The Christmas Season is a special time of year for many people. It is a time to celebrate God's blessings of family, friends, and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For others, Christmas is a difficult time of year. It reminds them of past hurts, the lack of family and they may not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Some people may be in such financial desperation that Christmas simply reminds them of what they cannot have. God has given us the opportunity to partner with several families this month. We were able to show them the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. One family was being evicted from their apartment, another was in radical transition, and another was homeless. God has made a way for each of them to see hope for a brighter day. Praise the Lord! His promises are true.

We have continued to meet in the old church building for the month of December. Our worship has been inspiring and free as Diahn continues to lead us into the presence of the Father, even though the temperature in the building remains a little cool. We made an official offer of $71,000, on the church property. The owner is standing firm at $100,000. She did not make a counteroffer and we did not feel God was leading us to increase our offer at this time. We are exploring the possibility of meeting in one of the schools in the area. We hope that God opens a door so we will not have to miss a single Sunday of corporate worship. Please pray for God to make a way for us.

Our Christmas project was a wonderful time to share with six evacuee families. We were blessed with many donated toys and made a small store in the church building. The parents of the families were able to come and select toys for their children and give them on Christmas Day. They were extremely grateful and it was a very moving experience. The families have lost so much and now they are trying to resettle in a new city and state.

After the store was over, we went caroling and took baskets of goodies to families who have been instrumental in helping Mosaic Church get started. We appreciate our partners and cannot thank them enough for their help.

Kristi, Cyndi, and I were invited by the directior of Knox Area Rescue Mission to tour the Serentity Shelter. It has been a safe haven for battered women for many years. We were very impressed and were immediately convinced that God wanted us to be there in some way. The leadership of Serenity Shelter is praying and seeking God about new ministries and opportunities to minister to hurting women and increase the scope of ministry in this tremendous facility. We are quite sure Mosaic will be part of this ministry in some capacity.

God continues to show His light in the midst of disappointment, pain, and hopelessness. We count it a privilege to be part of that light that gives hope to the hopeless, healing for the wounded, and encouragement in disappointment. We pray that 20o6 will be a great year for God's light to shine in dark places and Mosaic will continue to be a growing part of what God wants to do in Knoxville.

Todd

Sunday morning, December 4th, was our first Sunday morning worship gathering. We were not sure what to expect and who would come. God has blessed our Monday night gatherings and the time was so spiritually rich. We certainly hoped and prayed that moving to Sunday mornings would not lose any of the spiritual momentum that was developing on Monday nights.

Once again, God honored and blessed our time together. The church building we meet in has many physical needs, but one area where that old building sparkles is in its stained glass windows. Almost all of those windows have a picture of Jesus in them and it is like Jesus is surrounding us as we worship. In our evening meetings we could not see their beauty, but in the morning I was overwhelmed by them.

44 people attended our first morning worship gathering, praise God! Many first time guests were in attendance. We celebrated the goodness of God and Claude spoke on rebuilding. He has first hand experience as he and his wife have lost about everything because of hurricane Katrina.

God wants to rebuild the ruins that have been devastated for generations. He wants to transform communities and bring glory to His name. Mosaic is blessed to be a part of what God is doing.

This Wednesday @ 11:30 we come to another very important moment in time. God is in control and He has orchestrated our steps at every turn. We are so confident of that. I meet with the city official who is responsible for delegating funds for urban renewal in our area. We are praying for favor and God's will to be accomplished. Please join us in prayer.

I pray God will bless you and you sense His love so powerfully during this Christmas season.

Todd

I can only praise the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ for making our last Monday night a spiritually intense encounter with El Shaddai, Almighty God. Once again we had our largest attendance of 28 but that is not the whole story. The One who is most important and worthy of all praise and honor manifested His presence in our midst. Prayer, Praise, and Prophecy were all shared as we brought glory to His Name.

This Sunday, December 4th @ 10:30am we will begin our first praise and prayer gathering on a new day of the week. We trust and hope that this new time will provide the opportunity for others to come and worship with us, who may not be able to attend on a week night. We will continue to invite the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide our time together.

It is not about coming to the House of God, it is about coming to the God of the house. We come together to plead for Almighty God to rescue, restore, reconcile and rebuild our lives, families, and community. It is His will to do this. It is His purpose in this world. We simply want to walk alongside God as He fulfills His purposes and brings glory to His Name.

