There were two reasons as to why the people of God called for the Ark of the Covenant when facing their enemy.

i) Jordan & Jericho
These were two miraculous occasions when the presence of the Ark brought about great victory
ii) Presence of God
Secondly the Ark was also held in high regard as it was the place where God would dwell with his people. God was their enforcer in battle.

However, this tactic was unsuccessful.

Why? The Israelites wanted saving from their own version of Hell,
Hell (for them) was losing the land they were promised, losing the special relationship they had with God, & getting wiped out by the Philistines

To save them from their Hell, their answer was to find a false saviour or an idol to save them.  (The Ark).

Maybe, we do the same? Not with an Ark.
But we all have our own little Hells, and we all have false saviours to save us from it.

For some of us:
Hell is being single.
Hell is being fat.
Hell is being ugly.
Hell is being lonely.
Hell is being poor.
Hell is being stupid.
Hell is being unappreciated.
Hell is having no pleasure.
Hell is not having a lot of free time.
Hell is having a lot of duties and obligations and burdens and you have to get up in the morning and go to work.

We al have false saviours to save us from our hells
If I’m lonely, I need a friend. That’s my saviour.
If I’m broke, I need money. That’s my saviour.
If I’m in debt, I need a credit card. That’s my saviour.
If it’s pleasure that I worship, then I need to find someone to have sex with me or look at porn or something else because that will be my saviour.
If I want to have kids, then kids will be my saviour and they’ll get me out of my childless Hell.
If I want to be loved, then a pet will be my saviour because their love is unconditional.

Your saviour will get you out of your Hell and put you in your Heaven and then you’ll be happy.  Then we worship these false saviours as they are the main way we become satisfied in life.

That is, by definition, idolatry. It is having created people and created things in the place of the creator God for ultimate allegiance, value and worth.

So:
What is your personal hell?
What do you have sleepless nights about?
What would do you dread or fear the most?
And what do you use to save yourself from it?
Who or what is your false saviour?

Just like the Israelites, God will allow disappointment, defeat, shame, pain to touch your life, if it means it will awaken you to the true saviour Jesus Christ.

It’s time to turn your back on false saviours and turn to the true saviour. Jesus Christ.
You risk two things happening if you have a false saviour:

i) You become self righteous:
You either do what you thought needed to be done and in the short term you save yourself – by getting married, borrowing some money, finding a relationship, passing your exams.

As you were the one making it happen, you become very proud and self-righteous and arrogant .

ii) You become a failure:
So you have your false saviour and try to give yourself to it but fail. You’re not self-disciplined. You can’t get your life under control. You’ve tried really hard and you can’t make it, so you’re depressed, unhappy and still in the same place.

Can you see, either way doesn’t actually save you. 

The Good News:

You’re saved by Jesus, not yourself.
You’re saved by His works – sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection – not your own.
He saves you, you don’t.
You can’t save yourself, your false saviours can’t save you, and never will.

So how do you move on?

i) Admit your false saviours
Just recognise that you’re likely to have many false saviours in your life. 
Now, the tricky thing about this is that false saviours are difficult to spot.  From a distance, getting the Ark looked a good move!
It even seemed spiritual! But it was a false saviour.

Easiest way is to look at your life over a long period of time.
Are you growing in security, peace, joy, and love?
Are you’re relationships growing and deepening?
Or are you unhappy, struggling to move on, becoming a worse person, loving less, depressed more, feeling more proud?
If so, they are signs, fruit if you like that something is wrong.
But don’t just try to deal with the fruit, find the root of the behaviour.

ii) Break your false saviours
We need to break idols by breaking our relationship to them.

iii) Replace your false saviour with The Saviour
Remember you can’t just stop committing idolatry because you’re a what? A worshiper. If you don’t replace your idol with Jesus, then another idol will take it’s place.

iv) Worship the Saviour
The last thing is we rejoice and we worship God.
This puts everything else in the right order and means I can enjoy created things in a right way.

Questions:

Describe the concept of personal hells and heavens and the role of a false saviour?
Can you think of some examples from your life?
How do you spot false saviours in your life?  What are some of the negative fruit they produce?
What does worshiping a false saviour look and feel like?
Read Romans 1 -what does it tell you about idol worship?
Pray for one another so that false saviours may be admitted, broken, replaced and Jesus worshiped as the true Saviour.

