mosaicnazarene
- Dec 20, 2020
- 7 min read

12/20/2020 Newsletter

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A Word from Pastor John

I hope that you can join us for worship this Christmas Eve! We will be live streaming our service at 4:30 p.m. and also offering in-person services at 4:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. The book of Isaiah tells us:

“For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.” I think for many of us, this passage speaks to the excitement we feel as we celebrate the birth of Christ. The birth of Jesus brought about a new reality for the people of God. May we feel and experience that new reality as we celebrate Christmas this year! This truth is so important to remember, especially during this unprecedented year of 2020. God is in control. And Jesus reigns as king over heaven and earth. Although things may look grim and confusing around us, we have confidence in an eternal King who reigns over us. As we go about this season, gathering with family, looking at Christmas lights, giving gifts - may we constantly remember what this season is all about. The birth of Christ was and is a birth of Hope. And we know that since we have placed our hope in Jesus, He will continue to carry us through - now and forever!

John Menkveld

Pray For One Another

To request prayer, email mosaicnazarene@gmail.com

or call/text (520) 709-0815

Our pastors and their families

Our board members

The world as we all continue to navigate this Covid-19 pandemic.

Clarence McGinnis

Tom Egelhoff

Vern Rupp

Patty Rupp

Lefty Slavens

Judy Baker

Friends of Talma Harmon, Cecil, SJ, and a classmate

Walt and Marlene's friend John

Talma's cousin, Don Ojeda

The Larson's friend, Karen

Jim Duplisea

Melanie Crounse

The many unspoken requests

Make sure you're a part of our Facebook group to get prayer requests as they come in: https://www.facebook.com/groups/21109057279

Angel Tree

Several families were blessed to recieved gifts from their incarcerated parent via your generousity and we enjoyed lunch and dessert!

Nazarene News

New Mexico woman's faith journey transforms family

Brenda Esparza had always considered herself a Christian until she began attending discipleship classes at the Mission Training Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Esparza and her family moved to the area in 2013. Shortly after her arrival, Esparza received a speeding ticket when her neighborhood’s speed limit decreased due to the nearby state fair.

“I was very upset,” Esparza said. “I called my husband and said ‘I’m not going to pay this.’”

Instead, she chose to volunteer at Grace Thrift, a compassionate ministry run by Sandia Church of the Nazarene. One of the first people she met was Pastor Patti Rivas.

“The first time I met her, something clicked,” Esparza said. “She hugged me without even knowing me, and I just needed that hug so much at that time. She hugged me and told me how happy she was that I was there working with them, and we just started talking every day.”

A couple of months later, Esparza told Rivas about her daughter’s upcoming dance recital. Both mother and daughter were upset because of the lack of friends and family to watch the performance, and her daughter even mentioned not participating.

Rivas offered her a deal: She would come to the recital if Esparza would come to the church’s Christmas program. Esparza agreed, so Rivas attended the recital and even stayed through the potluck to encourage Esparza’s daughter after the performance.

“She not only stayed to watch her but she made her feel that someone was there for her, that she had someone who cared,” Esparza said.

Esparza and her family followed through with their end of the deal. The Christmas program was held on a Saturday night, and there was an invitation at the end of the program for people to come to the service on Sunday. Her kids were excited, so they went to church the next day. The youth pastor immediately introduced himself to the family and offered to pick up Esparza’s teenagers for youth group and Bible study.

“I had never encountered that type of attention from a church,” Esparza said. “But at that time, that’s what we needed.”

Esparza and her family became members of the church, and in 2017 when Rivas helped open the Mission Training Center, she asked Esparza to take classes there. The Mission Training Center offers courses through the denomination’s lay ministry training program, The Discipleship Place. Though reluctant at first, Esparza decided to enroll.

The first class she took was “How to Study the Bible,” which she thought would be easy. As the course progressed, Esparza realized how much she had been taking the Gospel for granted.

“We just take it like any other book,” Esparza said. “If we don’t open up ourselves to what God wants to do in our lives, what God is telling us with every single word that is in that book, we’re never going to find our true potential as the children of God.”

Esparza continued taking classes and began to lead the young adult Bible study. She now sees just how much the classes have impacted her and her family’s lives.

“I gave my soul, my life to Christ, and I can see it reflected on the rest of my family,” Esparza said. “I can see it in my kids now. I can see how they see Christianity so much different than I did when I was their age. It’s because I have learned to see it differently, and through me, they see it differently.”

Esparza’s now-adult children are involved in the worship ministry at the church, and her parents lead the Spanish ministry at the church’s Valley Campus. After taking classes at the Mission Training Center, they felt called to pastoral ministry and went on to receive their local minister’s licenses. Lead Pastor Steve Myers credits Esparza, who helps translate, and her family with getting the Spanish language congregation and ministries off the ground.

Esparza looks back at everything she and her family have gone through over the last seven years and sees God’s hand in everything. She hopes people who hear her story learn to cede control to God.

“God is amazing, and God can use anyone,” Esparza said. “God is using me, using my children, using my husband, and it’s amazing to be in a family where I can see that God is using each and every one of us. I’d love to see that for every family, that God is using every single member of their family.”

by Nazarene News Staff | 03 Dec 2020

Go To Article

Week 52 (12/13-12/19) Bible Reading Plan

Join us here on day 358.

Or start will bookmark one in the church lobby!

Bookmarks 1-12 are

available now

in the church foyer!

Before you read God’s Word today, seek His help with these 5 prayers:

1. God, give me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. 2. God, let any knowledge I gain serve to help me love You and others more, and not puff me up. 3. God, help me see something new about You I've never seen before. 4. God, correct any lies I believe about You or anything I misunderstand. 5. God, direct my steps according to Your Word.

Click the blue Scripture and it will take you to that chapter!

Day 358: 2 Timothy 1-4

Day 359: 2 Peter 1-3

Jude 1

Day 360: 1 John 1-5

Day 361: 2 John 1

3 John 1

Day 362: Revelation 1-5

Day 363: Revelation 6-11

Day 364: Revelation 12-18

Day 365: Revelation 19-22

Congratulations!! 🎉 You have finished reading through the Bible in one year! Even if you only did a part of this plan or did your own, it's great that you were in the Word this year!

Look for a new plan in the new year!

(By the way, I realize that somewhere along the way I must have jumped a week, so this is ending a week too soon.)

Verse of the Week

Click on the following Bible link to read the verse in context!

Psalm 89

Humor... kinda

Opportunities to Give and Serve

As the end of the year approaches, you may want to get your 2020 charitable giving in. To ensure your offering is counted for 2020, it must be postmarked by December 31st.

Here are some places at Mosaic you can designate your offerings:

☞Children's Ministry

☞General Fund

☞LoveWorks Family Resource Center

☞ MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers)

☞Prison Ministry

☞Woman's Ministry

☞A designation of your choice

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerfulgiver.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Donations of BABY items are welcome!

Thank you, for your continued generosity of both time and resources. Your gifts make a difference!

Information

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M O S A I C K I D S

https://www.mosaicnazarene.org/mosaic-kids

This weeks topic is: Week Four of Advent: LOVE