Quote of the day

"What would happen if we saw our mission… our purpose… rather than to teach kids about God but to help children find their place in the Body of Christ and to help the adult members of the Body to nurture and mentor and include children in the mission God sent His entire Church on in this world?"
- Henry Zonio, posted here

This is totally how I want to view the ministry to our children at Mosaic. They are a part of the body along with us, and it's our job to mentor them and include them as much as possible!

A happy quote about kids

"A child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires."

— Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain

found here

What is Church?

Happy Quote:

"Church isn't where you meet... church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let's not go to church, let's be the church." Bridget Willard

Found here.

Alan Hirsch on Missional

"A proper understanding of missional begins with recovering a missionary understanding of God. By his very nature God is a “sent one” who takes the initiative to redeem his creation. This doctrine, known as missio Dei—the sending of God—is causing many to redefine their understanding of the church. Because we are the “sent” people of God, the church is the instrument of God’s mission in the world. As things stand, many people see it the other way around. They believe mission is an instrument of the church; a means by which the church is grown. Although we frequently say “the church has a mission,” according to missional theology a more correct statement would be “the mission has a church.”

Love it.

Read more here and here.

Quote of the Day

"The gospel is not about my individual happiness or God’s plan for my life. It is about God’s plan for the world."

from here.

-Jeff Vanderstelt of Soma Communities

Quote of the day

In keeping with our recent series through the Beatitudes:

SANTA says, "You better not cry."
JESUS blesses those who mourn.

-Roger Fields

See the whole post here.

Quote of the Day

"Faith is a gift from God.

It is not a set of beliefs; nor is it a well-developed
cognitive understanding of all things spiritual.

It is an act of grace, in which God chooses to be
in relationship with humanity."

-Karen Marie Yust, author of Real Kids, Real Faith

What do you think?

Quote of the day

"In the end, it’s not about who is right and who is wrong. It is about broken images of God reaching out to other broken images of God and pointing them to the one who can make them whole again. We can’t do that from the inside of a clubhouse."

This was written by Henry Zonio in this post. You should go read the whole thing!

I was inspired, after reading this, to again think about how we at Mosaic are on the right track. We are definitely not perfect, as individuals or as a community. But, as the quote suggests, we are broken people, broken images of God, reaching out to the one who can make us whole again. May we love one another, and love our neighbors as ourselves so that, as John 13:35 says, people will look at us and recognize that we look like Jesus, that they may come to him and be transformed.

image from here

If Churches Were Parks

I read this last week and found it thought provoking:

If we tore down our church buildings and replaced them with parks, would the buildings be missed? If churches were parks, there would be trees and grass and places for pleasant walks, neighborhood families enjoying the changing seasons, and our "old ones" sitting on benches telling chlidren stories of their lives and faith.
In the fall, as the leaves changed from green to yellow, orange and red, we could invite our friends and neighbors to corn roasts and BBQs; creation - in the park. We could leave the children something wonderful in a world gone mad.
In the winter we could roll in the snow with the neighborhood children, throw snowballs, create snow sculptures, and get to know each other again as we walked under trees heavy with hoar frost. At Christmas we could string colored lights, decorate a Christmas tree, savor the story of the nativity, and sing carols under quiet stars.
If churches were parks, we would have to forsake our games of power and our dreams of empire for pleasant walks, snow frost, corn roasts, Christmas trees, carol sings, Easter pageants, and heart-to-heart talks with those who need to know why we still believe in our God. If our churches were parks, all people could gather there; they could come whenever they wished, for there would be no locked doors or security windows on our parks - no stained-glass windows to hide behind. Members of the church eating lunch in the park could strike up a conversation with a business person, university student, or shopper resting before heading home, or admire the muticolors of a group of teenagers and ask them if they are agraid of the world we have created for them, or angry because of the futures we may have taken away from them.
Of course we would find pain in our parks: lonely people, unhappy children, sullen youth. We might confront those trying to buy drugs in our parks. We might fear those who would hurt us and steal from us. If our churches were parks, we would have to confront the world outside our buildings. We would have to be those who make peace and speak of redemption and hope rather than those who hide behind fortress walls and wish the world away.
When God started the world, he put his man and woman in a park. He chose to walk and talk with his creation in a park. When we were cast out of the park, we began to build towers, empires, cities, and temples. We had to acquire and possess - not only the present but the past and the future. We found ways to control our world and other persons. It's hard to do this in a park.

