Mosaic Boston

In Genesis 12, God calls Abram (aka Abraham) and promises to bless him "so that you will be a blessing." This is how God's blessings work: when He blesses us, we are to receive those blessings with open hands, so his blessings don't just flow to us, but through us. We are not to be collectors of blessings, but dispensers of blessings. We are not to just be beneficiaries of blessings, but agents of blessings. We are not designed to be cisterns, but aqueducts. Does your life represent the cascading blessings of God?

However we feel, we must not overlook the phenomenal opportunity before the church today. We have an opportunity to live out the love of Christ by standing in the gap for all those who feel vulnerable, fearful, and alienated. We have an opportunity to boldly stand against anything that threatens life. So we stand with and fight for the unborn, the minority, the immigrant, for all who are oppressed and abused. We will use whatever influence we have to see that everyone is protected and treated fairly and equally. We stand against all injustice, lawlessness, and discrimination, wherever we see even a hint of it. Ultimately, we are not united by the United States. We are united by Jesus Christ, who died for tax collectors and publicans, and yes, for democrats and republicans. Genesis 10-11 fittingly speaks a profound Word into our cultural moment.

One would think the story of Noah in Genesis should have concluded with a happy ending. However, tragically, it doesn't. The second half of chapter 9 tells us that Noah sinned, and so did his son Ham. The sin leads to a curse, and a forfeiture of blessing. Why? Somewhere along the way, Noah stopped striving for God's blessings. Unlike Jacob in Genesis 32:26 who told God "I will not let you go unless you bless me," Noah had stopped wrestling for blessing.

As we continue our journey through the book of Genesis, and the story of Noah in particular, we see the very first rainbow in all of human history. After over a year in the ark, with his kids, lots of animals, and certainly not enough ventilation, Noah leaves the ark for dry ground and fresh air. Can you even begin to imagine the feeling of getting out of that boat? Over a year in a boat, in some less than ideal accommodations. I get stir-crazy on any flight over 3 hours! Noah comes out and his first reaction is utter bliss! His heart is overjoyed, humbled, and full of thanksgiving, so he responds by worshipping God through sacrifice.

Deep down inside, every single one us wants to (or has wanted to) live lives of consequence. We want our work to matter. We want our lives to matter. We want to matter. We all yearn for glory. Unfortunately, many of us don't understand one of the greatest paradoxes of the universe: if you live for your own glory, your life won't matter that much, but if you live for God's glory, you will live of life of great meaning, satisfaction, and blessing. This message gives us a deeper look into the life of Noah, and why the story and his life isn't really about him.

However, the God of Holy Scripture is radically different. Scripture tells us God is love, and one cannot love from afar. God is intimately involved and wholly committed to us. One cannot become this involved in any relationship without becoming vulnerable. To love is to open up your heart, either to acceptance or rejection, to bliss or to grief. Genesis 6 gives us a glimpse into God's grieving heart.

In Philippians 3:12-21, Paul shows us how to live in response to amazing grace. Knowing he was completely unqualified for the position God gave him, Paul begins to “Run Like He Stole It” without looking back! Jesus qualified him when he was completely unqualified, so Paul makes it his aim to run faster, work harder, and grow up into a life worthy of the Gospel. Hear this great message from Ivey Rhodes, the current church planting resident at Mosaic Boston.

As we continue our journey through the book of Genesis, we learn about the first city ever built. The city was built by Cain. Although God created everyone to find their deepest satisfaction in Him, by fully glorifying him, Cain seeks to build a life and city apart from God.

In Genesis chapter 4, through the story of Cain and Abel, God reveals some profound truths about the nature of our hearts and about the subtlety of sin.

In Genesis 1 and 2, the Lord God created the cosmos and humanity perfectly. He looked at all creation and proclaimed "it is very good." Everything was flawless. Chapter 2 ends with Adam singing a long song to Eve. After their wedding, they were meant to blissfully "live happily ever after" in paradise, with all of their needs met and desires satisfied. They had a perfect relationship with God, perfect relationship with each other, and a perfect relationship with nature. Unfortunately, the idyllic life didn't last. Genesis chapter 3 gives us a play-by-play recounting of humanity's fall into sin, suffering, and sadness. This account explains why the world is not as it ought to be and why we aren't the way we're supposed to be. This text makes sense of the brokenness of the world around us and the brokenness inside us. Fortunately, the text also foreshadows the Gospel. God will not leave humanity in it's brokenness. Instead, God promises to send the second Adam, Jesus Christ, who will deal the Evil One a crus

While Genesis 1 describes God's general purpose in creation, chapter 2 explains His more specific purposes for our lives. God reveals to us his plan for our work, rest, gender, sexuality, singleness, and marriage. Did we cover all those hot-button issues in one sermon? You bet. And you don't want to miss it!