God speaks out of his grace, though Israel have rejected him, he will not reject them.  He calls Samuel to be his obedient prophet who will listen to him and obey his commands.  Unlike Eli, who didn’t listen to God or obey and allowed his sons to sin and blaspheme against God, Samuel will become the person through whom God will speak to all Israel and restore them to himself.  In the call of Samuel we see God’s patience and perseverance.  He doesn’t give up when Samuel is slow to grasp what is going on but he keeps calling.  We also see how normal God speaking is, he speaks to Samuel when he is at home about to go to bed.  God speaks intimately to Samuel by using his name to speak with him and when Samuel is slow to grasp what is going on the Lord comes and stands in Samuel’s presence.  God’s message to Samuel is a call to obedience and Samuel has been given the tough task of speaking truth to his mentor Eli.  We see the fruit of his obedience at the end of the chapter when the word of the LORD returns to all Israel.

Today God speaks to us in many ways, through prophecy (1 Cor 14), music, nature (Psalm 19) and many others.  God speaks through the Bible (2 Tim 3:16), through others (10:24-25), through preaches (2 Tim 4:2) and through our suffering. 

The culmination of the word of the LORD is found in the WORD coming.  Jesus is the Word of the Lord and he is the true picture of the Father.  Even when it may be hard for us to hear God’s voice today we can always hear God speaking through the cross, the truth that our sin is paid for, that God has grace for us and that he desires a relationship with us.

1) How would describe the ‘word of the LORD’?  What do Genesis chapter 1, Isaiah 55:10-11 and John 1: 1-3 tell you about the ‘word of the LORD’?
2) What do you think God’s character and personality are like?
3) How do you picture God speaking?  How is it different from how he speaks to Samuel?
4) What is the significance of verse 10?
5) Where do you struggle to obey God?  What is your reaction to Samuel’s call being tough but him obeying anyway?
6) Do you think God speaks to us today?  If so, how does God speak to you?
7) Read Hebrews 1:1-3.  What do these verses tell us about God speaking?  How do they help you today?

God was Hannah’s pearl of great price, her actions show us where her treasure is.
She knew God was the only one who would ultimately satisfy her.
Therefore she had the power to cling to him and not to Samuel her child.

She didn’t give in to finding all her meaning in motherhood. Her true identity was in God and God alone.

Hannah’s life from the start, before she had Samuel was on a trajectory of obedience, selflessness and generosity. This meant that when God gave her a son the same continued.

She gave up the thing that mattered most to her, in the moment, when it was hard and did it gladly.
Hannah’s loss was Israel’s gain!

Hannah really though was just a pale foreshadow of Jesus. Who gave up, his relationship with the Father and came down to earth to give his life up on a cross for us.

Therefore to the extent we realize Jesus didn’t cling to his life but gave it up for us on the cross, will be to the extent you can be Hannah – In the moment when it’s hard being obedient in the small and the big.

We have a God who didn’t cling to his son and a son that didn’t cling to his life, yet both of them let go for us.

And the only way we can start to get this right is when we understand Jesus was the perfect Hannah for us.
In letting go of everything and dieing for us.
He gives us the power to cling to him and to release our grasp on other things.

(Questions)

1) How did Hannah come good on her vow?
2) Do you realize the importance and the effect your small daily actions can have?
3) What might God be asking of you in your future which means you need to start laying the foundations now?
4) What are you most impressed or challenged by? 
5) What area of your life are you tempted to ignore him God in? 
6) Is there something in your life you hold so tightly to and could never imagine giving up, what in your life do you need to learn to hold loosely? 
7) Do you need to remember again that Jesus is your pearl of great price, if not what’s the thing you treasure most?

Please use which ever questions are most helpful and relevant….

What different ways do people try and cope in crisis or suffering?
What ways do you cope when things get difficult?
Do you want to be the kind of person who turns to God in prayer when the pressure hits?

These verses give us a glimpse into Hannah’s relationship with God. She is the first ever person to call God the name Yahweh Sabaoth – Lord Almighty. She knew something of God’s character and nature. She has a personal relationship with God. If we are going to turn to God in crisis we need to know him in a personal way. For us as Christians, we can know God to a much greater extent even than Hannah. We know the Lord Almighty as Father! Knowing God as Father is key to us being a Hannah-kind-of-people. When we know him as Father AND Lord Almighty it will be to him we run in desperation. God wants to reveal himself as Father to us. He gives us the Holy Spirit so that the Father’s love can be poured into our hearts (Romans 5:5) and so that we can cry out as dependent children (Romans 8:15).