Obviously the "park" image cannot be pressed too far, but it does suggest that there are certain qualities that should be nurtured in our congregations - especially when children are present. How much of the park do children find in our churches?


Taken from Children Matter, p. 149. Written by Linda Cannell

Now, don't get me wrong, I love me some contemplation and a beautiful stained glass window. But, this for sure got me thinking about and appreciating the community we share as Mosaic. A couple of weeks ago at Broadway Park we gathered for a picnic, some play time, and some time to tell our stories, and it was so wonderful to share that with all of you and just enjoy our church community at the park. But, how might we bring some of the "park" with us as we gather indoors?

Quote of the Week

"For anyone who says yes to Jesus
for anyone who believes what Jesus said
for anyone who will reach out & take it
Then God will give them this wonderful gift
to be born into a whole new life
to be made into who they really are
who God always wanted them to be-
their own true selves-
God's dear child."

-paraphrase of John 1:12-13
The Jesus Storybook Bible

Praying the Psalms

My post the other day about this book got me thinking about Eugene Peterson's thoughts on the Psalms. Before he wrote The Message, Eugene Peterson was a Pastor... of a church plant, no less! He describes, in his introduction to the book of Psalms in The Message, how as a Pastor he was "charged with, among other things, teaching people to pray." He would frequently point them to the Psalms, and eventually he started paraphrasing them for people to use in prayer, leading to his now famous project of paraphrasing the Bible into what we know as The Message. What I love about Psalms for Young Children is that just as Eugene Peterson paraphrased the Psalms for adults to use in prayer, Marie-helen Delval has now done the same for children. This book is a great way to teach children to pray, using these Psalms written in words they can grasp.

Here are Eugene's thoughts on praying the Psalms:

"Faced with the prospect of conversation with a holy God who speaks worlds into being, it is not surprising that we have trouble. We feel awkward and out of place: 'I'm not good enough for this. I'll wait until I clean up my act and prove that I am a decent person.' Or we excuse ourselves on the grounds that our vocabulary is inadequate: 'Give me a few months - or years! - to practice prayers that are polished enough for such a sacred meeting. Then I won't feel so stuttery and ill at ease.'
My usual response when presented with these difficulties is to put the Psalms in a person's hand and say, 'Go home and pray these...
...Untutored, we tend to think that prayer is what good people do when they are doing their best. It is not. Inexperienced, we suppose that there must be an 'insider' language that must be acquired before God takes us seriously in prayer. There is not. Prayer is elemental, not advanced language. It is the means by which our language becomes honest, true, and personal in response to God. It is the means by which we get everything in our lives out in the open before God."

So, like I said, grab a copy of the book, and let's teach our kids to pray and to live lives of open communication before God.

image from _multifaceted on flickr.

Quote of the Week

"The soul is healed by being with children."

-Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ivy Beckwith on Missional Children's Ministry

I came across this quote today and thought I would share it. I think it captures part of what we're trying to teach kids at Mosaic. It's also a good reminder to keep at it. I want to make sure that when I'm planning lessons for our kids, I remember to plan time for us to "do what people who follow Jesus do." Please share your thoughts!

"Children’s Ministries should be about forming people who love God and follow Jesus. One way to keep this and coming generations outwardly focused is to provide a missional context in the church and, more specifically, in those programs and opportunities directed toward children. Faith communities desiring to form children who participate in God’s kingdom work will be faith communities who care more about works of peace and justice, who care more about “doing what people who follow Jesus do” than about attracting large numbers through glitzy programs and providing a “holy huddle” for those who are on the inside. When children see an ethos of mission modeled for them by parents, church leaders, and other significant adults they can be transformed to live in the way of Jesus as they begin to understand their responsibilities to the world and other people God created in the holy image."

Ivy Beckwith

Ivy Beckwith is the author of Postmodern Children's Ministry. She also speaks and consults churches on issues of childhood spiritual formation and children's ministry in the local church.
You can find more info about her here.

image from amazon.com here.

quote found here.