Mosaic Boston • Jamaica Plain

The Lord's prayer is one of the most remarkable teachings of Jesus, but it has become so common that we often miss how extraordinary it really is. Familiarity has a way of making even the marvelous seem mundane. This week Pastor Ivey continues our new series by turning to the most famous prayer in all of the Scriptures. We'll take The Lord's Prayer and explore the profound meaning in each word. Join us this week and learn to pray under the teaching of Jesus.

In 2020 we spent a year reading through the entire Bible, and may consistent Bible reading continue in your life this year. But in 2021 we're focusing on prayer, and not just any prayer, but communal prayer. Check out this week's message as Pastor Ivey unpacks a powerful passage from the prophet Isaiah about how God defines his house. He doesn't call it a house of music, a house of preaching, or a house of programs. He calls it "A house of prayer."

After several months off, we are concluding our series about caring for God's creation. This sermon was originally planned for March 2020, but COVID changed those plans. Today we look at our role in God's creation. Pastor Ivey walks us through the first job ever given to humans: Gardeners. Then we see how that relates to our current job on God's good earth.

So far in Ruth, we've seen hope crushed and reborn. We've seen love planted and flourished. We've witnessed the peace that comes with a family. This week we watch a joy that comes from God's supernatural providence in the life of Ruth. We finish our Bethlehem Christmas celebration 1,300 years before Christ. Like with the birth of Jesus, there is a child born who will have a royal legacy. Join us as we see how God was working to bring joy to the whole world through this one family!

This week we catch up with Ruth a few months after she first met Boaz. Naomi was determined to return the love Ruth had shown her. She desired peace for Ruth, and she had a plan to get it. In chapter three she sent Ruth on a risky mission that would require an unconditional proposal to a rich and powerful man. This week Pastor Ivey shows us how we can be agents of peace in the world through the power of Jesus, our redeemer.

We love burritos. We love movies. We love our family. We use love in a lot of ways with vastly different meanings. But there is one thing we all want in life, it's a loyal love that is never going anywhere. This week Pastor Ivey jumps into the second part of Ruth. In this chapter we see Boaz using a special type of love. A faithful love that most often characterizes God's love for his people. Through Ruth, we'll see where to find the faithful love we truly long for.

2020 has been a year to remember... or forget? Either way, we all need a little hope this year. Christmas is a season of hope as every year we remember the birth of Jesus in the town of Bethlehem. But did you know that Bethlehem was important throughout the Scriptures? Some 1300 years before, the birth of Jesus was put in motion by a young outsider woman and an Israelite man all culminating in, you guessed it, the town of Bethlehem. Through the story of Ruth, we learn where to find hope on our darkest days.

Jesus often subverts our expectations. Anytime we think we have him pinned down, he gives us a teaching like Mark 10:32-45. In chapter 10, two of Jesus' disciples ask to be the most powerful people in the new kingdom he would establish. Jesus astonished them with the radical upside-down nature of his kingdom. This week pastor Ivey examines the real winners in Jesus' kingdom. Jesus reveals that the secret to happiness paradoxically comes from being a loser. They aren't the powerful and the rich, but the lowly and the humble.

There are good reasons to think that if you live in the United States you are rich. Honestly, we may not feel rich, but billions of people across the world think we are. Jesus says that's a problem because it's impossible for a rich person to get into Heaven. So if from an international perspective we're rich, and it's impossible for us to make it into Heaven, what do we do? Thankfully Jesus always has good news. This week Pastor Ivey unpacks the very relevant story of the Rich Young Ruler.

Children are not always thought of in the highest esteem in society. They can be seen as nuisances or even wasteful. This is nothing new. In Jesus' day, they were even lower in society's view. In the book of Mark, there is a story about the disciples shooing children away from Jesus. When the Lord found out he wouldn't allow it. He made an amazing claim about the position of children in his kingdom that we should all consider. Join us this week as Pastor Ivey talks about the time Jesus told us why we need to grow up and become like children.