stephen wayne hammond

The Mosaic Gathering "9 Musts"

Today one of our pastors and elders (Kent Krabill) shared some great stuff about the immediate Future of Mosaic as we begin a transition of our Sunday Gatherings. It was so encouraging that I wanted to make sure that YOU had a chance to be involved with where we are going.

Enjoy!

At every Sunday Gathering our Mosaic community MUST:

*Yield to the Holy Spirit of God to Lead and Teach Us

*Value the Preaching and Teaching of God's Word (Scriptures)

*Praise the Lord through Music

*Reflect on God's Goodness as we learn to Listen to and Obey His Voice

*Pray Together

*Fellowship with Friends (New and Old)

*Serve One Another

*Give Financially

*Celebrate Communion as a Family

Each Sunday you can join us and expect that God will change lives as we all come together to honor Jesus and encourage humanity as the Scriptures teach us.  

It's good to be alive!

AHS Sports Chaplaincy

This was the scene just 10 minutes ago at our AHS pep rally this afternoon. Tonight at 8pm the AHS Colts will play the Trinity Trojans in an area round high school football playoff game at Texas Stadium. I couldn't be prouder of our head coach, Scott Peach, his staff and our young men as we head out to play the number #1 ranked team in the country!

For 8 years my friend Doug and I have served this team as the FCA chaplains. Today at chapel one of our coaches mentioned that the boys have probably changed our lives as much as we have tried to help change theirs. That's probably true. I serve this team because I can and they desire my presence around them. I can only hope that the love of Christ is coming through me and in the end He is able to make a difference in the lives of others.

Here are some of the the things I love about my role as a servant to this team:

-sharing a message of hope each week at chapel or listening to Doug's talks (his are actually much better than mine)
-spending time reminding our coaches to stay focused on things that really matter like family and friends
-learning from our coaches how commitment, discipline and unity can move an organization forward
-being there for kids and coaches who need a listening ear without judgment
-watching my son serve the team as a ballboy and watching him learn about life from these older boys
-wearing my coaches shirt
-watching film
-bus rides home....after we win of course
-celebrating with the team in victory
-helping them process and stay focused when we are defeated

The list could go on. It's been a special ride with AHS over the past few years. I can only pray that God allows the ride continue, at least one more week this season!

Go COLTS!!!

(2nd photo is of Coach Peach speaking to our team last Saturday in Abilene after we defeated Odessa High 28-27).

Not 1, but 2!

This past week Mosaic sent a team of 7 people to El Salvador to help dig a water well for those in poverty who have been drinking muddy water all their lives.

I just got word that our team not only succeeded at drilling the first well, but they had time to drill a second well also!  

I sit today in awe of a God who cares about people drinking dirty water.  I sit in awe today that this God would allow me a chance to help serve and lead such a great community like Mosaic of Arlington to help others see the value of giving up their vacation time and their hard earned money to go and do something as noble as drill water wells.  I sit in awe today of what the human mind, spirit and body can do if we simply try.  I sit in awe today of such a good grace and good gift.

Today celebrate with me that hundreds of children and their parents will drink clean water for possibly the first time in their lives.  Celebrate the fact that we all can probably do more than we think, if we simply allow God to use us.

(Here is Brandy and Denise celebrating as the team hits water, the first time!)

Sports Ministry

This is a picture of our pre-game chapel for the AHS football team.

Anywhere between 55-65 student athletes fill the locker room for this voluntary talk centered on faith, sports and life.

My good friend Doug (pictured above) and I have been working together now for 8 years serving these kids and coaches.

Probably the highlight of both of us is enjoying Friday Night Football with our oldest sons while we are on 'mission' to share our love for Christ and culture with AHS. Doug's son, Zach, is a team statastician for the offense and my son, Harrison, is a ballboy.

It's much fun to hang out with the Colts as they pursue a distict championship. It's even more fun living this life with our sons!

Go Ahead...Wreck Your Life

As I approach 40 (many months from now) I am coming to realize that here are 3 things that will derail you and I from fulfilling God's best for our lives-

Pride

(Sexuality falls under this one for me)

Money

Legalism

This Sunday at Mosaic we will be discussing the Money issue.  Probably nothing has a great daily influence on your character than how you view, handle and give away money.  It's a tough topic for me to speak on but I am growing up. :-)  

I hope that this Sunday will be a time of both encouragement and challenge as together we remember that you can't take it with you, but you can sure send it on ahead of you.  

Join us this Sunday at 10am at CATS to learn more about what the world would look like if "Everyone Gave" as we conclude our EVERYONE series.  (Start reading the scriptures in Ephesians as we jump into our "Verve" series starting next Sunday) 

Welcoming a new member to the Mosaic Family

Beginning this month I have decided to start using the English Standard Version as our primary Bible in our main Sunday Gatherings at Mosaic Arlington.

From the beginning of church we have used the New Living Translation and it continues to be a great resource for us.  Yet over the past 18 months or so I have grown to appreciate the ESV as a tool that will help us uncover more of the richness of the scriptures.

It's hard in a short blog post to explain why we have made this move but a great leader has some great reasons for their church shifting to this version that you can read here.

For those of you who have grown to love the NLT like I have don't get rid of it.  It's a trustworthy resource that will continue to help shape your journey with Christ for decades to come.  For others of you who have asked about a more 'literal word for word' translation your wish has now been granted.  

But let's not fool ourselves.  No matter what version of the Bible we choose to use as a church, if we don't do what the scriptures ask of us it really won't matter will it?  So if you are a KJV guy, awesome!  If you will die with your NIV, good for you.  If you are like me and are excited about the ESV, great!  But however we read the scriptures let's remember to 'be a doer of the word and not merely a hearer only.'

