God is good. God loves you. God can be trusted.

This Sunday, let's come together to celebrate our life in Christ and in community. We will have one service 10:30a, where we'll revel in gratitude and return to what is most important -- the profound goodness and deep love of God. Steve and I will be honored to share Communion with you as we mark a milestone in our own history with this beautiful community. This will be my last Sunday as your pastor, though we will continue to serve alongside you in ministry.

Steve and I want to thank you -- deeply, from the bottom of our hearts -- for such a rich time of testimony and celebration last Saturday. My goodness, what gratitude and love we sensed in that room as we acknowledged together all God has done among us. Thank you for the beautiful gift of your stories, the very generous vacation gift, and the lavish gift of your time and care. We love you all so much and are overwhelmed by the goodness of God in allowing us to serve at Mosaic.

Blessing the Generations

Friends, I can hardly believe we are only two Sundays away from transitioning "from one call to the next" and from one generation to the next. I am at once filled with gratitude for how you have received this season, and grieving the inevitable changes this will bring. I have so loved being your pastor! And yet, the Lord has led us to this place in such a profound and obvious way. How can we not be grateful?

These last two Sundays give us a unique and beautiful opportunity to be strengthened, encouraged and empowered by the Holy Spirit for the journey. This Sunday, we will take time to listen in on Paul's conversation with a young pastor named Timothy and learn from an apostle how to set the next generation up for spiritual success.

Serve

This week's message will feel a bit like preaching to the choir. Mosaic people serve better than most. You guys have an amazing ability to show up again and again with food, hugs, compassion, prayer, and whatever else is needed so that others sense themselves loved and closer to Jesus. Thank you for being that kind of community that loves to serve more than being served. As we continue to talk about how to BLESS others, you have a head-start on what it looks like to serve in practical ways. So come on Sunday and let's celebrate the ways we can (and do!) serve the way Jesus served.

Reframing By Grace

Last week, we listened to Joseph's story of exile and rescue. We learned from his experience with dreams what is means to carry the favor of God and to step humbly into redemption. This week, we take up the second half of his story and learn through his family relationships what it means to walk in step with a forgiving God. We discover from his story (and from the New Testament story of Onesimus) that the first person (and sometimes the only person) to benefit from forgiveness is us. Bring your hardest circumstances and relationships with you into worship this week. Let's watch together as God draws healing waters up from his well of Grace.

Jesus Is Our Rescue

Genesis 37-41: Dreams Conferred and Deferred

When you have a dream, but can't figure out how to get there, it can be so frustrating. When your dreams take you in unexpected directions, it can be surprising (and sometimes disappointing!) This Sunday, we meet the original Dreamer -- Jacob's son, Joseph. We discover through Joseph's story that dreams are one way God moves our stories forward. Looking forward to talking about dreams, visions, exile, and hope ...

“We’re Not Gonna Play Games, We’re Gonna Honor God.”

We're nearing summer, and for some of us that means finding space and time to hit our favorite beach or vacation spot -- that place that feels like peace and rest the minute we walk through the door. Do you have a place like that? Or maybe you have a space closer to home that, that when you step into it, you sense the presence of God.

I have several spaces like that. One is a trail near my house. As soon as my foot falls on that trail, I breathe easier. My brain stops racing. I hear Jesus better. It's a holy place.

In this week's Genesis passage, we get to visit Bethel, Jacob's holy ground. We can feel the goodness of God as Jacob encounters Him there, and we too, can hunger for that space where God shows up. I hope you can say that Mosaic is one of those places for you. And I hope this Sunday, as you step into worship and hear the Word of God, you (like Jacob) can say, "Surely the Lord is in this place!"

“While We Wait, We Wrestle”

Now it's back to Genesis and what a story to jump back into! So much of life is about waiting and wrestling, and the stories we'll explore on Sunday personify that part of our humanity. It is Jacob waiting for Rachel, and Rachel struggling against Leah. It is Rachel waiting for Joseph while Jacob wrestles with God. It is Jacob and Esau both wrestling with each other and waiting for peace.

All that waiting and wrestling is not wasted on God. These stories teach us how God uses the waiting and the wrestling to move our lives forward. And they hold a Messianic thread that will run from Jacob to Jesus.

Faith Responds “Here I Am”

Isaac's Test, Too

This week in our journey through Genesis, we find ourselves in the thick of Isaac's story and one of the most famous scenes in the Old Testament. Usually, this story is referred to as Abraham's test of faith, but surely this is Isaac's test, too. What Abraham and Isaac both lay up on the altar is faith. And greater faith is what they take away from what was undoubtedly the most critical moment of their lives. What Abaham and Isaac learned at the altar of God teaches us a lot about what God desires from us all. I can't wait to talk about it with you.

God’s Grace & Mercy Are Bigger Than Our Boxes

This week, we jump into two strange stories, but this is exactly what makes Genesis so good. It's so real. The writer never tries to gloss over the hard moments in our history. There is no attempt to tie everything up into neat little bows. No, actually, in Genesis we get to see God and his people in all their raw and unfiltered glory. This week is no exception. Genesis 19-20 reminds us that God will often deal with people in ways that don't fit our usual categories. He is both holy and patient, fear-deserving and loving, knowable andmysterious. And this same God makes room in his heart for you and in you with all your complexity ...

Leave It Better Than You Found It

The first rule of camping is "leave it better than you found it." We will jump into 1st John 4 and discover how this rule of camping applies to our daily lives!