ourselves upside down, flying through the air in the midst of an accident, it is too late to put on a seatbelt. Life is similar in that we encounter circumstances we didn’t see coming and if we’re not prepared, if we’re just coasting without a seatbelt, we will end up far worse off than we could have. For centuries, the Shema has been for the people of God a tool of remembering and realigning themselves to the way of God. When we hear and obey this beautiful command, we will be prepared for any and every situation this life may throw at us.
If we are called to listen and obey God’s voice, then the next question to wrestle with is, how do we know that we are truly hearing His voice in the first place? In this message, we will journey into the scriptures to discover four of the primary ways in which we can confidently hear His voice.
Obedience is not exactly a popular concept in today’s world, yet the Bible is filled with stories and commands of God calling people into difficult realities that they would not naturally choose. Yet God desires more than begrudging obedience. Let’s discover God’s heart for us and how it is only out of a secure and loving attachment with God that we can truly listen and obey his voice.
As we continue the journey with Jesus and towards Jesus, we recognize that the discipline of prayer is of upmost importance. The Lord’s prayer is a prayer of recalibration that sets our hearts in line with the kingdom that Jesus is establishing on earth in and through his followers. In our gathering this week, we take time to slowly and intentionally move through the Lord’s prayer so that our hearts might be aligned with Him as we ask Him to do a reviving work in us.
Throughout the Scriptures the people of God are moved by Him through the chaotic waters and wastelands into a land of peace and promise, together let’s discover the beauty of how baptism is instituted to be an external visual reminder of this inward reality.
We should not do things for Jesus simply to get things from Jesus. We should come to Jesus and then go with Jesus. Why? Because our gift is Jesus. Our “enough” is Jesus. Remember who He is and what He has done because that’s where the revival of our souls exists; in Him alone!
For many, the Christian life is thought to be one impactful religious experience after another, leading to the pursuit of the next spiritual high and disdain for the in-between. That is not the Way of Jesus. The life of a disciple is not meant to be lived like a tourist who is jumping from one adventure to the next, but instead like a pilgrim who is journeying towards a wondrous destination. The pilgrimage we travel will lead to the joys of heaven, but the beauty isn’t simply found in where we are going, but in the One who is with us on the journey.
Our all-sufficient King Jesus invites us to a table that is rich with goodness and full of everlasting satisfaction. Though we are undeserving, broken, and lame we are made sons and daughters of the King and He has called us by name to feast at His table. What a beautiful invitation!
Every person has their own description of who they say Jesus us, but how does he describe Him and what difference should that make in our understanding of Him and our lives? In this message, we will focus on what it means that Jesus describes Himself by saying that at the core of His being He is “gentle and lowly” and why this is good news for weary and worried hearts.
The Scriptures teach that the way of Jesus leads to a different kind of life than most of us experience—one characterized by freedom, joy, peace, hope, and rest. Jesus calls it “life abundantly.” This life is a gift from God, but it requires us to say no to many things our culture promotes as the way to happiness. But, living in a counter-cultural way, saying no to what is easy takes discipline and commitment. The only way we can exercise the self-control it takes to fully embrace God’s more difficult way is if we actually believe that God is good, that he loves us, and that he desires good for us. This understanding of God is foundational. Without a deep conviction of God’s generous disposition toward us our desires will turn and our self-discipline will falter.
The Scriptures make it clear that we were once dead in our sins but God’s gift of grace makes us alive in Christ. This miraculous saving work of God is something that should leave us standing in great awe, yet we oftentimes find ourselves like David in Psalm 51 where we need to cry out to God to restore to us the joy of his salvation. Salvation, more than anything else gives us reason to celebrate, to rejoice, to sing, to shout and to dance. When the dead are made alive, we join in with heaven and we rejoice with joy inexpressible!
We each have things we fear, some come to pass, some never become reality, but the question is what do we do with them? In the book of Exodus, we discover a story calling the nation of Israel out of fear by instead receiving the fear of the Lord. How can you combat fear with fear? What does that look like? Let’s journey together in this story and see how the fear of the Lord leads us to greater love, joy, and intimacy with God.
The narrative God writes throughout the Bible is the story of a loving Father who wants to give His kids the greatest gift ever—which happens to be Himself. In His kindness, He wired us to be dependent upon Him for every breath so that we would stay constantly connected to the gift. Without God, we’d cease to exist and that understanding is the foundation we need to fuel the fire of our unquenchable need for him.
We need to slow down and catch our breath…rather…catch His breath. We need a supernatural move of God to renew, restore, and revive us. That is not something we can muster up in our own strength. We cannot force God’s hand…so instead, we let go, release control and draw near to Him, because the one necessary thing in life is to sit at the feet of our King Jesus and receive from Him whatever it is He has for us there.
As we conclude the book of Philippians we look back to recognize the incredible wonder of how God has gifted the church with this incredible letter to the church in Philippi. What grace it is from God to remind us that we are now living as joyful citizens of a new kingdom. And that because heaven is our home, our contentment is not found in our present circumstances but in the transcendence of knowing Christ our Lord.
