Monthly Archives: December 2020

Finding Freedom

2020, Erwin McManus

There is no doubt that this year has been devastating for so many of us. Job loss has been unprecedented and a sense of lost hope is tangible. Times of such great uncertainty can leave us grabbing onto safety, just struggling to survive. The good news is that God’s promises reach us in our present circumstances today.

Pastor Erwin McManus leads us through Isaiah 61 as He encourages us that God is a God who restores. When we let God inhabit our lives, we begin to see differently. God gives us eyes to see wounds that need healing. He gives us the ability to be healing to what is broken. But first, we have to be willing to be broken. Though our culture fears weakness, we are reminded that God can use the material of our brokenness to create a beautiful future. God wants to fill our imaginations with possibilities in place of our despair because with God-nothing is wasted. There is no question if God has a great future for us. The question is, are we willing to pay the cost to see it come to pass?

“When the world is broken that’s exactly when Jesus becomes undeniable.”

-Erwin McManus

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“Finding Freedom” message given by Erwin McManus at Mosaic Studios.

For more information, visit mosaic.org. © MOSAIC / Erwin McManus. #20201227

 

Home For The Holidays – Christmas Eve | Pastor Erwin McManus

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Merry Christmas, Mosaic! Pastor Erwin McManus sits down on Christmas Eve and explores the often forgotten role of Joseph during the birth of Jesus. Pastor Erwin highlights how Joseph’s place in the Christmas story can mirror our own—how in the middle of God’s work in the world we can find ourselves inconvenienced, diminished, and forgotten, yet we have the ability to chose the future that God has for us.

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“Home For The Holidays – Christmas Eve” message given by Erwin McManus, recorded in the McManus home.

For more information, visit mosaic.org. © MOSAIC / Erwin McManus. #20201224

 

Home for the Holidays – Week 3 | Pastors Erwin + Kim McManus

Erwin McManus, Kim McManus

We’ve faced so much this year. It’s been a year with challenges that have at times felt endless. In moments like these, we must remember to look back and single out moments that we can express gratitude for. When we look back at 2020, we don’t only want to remember the struggles.

We must remember the moments that have been gifts to us. The story of Jesus may be familiar but we can choose to lean in with wonder as if we’ve never heard it before. In Luke 2:11 it reads, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” One birth changed human history.

2,000 years ago Jesus didn’t wait for the perfect time. The perfect time is sometimes in the middle of what looks like a disaster. Love sees a disaster and brings the healing. God will push through all things to create a scenario where he could get to us. 2020 was disastrous but we must not miss the miraculous. God always has a plan for redemption. Christmas is a miracle story and we are vehicles for the miraculous.

“God makes himself known through the unexplainable.” – Kim McManus

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“Home For The Holidays” message given by Erwin and Kim McManus, recorded in the McManus home.

For more information, visit mosaic.org. © MOSAIC / Erwin McManus. #20201220

 

Home For The Holidays – Week 2 | Pastors Erwin + Kim McManus

2020, Erwin McManus, Kim McManus

Although no one knew her, God saw her. Overjoyed by the message from God, Mary burst into song. “My soul glorifies in the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” After Mary was told by an Angel that she would carry a baby boy, the son of God, she was shocked and overjoyed responding “I’m your servant, may your will be fulfilled.” God can take the humble and raise them up.

When we want God to see us we must choose humility, honor and courage as Mary did. When we’re full of ourselves or unkind, we move out of God sight. God’s mercy extends to those who fear him and scatters those who are arrogant. Mary’s song is a declaration that God is doing something to be remembered forever in human history, through those who humble themselves. We must remember the more we are full of ourselves the more invisible we become to God. Kindness and compassion is what God sees. This is the material that God uses.

“Jesus points the way to what God celebrates.” – Erwin McManus

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“Home For The Holidays” message given by Erwin and Kim McManus, recorded in the McManus home.

For more information, visit mosaic.org. © MOSAIC / Erwin McManus. #20201216

 

Home For The Holidays | Pastors Erwin + Kim McManus

2020, Erwin McManus, Kim McManus

While we’re home we can choose to make this the best Christmas ever. We can’t let this season pass by uncelebrated! In the first chapter of Luke, the author documents Jesus’ extraordinary life in real-time. Luke knew that the things Jesus was doing were so incredible and it would be hard for people to believe. Because of this, he wanted to make sure to make a historical record of what he saw. Luke took on the role of an eyewitness and servant.

To be a servant of the world, we must do our part in the history we’re living through. We may find ourselves wondering if God knows what to do in this moment. He does! This is the moment where we need to be sharing how God has been good to us.

We need to make sure we’re telling the orderly account of what God is doing in our lives. Even if the middle has been rough, it’s how the story ends that matters. We need to be eyewitnesses of God’s activity and servants of that reality. We’re all supposed to be like Luke, writing the orderly account of God’s work. God is grounded in this moment and He is here with us. But we need to ground ourselves in Him or this moment may overwhelm us.

“A story can never be as powerful as a history.”

-Erwin McManus

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“Home For The Holidays” message given by Erwin and Kim McManus, recorded in the McManus home.

For more information, visit mosaic.org. © MOSAIC / Erwin McManus. #20201206