Mosaic is a safe place and everyone is welcome. May God bless you during this Christmas season. Remember those who are hurting, suffering and without. We have some opportunities for community and servant projects in December. I will keep you posted.

Todd

There are times when something good happens that we exaggerate or over inflate how good it really was. But when God supernaturally shows up, words cannot capture what truly took place. Last night at our praise and worship gathering, the presence of God saturated our small sanctuary. When you are ushered into something that you cannot explain, you simply embrace it, and praise Him and thank Him for the gift of that moment in time.

On a cold, dark, rainy night in East Knoxville, our largest attendance of 26 people gathered in our sanctuary. In attendance were homeless men and women, poor men and women, rich men and women, middle class men and women, marriages in crisis, black men and women, and white men and women. There was even an extremely intoxicated man in attendance who was weeping and begging us to pray for his wife who was in prison. The night defined Mosaic. A group of broken and fragmented people, crafted together by the Master Artist, to make a beautiful piece of art. Everything that Mosaic is about became visible last night.

Our theme for the service was restoration and healing. When our new friend, Donald, came to the keyboard and began to sing and testify about his past, the Spirit of Christ anointed him. He began to tell the story of his painful past for the first time in ten years. It was not rehearsed or planned, but God had a plan. As he was sharing, healing and restoration was taking place before our very eyes. Our hearts were swelling inside of us and our eyes were watering as we witnessed the fulfillment of Jesus' ministry, to bind up the brokenhearted.

Restore: to fix, mend, reestablish, correct, return something or someone to the original purpose for which it was created in the first place. Our hearts have been fashioned by the hand of God. They have been hurt, broken, and cracked. The Master wants to take those broken pieces of clay, and mold them into the very design He intended when He fashioned it, so that we can fulfill His purpose. He wants to restore those hearts so they can become what He meant for them to become when He created them. The cracks, breaks, and wounds once healed, become an everlasting memorial to His love, grace, and mercy. We become trophies of His grace, and we are a reminder and testimony to the world that freedom and abundant life are truly found in Jesus Christ.

When we understand and comprehend what we have been rescued from, and we realize the freedom that is ours through the painful process of restoration, we become the most thankful, grateful people in the world.

Like David we proclaim, "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live..." Psalm 63:1-4

We also want to praise the Lord for our new partner church. Word of Life Ministries Inc. is our newest partner church. Pastor Kevin Perry and his wife have eagerly embraced the ministry of Mosaic and they are excited to partner with us. We look forward to walking alongside each other in the days ahead to fulfill what God is calling both ministries to become. Praise the Lord for our friends and partners.

We will meet one more time on Monday night, November 28th @ 7:00pm. We will begin meeting on Sunday mornings, December 4th at 10:30 am. We invite you to celebrate the love of the Father with us each week. May God restore your hurts and begin the healing process in your life today. God bless you.

Todd

One week ago on Monday night we began our series on "Practical Thanksliving." We began the series with the emphasis on rescue. When a person is in a place where he needs rescued, it is beyond his control to do anything about it. If he could, he would do something. A person in need of being rescued must have outside influences come to his aid. A life that is separated from Creator God, is a life in need of rescue. All that is required for that rescue is provided by our rescuer. Our part is to understand our need for being rescued and take the hand of the one who wants to rescue us.

Once we understand the depth of our need to be rescued, then comprehend from what we have been rescued, our natural response is to be thankful. A rescued person is eternally grateful to the one who has rescued him or her.

This week we were planning to discuss what needs to happen after a rescue, that is restoration. We altered our plans and simply allowed the Holy Spirit to lead us in a different direction. Our prayer and praise time was spiritually rich and we simply sat in awe of His presence. It launched us into a time of discussing about where God is leading us. In the midst of that discussion a family joined the Mosaic family. Praise God who continues to increase our numbers.

It was determined by our members last night that we would move our prayer, praise, and worship time to Sunday mornings beginning December 4th. We will still officially launch our new church in January, but we feel God is leading us to the next level in this interim period. Everyone is welcome to join us. Our time is still being determined.

Our servant evangelism project this month will be providing dinners to indivuals and families that we have met along our journey the past few months. We are excited and feel blessed to expand these relationships.

Please continue to pray for this young family of believers as we transition into the next phase of our church plant.

Todd

We begin another month and God continues to be faithful to our church start. The owner of the church building, where we have been meeting, has graciously permitted us to meet there through the month of November. Our funding from the Tennesse Baptist Convention begins this month, and we hope to see the relationships we have developed beginning to bear fruit. Also, our worship team is growing as Diahn continues to develop her team.

