Mosaic Lincoln

1 Timothy 6:6-19

Mosaic Gathering Prayer: February 23, 2020

Every generation has found its home in you, God our provider,
and we discover that every moment
spent in your holy presence lasts beyond all imaginable time.
You watch over us in the night,
protecting and leading, encouraging us to trust
and to take courage in following your Son’s teachings.

Full of wisdom, Creator of grace,
you humbled yourself that we might learn
to love those who have been swept aside
by a world caught up in its own selfish affairs.
Witnesses to God’s mercy, we are called to act in
ways of love and of peace to all we meet in this life.

Thank you for giving us your Son, Jesus, and for his life.

Continue to be the dwelling place of our bodies,
our minds, our hearts and our souls.
Oh God, you have made us to be free,
But we crave the cheap comforts of our chains.
You have made us to serve others,
But we have eyes only for ourselves.
You have made us to love,
But we are inflamed with lust.
You provide that we may be generous,
But we greedily hoard as if your well will run dry.
You forgive time and again,
But we hold fast to the sins of others.
You offer light for our path,
But we insist on making our own way.
You are the God who saves.

Lord, save us from ourselves.
In your great mercy, restore and heal us,
and grant us your pace.
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Mosaic Gathering Liturgy: February 16, 2020

Children of the Living God,
what is our Father’s greatest desire
for us this day?

That we should love our King
with all our hearts, with all our souls,
with all our minds and with all our strength.

And how would we show this love?
By remembering him at all times.
By cultivating thankfulness for his many blessings,
and trusting his good providence
for the meeting of our needs.

And by loving all whose lives intersect our own.
By choosing to serve rather
than to be served, to be wounded
rather than to wound.
And by bearing patiently
with the failings of others,
extending the same kindness,
mercy, and compassion that God in Christ
has so graciously offered us. 

We bring to you Lord, our irritations we carry in this day,
that you might reveal the buried seed of it - not
in the words or actions of another person, but
in the withered and hypocritical expectations
of our own weary hearts.

Uproot from this impoverished soil
all arrogance and insecurity that
would prompt us to dismiss or disdain others,
judging them with a less generous measure than
we reckon when judging ourselves.

Prune away the tangled growth
Of our own unjustified irritations, Jesus,
And graft to our hearts instead your humility,
your compassion, your patience, your kindness,
that we might bear fruit in keeping with your grace.

O God our Rock,
hold us in our chaos.

O Christ our King,
calm us in our storms.

O Holy Spirit,
Intercede for us.
Be merciful, most merciful God. Amen.

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

Mosaic Gathering Prayer: February 9, 2020

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Some principles for ‘doing unto others’ who are strongly opposed to us include…

1| I do not want to be physically attacked, hurt or killed by my opponents. Therefore, I will not engage in violence against them.
2| I do not want people to dismiss what I believe as so obviously wrong that it is not worth a hearing. So I will take time to listen and to understand what my opponents are saying, even if I strongly disagree with them.
3| I do not want people to misrepresent or caricature what I write or say in order to win an argument. So I will state accurately and fairly what my opponents believe.
4| I do not want people to attack my character for being different from them. So I will not resort to character assassination in order to try to discredit my opponents.
5| I do not want people to assume that because I disagree with them I am motivated by selfishness or a desire for power. I will therefore not rush to judge the motives of my opponents.
6| I do not want people to try to silence me by threats, intimidation or coercion of any kind, or refuse to talk to me because I am morally obnoxious in their eyes. So I will treat my opponents with courtesy and respect.
7| I do not want people to be impervious to any damage their beliefs and attitudes are having on me or those I care about. Likewise, I will listen and be open to learn how my beliefs and attitudes may be injurious to
others.

Source: The Message of Love by Patrick Mitchel 

Mosaic Gathering Prayer: December 22, 2019

God of kings and shepherds,

God of teenage mothers and step-parents,

God of angel choruses and starlight—

We confess to waiting.

We have waited to extend grace.

We have waited to say, “I love you.”

We have waited to apologize.

We have waited to be just,

Choosing comfort and convenience over the needs of our neighbors. We have waited—

Waited for someone else to make a move,

Waited for a sign,

Waited until it was our issue.

You ask us to be the body of Christ, but in many ways, we have waited. 

Forgive us.

Change us.

Remind us of your love for each of us and this world. Your love can’t wait.

In your name we pray, Amen.

https://vimeo.com/381086629

Mosaic Gathering Prayer: December 15, 2019

When the sun rises what shall we sing?
“My soul magnifies the Lord.”

And when chaos and violence echo on the screen?
“My soul magnifies the Lord.”

For our God is a God of justice and peace.
“My soul magnifies the Lord.”

So when all is wrong, or all is right,
“My soul magnifies the Lord.”

Yes, when all is wrong, or all is right,
We will sing with joy and delight,
Of the God of justice and love and peace.
“My soul magnifies the Lord.”

 In front of God and this church, I confess—
I am quick to complain, quick to criticize and conform. I am quick to forget, quick to doubt and deny.
Instead of singing praise, I often stay silent.

May the God of shepherds and kings,
The God of starlight and new life,
Offer you grace and show you the way home.
Amen.

Mosaic Gathering Prayer: December 8, 2019

Creator God,
Not a day goes by when you do not invite us to be peacemakers and advocates, Listeners and good Samaritans.

Not a day goes by when we are not asked to be a friend to a stranger
And a neighbor to those in need.

Not a day goes by when we are not asked to be the people you call us to be, And yet, day after day, we lose sight of your hope for this world.

Forgive us for walking a different path,
And grant us the strength to prepare a new way— Your way—here.
Gratefully we pray, Amen.

Galatians 2:19b-20

More than a passionate commitment to God and a set of beliefs so as to win the world for Jesus, faith is a willingness to enter into negation to see an all new reality open before us in the midst of our utter weakness and childlike trust so the love of God wins us and the world.

Isaiah 42:1-9

Eric Smith, Founder of Pillar Seminary in Omaha, NE, shares with us part of his journey and the ways in which God has always been in the midst of it as provider.