Mosaic Boston

be sure to join us Sunday for our concluding sermon in the "Minor Prophets :: Major Profit" series. We'll be studying the book of Malachi and talking about "True Worship."

When you think about "happiness," what's the first thing that comes to mind? What needs to be added to, or removed from, your life, for you to be truly happy? Now, if you reach this point of bliss, how do you sustain it? How do you protect it from all the evil and suffering in this world? How do you protect it from yourself? How do we find and sustain happiness in a world so full of sadness and brokenness? Who are the happiest people you've ever met? What made them happy? Prophets don't have a reputation for being happy. However, one of the surprisingly happiest prophets in the Bible is Habakkuk. He found a happiness which had absolute nothing to do with his circumstances (which were miserable). We'll be studying this short book tomorrow. It's only 3 chapters so definitely read through it today. His conclusion in chapter 3 is, though everything seems to be going wrong, "YET, I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength."

We love stories about redemption, don't we? Just think about how many of your favorite books or movies boil down to stories about a person struggling to redeem themselves or someone else. If you look at IMDB's list of top 250 movies of all time, the #1 movie is the classic, "Shawshank Redemption." Then, as you make your way down the list, almost every other movie (arguably) is about redemption--a story of someone ingeniously and determinedly atoning for their mistakes and/or saving themselves or loved ones. Why is the plot line of redemption so compelling to our hearts? Could it be, because we long for our own redemption? Could it be, because we all long for another chance? Could it be, because we all long to be saved?

We're continuing our series through the books of the Bible called "The Minor Prophets." Tomorrow, we'll focus our attention on the book of Amos. The big idea of the book is that God, as the just Judge of the Universe, cares about what we do with our lives and how we relate to the people around us. He cares about Justice. He wants His people to "do justice," which in Scripture includes sharing food, shelter, and basic resources with those who lack them. In particular, Amos reminds us that God cares how we relate to those who are vulnerable: the weak, sick, elderly, mentally and physically handicapped, refugees, immigrants, working poor, natural disaster victims, unemployed, single parents, widows, and orphans. One of the famous verses for the book is found in chapter 5, verse 24: "Let Justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." I pray for Mosaic Boston to continue to growing into a church from whom justice flows torrentially.

“Come and see!” Hearing those words can evoke different emotions. There’s a bunny that we have been watching in our backyard, and we have seen it grow from its infancy into adulthood. When my wife says to “come and see,” I know that I’m going to be looking at a cute rabbit that's getting bigger and more fluffy by the day. But “come and see” can also bring about negative emotions. Last week I was at my parent’s house and the “come and see” that was used there on a regular basis was directed at my sister, telling her to “come and see” the messes that her daughter was making. Whether good or bad, the invitation to “come and see” should be answered by us actually coming to see what’s going on. In John 1:35-51, the passage that we will be looking at on Sunday, Jesus gives an invitation to “come and see”. What he invites us to come and see is far greater than anything that we have ever beheld on earth, and it will forever change our lives. Join us at Mosaic Church this Sunday, as we come and see what it is that is

This week at Mosaic we’re going to talk about how the Gospel moves us beyond slacktivism, and toward a purpose in life that is eternally meaningful.

We're continuing our series called "This Changes Everything," in which we're showing how the Awesome News of Jesus Christ (The Gospel), changes absolutely every single major area of our lives. There aren't many areas of life more all encompassing than the way we relate to the people around us. In a place like Boston, where we're packed in like sardines, we really need to learn how to live with one another and not just to survive, but to thrive. Thanks be to Jesus, who's given us a really powerful Gospel, which really does provide the resources to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We're continuing our series called "This Changes Everything," in which we're showing how the Awesome News of Jesus Christ (The Gospel), changes absolutely every single major area of our lives. Perhaps, I should have entitled this series: "Stuff you're not supposed to talk about at church." Last week we talked about money, tomorrow we're talking about God & Sex. How does the Gospel inform and redeem sex? Join us as we look to Scripture for answers.

Tomorrow, we'll be talking about how the Gospel changes the way we view, earn, spend, give, and invest money. Yes, we'll be talking about money at church ( ::gasp:: !!). Yes, it sounds like a major faux pas! Don't ever talk about money at church (right?). Especially at a church plant! Why are we talking about money tomorrow? Because Jesus talked about money.... a lot!! Jesus talked more about money, than he did about faith, prayer, heaven, and hell... combined! Over 25% of the recorded words of Jesus in the Gospels are devoted to money (28 passages). The Bible has over 800 verses discussing money. Jesus taught that we either worship our wealth, or we worship with our wealth. In Matthew 6:24 he said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Tomorrow at Mosaic, we're wrapping up our "Why God Why" series with a sermon attempting to answer why it's reasonable to believe in the Bible as God's means by which He reveals Himself and His will to the world. Even if a person believes in God and in Jesus Christ as the way God has revealed himself, many still have a hard time accepted the Bible as God's Word. “You don’t honestly believe that, do you?” Why would anyone believe in an authoritative book about absolute truth? Silly. Funny thing is, whenever anyone wants to refute or discredit this book--they do it by writing their own book. In order to discredit the Bible, you can't just discredit it, you have to supplant it. In order to refute these words, they write their own words. In order to counter these absolute words, they come up with their own absolute words. "Don’t believe in the Bible. Buy my book, that tells you why you shouldn’t believe in the Bible. Don’t follow Jesus. Follow me." So if there's no way around a worldview built on some version

If you've been following along with us at Mosaic, you know that we're approaching the 4th installment in our 5-part series, called "Why God Why." We've attempted to show that Christianity makes emotional sense, personal sense, and intellectual sense. Faith in Christ sustains both the weight of the heart and the mind. Last week I attempted to make the case for theism. However, even if there is a God, how do we know it's the Christian God? How do we know that Jesus Christ is God? Wasn't he just a man? Even if he was a great man, and a powerful, charismatic leader, wasn't he still a man?

We continue our "Why (God) Why" series tomorrow by making the case that "Christianity Makes Personal Sense." What do I mean by this? I mean: Christianity provides the most substantive, substantiated and satisfying answer to the question: "Who are you?"

A few years ago, a group of atheists in England financed an advertising campaign where they wrapped buses with the following message: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." The questionable word in the ad isn't "probably"; it's "enjoy." This is a categorical error. There is much more to us, and life, than enjoyment. We can't just "enjoy" life, because we have more emotions than "enjoying." When we're not enjoying life, we're busy feeling hope, boredom, curiosity, anxiety, irritation, fear, joy, bewilderment, hate, tenderness, despair, relief, exhaustion, heartache, etc. The Resurrection of the Son of God, speaks to our minds, our souls, and our hearts.

If you've ever read Acts 28, you might have noticed that the ending is incredibly anti-climactic and actually kind of random. Why in the world doesn't the author of Acts, Luke, tell us what happened next to Paul? Did he preach the Gospel to Caesar? Did he go to Spain and then to Europe? What happened next?!?! How did he die? Why don't we get any details? It feels like that really unsatisfying finale to [insert your favorite show or book]. Well, actually, Luke is doing something really brilliant. At the end of the book of Acts, Luke has Paul "fade to black" and redirects the camera...at the reader! The point of Acts 28--is that there's an Acts 29. The story of Jesus is to be continued through you! Now, what's that look like?