The month of November we are beginning a series on "Practical Thanksliving." No, that is not misspelled. We hear so much about being thankful but what does it look like to practically live a thankful life? What is a person doing when we identify him or her as a thankful, grateful person?

This theme will be addressed in the context of the four primary words in our mission statement: rescue, restore, reconcile, and rebuild. We invite you to come and bring a friend as we worship our Holy God together. We meet every Monday night, 7:00pm at the church building on the corner of Olive and Linden.

Please continue to pray for us as we pray, prepare and plan to launch our first Sunday morning worship service in January 2006. God bless you and remember that Jesus is the hope the world.

Todd

It has been a very eventful and blessed couple of weeks. On Monday night, October 24th we shared in our first communion together. It was a very spiritual and special time for our group. We literally gathered around the table together as we shared the representation of Jesus Christ's body and blood.

We also had two families join in the last week. Thank you Lord for continuing to bring laborers to the field. Diahn and Ron joined last week. Diahn feels called to be our worship leader and Ron feels led to be the treasurer at Mosaic. David and Linda joined at our community cook out and both of them have a real servant's heart.

Sunday night, October 30th, we had a community cook out. Many people from the community came and met the members and family of Mosaic Church. It was a wonderful time to meet people and introduce ourselves to the community. We feel it was very beneficial and a great beginning in the challenge to build trust and develop safe relationships.

The big news we have all been waiting on for three months is the funding issue from the Tennessee Baptist Convention. I received the phone call today and we have finally received our answer. The TBC has agreed to give Mosaic Community Church $2,000 a month for the first six months. After the first six months we were asked to resubmit a proposal on what has developed and what God is doing in our ministry. The leaders will then reevaluate the new proposal and make a decision at that time concerning future funding.

We are extremely excited and praise Almighty God who is the giver of all good gifts. He is our source for all resources and where He gives a vision, He gives provision. Thank you Jesus for allowing Mosaic Church to be a part of your kingdom work on earth as it is heaven.

Todd

Monday night the 17th, we were able to share the full vision of what God is calling Mosaic to be. It was a very exciting night and I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit as He led our evening. We experienced our largest number of participants as our friends and partner churches gathered to hear the vision. We will now be able to develop our web site in a more comprehensive way and communicate the vision with greater clarity.

Monday the 24th we will celebrate what God is doing by meditating on the life and death of our Savior Jesus Christ. We will participate in Communion with our new family. I know it will be a time of inspiration and hope.

Next week we will meet on Sunday, October 30th, rather than on Monday. We are going to have a cookout at the church to introduce ourselves to the community. It will be an informal time to meet and greet people, while we eat hot dogs together. The cookout will begin at 4:00 pm and end at 6:00 pm. Everyone is invited and we would love for you to come and bring someone with you.

If anyone is interested in helping during the cookout simply email Todd and let him know. We will need people to pass out flyers a couple of days before and on Sunday. We will also need help him during the cookout itself.

Monday, October 31st, is the day the Tennessee Baptist Convention, votes on our funding. Please join us in prayer as we seek God's will.

It is a very exciting time at Mosaic. The journey is getting more interesting and we sense God's presence all around us. We believe it is time to fully communicate the vision God has unveiled to us, at least to this point. Mosaic Knoxville is something more than a new church start. It is a movement that God is birthing in the hearts of many people to be a friend to the city of Knoxville. We will exist to come alongside churches, non-profits, ministries, and the community to help them become what they believe they are called to become.

This Monday night, October 17th, we will be sharing the specific vision that God has birthed in our hearts to this point. It is comprehensive and multi-facted. After Monday night I believe God is going to speak to people about how they can become a part of this movement. Our web site will be expanded and we will be able to assimilate more information.

This Monday we will share God's vision. The next Monday, Oct. 24th, we will share in the Lord's communion together as we celebrate how great the Lord our God truly is. It will be a real hallelujah time. The next Sunday, Oct. 30th, we are planning an outdoor cookout at the church to provide information to the community about who we are and where we are going. Our servant evangelism project for October will be the cook out.

Please continue to pray for wisdom and faith for us. There will be many obstacles and road blocks I am sure, but God is a breakthrough God. He is faithful and His promises are true. Thank you Lord for being Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.

Please continue to pray for my friend and mentor, Jon Eargle. He is recovering from sinus surgery and covets our prayers for quick healing.

