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From the very beginning of our gatherings at our back yard barbeque’s, we attempted to communicate very clearly how we define “success”. We did not want to give the impression that we were trying to start another “church service”. We made it clear that we were seeking to gather a community that would learn to be Jesus and learn to be the Church by being an inclusive community that lived by five rhythms; Beautify others and our world, Listen to God, Eat with others, Study the Bible, Send each other and live a sent life.
Nothing has changed! We are still trying to be and do the same thing. As I said a few months ago, churches are like buses and we want to make the sign on our bus very clear. That way, if you decide to ride on this bus you won’t get frustrated because you thought we were going to the mall, when we were actually going downtown. Let me remind all of us what it means to be a part of Mosaic and what success is to us.
“How do I become part of Mosaic?”
Being a part of Mosaic is about sharing common rhythms (values) and sharing a common mission. We desire to live our lives to a cadence that is intentionally different than the all consuming cadence of our culture. Most of us live lives of quiet desparation because our lives are so full that we don’t have time or energy for anything other than what we are currently doing. We believe that this pattern is destructive and inconsistent with the kingdom of God. Therefore, we are trying to live lives that have room in them for meeting the needs of others, hearing the promptings of the Holy Spirit and intentionally being a blessing to the community of Bellingham.
We are not just hoping that this will happen, we are being intentional. We are being intentional by living five rhythms that spell the word “BLESS”. Our desire is to bless Bellingham. We want to… Beautify, Listen, Eat, Study and Send. Being a part of Mosaic is about adjusting our lives so that these five things are central to how we live.
But there is also a shared mission. Our mission is to find ways to actually bless our community, not just a “christian community”, which can be quite exclusive, but a broader community that we share three things in common with. A common place (where we live), a common story and a common rule or way of life (These thoughts were originally discussed in teaching on Neo-Monasticism by J. Michael Matkin) . These things we share with each other and we share them with the community of Whatcom County.
Therefore, our mission is to be people who are “in”, “for” and “with” our community. “In” means that we affirm the significance of place/geography. “For” means that we love our neighbors and champion the things that are important to them and our community. Christians are known for being “against” so many things, we think Jesus was “for” a whole lot more than he was “against”. “With” means that we are willing to enter into the blessings and the pain of the community that we live in (These thoughts were birthed out of discussion with Baron Miller and are part of his paper on Roosevelt Community Church). We will allow the needs of Bellingham to become our needs and we will try to find ways to meet these needs.
“What is success for Mosaic?”
Success for Mosaic is being achieved as people begin to live the five rhythms and build real relationships. We do not believe that the church is about going to a building, looking at the back of someone’s head and then leaving without any real relationships. We believe that every person should find connection and begin to establish relationships with other parts of the “mosaic”. We see ourselves as being beautifully broken pieces that when joined together, create an incredible work of art.
We also believe that the “mosaic” is not complete without the piece that you are. We hope the things that we have shared will resonate with the desire of your heart and that you will become a part of the work of art that God is creating right before our eyes.
