Mosaic Boston

You ever feel like living a faithful Christian life is an uphill battle? Like the deck is stacked against you? Like you're Sisyphus, pushing a massive boulder uphill, and when you're almost at the top, you gas out and the stone comes tumbling down the hill, almost crushing you in the process? There are so many temptations in this world, and so many more in the city. How in the world can you remain faithful and flourishing, instead of faithless and languishing? You ever feel like you're the absolutely only Christian in your circles of influence? Maybe one of the only Christians in your whole school, company, and or community? Perhaps in your whole city? Well, you feel like that, because in Boston, it's statistically true. Sometimes, the Christian life feels like you're living in a den with lions, who are ready to devour you alive. Sometimes, it feels like there are lions on the outside, and lions of the heart on the inside. Join us as we start a study through the epic book of Daniel and learn some timel

Corporately, we'll celebrate the triumph of Christ over Satan, Sin, and Death on our behalf! As the Scriptures say: "Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

This Sunday, we are finishing our "Hard Sayings of Jesus" series with a look at Matthew 21:1-22, where Jesus rides in to Jerusalem on the occasion we have come to know as "Palm Sunday." We've chosen to include this passage in our series reflecting on the most perplexing teachings/actions of Jesus, because there's so much in this text that really seems out of place. Why does Jesus tell his disciples to just take some random person's donkeys? Further, why in the world does Jesus ride a donkey in to Jerusalem, especially if He's the Messianic King? What's up with people throwing their shirts on the ground? Palm tree branches? What's Hosanna mean (we sing it all the time, but what in the world does it mean)? Immediately after this pleasant, idyllic scene, Jesus goes to the Temple and goes berserk on the money-changers and sellers of pigeons. What?! Why are pigeons being sold in the Temple? And why such an intense reaction from Jesus? What's going on? The very next paragraph is also puzzling. Hungry/hangry Jes

A Canaanite woman begs Jesus to heal her sick daughter, and he responds by saying "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." What?! Did Jesus just call her a dog? What just happened? This text seems utterly incompatible with the character of Jesus. It seems shockingly intolerant. Are we missing something? However, the woman isn't offended and actually responds in such a way, that Jesus says "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire," and the woman's daughter was instantly healed. Jesus was impressed with this woman's humble chutzpah. She accepts Jesus' words with humility, but it's not a weak humility, it's a chutzpy humility. She exhibits an audacious, confident, brassy humility. It's extremely paradoxical, but humble chutzpah is the key to a great faith that unleashes the great power of God in our lives.

I don't know about you, but I think I've had my fill of the mosh-pit morass that this presidential election has become (and we've got 8 more months of it!!). As election season fatigue sets in, it's helpful to remind ourselves of who is really in charge: King Jesus! We all long for a leader who can bring true, lasting, meaningful change. We all long for a leader who is good, kind, benevolent (and honest!). Jesus is a King who has promised to usher in His Kingdom. However, his Kingdom is full of paradox and surprise. Today, we'll continue our series in the "Hard Sayings of Jesus" series, by looking at Matthew 11:1-19. The text begins with John the Baptizer, who is in prison for preaching the truth, sending his disciples to Jesus to ask: "Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?" This question comes as an absolute shock, because John, as a prophet of God and the cousin of Jesus, knew exactly who Jesus was. John knew that Jesus was the King come to usher in his Kingdom. Yet, John couldn't u

One of the cardinal rules of public speaking is: "Don't be boring!" I remember a preaching professor in seminary used to say, "Preaching a boring sermon is a deadly sin!" Why? Because the Gospel is anything but boring. Jesus is the most interesting man in the world (sorry Dos Equis guy). As the most interesting man in the world, Jesus' words are the most riveting words in the history of the world. His words are so interesting because they are so scandalous! Over and over in the Gospel accounts, crowds are amazed, astonished, shocked! They marvel, they tremble, they worship. Our culture needs to be shocked by Jesus. We need to be constantly re-shocked by Jesus. We are the most entertained and pleasured society in the history of the world, and still, we're the most bored. We've grown numb to God and to each other. We need to be tased by God's shocking truth and grace.