This week we see the incredible impact that is made when the people of God choose to sacrificially partner together to make the gospel known. Paul expresses his gratitude to the Philippian church for their consistent, generous investment in the Kingdom, and his confidence in a faithfully sufficient God to meet all of our needs.
The invitation of the book of Philippians is to be joyful in light of the gospel despite our circumstances. Though we often rate the quality of our lives by our circumstances, God’s kingdom provides us another way when we recognize that God has already provided for what we truly need. Then we can accept our circumstances with joy, because we can do everything through Christ who gives us strength.
After Paul encourages the followers of Jesus to cast their anxieties on Jesus through prayer, he turns our attention to our thought life and highlights the way of the kingdom of Christ. As we think the way Jesus calls us to think, we begin to live according to the new way of the kingdom He is establishing in and through His people.
Throughout life, we are confronted with a variety of conflicts and struggles. Whether the struggles are internal or interpersonal, how we respond when they arise matters greatly. In this week’s passage, Paul invites us to stand firm in the Lord, to rejoice in the Lord, and to pray to the Lord and then see the peace of the Lord guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
This week we jump back into our series on the book of Philippians and explore what it looks like to live in this world as citizens of another. Though we are regularly bombarded with false gospels and the temptation to buy into them, there is one true gospel and one true Savior who secures our eternity and will come back to bring his people home.
As we conclude our Easter series, “Every knee shall bow”, we look at the events after the resurrection where Jesus appeared to his disciples and clarified the truth of who he is. These 40 days culminated when he gave the Great Commission and ascended into heaven to sit down at the right hand of the Father, signifying his kingship and authority over all creation. And we, his followers, are sent to declare the incredible wonder of who he is to the ends of the earth.
It is finished! On this Easter Sunday, we take time to line the streets to celebrate the reality Christ Jesus is victorious over sin and death. He is the conquering Lion and the sacrificial Lamb whose resurrection proclaims salvation and eternal life! This Easter, we celebrate that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the Christ and at his name EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH, AND UNDER THE EARTH, and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the Glory of God the Father!
It is finished. On this Good Friday, we take time to ponder the reality Christ was exalted through his humiliation, and that EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Even as the enemy of God was reveling in his “victory”, Jesus is victorious! The Son of Man was lifted up, and now hope is fulfilled with his final breath. He is the conquering Lion and the sacrificial Lamb whose blood proclaims salvation!
We begin this Easter series by considering the events leading up to Jesus’ arrival to Jerusalem from 3 vantage points – heaven, earth, and under the Earth. We discover how every step of the way was ordained by God, nothing was merely circumstantial. Even a simple donkey was specifically preserved for this absolute declaration of the Messiah arriving to establish His throne and rescue His people.
The calling on our lives is to press on towards the goal of knowing Jesus and living for Him. The motivation for reaching this goal by running this race is that Jesus has already laid hold of us, and has run the race before us! Every day we must recognize that we have not yet arrived at the fullness of the knowledge of Jesus or the fullness of growing in the likeness of Christ, but that each step we take in this journey matters deeply in this life and in our eternal future.
We continue our journey through Philippians as Paul highlights his discovery of the utmost importance of knowing Jesus, recognizing the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ beyond all else. Because of this discovery, Paul was able to lose everything he had gained prior to Christ. Instead of counting his losses as losses, he counted them as gain because of the opportunity he had to know Christ in the midst of suffering loss, leading to an experience of His resurrection power.
The journey through Philippians has been an incredible opportunity to see the goodness of what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf. In this passage, Paul highlights the beauty of the gospel that is found when we recognize only the good of what Jesus has done for us is worth placing our confidence in, knowing that gaining Christ is by far the most important thing in this life.
Paul is calling the Church to a simple-to-understand but difficult-to-follow command, “Your attitude should be the same as Jesus”. In order to actually do this, we need to look at each other as examples and honor those among us who live in service of others for the sake of the gospel.
Paul has been showing the church examples to follow and emulate, beginning with the example of Jesus, who humbly served for our salvation. After pointing out His own example, He moves to the example of Timothy who emulates Christ’s character by showing genuine concern for the Philippian church. What a beautiful picture of the God we serve, who shows genuine concern for our lives in every circumstance! And when we recognize that He is intimately involved in every area of our lives, every circumstance can be viewed through the lens of God’s good work in our story.
Paul’s letter to the Philippian church has focused our view of life through the lens of Christ’s attitude of life, who lived a life of humble servitude for our salvation. Now Paul points us in the direction of how we interact with one another in our attitudes as we display the beauty of the gospel in our relationships, leading to peace and harmony which brings glory to God.
For 10 years, God has been moving through life and community of Mosaic at WDW and His faithfulness has been evident every step of the way. As we celebrate all that God has done over the last 10 years, let’s discover how each story builds on top of the last, like stones laid on top of one another, to give us both a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness, as well as allow us to confidentially boldly move into the future discovering His faithfulness in the stories yet to unfold!
Paul is encouraging us, in view of who Jesus is and what He’s done for us, to press on in our pursuit to live out our salvation. We’ll discover that this is not an endless requirement to do good works, but is rather a call to respond and participate by aligning our will with God’s, as His new creation in Christ.
