Mosaic Church Of Clayton

Luke 9:28-43"This is how we find mountain top moments when we are just stuck in the valley. We pay attention. We look around at the ordinary for the beauty, for the work of God, for the ways in which God is still speaking to us. Jesus moves in the middle of the health crisis at the bottom of the mountain too."

Luke 7:1-17In these stories of healing we are reminded that it is really all about Jesus and that we all need him.

This morning was our first sermon in the series of a Month of Miracles. Here we talk about the miracle of calling beyond where we are comfortable. Our scripture this morning was Luke 5:1-11.

This sermon gives an overview of where Mosaic has been in the last year and what lies ahead for us. This would be a great sermon to listen to if you want to learn more about who Mosaic is.

Luke 3:1-20In the midst of a world that feels like it is on fire, we celebrate epiphany and find a word from John the Baptist on what we are to do, right where we are in the middle of difficult times.

Learning from the story of Jonah, what is our Nineveh in the middle of this political climate.

Exodus 32:1-14"In our lives, it would be easy to go back to just what we know. To fashion idols. To lift up political leaders that will get us out of this, that have all of the answers. To expect them to lift up policies that will fix everything. To try to go back to our lives before March. To try to numb ourselves, or soothe ourselves and make us feel comfortable by going to things we used to know that brought us comfort and purpose. But God can do something in this dessert, in this time where we out off balance, if we only have the patience to wait and look for his presence in new ways."

Sermon for October 4, 2020. This morning's sermon focuses on Exodus 13:3-8 and the celebration of Passover. What does it look like to follow a God who is saving? To set up the sermon, I used a video by Mayim Bialik on youtube as she defines the basics of passover.

September 6, 2020The first sermon in our "A God Who Is" series looks at Genesis 1:31-2:4Sabbath in this unique times really looks like finding ways to remind yourself of that truth, “God will never love you any more or less because of anything you manage, or fail, to achieve.”My devotional prayer for this morning was, “May this day bring Sabbath rest to my heart and my home. May God’s image in me be restored, and my imagination in God be re-storied. May the gravity of material things be lightened, and the relativity of time slow down. May I know grace to embrace my own finite smallness in the arms of God’s infinite greatness. May God’s word feed me and his spirit lead me into the week and into the life to come.” That is what Sabbath is about. It is about taking time regularly to remind ourselves of our place in the world and to marvel at God. That is Sabbath. And that is what it means to follow a God who rests.

Sermon on August 30. Matthew 5:13-16"I didn’t know that as the week went on, scripture would be loosely used in other ways to defend certain political decisions and behaviors. We have seen the name of Christ, the name of the Spirit and scripture coopted this week. This is not a political sermon. I am not telling you who to vote for or who not to vote for, but I am speaking specifically of the name of Christianity being co opted for what some would say are American values. We call this Christian nationalism. It is where we put the worship of power, the worship of our political leaders, the worship of our flag, above our God. You can love your country, your flag, your political leaders but when that love gets caught up in an inappropriate way with your worship of God, that is the problem. God, Christianity, Scripture all speak to who we are as a nation but who we are as a nation does not sum up what God, christianity and scripture have to say. Our faith, our worship should be bigger than just our country. 

August 23. 2 Corinthians 8:1-15"I wanted to be in a place where the church was actually being the church and so I don’t mind the financial sacrifice. It doesn’t make it less easy some days to hustle and figure out where the salary is going to come from to support myself but I wouldn’t go back to that full time job with the benefits for anything.  I wanted to be in a church where we talked about racism, where we were really welcoming of all people, where the programs were not driving the church and keeping us busy and numb from what was happening in the world. I wanted to be in a church where we were nimble and creative. I wanted those things because I believe the world wants and needs those things and that is why I tithe. I tithe because I believe this community needs a church like Mosaic. I believe we all who are on this call need a church like Mosaic."

July 19 Sermon. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13"Love is kind, to the clerks at the store, to the person who refuses to wear a mask rather than yelling at them like I want to do. It is kind when you don’t want to wear a mask but you do anyway because someone, who is probably paid minimum wage or is a shopper who is vulnerable asks you too. Love is not irritable and arrogant, or demand its own way, even when you think or “know” your way is best. Love gives grace to people and like Brene Brown suggests, leads with the belief that people are doing the best they can with what they have at all times."

Sermon from August 9. 1 Corinthians 12:1-13"The body of Christ is where we are made whole. It is where we are made complete. It is where our small puzzle piece gets put into the larger puzzle and we can settle in. Not out of complacency but because it is the place where we make sense. Again, every part is essential. I don’t make complete sense without you and you don’t make complete sense without me. We bring what we have and we offer it up for use. Part of finding the right church and being the right church together, is seeing how your gifts fit. It is about seeing how God is calling you to use those gifts and whether that is possible in this church body, even as the body is physically distant from one another."

Sermon on June 21. Acts 17:1-9"As we see the worlds and lives we have built and examine them. As we look at public policy on how we spend our resources as a country and see the discrepancy of money that goes towards medical advances and caring for others around the world because as much as we want to believe we are in this alone, we are inextricably tied to others. As we have our eyes opened to our countries historical founding as a racist country and the systemic problems that still exist today. As we think about our lives and the priorities that have guided us, we are learning, we are creating an uproar."

Today's sermon is taken from Acts 3: 1-10 and asks us the question, "Do we want to be healed?" I (Charity) share my journey in learning more about how racism has been embedded into our American culture. In this season of racial unrest, how important is it for us to work against racism? How important is justice?

If I could rewrite this Great Commission to give it new life that speaks to today, it would read, “All authority is give to me and with it I commission you. Go into all the world, into the grocery stores, into the schools, into the gyms, the doctor offices, the places of work, the highways in your car, and your families. Make disciples, teach them by showing what it means to Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love yourself and others in the same way. Baptize them with water, with love, with a call to action to a new way of living. Teach them to obey all that I have said here in these words. Doing everything for others as you would have them to do for you. And know that I always with you.” 

"Feeding sheep is not about rightness, it is not just about what happens after death. We only have to look at the life of Jesus to see what he fought for, the people on the margins, those being taken advantage of, those being pushed out and condemned. We only have to look at the life of Jesus to see what he found against…power structures and religious leaders that put rightness and following a bunch of rules over loving and caring for people, “worship” of God that took advantage of the poor. I think way too many times, the images I see of those who call themselves Christians look very little like the way that Christ actually lived. And Jesus asks, 'Do you love me? Feed my sheep.'"

Jesus meets the disciples on the beach. They have decided to go back to what they know and he meets them in that place to remind them life will never be the same.

The resurrection accounts in the original ending of Mark leave us wanting more. They show us how to sit in the awkward when you hoped for something better, a more positive outcome but it has not come yet. How do we live when hope has not fully been made known.

Mark 13. A word on seeing the world with new eyes and a new perspective.