| Friends, It goes without saying that the current events of the last several weeks have been very difficult to process for us all, myself included. As you heard on Sunday, Mosaic reaffirmed its commitment to denouncing violence of all kinds, and denouncing the uptick in political violence played out most recently through the shooting of Charlie Kirk on a college campus. We tried to be morally clear about the wrongness of any breaking of the Sixth Commandment, from Minnesota to Colorado to New York to Austin to Utah…just to name a few places where the taking of life has happened in our nation over the past few months. And of course, beyond the national spotlight, brokenness and violence exists in a variety of ways across our communities and city. These incidents leave families grieving and neighborhoods scarred. My heart breaks for all those affected by the loss of life, what it means for us as a nation, and I hope you will join me in praying for those affected. What would be easy to do would be to sink down, drown in despair, and allow dark things to grow in our hearts. Please allow me to lovingly call us upward…friends, we are the church of Jesus! We must be able to rise above the darkness for the sake of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. There is hope! One way we can “rise above,” tangibly, is to do real, public service, and not just offer lip service when it comes to making a difference in the world. My firm belief is that online, keyboard activism helps far less than we might hope. Instead, offering real, human experiences of love and compassion leans more in the direction of incarnational, Christ-shaped ministry. God the Father was not content just to “type out” commands from a distance…He came and helped those in need, personally, by sending Himself to our world. We can do something similar in numerous ways, but one way in particular we can make a tangible difference is through service done with one of our strategic partners in the city, the Christian Resource Center (CRC). The CRC is a “one stop shop” for many non-profits who work with the poor, the hungry (it has the largest food pantry in the area…cars line up down 183 to receive food), immigrants, pregnant moms, and veterans, to name a few groups who are ministered to. Located just north west of Austin in Cedar Park, it has become a helping hub for our community, collectively funded by the body of Christ in Austin, and Mosaic supports the CRC in three ways: 1.) We give to it financially, every month 2.) We offer leadership as a board member 3.) We rally people to serve on the campus from time to time What we are looking for is people who are able, on Saturday, September 27, to come out for our next CRC Service Day. Last time, we had a tremendous turnout…I’m believing we will again, as we show up to do property beautification and cleanup from 9 to 11 am. You can bring cleaning supplies, your tools, or you can just register and show up. The CRC sees the least of us helped, and is a consistent source of evangelism in our community: people regularly come to faith in Christ through these ministries, week in, and week out. When we don’t know how to move forward, doing something positive, tangible, human, and loving can often re-orient our emotional life and give us hope that God really is at work in our world. Which He is. I’m thankful to be a part of it with you. With love, Dr. Morgan Stephens Lead Pastor |
