Beliefs & Bylaws

God

There is a God who created the universe. God created the universe because he loved the universe. Out of nothing God created everything, and he called it good!

Humanity

Humanity is part of God’s created universe, and all humans at any time and at any place are made by God in God’s image. They bear the mark of God’s creative genius and intimate care. God loves humanity, each and every member, no exception.

Jesus

We recognize that the man Jesus of Nazareth is 100% human, and we also believe that he is at the same time 100% divine. Jesus expresses God’s true nature of selfless love by virtue of his incarnation. We believe that Jesus really lived, was really executed on a Roman cross, was really buried in a tomb, really resurrected from the dead, and will really return one day to earth.

Salvation

It is for love that God sent Jesus into the world. Everyone of us falls short of God and his desired best for us. Despite what God intended, we find ourselves separate from a loving relationship with God. We cannot save ourselves from this separation. Only God can.

We believe that Jesus rescues us, bridging our spiritual separation with his death and resurrection and opening the way for each of us to belong to God. This is our salvation, and it is not about doing any work on our own or for ourselves, but recognizing that what Jesus has done is quite enough to usher us securely into relationship with God.

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third “Person” of the Trinity, one God expressed in three distinct ways (i.e. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).

Through relationship with Christ, we belong to God, and the Holy Spirit “seals” us in that belonging, transforming us to be God’s from the inside out. The Holy Spirit is our present-day advocate and advisor, our source of power and our real companion who leads us into full life and spiritual transformation in Christ.

Because of the Holy Spirit, God still speaks in ways we can comprehend and respond to today and everyday. The Holy Spirit is present, active, and consequential to the life of every Christian and to the life of the Church.

The Church

The Church is the gathered communities of those who have pledged their lives to follow Jesus. Each church congregation is a covenantal community, whose members have committed to a relational journey together, guided by their personal convictions, ministerial vision, and local mission. Their covenant is marked by the cultivation of friendship, faith, and spiritual formation.

Mosaic is one such congregation in this world-wide Church, and we continue to act as a messenger of hope, a beacon of grace and welcome, and conduit of love to everyone. 

Scripture

We rely on the Bible as our sole sacred text. Like no other book, we consistently draw on its various books, letters, and narratives, both of the Old and New Testaments, with the help of the Holy Spirit for wisdom and direction, encouragement and teaching regarding how to live well, the will of God in human life and history, and the nature of God. God still uses the Bible to speak to and build up his people. As his people, we continue to use the Bible as an instrument for prayer, for seeking God’s will, and for practicing God’s presence.