Life In Church

Life in Church is held every so often at the McManus’ house. Here, Erwin and others from the Mosaic lead team speak about the core values and convictions of Mosaic. Life in Church is one step in the process of becoming volunteer staff (known elsewhere as “membership”). It was a great evening as we shared a meal together (extremely authentic Mexican food made some ladies in the church) and talked about the mission of Christ. Again, here are my notes:

I. What’s in a name? MOSAIC

-a piece of art made of broken and fragmented pieces of glass that form a beautiful image
-broken people who know they need God, the master artist
-democrats, republicans, multi-cultural, rich, poor (Mosaic is a mini-LA)

II. What’s in a church? PURPOSE

-2 expression [1 Cor 12:12-13, 27; Eph 6:10-13]

*body
*army

-2 responsibilities [1 Cor 12:7; Gal 5:13]

*minister
*mobilize

-2 results [Acts 2:42-47]

*united
*expanding

-2 structures [Acts 20:20]

*large
*small

III. What makes us unique? APOSTOLIC ETHOS

ethos: the defining characteristics and distinguishing attitudes held by individuals as passed through there community

the mission: to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope

IV. Soul Environment: 5 Core Values (non-negotiables)

1. MISSION IS WHY THE CHURCH EXISTS

-every follower of Jesus is commissioned by God
-the most natural way to nurture people is to get them on mission with Jesus
-from the beginning every believer has all they need to be a missionary

2. LOVE IS THE CONTEXT OF ALL MISSION
-the natural flow of the life of Jesus is through relationships
-”I hate Christianity, but I like this church so much that I don’t know what to do with my hate.” [a comment from an attendee)

3. STRUCTURE MUST ALWAYS SUBMIT TO SPIRIT
-we are not twigs, we are branches
-the Spirit of God lives in people
-the number 1 predictor of whether or not you will be at Mosaic in a year is if you are serving other with others
-healing comes through serving

4. RELEVANCE TO CULTURE IS NOT OPTIONAL
-create an environment that makes people say “Okay, this makes sense to me. This relates to my experience in the world.”
-minister to the culture of ADD
-create anticipation and astonishment; make people afraid to miss an irreplaceable experience

5. CREATIVITY IS A NATURAL RESULT OF SPIRITUALITY
-every person has the capacity for creativity
-imaginations, dreams–they have a high level of importance
-God did not give us an imagination to dream about things we will never experience
-human beings will choose to live like machines
-creativity and artistry are not the same
-in the body of Christ creativity is unleashed and magnified