Do you know God in a personal way? Perhaps talk about ways in which you struggle to relate to God personally.
Do you know God as both Lord Almighty AND Father? Which aspect of God do you find most difficult to connect with?
Why do we need to know both aspects of God’s nature? What would happen if we only understood one and not the other?
Perhaps pray with your accountability partner or in your mission group for a greater understanding of God’s Father heart for you.

Hannah was able to turn to God in crisis because she had a personal relationship with him, she had encountered him. Her relationship with God, seems to be characterised by 4 things that can help us in thinking through how our relationship with God can grow:
1. Vulnerability
2. Trust
3. Investment
4. Persistence

1.Vulnerability
10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. … 15…“I am a woman who is deeply troubled. … I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. 16 …I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”Hannah was able to be deeply vulnerable with God, which is both a consequence and a means to her deep relationship with the Lord. If you struggle with vulnerability then just start by being honest with God. Start where you are. Perhaps using the psalms might be helpful to help you connect with the different emotions that you might be feeling.

Are you vulnerable with God regularly? Is it to him that you turn first or others?
Do you struggle with expressing your emotions? What things could you do to help you connect with God in this way?

2.Trust
“LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
Can you believe how much Hannah trusted God despite your situation! There are no questions, no anger, just a humble request. Hannah comes to God with a servant heart, willing to give up the very thing that wanted so much. That’s how much she trusted God!

Do you think you would trust God enough to give up the very thing that you had been praying for?
If you struggle with trusting God, why do you think that is?
What ways might you be able to grow in your trust of Him?

3.Investment
Hannah goes up to the temple year on year with her family (verse 3). It seems that her relationship with God has come after years of investment, of learning about him, and coming to him in prayer. We invest in what and who we value most. Investment in our relationship with God will show how important he is to us compared to other things. Also investing in our relationship with God when it is easy will be what sustains us when it is difficult. If you turn to friends, TV sleep instead of God when life is easy, it is likely that you turn to these things when life gets tough. Our walk with God is full of joy but also requires discipline.
Ben Patterson puts it like this “Prayer is a discipline before it is a joy, and remains a discipline even after it becomes a joy.”

What do you invest your time in? What do you value most in your life? Are these 2 things the same?
Are you investing in your relationship with the Lord?
Do you have a place that you go to meet with him?
Do you plan times with him or do you just hope they will happen?
What things could you do to help you invest in your relationship with Him?

4.Persistence
“As she kept on praying to the Lord”
Hannah persisted in prayer for a baby, and God answered her prayer. I am sure this was not the first time she had prayed about this issue. We get to see it because it was the prayer that brought breakthrough! The Bible uses the image of wrestling with God when talking about this kind of prayer. We see mighty men of God, such as Abraham, Jacob and Moses wrestle with God for things. Jesus exhorts his disciples to pray without giving up, to keep on keeping on in prayer. Why does he want us to be persistent?! Why doesn’t he answer straight away? He knows what we want. Well primarily it is out of love for us. He knows what we truly need, and that is him! He knows we need him far more than the thing that we want. Often he waits so that we encounter him in the asking.

Do you persist in prayer for things?
What are you praying for at the moment?
What could you do to help you persist with God for this?
Why don’t you share it with your accountability partner or mission group so that they can join you in praying for it and ask you how you are doing?

Hannah’s prayer did not just lead to her spirit being lifted and her receiving the baby that she had longed for. That baby would grow up to be Samuel, the man through whom God would speak to his people after years of silence. He would also anoint Kind David from who Jesus would come! Hannah’s prayer had eternal, nation-changing impact. Our prayers can have this kind of impact!

The story is set around 1000BC and we find Israel desperate for a king to lead them.  They have spent 500 years trying to settle in the promised land and have been ruled by a succession of judges.  However the nation has repeated experienced a cycle of rebellion, retribution, repentance, restoration, then back to rebellion.  Ultimately this meant the nation was in anarchy –so at the end of Judges, the reality was that “everyone did as they saw fit” (Jdg 17:6;21:25).