How do we pursue Gospel transformation in an imperfect world without constant discouragement? In this message, let’s explore a clear and compelling answer to this question that is rooted not in our efforts but dependence on God’s transforming work in us.
As we continue our journey through Philippians and conclude the Christ Hymn of Christ’s nature, the God-man who humbled Himself completely for our redemption, yet it was through that humiliation that God exalted Jesus by giving Him the name above every other name, giving Jesus the name YHWH. And it is at that name that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is LORD. This weekend we celebrate this extraordinary reality.
In recognition that every moment of our lives can be lived by Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus, Mosaic embarked on a journey of generosity that has led us to participate with God in some incredible stories, even in the midst of a global pandemic! This Sunday, we celebrate the ways God proved Himself to be faithful as we partnered with Him in faithful generosity to see the incredible impact in our church community and throughout the world.
This year for Justice and Mercy weekend, we gathered as a church for the NOMORE Orphans experience. Through the call of scripture and encountering the stories of people who have engaged in caring for vulnerable children, we recognize we all have been invited into the story to play our part together.
Paul is inviting Christ-followers to live in a manner worthy of the gospel by setting our minds on the way of our King Jesus, who laid aside His rights to take on human flesh and demonstrated humility to the point of death on a cross. If Jesus our king can humbly treat us, we can follow his example to treat each other likewise.
As we step back into the book of the Philippians, we are invited into living in a manner worthy of the gospel producing unity together as citizens of a new Kingdom.
In this message, we learn from two current Cast Members about what God has taught them about living on mission @ WDW and beyond!
This year, as we step into Vision Sunday 2022, while we acknowledge the difficulty that 2020-2021 has presented we are invited to reorient our hearts around the goodness of God by engaging with his Word and pursuing Him in the midst of any and every circumstance. We are reminded as we have now entered 2022, we do not enter in with a hope that things are going to be better, but instead with confidence that we can call back to mind who God is, and who we are to each other. We will focus now on turning the page as we stay connected to God, one another, and live on mission together.
This week we conclude our Christmas series with a bonus week: Epiphany! As we look into the story of the Wisemen visiting Jesus, we recognize the beauty of God’s invitation for all nations to come and worship Jesus, and recognize that He is truly worthy of it all!
Jesus is the light of the world, and His light is not far off because He has come near. He is Emmanuel. As we stare into the manger scene this Christmas Eve to welcome the birth of our Savior, we hear the words of God whisper to our hearts, “I am right here with you.”
As we continue our journey through the advent season we recognize that peace can often be elusive in our everyday experiences. Yet Jesus came to give us peace with God, peace within ourselves, and peace in the midst of our circumstances. And because of his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming return, we discover that Jesus himself is our peace both now and in the age to come.
It’s joy week in our journey through Advent. How do we find and experience joy in the midst of the variety of circumstances we face in this life? Is joy only to be experienced in fleeting moments here on earth, or perhaps the joy that Jesus gives will only be realized in heaven someday? Could joy be our experience every single day, and if so, how?
As we enter into the Advent season, we recognize that Christmas isn’t only about experiencing hope, joy, peace & love, but it’s about Jesus, the light of the world- he is our hope, joy, peace, and love! This week we begin with recognizing that hope is experienced in Jesus for this life and for the life to come!
Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Going with Jesus on Mission looks like stepping into hard spaces and being redemptive with Him. We desire to be a church that actively launches people into living on a Mission with Jesus to make the gospel known and actively redeem unredeemed spaces by making disciples among their neighbors, the marginalized, and the nations.
As Paul turns his attention from his situation to the lives of the Philippian church, he invites them to live as citizens of the kingdom of heaven, by standing firm together living worthy of the gospel, engaging in whatever struggle they may face.
As Paul describes the tension between his desire to stay and live on mission, or go and be with Christ, he draws our attention to the beautiful reality of the treasure that is Christ. With Christ as our treasure, Paul is calling us to live light of that, so that those who have our lives in view will have reason to glory in Christ.
What can God do through our lives when we recognize that God is able to use our circumstances, difficult and beautiful, for the advancement of his kingdom in and through our lives? This is the question that Philippians answers, and the question that Paul answers in this passage.
On Reformation Day we consider one of the slogans of the Protestant Reformation, “Semper Reformanda” which means that the Church is always being reformed according to the Word of God. And in order for us to be reformed as a people, we need to be reformed as individuals. As the Potter works with the clay, our God is working to reshape our lives that we might be conformed to the image of Christ, as we submit our lives to Him.
Renaut walks us through part of his Sabbatical journey and shares a glimpse of what God has revealed to him about growing to become more like Jesus. Throughout the journey of this life, God our good shepherd leads and guides us, using the most difficult spaces for our good so that we may become like Him.
As Paul prays for the Philippians, he asks not only for provision from God, but that God would transform them so that they may bear the fruit of righteousness. As we pray for ourselves and for one another, we are challenged to pray not simply for our circumstances to improve, but for our character to grow in the midst of our circumstances.
Continuing on in Philippians, this introductory encouragement and prayer from Paul allows us to see his deep affection for this church in Gospel Partnership. For Paul this is not a side note, but instead forming Gospel Partnerships was a vital component to the life and ministry of Paul, and a type of partnership that we can learn much from for our lives today.
