Mosaic

by Rickey Williams

What does an empowered teen look like?

In ancient culture, Rabbis had followers called talmadins [or disciples]. These life-students were usually 15 to 20 years old [Matthew was probably in his lower 20s]. But one in particular was unusually special. This one disciple would have had a special name. They would have had special proximity to the Rabbi. There would have been a sort of fatherly relationship between the disciple and the Rabbi.

We see this with John. John called himself “the disciple Jesus loved.� He was one of the inner three. He had proximity. At the last supper, John leans up against Jesus’ chest to ask him questions, like one might to a dad.

Which leads us to the last characteristic that made this disciple different than the others.

He would have been around 12 years old.

John—the disciple Jesus loved—was a 12-year-old kid.

This explains why he lived longer than the others. This explains why Jesus left John to Mary’s care while Jesus was dying. He wasn’t telling John to take care of Mary. He was telling Mary to take care of John.

Jesus had the nerve to tell 12-year-olds that they could be influencers of men and women.

Jesus thought emerging teens could change the world.

So must we.

Mosaic is not a castle to keep our children safe. Mosaic is a movement to make children strong.

This is the Mission of Mosaic. We want to partner with you to facilitate families spiritually influencing other families. To facilitate your children spiritually influencing the emerging generation.

This Fall we are going to be changing how we view youth ministry at Mosaic. We want your help in partnering with us to transform adolescent culture in Los Angeles into a culture of faith, hope, and love.

by Eric Bryant and Rickey Williams

by Eric Bryant and Rickey Williams

by Eric Bryant

Mosaic wants to invite you into the development of an upcoming series entitled “Life’s Toughest Questions.” We want to utilize your questions about spirituality, God, relationships, truth, conflict, suffering—anything that has kept you up at night, caused skepticism about faith or made you angry about life—to shape the content of our gatherings. Remember: the more honest the questions, the more you help. Thank you!

Please use the form below to submit your questions.

Please feel free to forward this website to others—those searching for God, those who have asked you questions at the water cooler, on the set, or over a cup of coffee.