Mosaic Church Teachings

Christmas is full of paradoxes. And not the least of which is the God of the Universe coming to save us all ... as a little, vulnerable baby. And yet in the mind-bending, paradigm shattering Incarnation, God comes undeniably close. In this teaching we see how Christmas reminds us that God has time for us. He is present in the nitty gritty details of our life. He cares and he's not staying distant...

Christmas can really be enchanting! With all the lights and lattes, we can easily get swept into the Christmas spirit of warm feels and nostalgia. Yet on a deeper and more profound level, we tend to struggle with disenchantment. For most of us, awe and wonder and mystery have been mostly banished from our lives. But the Bible teaches us about an incredible mystery at the heart of Christmas: the in...

When Jesus was born, the angels proclaimed "peace on earth." Hundreds of years beforehand, prophets said the messiah would come bring peace. But after 2000 years, the earth has no peace. Wars, strife, division, and sufferings characterize our world, just as they always have. And in some ways, the stats show it's getting worse, rather than better! So what are we to make of this stark contrast betwe...

Who are you? Can you determine your identity by your choices and actions? How much of you identity comes from your family? These fundamental questions are rarely consciously considered, but nevertheless powerfully drive our lives and experience. In this first Advent teaching we look at ancient prophesies about the Messiah and see how our ultimate questions of origin and identity were answered and...

Christians are supposed to love their enemies and to prove their devotion to Christ by their gentle and respectful behavior. How tragic then, that many refuse to darken the doors of churches precisely because of Christians' bad behavior! In this final teaching through the Beatitudes, we remember who the real enemy is (hint: it's not actually humans) and hear again Christ's call to live the upside-...

We need to talk about this a little more. How exactly are followers of Jesus supposed to engage with culture and people who are antagonistic towards them because of their faith? In this teaching, we revisit the conversation we began last Sunday over the final verses in the Beatitudes concerning the blessing of those who are persecuted and mistreated. We consider the extremes of response and seek t...

Too many of us are peacekeepers, far too few are peacemakers. As Jesus defines it, peace isn't just the absence of conflict of discomfort or chaos. It's actually into those places of tension and discomfort that he calls his children to be peacemakers, bringing the healing and comfort of Christ where it's desperately needed. In this teaching we look into the distinction between peacekeeping and pea...

When I ask, "Are you still pure?", what are you thinking about? For many, especially those who grew up in the church, the concept of purity is strongly tied to sexual behavior. The Purity Culture movement of the 90s and 2000s strongly called young people to abstain from sex until they were married in order to remain pure. But is this what Jesus is envisioning when he blesses those who are pure in...

Jesus says the good life is found when you're giving and receiving mercy as a settled lifestyle. Receiving mercy feels great! But giving it is usually quite costly and difficult. Is that really where the good life is found? In this teaching we look into the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 18 as we consider the practicality of a life of mercy. And we see Christ himself as the Greatest Samarit...

When Jesus taught us, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness", he wasn't only referring to our own personal right standings before God. He is also commending those who groan inwardly for things to be right in our world -- justice! And yet it can be easy for us to long for one more than the other. In this teaching we study the biblical connection between righteousness and justic...

Have we gotten Jesus' teaching all wrong? When he taught us "blessed are the meek", did he intend his followers to become powerless doormats? How then could we inherit the earth? Wouldn't it be better to stand up for ourselves and overcome evil through might? That's the way many Western Christians are leaning these days. In this teaching we look more carefully into Christ's teaching on meekness an...

Happy are the sad? That's what it sounds like Jesus says in the the beginning of his famous sermon on the mount. That just sounds wrong on the face of it! But what if Jesus was trying to teach us something profound about the truly good life he's inviting us into? In this teaching we look into Matthew 5:4 and consider how those who mourn can truly be considered blessed in light of the comfort we ca...