As we enter into the book of Philippians, contained within the greeting from Paul is an encouragement to live in light of the grace and peace that comes from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because of the transformational power of the Gospel, Paul boldly invites Philemon to receive Onesimus back into his household no longer as a bondservant, but instead as a brother. Though Onesimus had wronged Philemon before becoming a believer, he could now be restored to the family of God through the reconciliation that can only be found through Christ.
As we begin our exploration of Philemon, we place ourselves in Philemon’s seat as the letter from Paul is being read in the church. In this letter we recognize that if the gospel has transformed us in our hearts, it will unfold to transform the nature of relationships within our community. This gospel transformation gives us the freedom and responsibility to forgive those who wrong us, and to treat other Christ-followers not as the world treats others, but as brothers and sisters in Christ.
In Renaut’s first sermon back from Sabbatical, he shares what God has shown him during this season through the ministry of Jesus in the gospels. Whenever people meet Jesus, he does not simply meet the physical needs of the people he encounters. Instead, he sees them in the midst of their need. And so it is with us, whatever we may be going through, whatever darkness may still be in us, he sees us and he is for us.
In our final week of discipleship at Mosaic, we take a look at the importance of implementing Christian practices in our lives that will move us towards godliness as we grow to know God and make him known.
This week we continue our discipleship series with a look at the importance of embracing Christian Belief, and how our view of God affects everything about us. Scripture calls us to stand firm and hold fast to the truth revealed about who God is through his word, so that we may know God and make him known.
Discipleship is the lifelong journey of knowing God and making Him known by embracing the biblical story, Christian belief, and Christian practice in community. This week we journey into the beauty of discovering how the grand story of the Bible points us to Jesus and informs our path as we follow in his way.
In the final week of the “Jesus True and Better” series, we look at the office of king. While given power and authority, the kings of Israel fell woefully short of their call to lead, steward, and protect the people of God. Christ, however, came as a suffering servant and established his kingdom of enduring love through the cross. And one day, this King of kings will return to rule and reign with justice and righteousness, bringing eternal life to his people.
In looking at the Old Testament office of prophet, we see them, again and again, going before the people of Israel on behalf of God. Jesus, as the true and better prophet, invites us to join him in his mission of declaring the gospel to the ends of the earth.
In the Old Testament, the role of the priests and the setting of the tabernacle were the centerpieces of all worship, sacrifice, and atonement for the people of God. Through his ultimate sacrifice, though, Jesus put an end to this by atoning for our sins once and for all. He came near and made his home in us with the fulfilled promise of salvation and freedom through belief in him.
In the story of Esther, we see glimmers of Jesus. Both came “for such a time as this” to usher in God’s victory for His people. Though the book of Esther never directly mentions God, it reminds us that He desires for His people to trust His timing and that He alone is fully good and sovereign, working all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
The book of Judges is a strange period in the Old Testament. During this time, Israel falls into a repeating cycle of disobedience, discipline, and deliverance, where God repeatedly uses judges to free Israel from its oppressors. Deborah stands out as one of the noblest of these deliverers. She is a faithful follower who trusts in God’s plan despite the doubts of those around her. In her story, we see hints at the coming of Jesus—the true and better judge, who remained faithful in his obedience to God’s plan for our salvation.
This week we look at the massive story of Moses, seeing glimmers of Christ shine clear throughout it. Moses was faithful as a servant, yet Jesus is faithful over God’s house as a Son, and we are God’s house if we hold fast to our hope and confidence in him.
In this message, we look at the Old Testament’s strange and challenging story of when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his promised son. In it, we see the primary question of the entire narrative of the Bible embodied in Isaac’s question to his father, Abraham: “Where is the lamb?” The answer resounds throughout eternity when John the Baptist declares upon seeing Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who not only carried the wood for his sacrifice upon his back up the mountain but became the ultimate sacrifice for our salvation.
To begin this series, we enter the story of the first human. Adam, who failed to obey God in the garden of Eden, corrupted God’s good creation and led humanity into sin. Yet Christ, the Second Adam, came into creation in perfect obedience to God, and by his death on the cross brings humanity back to God through faith in Him.
We know it as the book of Colossians, but the church of Colossae knew it as a letter from a beloved friend and co-laborer in Christ. To close our series on it, we revisit highlights from all four chapters corresponding them with four distinct movements of collective prayer—inviting God to move us by Paul’s words and encouragement, same as the church of Colossae.
As the book of Colossians comes to a close, we see the tangible results of followers living out the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) as Paul unveils a list of faithful disciples known in the early church community. These committed men and women have rallied together to spend their lives making the gospel known by declaring the supremacy of Jesus. That trajectory has continued through generations of people serving Christ faithfully in a similar manner. And now, it is our turn.
This Sunday, we revisit our reoccurring One Another series, lingering on Romans 12. In this passage, Paul encourages all followers of Jesus to live peaceably with each other, summarized in the powerful line, “Let love be genuine.” It is love—first displayed in Christ—that allows for the humility, hospitality, patience, and sacrifice that culminates into unity.