As we continue our series through the "Hard Sayings of Jesus," we'll look at one of the most mystifying texts in all of Scripture: Jesus' teaching on the "Unforgivable Sin." Many Christians over the centuries have worried that perhaps they, unwittingly, at some point, have committed this sin. Just to calm the troubled soul of the Christian burdened by this worry: No Christian can commit this sin. If you are worried about having committed this sin, you cannot possibly have committed it. However, this doesn't mean we can just write off this text as irrelevant. I believe it has lots to teach us, including the realization of how glorious it is, that the Holy God of the Universe would forgive any of our sins, at all!! We must never get over the staggering fact, that our blasphemies and sins can be forgiven, though at such a great cost to the Lord. We also need the reminder that we can never take God's grace and forgiveness for granted. Forgiveness is not owed to us, it is gifted to us. Finally, we need to take

Today, we're beginning a new sermon series called, "The Hard Sayings of Jesus." Most of what Jesus said was absolutely clear to understand, though impossible to do (apart from the grace of God). Mark Twain spoke for many, when he said that the things in the Bible that bothered him most were not those that he did not understand but those that he understood quite well. However, Jesus did say some things, that were just perplexing. In John 6:60-61, after Jesus finishes a sermon, Scripture says that many of his disciples said: "This is hard saying; who can listen to it?" But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this?" So, we're devoting the next 6 Sundays to ponder the hardest sayings of Jesus, and revealing their vast implications for our lives. Join us this tomorrow as we look at Matthew 7:1-6, and consider what Jesus means when he says, "Judge not, that you be not judged."

Have you heard of "The Lady Macbeth Effect"? It's named after the Shakespearean queen who manipulates her husband into killing the king, and then is racked by shame and guilt. She start frenetically washing away blood on her hands that only she can see. She deludes herself that "a little water will clear us of this deed." But for all of her repeated washing, she cannot cleanse herself of the ever-consuming guilt. By Act V, the stubborn blood stains have driven the illegitimate queen to madness and suicide. Psychologists have coined the real connection between morality and cleanliness "The Lady Macbeth Effect." Not too long ago, two researchers published a paper in the Journal of Science arguing that the connection is more than metaphorical. In one set of tests, the researchers asked participants to recall an ethical or unethical act, and then asked them to fill in the missing letters in a series of incomplete words, like W_ _H and SH_ _ER. Those subjects who had recalled unethical acts mostly returned WASH a

What's your most prized possession? Of all the things you own, that belong to you, what do you treasure most? When I was 17 years old, I spent my life savings life savings on a car. Now my life savings wasn't much, about $3,000, but it was all I had and I earned it by mowing a lot of lawns in the summer, shoveling a lot of driveways in the winter, and raking a lots of leaves in the fall. So I gave everything I had, to buy my first car, a 1988 Audi 80. Man, this thing was a beauty! I washed it pretty much everyday, it was pristine inside, and the rims were always glowing. I treasured it like the apple of my eye. There were only two problems: it kept breaking down and I had zero mechanical skills (and this was before youtube university). I ended up having to get rid of the car within about a year since it became a money-pit. Of all God's most prized possession, Scripture says that God views his people as His "treasured possession" (Ex. 19:5, Mal. 3:17). God's people are the apple of His eye (Dt. 32:10). The i

When we think of grace, we think of it more like a couch rather than a coach. We think of grace like a couch: you sit, relax, chill and grace does all the work (maybe brings you a snack). We should be thinking of grace more like a coach. In Titus 2:11, the Apostle Paul says it's God's grace that trains us to renounce ungodliness. God sends Coach Grace into our lives to bring lasting transformation. Coach Grace motivates us, drives us, inspires us, energizes us, to achieve seemingly insurmountable levels of godliness. Transformation, like any form of change, always hurts... at least temporarily, but Coach Grace is there for us to help you train through the pain to become the person God has called you to be. In Titus 1:5-16, Paul gives a seemingly impossible list of qualifications for leaders in God's church. They are to be self-controlled, upright, holy, disciplined, etc. As I was reading the list, it hit me that there were no seminaries in Crete; no Christian bookstores, no Christian blogs, podcasts, confer

At the beginning of tomorrow's sermon, I'm going to take a look at what the Lord has done in and through Mosaic Boston, and also cast vision for all I long for the Lord to do in and through us in 2016. 2015 was an incredible year for our church body! In many ways, it was the greatest year to date, in terms of quantifiable growth. In order to be good stewards of God's grace upon us, we need to be aware of this growth, and make wise decisions moving forward, in order to fulfill the ministry Jesus has entrusted to us. Furthermore, we're launching a new sermon series tomorrow, through the phenomenal book of Titus. We're entitling the series "Boot Camp and Battlefields." The big idea of Titus is found in Titus 2:11, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness..." The grace of God is given to us to train us. We are to be Christians who are in constant training to lead the lives we are called to live.

Have you ever completed a project, only to realize minutes later your work has been undone? You hit the bottom of your inbox, but by the time you send your last reply there is a new message waiting for your response. You clean the house, and before you can sit down to admire your work the kids' toy box has already exploded across your living room. So much of life comes with the feeling that there is always more work to be done. It can be exhausting. Frustrating. Nothing is ever finished! Today we are excited to have Charlie Dunn, the planting pastor of Hub Church in South Boston, with us to preach on Jesus last words from the cross. What are the implications of Jesus' words, "it is finished"? What is finished? Is anything ever really finished? Join us as we worship together and dive in to the hope and the freedom that are offered through the completed work of Jesus Christ!

