Mosaic Church | At Walt Disney World Audio

The common view of our culture is that the old is useless and the new is better. Yet, Peter is encouraging believers to be regularly reminded of the ‘Old Truths’ that our faith has been founded on. Why? Because we are prone to forget what we know! Therefore, as we gather together, let us learn to be intentional and consistent in our efforts to remind one another of the grace that stirs us up to love and good works.

Knowing that his death is imminent, Peter urgently reminds Christians that the virtuous life can only be sustained by worshipping in response to the grace we have received and continue to receive. Therefore, now that we have received all things for life and godliness, we are invited to deeply enjoy the glory of life in the Kingdom, remembering the incredible reality that we have been rescued from worldly corruption to become partakers of the divine nature!

Peter begins his last letter to the Church, all of whom are of equal standing before God with the apostles, to encourage us to open ourselves to more of the grace God multiplies to us. Believers can either close themselves off to the experience of grace multiplied or they can open themselves more fully to the God who is not merely the God of all grace, but the God of MORE grace.

Why is Easter Sunday such a big deal? On this day, we remember and celebrate that Jesus ransomed people from every nation with His blood and has made us conquerors with Him in His victory over death. As Home comes with light and life to fill the earth, pushing out death and darkness, we will get to forever enjoy the glory of our risen Christ, the only one worthy to carry forth God’s plan to make all things new!

Good Friday provides us the sobering opportunity to remind our prone-to-forget hearts the mind blowing reality of Christ crucified in our place. While we deserved death and eternal separation from God, yet our Savior became flesh to take our sin upon himself and tear the veil that previously kept us distant from where we belonged all along. Our true Home, God’s holy and loving presence, has come after us and near to us through Jesus. This is what makes Good Friday, so “Good”.

After the manifest presence of God departs from the architectural temple, God promises of a better temple to come. This promised temple pictures a river flowing from it giving life to everything it touches. Today, God is faithfully bringing about this vision as those who come to Jesus are filled with the Spirit and now have “rivers of living water” flowing from their hearts. Mosaic celebrates its 20th anniversary as one of the many ways our faithful God has been bringing light and life into the world through His generational and global church to push back the gates of hell.

As Jesus prepares to leave His disciples, He promises that the Spirit inside them will be better than Himself beside them. The Spirit coming is to our advantage because He has been sent to fill our hearts into order to push out the realm of hell and it’s power in our lives. Hell is evicted where God’s presence moves in. Knowing we have the indwelling of His presence and power, we can pray, “Spirit of God, transform the Hell out of my heart.”

The inhabiting God in a building now becomes the incarnate God in a body. For hundreds of years, the temple served as a means of the glory and grace of God in the midst of sinful people. Now a new temple has arrived: receiving worship, fulfilling the law, and extending forgiveness. This new and greater temple is embodied in the person of Jesus, the lamb who was slain for us, to gather all kinds of people from all nations to receive the worship and glory due Him for all eternity.

After the Tabernacle, The Temple became the permanent structure where the presence of God dwelt with His people. Despite the staining power of humanity’s sin, the Temple showed God inviting His people into His presence of concentrated goodness by showing them how and providing the way for them to come close. Jesus is the spotless lamb of atonement whose life addressed our sin problem and made the presence of God a constant reality. His life and death on the cross provided the ransom for our life and our purification so that we can run to His throne of grace without fear.

The Tabernacle serves as a tangible representation of life with the God who dwells with His people. The layout and furniture of the Tabernacle were patterned after the realities of God’s merciful rule and reign over all of creation, His invitation to fellowship with Him through His provision, and the light and life that we have in Him now and forever. The story of the Tabernacle reminds us that despite our rebellion, God’s heart is to move in among us to redeem and restore us.

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth, overlapping one another in the beautiful life of the expandable garden of Eden. In this narrative, we glimpse God’s life-giving presence and his human image-bearers living in right relationship with one another. However, very quickly, the beauty in the garden shattered through our rebellion. And yet, God is clear that his plan is not undone, and in no way over. The garden points to the better end where Home comes for eternity, where the two realms overlap and God dwells with His people as their God, in their midst, forever.

As we come to the close of Paul’s first letter to Timothy, we are reminded that the aim of everything we do as Christians is love, and are amazed that God has chosen us to be vessels of His love on the earth. We recognize our deep need for grace to accomplish this mission. Additionally, 1 Timothy reminds us of what matters as we fulfill this calling: love, truth, the Church, and our faithful perseverance in godliness, contentment, and generosity. As we live these things out, we are truly “guarding the deposit entrusted to us”- the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The God, who owns all and is the Giver of all, invites His people into the adventure of generosity. Those with an abundance of God-given resources are especially called to be rich in good works rather than setting their hope on what is passing away, sowing into gospel stories that endure into eternity.

In Paul’s third poetic praise toward God in writing to Timothy, we get another glimpse of where the power to walk in godliness comes from. We walk in the fight of faith, fleeing gain in this world in order to pursue godliness, because we have been made outposts of God’s kingdom, both for the benefit of others and ultimately for the glory of our King Jesus. In essence, awe of Jesus empowers faithfulness to Jesus.

We can discern false teaching when it conflicts with sound doctrine, the teachings of Jesus, and what accords with godliness, producing people who are depraved, deprived, and deceived. A common false teaching, both in Ephesus and in our culture, is that we can use the appearance of godliness to gain worldly things, such as money. But content, genuine godliness is gain in itself because of the incomparable worth of knowing and having King Jesus in this world and the next.

In our varied roles and relationships, those in Christ have the incredible opportunity to both represent and participate in bringing the Kingdom of God. So whether people are over us in authority or under our authority, our aim is always love and to honor all people for the sake of the Gospel, rather than for our own selfish gain.

In a culture that both idolizes and crushes its leaders, we in the Kingdom of God treat our leaders differently. Knowing that character holds more value than talent, we are not quick to elevate leaders to a platform based on talent alone. When established leaders lead well, we extend double honor. When a leader persists in unrepentant sin, we extend loving accountability. We do all of this trusting that God will bring everything unseen into the light, whether sin or good works.

Being close to Jesus, our Rabbi-Teacher, means being covered in the dust of the path He walks. This path is marked by finding Him in the rhythm of the same few things. If He’s not eating or sleeping, you might find Him proclaiming and demonstrating the Gospel. You might find Him sitting fireside, teaching truth to those who would listen. Or you might not find Him at all as He disappears into the quiet with His Father. Jesus invites us to find rest in journeying with Him by His Spirit along this light and easy path.

As we enter a new year with new goals and ambitions, we remember that Jesus always calls us to pursue the freedom of child-likeness in the way we express curiosity, simplicity, and wonder at the majesty of our God through the world He made.

In this special installation of the Sent series, we’re reminded that Christmas Day presents a unique opportunity to enjoy the wonder of Jesus’ coming, sent to bring life where there is death, light where there is darkness, and freedom where there is bondage. We, who are awe-inspired recipients of this incredible work of God in Jesus, are compelled and sent into the world to “sing loud for all to hear” so everyone may know that the One who is good at what we needed most has come!