In Luke 18:15-17, as a gentle friend and teacher, he reorients the hearts of his disciples and realigns them with God’s value system, showing them how God feels about the emerging generation. For God, children and teenagers are not problems to be fixed or potential to be tapped, but people to be valued and loved right where they’re at as members of God’s Kingdom and plans. And this is His heart for us all—to trust in Him with childlike faith and not in our own abilities and agendas.
Paul encourages followers of Jesus to live and speak in a manner that will invite others to Christ. In this, he challenges us to live a life honoring to God and gracious towards others in such a way that it stirs people to ask us questions and makes the most of every opportunity to share the gospel.
Prayer is an invitation to communicate with God. Let that settle. Yet, we often misunderstand, ignore, and deny the power that it has to interact with our lives. Scripture calls us to engage in it, trusting God that through prayer, we commune with Him, battle the enemy, and find ourselves enveloped in the mystery and authority of Christ.
The gospel calls us to entrust ourselves to Christ, freely submitting ourselves to others through service driven by love. In this portion of Colossians, Paul notes how this profoundly affects how we approach marriage, parenting, family, and work—recognizing that we all ultimately share one Master in heaven.
Because of our new identity as God’s chosen ones—hidden with Christ in God—we have a new nature and purpose. Both individually and collectively, we exist to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. One day, in glory, that will be our full reality and that of all creation! In the meantime, the great invitation before us is to live in such a way that the church of “not yet” looks like the church of “already.”
In having put off our old selves (3:5-11), Paul points us to the new nature to clothe ourselves in daily: Christ’s. If we live in our identity as chosen, holy, and beloved because of Him (and not our own striving), we are moved to behave in a strange new way, full of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience; overcome by peace and filled with gratitude.
Having rallied us to set our minds on Christ, Paul writes that we must wage war against our sin as it leads to death—a hollow existence. The gospel of our culture is to follow all of our impulses to reach our personal idea of happiness. But the gospel of Jesus is that when we deny ourselves and submit to him, we step into life beyond measure and a kingdom greater than ourselves.
This week we stare into the incredible wonder of our abiding security in Christ. Through faith in Jesus, He is in us, we are in Him, and we are hidden with Christ in God. Our hope and future are fixed, knowing that when Christ—our life—appears, we will appear with him in glory!
The question of Colossians, which sparked the very writing of the letter, is whether or not Jesus is enough with many misbelieving, “No, you must make up the difference.” Yet Paul has proclaimed that Christ is all in all. And this is the basis for his direction to not look to other things for our sufficiency. In this passage, we learn that we cannot trust in our own spiritual achievement, focusing on ourselves. Instead, we should consider and focus on Jesus. He is Supreme. And he is enough.
On Easter Sunday we celebrate the resurrection as we gaze upon the wonder of Christ’s victory over sin and death. In Colossians, Paul declares that because of Christ’s work on the cross, through faith in him, our debt of sin is paid in full, and death is no longer our story. And because of Jesus’ victory, every evil power has been defeated in him, and will ultimately be destroyed. Because He lives in victory, we who know Jesus will live victoriously with Him forever!
Paul encourages us to not allow our faith in Christ to become pillaged by the philosophies of this world. How do we do that? We must see Jesus for who he is—the Everlasting God of all creation who humbly put on flesh for our salvation.
As we continue forward in the book of Colossians, Paul teaches us that to avoid deception; we must remain rooted, firm, and built up in Christ. This happens by recognizing that salvation is not simply a past experience with a future benefit but the working of Christ in us each day.
In modern Christian culture, the tendency is to treat salvation as a transaction where we believe in the gospel, are saved, and then conclude that our work is done. In these verses, Paul urges us to not stop there but continue growing and maturing as we journey towards sanctification. This maturity will unite us in Christ, binding us together, and making the manifold wisdom of God known.
In this passage, Paul highlights that the suffering he is going through is a source of joy simply because it is for the church’s sake and the continuous illumination of the gospel to the world. We also get to participate in this high stakes labor of love and eternity, finding every opportunity to reveal the mystery of the gospel wherever we go.
Our bent was once against God. Full of fear and hostility, we inflicted death upon ourselves, others, and creation. With this in view, Jesus not only has rescued us from alienation and brings us into belonging to the Kingdom of life and light, but he changes us. In His faithfulness, He fashions us steadfast and faithful out of fickleness if we anchor ourselves in the hope of the gospel.
Colossians 1:15-20, known as the Christ Hymn or The Messiah Poem, is a stunning view of the singularly unique power of the almighty God and Creator wrapped in the fragile mantle of a crucified man. Today, as we look at the latter half of this hymn in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we are reminded that Jesus, that man, was God in full. And it is only His ransom of us through a depth of sacrifice we can’t comprehend that has brought and continues to bring us near to Him.
In the dailiness of life, we can lose the clarity of just who has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of light. In this small but beautifully powerful portion of his letter to the church of Colossae, Paul brings that into luminous view. Our rescuer is Jesus, the full embodiment of God the Father, who is beyond our imagination. He is the King of all creation and, to His glory, He knows our name.
Our spiritual story without knowing Christ is bleak, yet because of Christ’s work we have been invited into a new story, where we live not in darkness but in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. As the nation of Israel was brought out of captivity in Egypt, so God brings us out of captivity from sin and into life and freedom in Him.
