The Great Story of God

At the beginning of the Bible, God introduces Himself as a perfect creative artist, an intelligent creator, and an almighty Maker. He created everything that humanity can explore in wonder, as well as all that we cannot yet fully comprehend. He left His footprints in our world, which we admire with awe—from majestic mountains and human faces to a single living cell.

God’s nature is relational, which is why He placed us in a web of relationships: healthy, life-giving, and world-building. A relationship with Him, with God. Relationships with one another, with family, loved ones, colleagues, and neighbors. A relationship with ourselves, so that we hold our own lives in high regard. Another great relationship is our connection to nature, the world, work, education, healthcare, strangers, and everyone else. Everything looked wonderful, until everything…

…went wrong. Humanity turned its back on God. People stopped trusting that God knows best what is best for us. We see the consequences everywhere. All relationships are painfully broken and fractured by anger, anxiety, aggression, bitterness, loneliness, conflict, war, blame, contempt, judgment, emptiness, or sexual self-indulgence.

The world is broken. I am broken. We are broken. All of us.

Yet God did not leave us to bleed out and succumb to ruin. In His love, He decided to fulfill His eternal plan and restore the world—making it even better than when He first created it. God did not come merely to reform His beloved humanity. He entered the world in person. He came to be born into His world as the most vulnerable creature: a child. This took place through the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. God, in Jesus, lived in our universe, in our world. As a king, He became our servant. As a prophet, He spoke and revealed Himself to our ears and eyes. As a priest, He sacrificed His own life for the sins of humanity—for yours and for mine.

So that on the third day, He would rise from the dead. So that His life would defeat death itself. So that hope would triumph over despair. So that our damaged lives would receive the spark and the power for full restoration. Because Jesus lives, today we can live a life of daily renewal, mutual growth, and joyful celebration. And not only in good circumstances—on the contrary, we live with hope, forgiveness, and courage in today’s world of pain, failure, and loss.

We strive earnestly to be wise and courageous realists. We want to passionately, authentically, and freely cultivate relationships with God, with each other, and with our surrounding community. We care about making the world a better place. We care about not being the ones who create problems and pain, but those who alleviate or even heal them.

In the end, God will perfectly restore the world, and then we will sigh with relief and gratitude.

How We Understand Biblical Christianity

This overview summarizes the key convictions that we teach at Mozaika. We hold to these teachings with grace and humility. We align ourselves with the foundational tenets of faith confessed throughout church history while recognizing the distinctives of our tradition. Our members are not required to agree with every detail, but they should know that our leaders will teach in accordance with this statement, and we commit to not causing division. If anything is unclear, our leaders will gladly offer a conversation. Our goal is that growing theological clarity leads to a greater love for God, unity within the church, and love for our neighbors.

1. The Triune God. We worship the one living God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—eternally three Persons in perfect love and holiness. He created all things, knows the end from the beginning, sustains and rules over all, and guides history toward His redemptive ends and glory.
2. Scripture, the Bible. God reveals Himself in creation and supremely in His Son. By the Spirit, He spoke through human words in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. Scripture is God-breathed, authoritative, and trustworthy Word—sufficient for faith and life. Although we do not know God exhaustively, through the Spirit we truly know what He has revealed. The Bible is to be believed, obeyed, and trusted.
3. Man and Woman. God created humanity—male and female—in His image to know Him and care for creation. Marriage is a unified (one flesh) covenant between a man and a woman, ultimately pointing to Christ and the church. Men and women have equal dignity, value, and access to God in Christ, and both are gifted for service. We affirm the servant leadership of men in the family and the church; the pastor and elders carry the responsibility to teach and oversee, and this office is reserved for qualified men.
4. Our Fall, Sin. Adam’s sin brought alienation from God and pervasive corruption. Apart from grace, all people stand under God’s righteous judgment and face death. Our greatest need is reconciliation with God, which only He can accomplish.
5. God’s Plan of Salvation. From eternity, God purposed to save a people from every nation. He calls all to repentance and faith, and by grace unites believers with Jesus—justifying, sanctifying, and one day glorifying them—to the praise of His grace.
6. The Gospel. The Gospel announces that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has conquered sin, death, and evil, and is renewing all things. This good news is historical, biblical, personal (requiring repentance and faith), relational (transforming our life together), and societal (bringing renewal).
7. Christ’s Redemption. The eternal Son became true man, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, rose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended to the Father. As our substitute and mediator, He bore our penalty, reconciled us to God, defeated Satan, reigns as Lord, and intercedes for His people.
8. Salvation. Salvation—offered freely in Christ—includes regeneration, reconciliation/atonement, justification, adoption, union with Christ, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal repentance and faith in Jesus as Lord.
9. The Holy Spirit. The Spirit is a full member of the Trinity, equal in personhood to God the Father and God the Son. He inspired Scripture, illuminates truth, convicts of sin, calls to Christ, grants new birth, unites believers with Christ, bestows and develops gifts and character, comforts, empowers for mission and worship, and seals us for the day of redemption.
10. The Church. All who are in Christ belong to His universal body, which is expressed in local churches under Christ’s headship. A local church is marked by the Gospel, the sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper), gracious preaching, mission, and mutual love. Members submit to Christ and the pastoral care of elders; deacons serve to build up the church body. Many ministries are open to both women and men, but the office of elder is reserved for qualified men. The church reveals God’s new humanity, reconciled in one body, and is God’s dwelling place in the Spirit.
11. The Kingdom of God. Those united with Christ enter the Kingdom of God, receiving forgiveness, inner renewal, and the hope of glory. Good works flow from grace. Christians live as light—neither withdrawing from the world nor conforming to it—doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. The Kingdom of God is already present, though not yet fully realized, and moves toward the restoration of all creation.
12. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Christ gave His church two ordinances/sacraments. Baptism is a visible sign of inner renewal and union with Christ; it signifies cleansing from sin and new life, initiating believers into the church’s life of discipleship. The Lord’s Supper is a regular meal (in the form of bread and wine) of remembrance and assurance for baptized believers; it bears witness to Christ’s finished work and His true spiritual presence among His people.
13. The Christian and Social Order. Under Christ’s lordship, believers pursue justice in ways rooted in the renewing power of the Gospel. In love, we reject racism, greed, and vice; we uphold sexual holiness; we protect the vulnerable; we advocate for the unborn and honor the sanctity of life from conception to natural death. We cooperate in all good endeavors where possible, without compromising fidelity to Christ and His truth.
14. Evangelism and Mission. Jesus commands His church to make disciples of all nations. Every Christian shares the Gospel by word and affirms it through a holy, loving life.
15. The Restoration of All Things. Jesus will return bodily and gloriously to judge the living and the dead and to consummate His Kingdom. The righteous will dwell forever with God in the new heavens and new earth; the unrighteous will face eternal judgment. On that day, the church will be presented blameless, sin and its effects will be removed forever, and God will be all in all—to the praise of His glorious grace.