Mosaic Boston • Jamaica Plain

Has someone told you, "You don't want to be on the wrong side of history." The statement may cause you to really think. This week we look at how often, when we live our lives trying not to be judged by future generations we cannot know, we may be doomed to become worse than prior generations. There is no better example than the religious leaders of Jesus' day. These were men who had disdain for past generations and truly wanted to be on the right side of history. Yet, they became even worse than their ancestors. Can the cycle be broken? Listen as Pastor Ivey unpacks Jesus' solution to this vicious cycle of sin.

A gambit is a chess move where a player sacrifices a piece in an effort to trap their opponent. Metaphorically, this is what the religious leaders try against Jesus when they ask him a question about his authority. What they don't fully understand is that Jesus is playing chess while they are playing checkers. He outmaneuvers them and sets his own gambit. Watch this week as we examine our hearts to answer the question the religious leaders must answer, "Who is Jesus?"

This week we look at a passage that has stumped Christians, theologians, New Testament scholars, and philosophers for centuries. And it revolves around a barren fig tree that Jesus curses. We examine the meaning of the fig tree and why Jesus cursed it. Then pastor Ivey shows us how to avoid being cursed by Jesus. Something that we should all be interested in! Listen, understand, and be changed by one of the most difficult passages in the Gospel of Mark.

All of us have deficiencies, and if we're honest, we probably have more than one. It's only after we realize our weaknesses that we can do something about them. This week we look at blind Bartimaeus. A man who was well aware of his weakness but also knew its solution. One day while he was going about his regular begging, the solution to his blindness came walking by, and his name was Jesus. Listen this week as Pastor Ivey explores how we can see our weaknesses and allow Jesus to heal them.

The final reason God has you on earth has an expiration date. God has put you in this world for a mission to spread the good news of Jesus'. This is God's mission for us, but only on this side of eternity. That doesn't make it any less important. It only makes the need more urgent. Not only did Jesus send us on a mission, but he also gave us scope for it. We are to be witnesses here, there, and everywhere. Listen this week as Pastor Ivey looks at God's gospel mission for his church and shows us our part in it from the Scriptures.

When we were saved, the Apostle Paul tell us that he pouring out his kindness on us in love, resurrected us, forgave us, saved us, and even coronated us as co-rulers with him. And in all that he has done for us, we are his masterpieces of redemption. The Apostle Paul concludes that because of the amazing work of Jesus for us there is only one reasonable response is our whole lives in service to Jesus. While that is a lot to grasp, Pastor Ivey slows down and takes us through three ways we can serve like Jesus. Join us this week as we see that we were born to serve.

We often think of the obvious ways we grow in our faith: Prayer, Scripture reading, and going to church. While God does use all those things, he also uses so much more. Many of them are pretty unexpected. Many of the times he wants us to become like his Son, he will bring us to the places Jesus went. This week we examine those unexpected tools from Romans 8:28-29. Listen as Pastor Ivey helps us navigate some of the difficult ways God helps us become like Jesus.

We all have a physical family, the people that we share our DNA with. They are important parts of our lives, but we will be eventually be separated from those we're genetically related to. God has given us a family that won't just last our few decades on earth, but for all eternity! This week Pastor Ivey explores the importance of God's church. They are the most important family we will ever have. We cannot fulfill our reason for being alive without them. Listen this week as we unpack what it means to be born for God's family.

All of us are born with certain skills, abilities, talents, and passions. Sometimes we can mistake those for our purpose in life. For instance, if you're good at math, you may assume your purpose is to work in the sciences. Eventually, we realize that those things may contribute to our ultimate purpose in life, but they are not the reason we're alive. If we want to know the reason we're alive we need to look to the one who created us. Listen with us this week as pastor Ivey explores the first reason you're alive: You were born to worship God.