May we never neglect God’s command to care for the vulnerable in response to His care for us. This calling is wrapped up in Christ’s invitation to redeem unredeemed spaces in the world in which we live. When we step into foster care, adoption, efforts of poverty alleviation, or the work of ending human trafficking, we answer God’s invitation to bring the gospel to the brutality of the world in beautiful, tangible ways.
Paul’s prayer for the church in Colossae is a reminder of our calling to love one another by praying for each other. Rather than praying simply for one another’s circumstances, he models praying that we would know God’s will since He has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints, living in the glorious light of Christ.
As Paul continues opening his letter to the Colossians, he thanks God for the faith, hope, and love they have for God and one another. In this Sunday’s message, we pause and ask: How can we have this kind of love for God and others? A kind of love that inspires thanksgiving… We do so by being rooted and established in the gospel of Jesus Christ!
As we begin our journey into the book of Colossians, we encounter all of the people involved in bringing this letter to the church in Colossae. Thanksgiving fills the pages of this letter from Paul to the Colossians, as it demonstrates the timeless and timely truth of who Jesus is, the supreme and sovereign King of kings and Lord of lords, in whom we can put our trust—not only for eternity but for today.
Heading into 2021 has certainly felt different than most. There’s a heaviness and uncertainty as opposed to the excitement that we usually experience. Perhaps this is because, more than ever, we see the reality that though the calendar year has changed, the world remains the same, and the storms we’re going through haven’t calmed. It’s been challenging, to say the least. Yet, this remains our greatest challenge and joy to take on this year: To dare to love one another, especially when it’s hard. Because we are Jesus followers, and we’re going to show the world what that really means by the way we love through the power of the Spirit.
Let all remembrance be forgot and never brought to mind.” These words often ring in the new year ring, and true in how most of us feel about 2020! We all know how difficult this year has truly been, and for some more than others, but we’ve all been impacted by how 2020 has shaped up. And most of us would like to get to 2021 as soon as possible! But why are we excited to turn the page on the calendar? What will be different? Are we hoping for a new year with better circumstances? This is a trap, and the gospel sets us free from it and invites us into a better story!
Jesus, the high King of Heaven, entered the world as a baby to fulfill God’s plan of salvation. This salvation would not simply improve people, but make us altogether new creations in Christ, and usher in a work of renewal for the entire Cosmos.
When sin entered the world, God’s plan for a savior was set in motion. Satan spent all of history trying to this savior’s entrance, but nothing could get in the way of the promises of God being fulfilled by the birth of Jesus. What the enemy meant for destruction, God used for the redemption of the world.
Welcome, Christmas! Welcome! Welcome! As we welcome the Christmas season this year at Mosaic we look back on the moment when the promises of God to the nation of Israel had been fulfilled after hundreds of years. We stand in awe of God’s faithfulness to the promises of God, realized in Jesus, in whom we place our hope for this season and for all eternity.
As we close out the book of Ephesians we discover two words that Paul uses at the end of his letter: love incorruptible. This world will always try to erode our love for God and one another, but What God has done in Christ, as demonstrated through the book of Ephesians and throughout the gospel is incorruptible!
As we close out the book of Ephesians, Paul reminds us that because our battle is not against flesh and blood, it is of utmost importance that we remain alert, prayerful for one another, and engaged in sharing the gospel not only with our life but also with our words.
The parallel between the Creation Mandate found in Genesis and the Great Commission found in Matthew is eloquent and telling. In looking at both, we find that we—as both God’s people and the church—are and have always been designed for multiplication. We are made to pursue God’s Kingdom. And we are called to bring that pursuit with us to all the corners of the world, making disciples and planting churches. It’s in that design—and in those risks taken by us in partnership with God—that we see light invade dark and life sprout where there was once death. Discover the theology and passion behind the past, present, and future movement of church planting in our 2020 Global Mission gathering, guest taught by Melo Sauval, a church planter and Pastoral Resident of Mosaic.
Having defined the battle we’re in as Christ-followers, pitted not against flesh and blood but the spiritual enemy of the devil, Paul calls for us to put on the Armor of God. As we do, we find that God provides us the power to stand against our enemy’s attacks, remaining faithful no matter what we face. For it’s only when we remember and embrace the gift of the gospel that we can fight the battle to which God has called us, bringing honor and glory to Him!
Our physical world is bound to a spiritual one with powers at play deeper than we can see and more powerful than we can wholly comprehend. Paul reminds us to live aware of this dual reality, confident in the knowledge that only in Christ are we fully equipped to wrestle the spiritual darkness at work around and within us, meeting it with victory.
Here Paul shifts the focus onto yet another relationship in which to demonstrate the gospel. He addresses servants by encouraging them to obey their masters as they would Christ. He then goes on to address masters by pointing out that servants have no less value than they do and he urges them to treat their servants well. The same applies to our employer-employee relationships today. Now that we belong to God, whether we are in situations of justice or injustice, we are called to serve others with sincere hearts as we serve Jesus. By doing this we are participating in the will of God and as a result will be rewarded as good and faithful servants for honoring Christ and displaying his glory.
