Just in case you’ve missed our schpeels on ADVENT here is some useful information:

• Advent is a part of the churches liturgical calendar and dates back centuries ago.
• It is a time of preparation for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
• It is supposed to resemble the hope and expectancy that the OT Jews felt during the time they waited for the messiah.
• And it is supposed to parallel the way the church is in hope and expectancy for the second coming.

During this holy season we, as Mosaic, will join with the rest of the body of Christ throughout the world in reading the same scriptures, singing similar songs, and promoting the peace and justice of God’s Kingdom.

So here are some ways you can participate:

• Lead Mosaic in a prayer or verse
  • Reading Advent versus during worship time: Please email me and let me know if you can commit to reading 2 verses on a Sunday. We need at least TWO persons to commit to this each week of Advent.
  • Light a candle in the Advent wreath and lead Mosaic in a prayer. We need at least ONE PERSON to commit to this each week of Advent.

• Servanthood
  • Serving Locally- Check out the post on Mosaic Miami to find out info on serving Touching Miami with Love.
  • Serving Globally- More information will be posted on the site and talked about on Sunday about serving the Haiti Water Project.

Please email me with the Sunday that you’re available and what you’re interested in doing. Thanks for being an active participant in worshiping as a community.

Peace + Justice,

Leslie

“It’s about listening and responding. God speaks the divine word of love and mercy; we respond in gratitude and praise.” — Waiting in Joyful Hope (Daily reflection books)

The story of Christ’s birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love.

So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists.

And when it’s all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?
In December, we will be taking time to truelly reflect on the meaning of Christmas.

[Worship Fully]
It starts with Jesus. It ends with Jesus. This is the holistic approach God had in mind for Christmas. It’s a season where we are called to put down our burdens and lift a song up to our God. It’s a season where love wins, peace reigns, and a king is celebrated with each breath. It’s the party of the year. Entering the story of advent means entering this season with an overwhelming passion to worship Jesus to the fullest.

[Spend Less]
We like gifts. Our kids really like gifts. But consider this: America spends an average of $450 billion a year every Christmas. How often have you spent money on Christmas presents for no other reason than obligation? How many times have you received a gift out of that same obligation? Thanks, but no thanks, right? We’re asking people to consider buying ONE LESS GIFT this Christmas. Just one. Sounds insignificant, yet many who have taken this small sacrifice have experienced something nothing less than a miracle: They have been more available to celebrate Christ during the advent season.

[Give More]
God’s gift to us was a relationship built on love. So it’s no wonder why we’re drawn to the idea that Christmas should be a time to love our friends and family in the most memorable ways possible. Time is the real gift Christmas offers us, and no matter how hard we look, it can’t be found at the mall. Time to make a gift that turns into the next family heirloom. Time to write mom a letter. Time to take the kids sledding. Time to bake really good cookies and sing really bad Christmas carols. Time to make love visible through relational giving.

[Love All]
When Jesus loved, He loved in ways never imagined. Though rich, he became poor to love the poor, the forgotten, the overlooked and the sick. He played to the margins. By spending less at Christmas we have the opportunity to join Him in giving resources to those who need help the most.

For more ideas, visit: www.adventconspiracy.org

When: November 15 & 16, 2008
10am-5PM Saturday & Sunday

Where: 24801 SW 187 Avenue, Redland at the Fruit and Spice Park

Tickets: available at the gate $6 per person, kids 12 and under are free.
For more info call 305-247-5727 or visit www.myspace.com/greatgreenfamilyfestival or www.REHSonline.com

Bring a blanket on Saturday to lay on the lawn and enjoy live music by Groove Kitchen, Psychadelic Mist, Usual Suspects.

On Sunday, sew your own cloth grocery bag from Morsbags: Sociable Guerilla Bagging.

Special Presentations include Green Trends Fashion Show
Soul Full Eating by Maureen Whitehouse Reducing Household toxins by Migule Cisneros Abreu

Buy local, independent, & handmade, from over 40 vendors.

This video, and this website mark the launch of an inspiring global endeavor to celebrate compassion and to promote a new collaboration between the world’s religions. Starting today, we are writing the Charter for Compassion. The twist here is that the writing won’t be done behind closed doors. It will be done by you… and perhaps millions of others around the world.

Later this week millions of Muslims, Christians, and Jews will be sent an email inviting them to come to the site and offer their choice of words, in their own language, to help create a charter capable of inspiring the world to focus on what the great religions share, as opposed to what divides them. The goal is to obtain all input from global participants within the next four weeks, select the best contributions with the help of a council of religious “sages”, and conduct a major launch of the finished document in 2009.

Three things you can do to help:

1. Help write the Charter! The first writing phase begins now with the Preamble, a concise explanation of why the Charter is necessary and urgent.