There are 4 dominant figures:
1. Samuel (the kingmaker)
2. Saul (the rejected king)
3. David (the ideal king)
4. Monsters (baddies!)

God used Samuel to annoint Saul as king however, through his disobedience, God raised another King, David.  However, even though David had some remarkable victory’s, 1 Samuel is clear, Israel’s greatest king is still deeply flawed.  He isn’t the true king that the Israelites need.  In fact, the whole book points to an unnamed king, a new king, a greater king, who would come from David’s family line and would be known as the son of David. 

This true king would lead God’s people perfectly because it was God himself who would step in and be that king.  His name was Jesus Christ.  Even though Jesus isn’t mentioned, every page of 1 Samuel whispers his name.  Every failure, every rebellion, every mistake points to the need of a perfect king who would rescue his people and show them what life under God’s rule looks like.  We must ask ourselves whether or not this true king will be king of our lives?

1 Samuel 1:1-8

The book starts with a startling homespun tale involving a women called Hannah who couldn;t have children.  Her husband (Elkanah) decides to marry again (Penninah) to continue his family line.

This heroic women sets the example for anyone facing hardship and suffering.

Despite her difficulties Hannah is portrayed as a devoted, pious women.
only women in OT - described as going up to the Lords house, making and fulfilling a vow, specifically said to pray one of the longest prayers in the OT, she is avoiding crafty schemes, and seeks out God as her healer and provider.

Interesting aside.  What do we do in times of difficulty and pain?
Many of us retreat
Many of us complain
Many of us harbour bitterness
Many of us make their own plans like Elkanah.  Who decides the easiest way is to marry again, which culturally acceptable but emotionally painful for Hannah.

I wonder how you are responding in the difficult times of your life?

Why does God allow such suffering? Why does verse 5 tell us “...and the LORD had closed her womb.

What does this mean? Does God do that sort of thing?
It seems that the Lord may create or use social and natural tragedies in order to accomplish his purposes that far outweigh the calamity. 

Such tragedies exists so that “the work of God might be displayed” (Jn 9:3).  the melody of suffering in the bible is Roman 8:28 “and we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose”. 

God’s ‘modus operandi’. the way he works - is when his people are down and out, no strength, no resources, no hope, he loves to step in.

Perhaps in your dark season, there is a miracle waiting to happen in your life? Or a moment of God’s goodness that you wouldn’t otherwise experience had you not suffered in a certain way?

You may not get to see this view in this life, but the bible is clear even in the darkest watch of the night, dawn is coming.

Some of you have experienced this is the past but have forgotten it in the present.  vital you remind yourselves of God faithfulness in the past, draw breath under the shade of Rom 8:28.

Spurgeon says it like this
“We lay it down, then, as a general principle that, if we would exercise our memories a little more, we might, in our very deepest and darkest distress, strike a match which would instantaneously kindle the lamp of comfort.  There is no need for God to create a new thing in order to restore believers to joy.  If they would prayerfully rake the ashes of the past, they would find light for the present.  And, if they would turn to the book of truth and the throne of grace, their candle would soon shine, as aforetime.”

Hannah finally saw her prayers answered and that gives us hope to keep faithful, keep trusting, keep our hearts from bitterness and come to a God who knows, understands and is so powerful, that he transforms barrenness to life either in this age or the age to come.

Questions:

1) What stands out to you in Hannah’s story?
2) What are you most impressed by/challenged by?
3) How do you typically handle difficult times?
4) What does that tell you about yourself?
5) Talk about the hope of Romans 8:28 - has this been your experience? how can this serve you in the present? Is Spurgeon’s quote helpful?
6) If you have anyone in your mission group that is suffering, please pray for them.
7) What are the needs in the community around you? Spend some time praying about how you and Christ can be the answer to the hardship on your doorstep.

1. Even though it’s about a poor widow’s gift, Jesus doesn’t rebuke the wealthy for giving at the temple. All should give - rich and poor and everyone in between. The issue is about the sacrifice made.

2. Small amounts are significant. So if you feel your giving doesn’t makes much of a difference compared to the overall need, think again. Jesus saw the widow’s two coins and said that she had put more in than anyone!

3. External obedience is always trumped by internal obedience. You may look good to everyone, but Jesus knows what is happening on the inside and what the gift really costs. Remember God looks at the heart, not the actions.

