Mosaic Church Of Bellingham

For everything there is a season,     a time for every activity under heaven.... A time to cry and a time to laugh.     A time to grieve and a time to dance.

Rev. Aaron Walters of The Table, reminds us that as exiles we need to be aware of the empires desire to reshape our thinking.

Last week I suggested that we miss the shalom calling of God when we fail to recognize that God’s question to Cain in the book of Genesis, “Cain, where is your brother Abel?”, is a question that God continues to ask of us, in our day. Like Cain, so many reply, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” But, I think the incarnation of Jesus, as God becomes our human brother, shouts a different response. It is like God, in Jesus, re-asks and then re-answers the same question. As if God turned to God and said, “Are we our brother’s keeper?” Then, in answer, God said, “Yes we are. We will go show our brother’s and sister’s what that truly means.”

When you look at the beautiful poetic opening of the Bible, you see a picture of the world that God intended. A garden where God walks with all of creation in the cool of the day, animals come to be named, vegetation, fish, birds and animals produce the food that is necessary, humans are living in harmony with each other free from shame or violence or competition.

My ultimate hope is that we would allow God to shape our hearts in such a way that we take an honest look at what we are treasuring related to the inequalities in our country and get intentional about doing something about them. I also believe that Jesus’ prayer in John 17, actually reflects the heart of God for all of mankind. I believe that unity amidst diversity is a reflection of who God is, which is why Jesus wants humans to experience it and therefore prays for it. John 17:20-21 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Those of us who grew up in church, grew up hearing what the Bible says through the words of a parent, Sunday school teacher. Small group leader, pastor or whatever. Whether they or we, wanted it or not, we got a “slant” on the Bible and depending on our denominational or group emphasis, that slant could have either been helpful or hurtful in our own faith journey.

God is for us: a refuge. God is for us: our strength. God is for us: help that is present in times of trouble.

“At first silence might only frighten us. In silence we start hearing voices of darkness: our jealousy and anger, our resentment and desire for revenge, our lust and greed, and our pain over losses, abuses, and rejections. These voices are often noisy and boisterous. They may even deafen us. Our most spontaneous reaction is to run away from them and return to our entertainment.” Henri Nouwen

The average adult now consumes five times more information per day than adults did 50 years ago. Not only that, but many people now spend approximately 12 hours per day in front of a screen. This is affecting adults in many ways, but the scariest thing is how the brains of children are being affected by the constant influence of media.

When I think of "community", I think of the encouragement that Paul gave in Romans 12:9-21. "Love must be sincere (without masks or fake).... In this one passage there are so many great things to think about and put into practice. As we wrap up our discussion on Partnering with Mosaic, we take a few minutes to summarize and encourage you to pray about your involvement.

No discussion on partnering would be complete without talking about finances. This week, we talk about where the money that's given to Mosaic goes and what we would like to do in the future.

God having a “mission” means that God does stuff (the theological term for getting work done). It is not just an idea or words for God, it is a way of being. In God, this “work” happens begins within the Divine relationship (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) where each part serves the other, then flows from that relationship into all of creation.

What does the word, "partner" convey to you? Does it bring up business relationships? Significant other? Contemporary name for an employee? In the Bible, "partner" is one of the ways the idea of sharing life together (koinonia) is translated. We like that idea of sharing life together!

What do you think Christianity would look like if we had simply focused on love for the past 2000+ years? My guess is that it would look a lot different. "For God so loved..."

Peace on earth, good will towards men? Hard to imaging anything being farther from the truth for the past 2000 years. Yet, that was the message the angels proclaimed and it is still the call of God for those who will hear.

Remember the classic Charlie Brown scened where Lucy is holding the football and tries to get Charlie to try to kick it? Charlie really HOPES that Lucy will hold it, but he doesn't TRUST that she will. Hope and trust go hand in hand. It's almost impossible to have hope that God will do something, if we don't trust God.

Do you think there are more than one truth? Not capital T, truth, but our truth. Do you think our experiences result in multiple types of truth? Factual, emotional, etc...? Sometimes, it is these various aspects of truth that make it difficult for us to even know what it means to “be truthful”. On the one hand, many of us have experienced the destruction of the person who believes being a truth teller is saying everything they think, or think they hear from God. In most cases, this emphasis on “truth telling” is nothing more than a “spiritual” way to be a jerk. So, what does it mean to be a truth telling community and is it important?

If you were satan, how would you go about trying to destroy the innate human need for relationship and community? Does your answer look a lot like our world right now?

There are some topics that the Bible either doesn’t address very fully or that the overall narrative of the Bible complicates. Then there are other topics that the Bible is literally so far ahead of most thinking, that it becomes one of the greatest sources of learning available to any field of study. One of those subjects is what we want to talk about today. Gratitude.

What would be your “perfect day”? If you could have a day all to yourself, to do what you want, when you want and with whom, you want, what would you do? Once you have thought about that, why don't you schedule your life and do it? Or, listen to this discussion first, then do it.