2. Share Your Story. We want this to be a truly global and diverse document that represents all of our voices.

3. Tell others about it. We want this to be a truly global and diverse document that represents all of our voices.

Help Change the Conversation

Dear God is a global project for people around the world to share their innermost hopes – and fears – through prayer. Praying to a higher power soothes and heals. It’s scientifically proven that people who pray are healthier, happier and more resilient.

Share your prayers with the rest of the world and help create hope one prayer at a time. You can send your personal letter to God and/or a picture that sums up your message visually. (Dear God will source a picture if you don’t have one).

Disclaimer: This website is totally independent and non-denominational. They are not a religious or spiritual/new-age organization. They have no affiliation or relationship to any church or religious or spiritual group or organization.

I came across this movement that is inline with our values and priorities as a church. Because politics have failed to solve big problems in the past, it is tempting, even during a critical election year, to become apathetic and disengage from the political process. However, if we are to have any hope to change the failed politics of our nation, we must activate ourselves as citizens and re-center the national debate and agenda who around Jesus calls the “least of these.”

You’re invited to join the Vote Out Poverty Campaign and 1) Put Poverty on the top of your agenda by signing the Vote Out Poverty Pledge, 2) Put Poverty on the top of your church’s agenda 3) Put Poverty on the top of your candidate’s agenda by getting them to sign the Vote Out Poverty Candidate Pledge.

For more information on the Vote Out Poverty Campaign and to find a team near you visit: www.voteoutpoverty.org

We are collecting backpacks for Haiti. A basic backpack with basic school supplies, no paper please because of the weight. Also an opportunity to sponsor a kid in Haiti for school. The cost for that is $35.00 per student for the year.

Brighton Collectibles is creating jewelry to support organizations that empower women by introducing a limited-edition necklace, bracelet and earrings featuring Kazuri Beads that are hand-made by women in Kenya, Africa.

Between June 27 and July 27, 2008, Brighton Collectibles stores across the nation will be selling the jewelry using beads made by Kazuri, Ltd. The organization was started by an Englishwoman, Lady Susan Wood, to improve the lives of women and their families in Kenya. In a country where one job holder often provides for an extended family of 20, Kazuri employs over 250 local, disadvantaged women, offering them fair wages in an area of high unemployment.

To raise awareness and funds for wells in Africa, Brighton Collectibles stores will also be selling bottles of Brighton water for $20 and water awareness wrist bands for $5 throughout the month of July. A full 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of those items will go to support charity:water’s efforts to build freshwater wells in Kenyan villages where they are most needed. A $20 donation can provide one person with access to clean water for 20 years.

For more information on charity:water, visit www.charitywater.org/brighton To learn more about Kazuri Beads, visit www.kazuribeadsusa.com

In the margins of the United States, there lives a revolutionary Christianity. One with a quiet disposition that seeks to do “small things with great love,” and in so doing is breaking 21st Century stereotypes surrounding this 2000 year old faith. “The Ordinary Radicals” is set against this modern American political and social backdrop of the next Great Awakening. Shane Claiborne and a rag-tag group of “ordinary radicals” interpret Biblical history and its correlation with the current state of American politics.

“This is not a set of political suggestions for the world; this is about invoking and embodying the alternative. All of this is an invitation to join a peculiar people- those with no king but God, who practice jubilee economics and make the world new. This is not the old-time religion of going to heaven; this is about bringing heaven to the world.”

Featuring Interviews with: Becky Garrison, Shane Claiborne, Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo, Rob Bell, John Perkins, Brooke Sexton, Michael Heneise, St. Margret Mckenna, Logan Laituri, Zack Exley, Aaron Weiss and many more Ordinary Radicals.

The Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board, Haitian American Grassroots Coalition and Miami-Dade NAACP invite you to join grassroots leaders, community activists and elected officials for An Emergency Summit on Haiti:

An Emergency Summit on Haiti

Friday, May 9, 2008, 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Historical Museum of Southern Florida,
101C West Flagler Street

The current situation in Haiti, including severe food shortages, and the resulting violence and political unrest has created a humanitarian crisis we in Miami-Dade County cannot ignore. This important event will focus on both short-term and long-term solutions to helping relieve the present crisis and to help restore economic sustainability to the country. At the Summit, detailed action plans will be developed for each activity including assignments for organizations and individuals with specific deadlines for completion.

Workgroups will convene on:

• Immediate Relief of Current Food Crisis
• Mobilization for Passage of the Jubilee Act Debt Forgiveness Bill
• Support for Temporary Protected Status
• Democratic and Republican Platforms on Economic Sustainability for Haiti

We have all heard the disturbing reports of some Haitian people being reduced to eating mud cakes. We have heard the cries for assistance from our neighbors here in Miami-Dade County. Help us to develop a response that must be implemented by this community.

Please RSVP by calling: (305) 375-5730