Mosaic Boston

After studying this week's text (Acts 23:12-24:21), I can't believe Hollywood hasn't cashed in on making a movie about Saint Paul. I'm thinking a franchise in a similar vein to the Jason Bourne trilogy. If Hollywood thinks Noah is epic, the book of Acts could blow the Ark out of the water! This week's text has drama, intrigue, conspiracy, serpentine plot twists, 40 Jewish dagger-carrying-hunger-striking assassins, 470 Roman soldiers marching through the night, corrupt religious officials, lying lawyers, crooked politicians, and God's hand guiding his child through it all. Maybe some of the writers at Mosaic could propose something to Netflix? (When it goes huge, don't forget to tithe... and buy Mosaic a building) The 19th century missionary, John Paton, faced similar threats as he brought the Gospel to the island of Tanna. "One day," he wrote, "... Natives in large numbers were assembled at my house. A man furiously rushed at me with his axe; but a Kaserumini Chief snatched a spade with which I had been work

We’ll be looking at Acts 22:30-23:11, where the Apostle Paul makes the startling claim: “I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” What in the world does that mean? What’s a conscience? How can we live lives in all goodconscience? Is that even possible? Is our conscience a valid guide? The sweet graphic below makes for a phat t-shirt, but is it good theology? These are all great questions, which we’ll be wrestling with Sunday.

What drives you? What make you do the things you do and make the decisions you make? We like to think of ourselves as very rational creatures. So why is it that we often act so irrationally? We do things we know are wrong. We don’t do think we know are right. We frequently make choices that aren’t in our best interests or in the best interests of others. The Bible says that we are creatures of desire. Knowledge is a powerful motivator, but ultimately we are guided by the desires of our heart. The bad news, as the prophet Jeremiah points out: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 So what hope do we have for our failing hearts? Join us tomorrow as we continue our series in the book of Acts (Acts 21:27-22:29) and see how God took an angry violent man named Paul, and radically transformed the desires of his heart.

Do you ever get discouraged? Maybe you’re feeling it right now. What do you think of when you hear the word “encourage?” …Peppy, cheerful, maybe even cheesy sound bites of unfounded optimism? Sounds lame. Look at the word though. [En]courage. Or better put, “fill with courage.” The bible talks a lot about encouragement, some people even claim to have the gift of encouragement, but where does courage come from? More importantly, why is courage needed? Join us tomorrow as we continue our series from the book of Acts, and examine how Paul encourages the churches in Acts 20.

Acts 19, where the Apostle Paul preaches the Gospel in Ephesus and calls people to worship Jesus instead of false idols. Instead of debating the cogency of Paul's arguments, the people realize that if they follow Jesus, they will lose their jobs making idols and will no longer profit from tourism to the pagan temples in their city. They realize that if they follow Jesus, they will have to make a huge sacrifice. However, they don't want to make a sacrifice, so instead, they reject Jesus.

This is why we're following up the Mystic series by jumping back into the book of Acts. The book of Acts is all about what the first Christians did! Their faith transformed their lives and ultimately transformed the world. Join us tomorrow as we study Acts 18, where the big idea is: "Do not be Silent!"

Did you play any team sports as a kid? I know it's out of season, but baseball was by far my favorite. I was a pitcher, and I used to spend hours practicing with my dad in the back yard. It was those hours of practice that prepared me for game day. But imagine if I never left the back yard. If I never joined a team, put on a uniform, got in the game... would I really know what it was like to be a pitcher? God hasn't just chosen us for himself, he's chosen us for his team. He's given us a purpose and new identity in Christ! Join us tomorrow as we take a look at 1 Peter 2:1-12 and the surprisingly interconnected disciplines of Solitude & Community.

I don't know about you, but I'm totally incentive-driven. I always need to know why I should be doing something and why it's worth my time, especially when the activity takes effort or seems counter-intuitive. Whenever I was told I should be doing something, my knee-jerk reaction is to ask, "Why?" Floss your teeth; why? Eat your vegetables; why? Do your homework; why? Exercise; why? Obey the speed limit; why? Be smart with your money; why? Stop asking so many questions; why? I've found that prayer is in the same category for most people: we know it's supposed to be sort of good for us, but it's hard to do, so we push back with: Why? Well, tomorrow, we'll attempt to answer that question.

Last week, we started a sermon series called "Mystic" to help you train yourself in the disciplines of the Christian soul. Tomorrow, we'll be talking about "giving" as a spiritual discipline. Jesus said, "It's more blessed to give than to received," and to receive more of this blessing on a continual basis, we need to train ourselves to give systematically and develop a lifestyle of generosity. Giving is to become the muscle-memory of our souls, becoming the natural response of our souls to the needs around us.

Have you ever heard someone say something like: "I'm not religious; I'm spiritual'? At Mosaic, we're cool with that statement, as long as it points us back to Jesus, his saving Work, and the spiritual life he calls us to experience, daily. However, we don't want the quip, "I'm spiritual," to be excuse for spiritual vagueness and laziness. We want to grow in true spirituality by exercising our souls regularly in the manner our Lord has prescribed for us.

It's funny that we would need to be reminded to remember God. But on second thought, it makes all the sense in the world. I'm always forgetting to remember God! It's as if I suffer from spiritual amnesia. If I'm not constantly reminding myself about God, I just keep forgetting. Other stuff just gets in the way of God. It's not like I'm purposefully ignoring God; it's just that my busyness crowds him out. Ecclesiastes reminds us: don't let life crowd out God.

Who you are today is a direct result of your past. Your previous thoughts, desires, actions, and relationships have shaped your present reality. Scripture describes this reality by using the agrarian language of reaping what you sow. In Ecclesiastes 11, Solomon tells us "Cast your bread upon the waters for you will find it after many days." He's not talking about feeding ducks in Frog Pond. He's talking about sowing generously when you can, so you will reap an abundant harvest. In verse 6, he says "in the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know what will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good." The law of sowing and reaping applies to every area of life: money, health, relationships, education, vocation, marriage, children, and is especially true in the spiritual realm. Join us tomorrow to learn about how to wisely apply this principle in our lives to reap a harvest of plentiful blessing.

Have you ever had a near death experience? I'm talking about coming face-to-face with death, your life flashing before your eyes, and you think, "This is it!!" Well, do you remember the rest of that day, or that week? What did you think about life? You loved it, right?! You felt SO ALIVE! You cherished every breath, you savored every morsel of food, you hugged your loved ones so much tighter! You began to enjoy life! And then life continues to happen, and we're numbed to the joy of being alive.