Many are familiar with Genesis and it's epic themes of Creation & Fall, of Calling & Blessing, of Covenant & Promise. Many are familiar with the timeless stories of Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah & the Ark, Babel & beyond. However, most Christians fail to understand Genesis as Jesus understood Genesis. Jesus interpreted Genesis as a book about Himself! In Luke 24, while traveling on the road to Emmaus with two disciples after His Resurrection, in order to bolster their faith in Himself, He took them to the Scriptures (instead of showing them his wounds and having them touch his resurrected body!). In Luke 24:25-27, Jesus says “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." Jesus revealed what the Old Testament had to say about Him, beginning with Genesis. What does Genesis say abo

Every year, right about this time (late August, early September), just before the new surge of people into the city, we pause everything at Mosaic, and remind ourselves of the mission before us. Church is a family and once any family grows, it needs to get organized. Like every organization, churches have the tendency to subtly drift from their original objectives. This is called mission creep. Ironically, often after initial success, the organization begins to widen its scope and little by little, it forgets why it exists. In churches, it usually entails the church taking on more and more good tasks, which ultimately eclipse the great task of the Great Commission. Mission creep also occurs when members of a church stop rowing in the same direction and start charting their own course and pushing for their own agendas. A famous Russian poem beautifully illustrates this dynamic (yes, I'm quoting a poem, you're welcome). "The Swan, the Pike, and the Crab" by Ivan Krylov: WHENE’ER companions don’t agree,

A couple years ago, we went through a series at Mosaic, entitled "This Changes Everything." In this teaching series, we talked about how the person and work of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, doesn't just save our souls, but the Gospel also is meant to transform all the most practical areas of our life: work, money, sex, relationships, and the church. Many people view the Gospel as the way we enter the Kingdom of God, and then everything else is done through our sheer efforts. This is a wrongheaded approach to the Christian life. The Gospel isn't just an entry point to a life with God, it's also a force for growth in your walk with God. This is exactly the point the Apostle Paul wants to drive home, even in the way he structures the last part of his letter. After spending 11 chapters beautifully elucidating the Gospel, Paul then pivots and says "therefore," meaning now, based on everything I've just explained, this is how you shall live. He writes, "I appeal to you therefore, brother, by the mercies of God..."

Sick of the election yet? Cheer up, there's only than 3 months left of it (!). Today, we'll be talking about a more encouraging kind of election. This one isn't about Hillary and Donald (thankfully). We'll be diving deep into some of the most profound but also historically confusing chapters in all of the Bible. Most churches never even crack open the book of Romans, not to mention Romans 9-11. So, you, Mosaic, are in luck! We'll be wrestling with questions like: what is unconditional election? Does God really predestine people to salvation, even before they are born? How is that fair? Isn't this flagrant favoritism and injustice? What about everyone else? Doesn't God love everyone equally? Are we just robots then? Do our decisions matter? If God does elect people to salvation, then why do we need to share the Gospel? Why put so much work into evangelism? Once we grasp the meaning of election and its connection to evangelism, we too will cry out with St. Paul, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and

I really hope you're enjoying the Book of Romans as much as I am! As we soar over this most profound book and get a glimpse of the breathtaking vistas, you can't help but be amazed at God's glorious plan of salvation through the Gospel. In chapter 6, Paul pauses to deal with a question that naturally arises when people hear that we're saved simply by grace through faith in Christ, not because of anything we do. If our good works add nothing to our justification before God, and our righteousness is not our own, then why in the world do we need to do good works at all? Why fight sin? Why fight temptation? Why not just give in? If we've been set free from the demands of the law, why can't we just live free, doing anything we want? Remember the exhilarating feeling you experienced when you first got your driver's license? Woo hoo!! Freedom!! Time to hit the road! One of the things you quickly realize (especially after that first speeding ticket): you're not as free as you thought. With the new freedom to driv

How do you measure success? What does a great life look like? Most people would measure success by wealth, power, comfort, popularity… but how does Jesus measure success? This week we conclude our series on the 7 letters to the 7 churches in Revelation by looking at Jesus’ letter to the church in Laodicea. The Christians in Laodicea were physically healthy, economically secure, and socially accepted. They had all the outward signs of success, but spiritually they were failing. In fact, Jesus had absolutely nothing positive to say about them as a church. So where did they go wrong? Despite their failures, Jesus hadn’t given up on Laodicea. In fact, He counsels them on how to turn things around and become everything He had called them to be. Join us today as we study this church, and learn what it means to have a successful life in Christ.

"Who can make it stop?" This was CNN's headline this morning. After living through another blood-soaked, tear-filled, gut-wrenching week, I think many of us are asking the same heavy question. It's a question that acknowledges our helplessness. It's a question that realizes we are faced with problems greater than even our collective resources can solve. It's a question that longs for someone powerful enough to intervene. Who can make the hate stop? Who can make the racism stop? Who can make the injustice stop? Who can make it stop? Profound question. It's a question that erupts out of brokenness, anguish, and humility. I can't make it stop. You can't make it stop. Even we, can't make it stop. Who can make it stop? Jesus Christ can make it stop. "I know that you have but little power," say Jesus to the church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3, and to us. But fret not, he says. "I am the one who holds the keys to all the doors. The doors I open, no one will shut, and the doors I shut, no one will open."