4. Both the wealthy and the poor must beware bypassing the heart, but the wealthy are in more danger as their sacrifice is often less. The widow gave ‘all she had to live on’ and so had to trust God fully because she was so vulnerable and defenceless. If the wealthy don’t give sacrificially then it may mean they are never challenging where they put their hope and trust. 

5. Look at the contrast of investment and reward:

Teachers of the law
flowing robes > people’s attention
greeted in public > people’s approval
most important seats/place of honour > people’s respect
devour widows’ homes > people’s belongings
pray lengthy prayers > people’s admiration

actual result - punished most severely

Widow
generous in poverty > God’s provision
gives in secret > God’s attention
makes sacrifice > God’s pleasure

actual result - true recognition of her sacrifice

These lists force us to ask fundamental questions:
What do you really want in life? What is the reward you really seek?
Your money will follow your heart, values and desires.
The teachers made their choice - they ultimately wanted a reward from people. 
And the widow chose her reward from God. 

Questions:
1. Why do we find it hard to talk about money?
2. What stands out to you from this story? 
3. How are you like the teachers of the law?
4. What is attractive about the poor widow?
5. For further study, read the parable of the rich fool together in Luke 12:1-34 and discuss it.
6. How does 2 Cor 8:7,9 give us insight as to how the gospel sets us free from greed?

Practical ways to defeat greed and idolatry

1. Treasuring Christ and His Kingdom.
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil 3:7-8)

The more I see the richness of Christ and His Kingdom, the easier it is to see the shallowness of my idolatrous heart and the emptiness of the world’s riches.

2. I trust in God’s promises for every need to be met (for my family and the church).

“My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Our experience has been again and again that God comes good as we take steps of faith in giving.

3. We set aside money every month to give and are ready to give as the Lord leads in special offerings. Every year we’ve been married we try to increase our giving.

I take my cue here from Paul’s teaching that giving should be regular and free - disciplined and spontaneous. For example, he says in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2
“Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”

This points to the wisdom of planned, regular, disciplined giving. Sporadic giving with no plan will probably mean you are not treating giving as an integral part of your worshiping life. 

Perhaps that is the next step for you – simply decide to give regularly a percentage of your income – And if you ask “how much?” my answer is start with the Old Testament standard (10%) and build on that, as God prospers you. It is hard for me to imagine God’s people, after the glories of the cross, giving less to the church than the saints of the Old Testament.

It is also good to keep growing in generosity. If you don’t put something like this in place, you will call more and more things needs which are in part only wants. Or as wages increase your standard of living increases, but your giving doesn’t.

4. We try to protect our hearts from idolatry by creatively finding ways to give sacrificially so it shows us what we truly value.

As we give sacrificially we find our hold on these things loosens and their hold on us loosens.

Questions:
1. What else do you do to help defeat greed and idolatry?
2. How can you support each other in this at Mission Group?
3. What proportion of our income should we give to the local church?
4. What do you do if you are in debt? Mosaic runs a CAP money course, which helps you budget your income and expenditure. Is this something it would be wise to do?
5. What are your particular giving challenges practically? No income, debt, student, family, etc.
6. What are your particular giving challenges internally? Is it hard to trust God? What stops you giving more?
7. Please spend time in the next week or so with your accountability partners talking about your finances. What are your challenges and where can you grow in generosity?

Lastly, spend some time this week praying as a Mission Group for God to provide the £30,000 we need to move into the next phase of growth as a church family.

In twelve months’ time we are going to move from being one church in one location to one church in three locations. We feel this is the best way to reach local and diverse people.

Questions:
i)          Is everyone clear on the upcoming changes. Do you still have any questions?
ii)        Now that you have time to think about the transition, how do you feel about it?
iii)        What do you think the benefits of moving to three gatherings will be?
iv)        What will be the cost for you?
v)        What are you most excited about/apprehensive of?
vi)        How will it impact your mission group?
vii)      Are you involved in Mosaic? Would you like to serve on any teams or start any training e.g. 6.30 leadership?
viii)      Have you talked about the next Mission group Sunday?