As Paul takes us Into the next sphere of relational dynamics, he stays within the home, speaking next to the dynamic between children and parents. He first includes the children in the family of God on mission by addressing their calling to obey their parents in the Lord out of reverence for Christ. Then he turns his attention to the parents by calling fathers to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Perhaps at face value, these verses seem to be simple commands. Yet, the wonder and beauty of the gospel is yet again displayed in this passage, which reminds us that our invitation is to harness these relationships in order to display our relationship with God, the perfect Father, to the rest of the world.
In Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul turns his attention to how Spirit-filled believers can demonstrate the gospel to a watching world, by giving practical examples beyond the church community and looks at the Christian within the home and society. He explains that marriage is a beautiful picture that can represent the loving sacrifice that Christ gives for his bride, the Church. This week we discover that our cultural idols of control and independence are challenged as we submit to God’s way. When we embrace God’s way in marriage, we demonstrate Christ’s love for the church and submission to his love for us, thereby displaying a picture of Christ and His church to a world which desperately needs Jesus.
In Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul turns his attention to how Spirit-filled believers can demonstrate the gospel to a watching world, by giving practical examples beyond the church community and looks at the Christian within the home and society. He explains that marriage is a beautiful picture that can represent the loving sacrifice that Christ gives for his bride, the Church. This week we discover that our cultural idols of control and independence are challenged as we submit to God’s way. When we embrace God’s way in marriage, we demonstrate Christ’s love for the church and submission to his love for us, thereby displaying a picture of Christ and His church to a world which desperately needs Jesus.
In Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul turns his attention to how Spirit-filled believers can demonstrate the gospel to a watching world, by giving practical examples beyond the church community and looks at the Christian within the home and society. He explains that marriage is a beautiful picture that can represent the loving sacrifice that Christ gives for his bride, the Church. When we look at Jesus, we can begin to understand how our relationships can be a beautiful counter-cultural display of the wonder and beauty of Christ, our risen Savior, sovereign King, and perfect Groom.
In light of the recent news of impending layoffs at Walt Disney World, listen to this special message bringing four Gospel reminders that each of us need however this season and announcement affects us personally.
This week in the book of Ephesians, Paul compels us toward a wise life that leads us to walk in the fear of the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit, in community with one another, as we serve one another out of reverence for Christ.
Paul once again points out that before we follow Christ our lives are lived in darkness, which leads to death and destruction. Instead, thanks to God’s great love for us, we can choose to live as children of light, living life in freedom. This light exposes what is broken in us—not to condemn, but to allow us to follow Christ into goodness, righteousness, and truth.
After reminding us to walk in compassion like Christ, Paul clarifies the great divide between life and death as it plays out not in our eternal destiny, but our daily lives. As people who have been led into light by the person of Jesus, all manner of darkness are out of place in what we do, say, and take in. Rather, may we be full of a language of thanksgiving as we cultivate a world full of God’s kingdom, not trading any piece of life for something that has the taste of death.
In this short but beautifully clear passage, Paul brings us back to the simplicity of the Gospel reminding us to imitate Jesus by walking in love. Though the practical application can be incredibly complex, Compassion is where we must begin in order to share God’s reconciliation and renewal with the world.
In this passage, Paul calls us as Jesus followers to cease from tearing one another down as this tears apart Christ’s body of the global church and grieves the Holy Spirit. Rather, we’ve each been given the lifework of building up and benefiting one another with every single word we say, for it is in the deep inner work of being kind and tenderhearted, forgiving one another, that we find the heartbeat of Jesus—who has been radically kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving to us.
After reminding the Ephesians to walk not as they once did before, but as new creations, Paul describes a new way of life that no longer tears down others with words. He bases this passage on Psalm 4, where King David cries out to God for vindication after lies were being spread against him, God’s anointed king. Paul identifies the devil as the accuser who seeks to accuse God’s people, the church, by causing divisions, anger, and strife within the body. However, God invites us to live truthfully with one another, working hard to contribute to the good of the community of God the church.
Our own way of thinking and living, outside of Christ, leads to death and destruction. And as we’ve probably all found, the tide of the world can pull us out to the waves of our own fearful whims, temporary idols, and limited conclusions.
This is why Paul calls us to renew our minds, becoming like Christ. In this passage, he calls us to consume less of what the limited world has to offer and more of what the unlimited God has to fulfill us. Through this, He crafts us into renewed men and women, brimming with life.
The circumstances of our world feel increasingly turbulent and they so easily toss us back and forth as we attempt to navigate them.
Yet Jesus gave gifts to the Church to ensure that we would know and remember the Gospel as our anchor in Him and His Kingdom in all things, becoming become mature and complete, fully equipped for the mission of God.
In his letter to the church of Ephesus, Paul draws up a wondrous picture of the diversity and unity that is displayed in the church as they abide in Christ, shining forth the manifold wisdom of God.
Before getting into the details of what that practically looks like though, Paul takes a moment to remind us what will give us enduring perseverance in the great work of fighting for unity in a broken world.
Through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, God gives us the challenging, yet magnificent calling to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
If this calling is so central to the life of the church, how come we struggle so much as Christians (throughout history) to maintain “unity in the bond of peace”? What can we come back to that will show us what it looks like to be this unified people?
