This Sunday marks six years of Mosaic Church. It has been a wild ride and God has been with us and gone before us every step of the way. We have seen delights and disappointments, but through it all, the LORD has been working in us and through us.
As I have been thinking about the last six years - I keep finding myself at six reflections for us as we cross over this anniversary. In no particular order.
It might surprise you to hear that this core value was the most challenged part of Mosaic’s vision by those outside of our community. Nobody thought a hyper local church could “work” in North Texas. I was accused of stifling the gospel, giving privilege to place, and restricting our growth.
But I still find that one of the most endearing and encouraging things about Mosaic is that while we have grown, we have grown more dense in Richardson, not less.
Why does this matter? Because as Mosaic continues to pursue healthy gospel growth, we will no longer be a little church, but we will remain a local church. This is what God has called us to: past, present, and future.
Seven years ago, we would gather to pray that God would use His people in Richardson to share the gospel, serve our city, and showcase the character of God to our community. We have gotten glimpses of this over the last six years, but there is more to be seen and experienced.
In truth: I have a holy discontentment with what God has provided. I hope you do too. I am grateful for how God has moved, but I remain hungry for greater spiritual fruit.
If you asked me to list out my three deepest prayer requests right now for our future, they would be mirror images of what I was asking God seven years ago for Mosaic:
I’ve heard it said that if you want to be a part of a healthy church: find a church, stay there, and stay spiritually active. We have had five building moves in the last six years. We have redrawn the strategy, renamed community groups, changed calendars, brought on staff and sent staff off.
Startups experience lots of change and that includes churches. The health of Mosaic Church has largely been rooted in a stable group of church members who seem willing to be patient, prayerful, and persevering as we look to try and adapt to be faithful to what God has called us to do.
We preach the bible, we teach the bible, we are committed to deep discipleship. We think seriously about the structure of our worship on Sundays and we believe that it is crucial that the church gathers for worship and witness. Mosaic will never be the cool church, we will never be the most exciting church, we will never be the slickest church, but we are committed to being a church that stays anchored to God’s word. God has spoken - how could that reality not be the grounding of all that we pursue!
Every inch of Richardson will be covered with the good news of the gospel - but it isn’t yet. The task is unfinished. We have neighbors on our streets, in our school, among our coworkers, at our local shops who have never been invited to follow Jesus into life with God. We must not lose sight of the mission - we must not forget the vision that anchors our existence.
Mosaic doesn’t belong to her members, her pastors, or her staff. Mosaic belongs to the Lord. Pastors, staff, and members are going to come and go, but the Lord will keep and cultivate His people. Christ is the cornerstone of the church and we are a people in need of that strong foundation in any and all seasons of our life together.
For six years we have concluded our worship service with prayer, praise, and petition. It is the only thing that has been said at every Mosaic worship service since our inception. It is there to remind us that the engine of our worship and mission is the grace, glory, goodness, and greatness of God.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph. 3:21-22)
May God lead our hearts further up and further into embracing, inhabiting, and engaging our community with this truth at our center.
In Christ,
Kyle Worley