Mosaic Boston

We've had a wonderful journey through the book of James. I don't know about you, but I've been challenged week in and week out to truly put my faith to work. As we finish up the book of James tomorrow, Jesus' younger brother reminds us about the power of prayer. James' big idea comes out in chapter 5, verse 16 where he reminds us that prayer is powerful, but the prayer of a righteous person is especially powerful: "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." How's your prayer life? Would you characterize it as having "great power as it is working?" Be sure to join us tomorrow as we learn how to cultivate a powerful personal prayer life.

It's easy to love and thank God when everything is going well in your life. This was precisely Satan's point concerning Job when he tells God: "Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land." So the Lord allows Satan to storm-test Job's faith. After Job loses everything, his faith gives him the strength to say: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

How does your faith impact your views on money? How do you view and treat those whom you deem "wealthier" than you are? How do you view and treat those who may not be as wealthy as you? Scripture teaches that nothing more clearly reveals the state of your heart than your view of money and material possessions. Do you worship money, or do you worship with your money? Do you love money and use people, or do you love people and use money to bless them? Be sure to join us tomorrow as we worship together and study James 5:1-6, where James teaches us the importance of viewing money from an eternal perspective.

s we set goals and make plans for 2015, we tend to remind ourselves of what's most significant in our lives. In the hustle and bustle of the daily routine and life under the tyranny of the immediate, it's so easy to lose sight of what's truly most important. As we continue our study through the book of James tomorrow, we are faced with several questions: Where is God in your planning process? Does God have any say in your goals? Have you asked God what he thinks of your plans? Do you tend to take tomorrow for granted? What do you know you need to do, but you keep putting it off? Be sure to join us tomorrow as we worship together and study James 4:13-17, where James reminds us to seek the will of God for our lives.

Words are immensely important and infinitely powerful! Most of us underestimate the power of words. "Death and life and in the power of the tongue," Proverbs tells us. Jesus said that we will give an account for every careless word we speak. James tells us that "if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man." Have you considered the power of words? Why do words have so much power? How do we harness that power and use it for good? What can we do to make sure we don't cause destruction to ourselves, or to the people around us with our words? How can we use our words to release the power of life and curb the power of death?

Did you know that over 2.1 billion people in the world would call themselves Christians? On the one hand, this is really encouraging! On the other hand, how many of these people have a real, saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Imagine how different our world would be if they did! Our culture craves authenticity. We don't like posers. We don't like posturing. We don't like pretending. Be you. Be real. Be genuine. In a world of photoshop and plastic surgery, meeting a real person is a breath of fresh air. This is especially true with Christianity. In James 2:14-26, James wants to point out what real faith isn't: it's not just what you say, think, feel. It's not even just what what you believe. Real faith always leads to life, and life always reveals itself in action--because we really only do what we really believe.

We live in a world that is fractured by "isms": racism, classicism, sexism, ageism, etc. We live in a world plagued by prejudice, partiality, and favoritism. We're constantly sizing people up by superficial externals: looks, education, wealth, status, race, sex, faith, etc. Then, we treat that person according to their level of "worth" in our eyes. This system of merit is diametrically opposed to grace and mercy, the essence of Christianity. In our text tomorrow, James quotes Jesus: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." We've heard this. But do we do it? Do we do it on a practical level? James teaches us this hard truth: how we relate to people reveals how much we understand God's impartial and unconditional love for us. James reminds us that living faith leads to loving others with unconditional love, the same love Jesus has for us.

I'm wicked excited about kicking off our brand new sermon series through the book of James!! James is one of my favorite books in the Bible because James is a doer. He understands that God's grace is given to us to transform us and motivate us to live for the Glory of God. James is all about Getting Stuff Done (GSD). At Mosaic, we're all about GSD for SDG (Soli Deo Gloria - Glory to God Alone). James is just like that, GSD for SDG. James is one of the most practical books in the whole Bible. It's also super simple, straightforward, and clear. It's pretty much "The Idiot's Guide" to the Christian life. I don't know about you, but I enjoy simplicity. Tomorrow's sermon will cover James 1:1-18, where James helps us discover not just the answers, but also the questions, in life's most important tests: like what do when we life doesn't go according to plan. Start reading James, and join us tomorrow at one of our 3 services.

We're closing out our series on the "Seven Deadly Sins" with the deadliest one -- Pride. Someone once remarked that the seven deadly sins are the pallbearers of the soul. I think that's a strong way of putting it. However, I would separate pride from the other six. If the others are deadly, pride is damning. It's not just a pallbearer, it's an incinerator. It estranges us from God like nothing else, because it actively rebels against God, vies for his throne, and writes him out of existence from our pseudo-reality. Moreover, the self-entitlement produced by pride leads to every other sin. Our self-entitlement leads to the sins of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, and envy. "Of course I can do those things," our pride tells us, "I deserve it."

Wrath is probably the most complicated of the 7. Many us us wouldn't say we have a problem with anger, not outright, flipping out, off the chain, destructive, violent anger. However, how often do you feel slighted? How often do you take offense at how people treat you? How often do you get irritated? How often do you grumble or complain? These feelings, though not necessarily sinful, do point to potential problems with anger. The sin of wrath is further complicated because it can be righteous or unrighteous. Scripture often talks of the wrath or the anger of God. Actually, the wrath of God is mentioned more than 600 times in Scripture. The reason God feels wrath is because God is love; his wrath flows out of his love. This is highly counterintuitive, but makes sense when you think about it. As a result of Gods great loves for us, he despises absolutely anything that might hurt us, even our own sin. A good way to discern whether your anger is righteous or unrighteous is the following question: are these fe

This Sunday, we're talking about the 4th Deadly Sin: Sloth. Now, at first glance, it wouldn't appear that Bostonians have a problem with sloth. If anything, we struggle with overwork, right? However, when Scripture talks about sloth, it doesn't just talk about laziness in general, it talks about laziness in relation to God, which makes all the difference in the world! For our text tomorrow, we'll look at the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30, where Jesus teaches us that the opposite of "slothful" is not "diligent," but "faithful." The implications of this great truth are truly life-transforming.