PRAYER OF CONFESSION

This past Sunday, Pastor Harry spoke about the principle of giving. It’s something of an oxymoron, but the more you give, the more you receive. We all sacrifice a little something to be at Mosaic. For me, I love the rhythms and centeredness of traditional mainstream churches. So in our household, we observe Lent every…

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THE MYSTERY OF GIVING

An excerpt of the Prayer for Peace, from which we have been studying, states, “for it is in giving that one receives”.  The Christ-followers of Mosaic are well acquainted with how this works because of their confidence in God’s promises and His Spirit living in them.  Their faithfulness has been manifested throughout the church’s history…

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Love is…

When we hear 1 Corinthians 13 read at weddings, we’ve been conditioned to associate its wisdom exclusively to romantic love. However, to do so is to miss the point! This chapter speaks of a love that should permeate every aspect of our community. The church in Corinth was a community struggling with division, spiritual pride,…

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COMFORT GIVERS

There is purpose in pain: to eventually become the one that God uses to comfort others.  Both comfort and affliction are meant to be shared within the Body of Christ, not lived out in isolation.   I believe Pastor Harry couched it appropriately in his sermon this past Sunday when he said, and I paraphrase (hopefully…

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SADNESS OR JOY – OR BOTH

A rock feels no pain and an island never cries. Simon and Garfunkel published a song with these lyrics in 1965, which asserted an exaggerated aversion for relationships. It’s a song about being a fortress unto one’s self, disdaining love and laughter, hiding away from loving others in order to avoid the inevitable sadness that…

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95 VERSUS 99

Many of us have bemoaned the state of our country and the world. As election year rolls around, it becomes even more difficult to find hope amongst the rhetoric. We want to do something but feel helpless against the perceived darkness. As Pastor Lawrence pointed out Sunday, perhaps the problem is not too much darkness,…

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FREEDOM

As I listened to Pastor Mark’s sermon this past Sunday, I jotted down some key words and phrases in preparation for this blog, which were (1) worry, (2) whose will, (3) Jehovah Jirah, (4) confidence, (5) faith, (6) the twelve spies, (7) Hebrews 11:1, (8) God will make a way, (9) transcending human limitations, (10)…

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THE TENSION BETWEEN DOUBT AND FAITH

I’ve come to think that it is impossible to have faith without doubt. What could I possibly mean by that? The Bible is clear that we are to have faith and NOT doubt. When doubts arise, and if we are human beings then they will, verses pop into our minds, such as James 1:6, “But…

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THE MASTER’S TOUCH

“The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” otherwise known as The Old Violin, is a poem written by Myra Brooks Welch in 1921.  It tells of an old, battered violin that is about to be sold as the last item at an auction for almost nothing. But just as it’s going, going, gone, a violinist steps…

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LOVE, OR THE LACK THEREOF….

The standards of our Savior have always been high…impossible, even. Forgive those who persecute you?? Love your enemies?? We all know we can only do so by the Lord’s grace. The problem is when we don’t recognize that we are NOT forgiving, that we are NOT loving our enemies. We usually have no problem seeing…

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