Walking with Jesus at home

I don't know about you, but going home at Christmas brings up a mixed set of emotions. On the one hand i am excited about seeing my family and friends, eating great food and enjoying the break, but on the other I'm slightly nervous about what has historically happened to my walk with Jesus when i return to the home of my adolescence.

Our home towns, for many of us, symbolise a period in our lives of immense joy and pain: our first loves, first car, first break-up, and our first job.  They are also places that remind us of family tensions, difficult memories, sinful habits, and a time without much room for God.  Sometimes when we go home it’s as if without the routine and familiarity of normal life in Leeds we struggle to remember and live in the fruit of what God has done in us over the past year and is doing in us right now - we can easily slip into the ‘old me’ and forget who God has made us to be right now.

I know it’s not easy to be who you really are at home, i’m the first one to admit previous years of struggle, but God has made you to be who you are, not who you were.  He is about a great work in you and me, and no matter what happens this Christmas, the good and the bad, He is for you and will never leave you. 

Practically, why not join with me in staying in contact with your disciplers and accountability partners over Christmas to help each other pursue God, receive His grace and enjoy being you!

I hope you have an awesome God inspired Christmas

Christmas Reading

Wondering what book to buy someone for Christmas or thinking of spending your vouchers on a great read. Here's some recommendations.

Matt Hatch’s recommendations:

Death by Love, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshers.  Mark Driscoll (who leads Marshill Church in Seattle) unpacks the atonement through letters written to people in his congregation struggling with difficult circumstances.  I’ve just finished the chapter on ‘my wife slept with my best friend’.  Brutally honest and terrific theology.

Safely Home, Randy Alcorn.  Christian fiction usually makes me break out into a cold sweat but this was actually a challenging read. It reveals the extent of suffering endured the persecuted church in China and the eternal rewards for those that perservere.

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, Timothy Keller.  Modern version of CS Lewis’ ‘Mere Christianity’.  A book on apologetics to give friends and family who have questions about the existence of God from the leader of Redeemer Church in New York.

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels, Kenneth Bailey.  If you enjoyed our series on Vintage Jesus you will love this book.  Find out where we got our best preaching points!

Philippa Hatch’s recommendations:

The Shack, William Young.  This book has provoked controversy, but I loved it.  I felt God speak to my heart on a number of levels and would recommend it.

A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry.  A beautifully written book that gave me a greater love and understanding of the people of India.

The Family Frying Pan, Bryce Courtenay.  What a brilliant story teller.  This book will warm your heart.

The Right way to keep Chickens, There is so much about chickens I didnt know!

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini. This book caused me to get on my knees and pray for the women of Afghanistan.

Preparing your Daughter for Every Womans Battle, Shannon Etheridge. Inspired some great conversations with Issy about desiring purity and what we communicate by the way we dress and respond to others.

 

 

Mosaic’s First Blog Entry

Welcome to our new blog site. This blog will hopefully provide a conversation that will help keep you in the loop, give you a place for questions and feedback and help me externally process all the thoughts about Mosaic that are crammed into my brain. However, I'm new to this so be gentle with me!

Given this term we have tackled some huge subjects together we thought it would be good to have a dedicated space to create conversations about our life together.  We’ve tackled issues such as eldership, women in leadership, the doctrine of hell and eternal punishment.  Just recently we announced our decision to multiply our services to 10.30 and 5pm from Feb 1st 2009.  We would love to know your thoughts, opinions and questions. 

So, why not suggest some topics to tackle or tell us what you really think? Simply click on the “add a comment” link at the bottom of this post.

I would really appreciate some thoughts about our carol service and our servant evangelism event in the city centre - ‘wrap it up’.  We had around 300 people come to the carol service and many guests seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves. At ‘Wrap it up’ we must have served hundreds of people by wrapping up their Christmas presents for free and maybe thousands got to hear about our carol service, chat to people, complete a survey about the true meaning of Christmas or have someone pray for them.  Personally I am always so proud when Mosaic hits the streets.  People served so hard and seemed to really enjoy themselves.  One observer came up to me and said “I’m not a Christian, but I think what you’re doing is superb!”.