The Future:
How do we move forward into these plans? Seven ingredients…

1. More Mission & More Community:
First, the idea is that as people gather together closer to their homes, they will take greater ownership of their communities and be able to invite people who only want to travel a short distance to worship instead of simply commuting into a one, large gathering.
The mission is huge.  In London, around 10% of people go to church once a month while in Yorkshire the percentage that goes to church once a month or more is 0.9 percent; evangelicals account for only 0.4 percent – similar to Japan.
But we must engage in community as well.  Too much focus on mission means people feel overlooked and forgotten, especially those who have been around the longest.
So what is the answer? We must aim to grow in both.

2. More Communication:
We must keep talking about this transition.  To do this we need you simply to be honest.  The worst thing to do is suffer in silence and slowly drift from our church family.
You don’t have to agree, don’t have to be happy, it is okay to go on a journey.  But please communicate.

3. More leaders.
Matt 9:37 ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few’ and in a church like ours, growth can be held back by a lack of leaders. God will only give the harvest when there are enough leaders to care for those He brings.
Simple way to think about this is that every leader needs to triple himself over the next 9-12 months.  Can you think of two people you can train up/recruit to do your job?
Three things we look for in our leaders:
i)          Character
ii)        Competency
iii)        Chemistry

4. More Hospitality:
As we multiply we expect to grow.  This will mean that all of us need to practice hospitality.  1 Peter 4:9 “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
Think of Sundays like your lounge at home.  Arrive early to welcome guests and give them the best seats (at the back).

5. More Grace:
Grace means we can fail but not be failures.
We will do everything possible to make this transition work, but we need to be upfront about the fact that it might not.
A gathering may not reach the community we want to reach.
Leaders may have to learn on the job and so gets things wrong.  And it will be okay.
We will also need grace towards each other.
1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

6. More Courage:
We said last week that putting mission first - above personal preference, above playing it safe, is crucial for Mosaic.
Otherwise we end up as pastorally-driven (prioritizing caring for each other) rather than missionally-driven (prioritizing reaching the unchurched).
However we have a long way to go on this.  Why are there so few people from Yorkshire who are part of Mosaic?  We musn’t fool ourselves into thinking we are more successful than we actually are given that much of our growth is from new people to Leeds and transfer growth.

7. More investment
As we look to raise £30,000 in our special offering next week, please take time to carefully consider how much you can contribute.
Four things we are investing in:
Steve and Leanne Vaughan (Dublin Church plant)
Dave Horsfall (Intro and More)
Paula Nice (church wide administration)
Keith Nichols (Seacroft)

Questions:
1.  i. What are your top three things you want to invest in? why?
2.  ii. Remind yourselves that we are saved by grace through faith. (Eph 2:8-10) Therefore these ingredients should not be a burden! Rather an opportunity for us to work together (‘good works God has prepared in advance for us to do’ ) as a community for the sake of the city.
3.  iii. What ingredient seems the hardest to give? Why?

We are moving to this multi gathering model of church because we believe it combines the best of having the resources and stability of an established church with the momentum and mission of church planting.  In other words, we are becoming a city wide church with local missional impact.

Details about the changes are listed below and after you have read them it would be good to look at the following questions in your mission group:

1) How do you feel about this transtition?
2) What are the biggest challenges you can imagine for Mosaic?
3) What are the biggest opportunities for Mosaic?
4) How does it impact your mission group?
5) How do you feel about Steve and Leanne moving to Dublin?
6) How does this transition help you in mission and community?
7) Have you thought about the upcoming Mission group Sunday yet?  what could your group do to invest in mission and community?
8) Are you disappointed in any way?
9) What makes you most excited?
10) Find out what gifts, talents and strengths you have in your mission group.  How can these be used to serve in mission group or on a Sunday?
11) What sort of church would help you reach your friends?
12) Please pray for Mosaic in this transition.  Pray that God would give us wisdom with how to proceed, pray for venues for the gatherings to meet in, pray for those finding this change difficult.
13) Please pray for our Special Offering at the end of February.  We are looking to raise £30,000 to invest in Steve and Leanne Vaughan, Dave Horsfall, Paula Nice and Keith and Anna Nichols (East Leeds).

The Future of Mosaic Church FAQ

About the Changes

What will be changing?
Over the next twelve months we will transition from one church in one location to one church in several locations across the city. Initially we hope to have neighbourhood gatherings in the North, North Central and the South of the city. However in time the number of these gatherings will hopefully grow.