"It's a New Year and that comes with new energy and passion to bring about change in our lives for the better. But more often than not, we hear stories about how people just didn't follow through. That diet just wasn't "for them". The gym just didn't "work with their schedule". The new Bible reading plan just wasn't "giving them what they needed". Data show that 25% of us will have fallen short of our New Year's Resolution in just one week! And the people written about in the Bible are no different. Peter says he'll never deny Jesus, but he does. David is made king as a "man after God's heart", but he falls into sin. Today, we'll be looking at a less famous character of the Bible, King Hezekiah. He's called the most faithful king of Judah, but even he falls away from what he set out to do for God. See just what his ancient situation says about our current one, and how Jesus' resolve is what we must ultimately rely on."

This Advent season we're looking at the four Authorized Biographies of Jesus Christ to inform our understanding of the first coming of Christ, and prepare for his second coming. Today, we look at Christmas according to the Gospel of John, from John 1:1-18, one of the most theologically and philosophically rich texts ever written. In preparation for our time together, be sure to spend some time today meditating and reflecting on the text. The key verse in this text, regarding the 1st Advent of Christ, is verse 14: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." What an incredible God we serve, who willingly humbled himself, and became flesh and lived with us. The God who spoke the universe into existence, became a fertilized egg, an embryo, a fetus. He entered the world as a baby. The infinite became an infant. God learned to crawl, stand, walk. The Alpha and Omega learned his ABC's (so to speak). God experienced

This Advent season we're looking at the four Authorized Biographies of Jesus Christ to inform our understanding of the first coming of Christ, and prepare for his second coming. Last week we looked at "Christmas according to the Gospel of Matthew." Today, we're looking at "Christmas according to the Gospel of Mark." At this point, you should be asking, what in the world did Mark say about Christmas? At first glance, it appears that he doesn't say much. But you definitely have to join us tomorrow as we see that Mark has plenty to say about the first Advent of Jesus, and even more about the second coming. Mark describes the incarnation of Jesus Christ with the phrase, "The Heavens were torn open," meaning the ideal has become real, the metaphysical has become physical, the immortal has become mortal, the transcendent has become immanent and the unapproachable is someone you can embrace and by whom you can be embraced. Join us tomorrow as we look at Mark's account of the both Advents of Jesus Christ in Mark ch

Advent is the celebration of the first coming of Jesus Christ and the anticipation of his second coming. I think our culture has over-sentimentalized Christmas. Yes, the Christmas story is a sweet story in some respects: there's a cute baby, farm animals, shepherds, wise-men, gifts, angels singing. Nice. However, there's also lots of heartache, shock, anxiety, pain, and suffering, and blood-shed. And God comes right into the middle of that whole mess. This season is the perfect time to reassess where we are in our relationship with God and be reminded of the fact that our God is with us. This is a fact. The Christmas story isn't just a nice, sappy, moral parable. The Christmas story is Good News. Good reportage. What makes the Christmas story so amazing, isn't that it's a story, but that it's history. To remind us of the facts, we're going to look at the four authorized biographies of Jesus Christ: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Join us tomorrow as we look at Matthew's account of the 1st Advent of Jesus C

Tomorrow we plan on wrapping up our sermon series through the 10 Commandments, with the last one, which is simply "You shall not covet." At first glance this seems to be a strange way to wrap up the "greatest laws ever." Where's the climax? Where's the crescendo? Seems like more of a dud, than anything else. Right? Well, not exactly. The 10th Commandment is actually a perfect culmination of the Decalogue, because it reduces all sin to the wrongful motives of the heart. Also, there couldn't be a more appropriate time to talk about coveting than right before the holidays!

As we look at commandment #9 tomorrow, we’ll be thinking through the question: “What is truth?” and the corresponding question: “What is a lie?” We live in culture that’s accepted the lie that there is no such thing as truth. At least, not ultimate truth. Not Truth, with a capital “T”. Nowadays, we’ve even accepted the lie that the Truth, even if it does exist, doesn’t really matter. In John 18, Pilate asks Jesus “What is truth?” Great question. He even asked the right person. But he didn’t wait for an answer. He didn’t really want to know. Jesus, the embodiment of Truth, taught his followers to be lovers of the truth and speak the truth in love. However, what about all the examples in Scripture of people who lied? What about the Israelie midwives in Egypt? What about Rahab? What about David feigning madness or pulling off military deceit? Doesn’t the end justify the means? Great questions. Join us tomorrow as we look at Commandment #9, and think through the vast implications of this commandment for our liv