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VALUES
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These core values continually remind us what is at the heart of the Mosaic Community Fellowship. Along with our core beliefs, our core values provide the foundational direction for everything we do as a local faith community. If a ministry idea, concept, program or project cannot be supported by our: 1) Mission Statement 2) God-vision and, 3) Core Values, we will not pursue it. These keep us focused for Christ, remind us who we are as a faith community, and give us permission to say "no" to things that are conflictive with our purpose and mission.
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A diverse community of ONE |
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We believe God has uniquely created every person. We are all "wired" differently. Consider human DNA or genetic structure. No two fingerprints are the same. We don't all dress alike, wear our hair the same, listen to the same music, read the same books, and minister alike. God created us differently. No two disciples or apostles in the Bible were the same. Yet they had Jesus Christ in common. We are all created in God's image. We have a common connection through Christ and our Creator. We recognize, value and celebrate differences in age, race, ethnic background, language, socioeconomic, geographic culture of origin, and formative faith traditions. While we are diverse, community is what brings us together. We find unity within the diversity of God's creation. Diversity does not mean division. We become one under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
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Unity and Peace |
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The Mosaic Community recognizes that while we are all individual priests before God (Priesthood of All Believers) and we may hold different views, opinions and interpretations on scriptures (in nonessential areas beyond our stated Core Beliefs), politics, worldviews, economics, sports, etc., we seek to respect our differences. We do not accept, or tolerate divisive, quarrelsome, arrogant and mean spirited attitudes, comments, actions or behavior within our community of faith, or toward the larger faith community around us. We do not believe gossip, personal/destructive criticism, sarcasm, and judgment of others does anything to exalt Jesus Christ or build up His church. Such behavior will be confronted and dealt with by community leadership in the spirit of Christ and in accordance with scripture. We strongly value encouragement, peace and unity within the body of Christ. We believe division from within is one of the biggest problems facing the New Testament church today. We must strive to live out God's Great Commandment that we love God and one another.
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Authentic Character |
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We understand that people are tired and skeptical of churches where people claim to be something they are not. In the words of a church in Maryland, "we want to be real, honest and genuine, in our people and in our programs and ministries." Since we're honest, we want you to know that we are human, broken, imperfect, sinful people in need of a sovereign, holy, righteous, loving and forgiving God. We're not always happy, but we never lose the joy of our salvation. We have honest struggles with life and faith. We share them and encourage one another in our struggles. We prefer that everything be up front and on the table. So when we make mistakes we admit it, laugh, learn from it, grow and move on. Sometimes that's uncomfortable, but at least it's honest and transparent, like Jesus and the Early Church. We want our lives to be living testimonies of God's grace as we strive to be more like Jesus Christ.
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Ministry and Service |
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We have been created to glorify God. We bring glory to God through our worship, ministry and service. We truly believe that Christ has called and wired us to serve others in His name. Jesus Christ modeled the ultimate in service and sacrifice by washing His disciples feet, ministering to the broken, wounded, social outcasts, sinners, and ultimately by giving His life on the cross for us. We want to help each other minister and serve like Him. We seek creative, innovative and non-traditional ways to minister in Jesus' name. We also believe that we not only exist to serve the unchurched and non-Christian community, but each other as well.
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Joy |
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We believe God has given us joy through our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our definition of joy is not a people who are always swinging from the rafters on an emotional high that ignores the pains and heartaches within our community. Joy is part of our journey as fellow pilgrims who are following Christ. We do not believe the absence of happiness means the absence of joy. Happiness is not always possible in the middle of life's pains, but joy enables us to move through the pain, trouble, or rough times. Joy is a key ingredient of our worship celebrations, ministries and small groups. Many times we exercise our joy through humor. We genuinely believe laughter is one of God's greatest gifts to humanity. We use humor a lot to deal with life. In the Mosaic Community we laugh a lot. We laugh with each other, but never at each other. We believe the ability to laugh with others and at ourselves is a mark of maturity. While we're serious about Christ and our faith, we try not to take ourselves too seriously because this about Jesus Christ, not us.
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Sharing Jesus |
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The Mosaic Community was founded with the God-vision of using non-traditional methods and approaches to reach the unchurched and non-Christian culture for Jesus Christ. We value sharing the Good News and hope of Jesus Christ with others. We believe relationships are critical to sharing Christ. We value establishing and maintaining relationships with people who don't go to church, or who aren't biblical Christians so they can begin to learn and see firsthand what it means to follow Jesus and the difference He can make in their own life. We want all people to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ instead of just making a decision. In the words of one great preacher, "A decision is easy believism. A relationship requires commitment, time and hard work."
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Maturity |
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People never stop growing. As we grow older we mature physically, emotionally, and mentally. Spiritual maturity should be the natural progression of a relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to become more like Jesus. The traditional church calls this discipleship, which is rooted in the biblical word we translate learner. In other words, as committed followers of Jesus Christ and pilgrims for Christ, we never stop learning. We believe all followers of Christ, no matter how old should never stop learning and growing through the, the spiritual disciplines (worship, prayer, fasting, meditation, Bible study, service, and spiritual gift development) practiced within and outside the faith community. We recognize that not everyone is at the same point of growth and do not make light or fun of people who are new to the faith. There is no such thing as a stupid question at Mosaic! Everyone in the Mosaic Community is here to help others grow in Christ. |
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