What will be staying the same?
The local neighbourhood gatherings will share the same DNA - vision, values and legal identity, as well as resources, finances and website – but will gather locally. Each gathering will be made up of mission groups focused on different places, passions and people as they are now and will be led by one or two leaders and a core team. We are hoping to retain much of what we love about Mosaic (community, discipleship, mission, training and sending) and scatter across Leeds to help us in our mission to reach the city. Each gathering may look different but will place a high value on worship, preaching and evangelism in order to serve our mission groups.

Why are we making these changes?
Partly because we feel this is the best strategy to remain city-wide but have local presence in our communities. It should enable us to maintain a church planting mentality, whilst retaining the stability of being an established church. We hope it will lead to deeper community and stronger outreach. Also, as the lease on our current building comes to an end in 12 months’ time, we believe it is better for us to invest in ministries and mission rather than trying to buy or rent (and then run) a larger building at considerable cost.

How do these changes fit with Mosaic’s vision and mission?
We believe these changes are directly in line with our call to ‘join God’s mission to build a community that transforms the world’. By going local, we hope it will enable more opportunities for mission to friends and neighbours through mission groups, and it will increase involvement and commitment in each of the local gatherings.

When will the changes happen?
We plan to begin the first gathering (North Central Leeds) in September this year, at which point we would move to just a morning gathering at our current building. We will look to moving fully to three neighbourhood gatherings (South Leeds, North Leeds and North Central Leeds) at the beginning of 2013, when our lease runs out on the building.

Will I get to see people in the other gatherings?
Yes. We will bring together all the neighbourhood gatherings fairly regularly - either to pray, hold training and equipping events, for events such as LOVE:NATIONS and for city-wide celebrations.

How can I input into what’s happening?
We would value your thoughts and comments. Please speak to your mission group leaders, or catch any of the elders (Matt Hatch, Dan Chadwick or Steve Vaughan) on a Sunday.

How can I find out more?
As well as speaking to your mission group leaders with specific questions you may have, we will look to keep you updated through our regular Sunday communication.

Neighbourhood Gatherings

Where will the neighbourhood gatherings be located?
We are initially looking to begin with three neighbourhood gatherings in South Leeds, North Leeds and North Central Leeds, where a number of our mission groups and mission group clusters already gather. Meeting venues for these gatherings will most probably be hired, and it is likely to be several months before the exact location of these venues will be confirmed. As part of this we are closely in communication with other church leaders across the city.

Which neighbourhood gathering will I go to?
You are free to choose which gathering you are part of. It would make sense to go to the one closest to you. We appreciate that for some people it means not seeing all your friends on a Sunday. While we acknowledge this will be hard for some, we feel that the mission must keep pushing us out into the city. It is the same for church planting - while it is always painful to say goodbye to friends, ultimately we want to be able to send people to take the gospel to the city and beyond.

Who will lead the neighbourhood gatherings?
We will ask one or two people to lead each neighbourhood gathering with a core team of people supporting them. We have not decided who will lead the gatherings, but Matt Hatch will initially be involved in all three gatherings, with himself and Dan Chadwick overseeing them all as elders of Mosaic.

When will the neighbourhood gatherings meet?
It is likely that the North and South Leeds gatherings will meet on Sunday mornings and North Central Leeds will gather on Sunday evenings. The exact days and times of these gatherings will be dependent on a number of factors (such as venue) and so it will be much nearer the time before they are confirmed.

Will each neighbourhood gathering be the same?
Each gathering will retain the DNA of Mosaic though it may be expressed differently depending on the location. The proper word for this is ‘contextualisation’ and simply means we need to gather in ways that best reach the people we are focused on.

What provision will there be for children?
Whilst many of the details are still to be worked out, we believe there will be kids’ work provision at both the North and South Leeds gatherings.

Which neighbourhood gathering will I go to if I’m a student?
We would encourage you to consider all of the three neighbourhood gatherings when deciding. We hope that each of the neighbourhood gatherings will have diversity, particularly in terms of ages, to best enable us to better reach the communities where the gatherings will be located.

How will serving teams work?
Each neighbourhood gathering will have a number of serving teams similar to those we have currently – with hosting teams (welcome & café) as well as technical teams (sound & visuals), ministry teams (kids & students) and a musicians’ team. Serving teams will not be centralised and therefore we will need to raise up many more leaders and people willing to serve each other. If you’re not already on a serving team, why not fill in an ‘I’d like to find out more about serving’ card on the welcome table and someone will be in touch.

