Mosaic Boston

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

Have you ever been stolen from? I'm sure we all have. Remember that feeling the moment you found out? It's hard to describe, but we all know how it feels. You feel a mixture of shock, anger, helplessness, maybe ever grief. You feel like you've been violated. How could this have happened? How dare they?! What can I do to get it back? How can I seek justice? What's the most valuable thing you've had stolen from you? A watch? A purse or a wallet? Money? A bike? Your car? Your passport? A position in a program or at work? Your ideas? A boyfriend/girlfriend? Maybe you've had someone steal your identity? We've all had someone steal from us. It hurts. We know it's wrong. It's just wrong. Right? However, have you ever stolen anything? Of course you have. But when we steal, it usually is a little more complicated that "It's just wrong." We have our reasons, right? We can probably even make a great case to justify why in your case, in this particular instance, it's not necessarily wrong, per se. You don't just steal

This week we are continuing our sermon series through the 10 Commandments by looking at number 7, “You shall not commit adultery.” The Bible has a lot to say about sex, and several passages that would make even modern readers blush. While the Bible has a lot to say about the goodness of sex, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 that to even look at another person with lust, is to commit adultery in our hearts! God created sex to be amazing, and yet his standard seems almost unbelievable. So, why would God put restrictions around something so good? How does this apply to those of us who are married? How does it apply to those of us who are single? What does it really mean to keep the 7th Commandment, and is it even possible? These are some of the questions we’ll be asking this Sunday as we look at how the Bible address this important subject.

Have you ever heard (or perhaps said) the following: "Well, I'm a good person. I've never killed anyone!" Modern people love using murder as a benchmark for moral goodness: those who have killed are bad, and those who haven't are good. Oh, if it were that simplistic. Tomorrow, we turn our attention to Commandment #6, "You shall not murder." We'll look at many of the far reaching implications of this commandment, including many of the hot-button issues like abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, suicide, and just war theory. We'll also look at Matthew 5:21-26, where Jesus, in his famous Sermon on the Mount says the following regarding the 6th commandment: "I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." Jesus makes unjust anger, verbal abuse and personal hatred tantamount to murder. According to this definition, we're all guilty of transgressing

Few commandment hit as close to home and as straight to the heart as commandment number 5: "Honor your father and your mother." For some of us, this seems like common sense. For others, this seems archaic, offensive, and potentially painful. Some of us have deeply honorable parents. For others, we would rather not think about our biological parents. Several other factors complicate our receptivity to this commandment. We live in a culture where the idea of family has become fluid and indefinable. Our society has long ago separated sex from marriage, which complicates everything. What constitutes a family? Everything is exacerbated by our culture's visceral reaction to submission and honor. Why should I honor anyone? Why should I submit to anyone? Moreover, our culture prizes youth over wisdom, therefore the young seem to have more intrinsic value and savvy than the old, so why should we honor someone seemingly less worthy of honor. Be sure to join us tomorrow as we tackle a complex commandment, which offer

One of my absolute favorite Bible passages is when Jesus and his disciples get "caught" in a storm. As the ferocious winds tossed them around mercilessly, and water started inundating the small boat, the disciples are all freaking out. And what was Jesus doing? Taking a nap! They frantically wake him with pleas: "We're perishing" and "Don't you care?" Jesus, probably still a little groggy and somewhat annoyed that they disturbed his nice nap, gets up and calms the storm. The Gospel writers don't say what came next, other than the disciples being dumbstruck by what just happened, but I bet Jesus went straight back to sleep, because sometimes, the most spiritual thing we can do is take a nap. When we think about taking a day off, sometimes it feels like that. How in the world can I rest while my life is so tumultuous? I can't nap in the midst of a storm! If I rest, I'll sink. God hard-wired humans to both work and rest, in a healthy rhythm. If we stop doing either, we stop living full, flourishing lives. Th

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Indeed, this commandment prohibits the flippant use of God’s name to mark surprise (‘oh my G_d!’) or shock or worse, but it’s so much more than that. In order to begin to understand the depth of this commandment, we really need to understand the power of names, and names truly are powerful. Businesses have learned this a long time ago and globally recognized names like Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, Samsung, and McDonald’s invest billions each year to build, protect, and expand the reach of their brands. Companies spend seemingly disproportionate sums to hire “brand ambassadors” to promote and embody their corporate identity in appearance, demeanor, values, and ethics. So what does the idea of a “brand ambassador” have to do with the third commandment? Everything! Join us tomorrow as we discuss the profound implications of this commandment on our lives as followers of the One who bears the name above all names, Jesus Christ.

What's the most discussed problem in the the entire Bible? Idolatry. Idolatry?! Really? Yes. Book after book, chapter after chapter, verse after verse warn us about the destructive nature of wrongful worship. To contemporary people the world "idolatry" conjures up pictures of primitive people bowing down before hand-made statues. Totally irrelevant to us, right? Don't be so quick to write this off. Every culture is dominated by its own set of idols. Ours are beauty, power, money, success. We may not physically kneel before the statue of Aphrodite, but how much time and energy do we sacrifice at the alter of beauty. We may not actually burn incense to Artemis, but how many relationships are sacrificed at the alter of money. We may not actually worship Ares, but we'll give all we are for fame, significance and security. The timeless truths of Scripture are always timely. The human heart has not evolved beyond being an "idol-factory." Be sure to join us tomorrow, as look in-depth at the Second Law for Lif

We're starting a brand new sermon series called, "10 Laws for Life," as we look at the 10 Commandments as God's design for your freedom and humanity's flourishing.

As we wrap up our series on "Faith at Work" tomorrow, we'll be looking at how the Gospel of Jesus Christ provides the most meaningful answer to the question: "Why work?" Once we have a truly significant answer to the "Why" of work, the practical answers to "How should we work?" flow naturally. However, the most profound difference the Gospel makes regarding our work is by providing the most soul-satisfying answer to the question: "For whom should we work?" My dad has a painting business in the great state of Rhode Island and I grew up painting with him every summer. Essentially, I worked for him when I painted and he paid me much more than I deserved. However, he used to correct me every time I would say something along the lines of "I work for you." He would stop me, pause, and say, "You don't work for me... you work with me." This was true. He never asked me to do something he wasn't already doing himself. The Gospel teaches us that we don't ultimately work for ourselves. We work for the God of the unive

Just got back from a trip to China and I missed all of you tons!! I can't wait to worship and fellowship with you tomorrow! I was blessed by the opportunity to visit Xi'an, Beijing and Shanghai, all incredible places with amazing people and rich culture. I went with a group of pastors from New England to meet and network with fellow local pastors in those cities. As we met and learned from each other, God was boring a profound question deep into my soul: What makes a church great? As we visited these great cities, and then as I returned to the greatest city (in my humble opinion), I've been thinking about the irreducible nonnegotiables necessary for a great church. The irreducible components for a great church in China should also translate cross-culturally in Boston. Join us tomorrow as I plan to share about what makes for a great church. I deeply believe that a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission makes for a great church!