Vision 360

Today while attending a Turbo training event (a 2 day church planting conference hosted by Glocalnet at Northwood church I met a new friend from Vision360.   

One of my mentors and leaders, Erwin McManus (lead pastor of Mosaic LA) is on the Vision 360 board so I was familiar with their mission and vision to help start church planting movements around the nation. 

After eating dinner with the regional leader here in the Dallas I was very encouraged with the work they are doing and maybe how Mosaic Arlington can be involved.

There is a huge need in the Body of Christ to find, assess, train, fund and release church planters who will understand that the Church is here to meet the needs of the world through Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.  I have been able to play a small part in helping meet this need through Square One, but to be honest at times I feel inadequate and totally out of my league in changing the world through an avenue like this.  I hope that as God brings us other networks like Vision360 and Glocalnet that I will be better equipped to serve others through church planting.  God knows we need it.

Time Alone with Christ

As a leader it's imperative I get time alone with Christ so that I can be refreshed, encouraged and ready to hear His voice to direct my life, family and ministry into the future.

Often I find myself too tired, busy or worried to make some time to get up early and pursue Him (I encourage people to get time alone with God in the early mornings b/c the house is usually quiet plus this time allows you to be focused to live a full day for Christ and others). Sometimes I miss time with God altogether, while other days I will be up earlier than I thought in anticipation for what will be an exciting time alone with my Creator.

As you and I journey together in seeking God let me encourage you to come to your time alone with a few ideas in mind:

Make it Personal- don't try to get your messages done in this time, seek wisdom for another or even try to catch a vision for the future of your 'thing' but instead get with God to deal with you.

*Make it Simple- all you really need for some great times alone with God are: 1) Scriptures you can easily understand, 2) Notebook/Journal and Pen to document what He is speaking to you and 3) Maybe an iPod to listen to some tunes to prepare your heart, mind and soul to be together with Him (although some would substitute the music for an early morning run or walk in the park, or something similar)

*Make it Holy- simply meaning use this time to allow God's Spirit to show you the areas in your life that are not pleasing to Him and then take the appropriate actions of repentance.

*Make it Memorable- don't be afraid to keep a journal close so that you can write down what God is speaking to you (if you are like me you will forget most of the things you don't document)

*Make it Missional- whatever God gives you in your times alone with Him needs to be implemented not only for your life but for the lives of others around you meaning that God wants to help and change your life so that in turn you can go help and change others.

*Make it Consistent- try to meet with God regularly (same time each day and same place) as to build a 'stabilizing meeting' into your life and schedule (next time you are really stressing you will actually find yourself saying "I can't wait until I get some time alone with God tomorrow at _____")

These are just simple suggestions that I need to be reminded of regularly to keep a consistent journey with God fresh and exciting. Hopefully it will help you as well.

Let me know of other ways you find it helpful to connect with Christ alone that make you the human God dreams about!

4 years ago this summer

It was 4 years this summer that a small group of us from Grace Community Church decided to 'go for it' and launch a new church in North Arlington. Mike, Curby, Heath, Kareah, Chloe, Robert, Stephen, Lanette, Harrison and Madison didn't know much about church planting or what to expect in helping others to come to faith in Christ but we were willing to try. And most of the battle in getting something done great for God is simply in the first few steps of trying.

Over that summer the 10 of us grew to 25, and then the 25 grew to about 35. By the end of the fall of 2004 the 40 or so of us who were meeting together on Thursday nights in the North Davis Church of Christ youth room were ready to move this gathering to a local nightclub (Manhattan's) on Sunday mornings.

So much has happened over the past 4 years and as I prepare to share another one of my most favorite passages this Sunday at our Gathering (from 1 Thessalonians 1) I am reminded of the awesome things that God has done in such a short amount of time. Join us on Sunday at CATS if you can live or listen in to the podcast to catch of glimpse of the cool things we have done/seen over the short history of this church.

If you were with us from the beginning and are still here at Mosaic let me say 'Thanks' for hanging in there with us. If you jumped onto the Launch team that fall to prepare us for Manhattans, Life Groups, CATS and a host of other opportunities let me say 'Great Job' on getting us off the ground. If you were with us for a season but have moved on we hope you know you are missed and we trust that our times together helped us all learn more about the mission of Jesus for the world. And if you have joined the community somewhere along the way let me encourage you to 'Hang On' because we believe the best is still yet to come!

Thanks Mosaic for brining hope, faith and most of all love to many people.

Famous Last Words

This summer we are allowing different leaders from our community of faith to share for 25-30 minutes each Sunday on different passages from the Bible that have really changed their lives.

So far we have heard about the importance of taking care of others, depending on God's supernatural power to meet our needs, how grace is enough to move the hardest heart and most broken life back to God, what does God have in store for us in the future and learning more on how to raise great kids.

This week I will get to share one of my most favorite passages (come Sunday if you want to find out what it will be!). As I am preparing I have run across some famous last quotes (the theme of my time on Sunday will be 'how do you want to be remembered'). Here are the ones that stand out to me today:

"Drink to me!" Pablo Picasso

"I have offended both God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have" Leonardo Da Vinci

"Don't let it end this way! Tell them I did something." Pancho Villa

"It is finished....into your hands I commit my spirit" Jesus Christ

What will be said of you when you leave? What will be your last words spoken? How do you want to be remembered? Will you finish what you were set here on earth to do?

It's a great time to be alive. Don't miss the opportunities of greatness that lie in and around you!