Mission Groups

How will these changes impact mission groups?
Hopefully the changes won’t change anything major in terms of mission groups; the changes are really happening in order to aid and further the mission of our groups. They will still be communities of mission, growth and care. They will still remain as a vital ‘place to belong’. They will still be overseen by a coach.

Will each mission group be ‘part of’ or ‘linked to’ of one of the neighbourhood gatherings?
Whilst there will be space for flexibility, each mission group will most likely link to and be part of one of the three neighbourhood gatherings. Hopefully with each gathering being more geographically focused it will aid the mission of each group whether your group is based around ‘people’, ‘passions’ or ‘places’.

What if I’m in a non-geographical mission group?
Ideally each group will link with a specific gathering. If there are a number of similar mission groups linked to different neighbourhood gatherings, this will hopefully strengthen and bring breadth to every neighbourhood gathering and still allow space for ‘cross-gathering’ clusters and events (especially on Mission Group Sundays).

Will we still emphasise accountability groups?
Yes. We hope that everyone finds an accountability group via their mission group or friendship network.

Dublin Church Plant

When will this be happening?
Steve and Leanne would like to go within 6-12 months (God willing). However for this to happen, there are lots of practical things that need to fall into place - house and jobs being the main two. Your prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Will we be sending a team?
Yes, but it will only be a small team as we want to be sensitive to the Irish culture and sending lots of English people would be a barrier. Please speak to Matt Hatch if you have any questions regarding this.

Who will ‘replace’ Steve?
Steve will not be replaced directly, especially as the structure of the church is changing so much. Dave Horsfall already now oversees ‘Intro’ and ‘More’ and the local gathering leadership teams will assume oversight of the different mission groups. We are also looking to raise up more elders across the church who will help oversee all three gatherings.

How will the Dublin church plant stay connected with Mosaic?
Similar to The Oak, the Dublin church plant will have a close relationship with Mosaic, while at the same time developing links with other local churches in Dublin and Ireland.

What support does the Dublin church plant need?
Firstly, your prayers would be much appreciated, for gathering a team, for the practicalities of moving to Dublin, and for seeing God impact the city. As Dublin is in the top five most expensive places to live in Europe, Steve and Leanne will also need to raise between £60-80,000 for the first two years. As part of this year’s special offering we will be giving towards this total - please see the Special Offering Information Pack for more details on this.

Other Mosaic Questions

How will the neighbourhood gatherings work together?
The idea is that by staying as one family in several locations we will get the benefits of a big church, such as sharing resources and expertise, while local gatherings will be able to be innovative and creative so they can reach the people in their locality.

Where will future additional neighbourhood gatherings be?
Where mission groups start to multiply and cluster together, there will be potential to start a neighbourhood gathering. Currently we are praying that our mission groups in Holbeck and Seacroft continue to grow and will be some of the first to multiply.

How will the changes affect staffing and finances?
We are currently looking at both the impact to staffing and to finance, and whilst we have a lot of details still to work though, we hope to be able to give an update on both of these things in a few months’ time.

Will there be a central office space?
Yes. We are hoping to have a central office space, with the possibility of a small meeting space as well.

How will we benefit from shared resources?
As one church with multiple gatherings, sharing resources will not only enable us to be more efficient, but will crucially enable us to do more as a church. Resources not only includes finance, but also many other things such as people, knowledge and skills. We hope that by doing this we will also be able to reach some of the poorer areas of the city.

What are Mission Group Sundays?
Four times this year we will not gather at The Warehouse for a normal Sunday service. Instead we will use this time for mission groups to invest in community and mission. Some mission groups may cluster together. We will be holding Launchpad at The Warehouse for those not in mission groups or who are visiting the church.

How does The Oak fit into all of this?
The Oak will remain a separate church, but as a church planted out of Mosaic we will continue to have a close relationship.

What will be happening to the FP programme next year? / Can I still do the FP programme next year?
We will still run FP next year. As with previous years, there will be the same training, discipleship, serving and leadership elements to the training. As well as being involved in city-wide ministries, FPers will also be part of one of the three neighbourhood gatherings. We are expecting quite a few people to apply for a limited number of places, and so would advise on getting applications in early. To find out more speak to Hannah O’Shea or email hannah.oshea@mosaic-church.org.uk.

Discussion Questions and Applications