"Yah but, you can only turn the other cheek so many times; in this world you have to start punching back!" Variations on this sentiment are common in our culture today, including in many Christian circles. The idea is that if you want to win the culture wars, you have to fight power with power. And yet this is the polar opposite of what Jesus taught! In this teaching we kick off a new series on th...

What does a good church look like? Does it have stellar preaching? A polished kid's program? Community outreach? Maybe. But the key biblical descriptor for a great church is the people of God growing together at a deeper level. In other words: community! In this teaching, we look at the early church as an example of an awesome church and consider how we could do church that way today. And we consi...

We live in a time of unprecedented connection through technology. The internet, social media, and the smartphone have revolutionized our understanding and experience of connection. And yet we're also more profoundly divided and lonely than ever before. How can this be? In this teaching we look at the foundational difference between connection and community and see how Jesus calls his followers to...

When most people think about God, they see their father. Not their Heavenly Father, but their actual earthly father, father figure, or major caregiver. It all happens subconsciously of course, but this mask we put on God has tremendous impact on how we think about and relate to him. In this teaching we look at the parable of the grouchy neighbor and discover a God that's similar and yet profoundly...

Sometimes Jesus disrupts us with a hard teaching. But he always disrupts so that he can entice us with something better. And in his parable of the missing bridesmaids, we're challenged with our own need to respond to Christ's invitation to intimacy and prioritize its pursuit in our daily lives. The good life is not devoid of effort, but rather of earning. How much intimacy with Jesus are you curre...

Some of the most graceless people you'll ever meet are also the most religious. For many, the religious life is essentially about keeping the right rules to try to justify yourself before God -- in other words, law-keeping. But what Jesus brought was an entirely different paradigm: grace! Grace says, "I'm not justified by how good I am, but by how good God is toward me, completely apart from my ow...

Jesus was not a great marketer. At the height of his ministry, when the numbers were looking great, he turned around to the crowds and told them following him would cost them everything. He said only those willing to give up their entire lives would be worthy of following him. They left in droves. In this teaching we look at the twin parables of the tower and the army and consider both the cost of...

It's the American Dream: work hard, save up, retire early, and enjoy your life. We're driven by a desire for more and better. So when Jesus tells a story about a hardworking farmer who has a bumper crop, he's talking about us. But Jesus flips everything on its head by calling the man a fool for saving up for the good life, since that very night he was going to die. Not an evil man, but a fool. In...

One of the most misunderstood parables of Jesus is that of the ten minas. It has caused generations of Christ followers, particularly here in the West, to think Jesus is primarily wanting us to be productive. Efficient. A spiritual version of "Show me the money." Instead this parable actually shows how he's looking for faithfulness and loyalty while we await his return. What difference would it ma...

During the storms that batter us from side to side, where is your house built? Is your life built on the shifting sand of preference, social media, and newsfeeds? Or are you working hard to found your life on the sure bedrock of Jesus Christ? In this teaching we look at the parable of the houses and consider how to audit the foundations of our lives today. How might you build more intentionally th...

Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed - but what exactly does that mean? In this teaching we see how this short parable of Jesus is jam packed with meaning relevant for our lives today. There's a surprise warning to us as we so easily slip into our culture's idea that bigger is better and quick results win the market. And there's hope for orienting your life around God's upside down...

Just how are we supposed to engage in the midst of tragedies? Is firing off a tweet about "thoughts and prayers" enough? Should we instead throw our energy into activism? In this teaching, we look at two stories Jesus told about the relationship between prayer and action, humility and persistence: the parables of the persistent widow and the Pharisee and the tax collector. What might Jesus be call...

Air is easy to forget. You don't think about it, see right through it. And you rarely feel it, unless it's moving fast. But air is extremely important, powerful, even destructive. And we can't live a moment without breathing it in. Many of us experience God's Spirit like the air. It's easy to forget it's there, unless something big happens. In fact, the Bible uses the same word for wind, breath, a...