The blueprint of unity is God and the Gospel! The only way the family of God can live in Unity is if we remember who our Father is, that we are His family, and that the Gospel is His story that we get to share with the world.
As Renaut returns from vacation, we return to the book of Ephesians. In the midst of one of the most divided times in our culture and communities in recent history, Paul calls believers through the book of Ephesians to be unified in Christ, while maintaining the beauty of our diversities.
Though our differences often seem to create disunity, the Gospel provides a hope that indeed we will see God’s power within us produce a beautiful unity in diversity that shouts the Gospel to the world.
As we come to a close in our series on Faith and Emotions through the guide of the Psalms, we take a slight turn in our study.
In previous weeks, we’ve examined individual Psalms by looking at the different emotions expressed by the Psalmist in their ever-changing circumstances, seeing how they expressed and journeyed through them in a way that honors and glorifies God.
In unpacking Psalm 116, however, we look at the emotion of God, the Maker, expressed to the Psalmist, His creation. In it, we find that when the Psalmist calls out to the Lord in distress and anguish, the deeply felt response of God is Compassion—a kind that leads Him to action.
The landscape of life inevitably includes journeys through lands of discord, confusion, and even danger. In the midst of these, we thirst for leadership we can trust. Whether it be in our families, workplaces, or government, we are always searching—striving—to find Comfort and Peace.
Psalm 23 reminds us we have a Good Shepherd, who is greater than all of these things and endures beyond all seasons. He leads us to green pastures, sits with us by still waters, walks with us through shadowed valleys, and sustains us in the presence of our enemies.
With His rod and staff, He pushes back the darkness of our world and wanderings, drawing us back to Himself again and again.
God is indeed good, regardless of whatever circumstances and storms we may encounter. Psalm 138 reminds us of who God is in the middle of life—even when things are wrong with this broken world.
We praise God for His lovingkindness which does not change. Give thanks to the Lord because He is good and His steadfast love endures forever! He will fulfill his purpose for us, just as He has promised.
David, a man after God’s own heart, sinned greatly against God and His Kingdom and then tried his best to keep it hidden. Yet, when his sin was exposed, he experienced incredible remorse, admitted his guilt, and responded with a beautiful Psalm of Repentance.
This Psalm gives us an incredible glimpse into an invitation as the people of God to be quick to repent when we recognize the sin in our own hearts and lives.
The world we live in is clearly broken and fallen. We are living through a global pandemic only to see our society reeling from the recent acts of hatred, cruelty and selfishness.
We see the effects of sin all around us and we are saddened, frustrated and angry.
Yet in the Psalms we have been given a beautiful invitation in the midst of it all to lament the broken nature of our world and ask our God to intervene.
When it comes to the ever-changing emotions of life, the book of Psalms is an incredible gift to God’s people. This songbook of prayers gives us a wonderful glimpse into the vast topography of faith and feeling that colors life, reminding us of who God is in the midst of it all.
Join us as we start our exploration of faith and feeling through the guide of the Psalms with its opening chapters of Psalms 1 and 2.
As we come to the final week of the Flourish series, we recognize that God has not only allowed us to be recipients of the good news we call the Gospel, but also participants in spreading it to the world. This week we recognize the incredible nature of partnering with Jesus in his mission to redeem the unredeemed spaces in us and around us as we bring his Kingdom to bear on earth.
Our current reality clearly demonstrates our need for one another. God exists in communion as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and He crafted us after Himself with our created purpose being fulfilled amidst community as well. It is in leading life together that we as the Church can be ambassadors for Christ, displaying the perfect magnitude of His passion, glory, and gifts to a world in need of Him.
With Christ as the head, we—His body the Church—are made up of many parts; all invited and empowered to fulfill His mission. Jesus prayed that we may be one. Not only is this the way we spur one another on; it’s essential for our growth in Christ.
Jesus’ personal invitation to each one of us is to follow him, remaining and continuing on our way with him in intimacy. His desire is not that we would merely do things for him or believe the things he said, but that we would be present with him.
The same way we find intentional activities to build a relationship with a friend, a spouse, a child, or a roommate; we cultivate our relationship with Jesus with purposeful practices known as Spiritual Disciplines. These are ways God has given us to grow our communion with Him, as demonstrated by Jesus.
Let’s go on a journey together as we continue to experience in deeper and deeper ways a life of intimacy with Jesus.
The gospel is the revealed mystery of how God, through the sacrifice of His one and only son, has conquered sin and death to liberate us from the emptiness of its suffocating clutches.
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has broken the back of darkness and given us an open invitation into a never-ending Kingdom of light, where we get to share wholly in the grand story of God restoring the world to Himself for his glory. In this good news, we have life that cannot be lost or destroyed.
The Bible is a collection of books written over a thousand years that tells the unified story of God’s creation and redemption of humanity.
Its pages are colored by beauty, brutality, power, and truth.
Throughout them we discover who God is; who we are as His creation; what our past, present, and future place is in the world; and, grandest of all, the truth and the way of Jesus—the One sent to rescue, revive, and lead us into a story worth living.
Whether our world seems utterly right or entirely backward to us at the time, this ancient, wild, everyday book points us towards the Anchor of everlasting life.