Todd

We waited patiently to hear from the Tennesse Baptist Convention about funding, only to find out that they did not meet because they did not have a quorum to conduct business. I called Dr. James Porch, the executive director of the TBC and spoke to him personally. I asked him to help us understand what we should do next. He said he would get to the bottom of the confusion and he did call me back to assure me that we had done everything we needed to do. He also assured me that they would meet on October 31 and we would have our answer on that day. Sounds great!

Our meetings at the church on Linden are going well. I am excited about the future and believe some significant breakthroughs are about to happen. We continue to meet with city leaders and politicians to inform them of our vision and see what role, if any, they might feel led to play. We are praying for wisdom about a building to worship in on a more permanent basis. We are also praying that God would provide an office for me in the city. We know He has already provided, it's just a matter of when.

Offerings and giving continue to be great. We now have been given $14,000.oo over the last month. PRAISE THE LORD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW.

I believe it is time for me to share the full vision of what God has been developing in me. On Monday night, October 17 @ 7:00pm, I will share what I believe Mosaic Knoxville is called to be. It is undeniably a God thing. I am very excited to be released to share it all.

We believe we are close to launching a Sunday morning worship service. Right now it looks like we will launch after the holidays in early January. We will spend the next couple of months preparing our leadership structure, worship team, and core values. Our core group will determine the direction of Mosaic, and everyone who joins in the next month will be part of that core group.

Please pray for my mentor and dear friend, Jon Eargle. He is slowly recovering from major sinus surgery. I know he covets your prayers for healing.

Speaking Schedule: Ridgedale Baptist Church; Sunday Oct. 16, 10:45. Off of Western Ave by the old Ridgedale school.

Todd

Our Monday night praise and prayer time was a very special night. We spent time praising God for healings and providing for His children. Stanley gave a very insightful and excellent lesson on the need for people of all races to come together and embrace what binds us together, Christ in us. And we had five children there Monday night and it was a sweet experience watching them praise the Lord.
We will continue to meet every Monday night in October at the church on Olive and Linden at 7:00pm. We continue to see miracles and God is moving in some very obvious ways.
Administrative Update: We have our bank account at Home Federal and we have received our first offering. We have $4,000.00 in our general checking account. Thank you Lord for your abundant blessings.
Continue to pray for our meeting on Tuesday, October 4th regarding funding by the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
Todd's speaking schedule:
Revolution - Grace Baptist Church; Thursday, Sept. 29 @ 7:00pm
Friendship Baptist Church - Sunday, Oct. 9th @ 11:00 - Pastor Tim Addis
Ridgedale Baptist Church - Sunday, Oct. 16th @ 10:45 - Pastor Mark McGill

On Saturday, September 24th we launched our first servant evangelism project or you could also call it, random acts of kindness. Stanley and I felt led to approach the owner of the church on Linden and ask her if we could help her with maintenance around her building. Five adults and three children met at 9:30 and mowed the grass, weed eated, sprayed weeds, trimmed bushes, and chain sawed some branches. We also picked up many bags of trash in the area. It was a very beneficial time. There were at least 10-12 people who stopped and asked us if we were going to open the church for worship. It was almost as if there was a hopeful anticipation. We told them we were not sure but we were praying about it. One woman walked by me and simply said, without even looking at me, "the fields are ripe for harvest." I was not sure if that was the voice of God or what, but I cannot get it out of my mind. Of course the rest of the verse says, "but the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest for workers."

One of our men bought lunch for a homeless couple after we were finished cleaning. They said they were members of the church years ago and gave the pastor's name when they were members. The owner of the church gave me a key and told us to use the building any time we wanted. Praise you again Lord. So we are going to meet every Monday night though October at 7:00pm at the church on the corner of Olive and Linden. Thanks to the adults and children for making this day so special.

We give praise to the Lord for the miraculous report about Amy Smith. Thank you Lord Jesus. I also thank the Lord for the good report we received on our son Trey. The bump in his leg is nothing more than his femur bone growing a little extra bone by his knee. The doctor says there is nothing to worry about.

I preached at Lomaz AME Zion Church today, the 25th, for their homecoming. It was a wonderful time of sharing with friends and God really spoke to many people.

Future Preaching Schedule:
Friendship Baptist Church - October 9th @ 11:00am
Ridgedale Baptist Church - October 16th @ 10:45am

Prayer request: Stanley and I are meeting with the Vice Mayor, Mark Brown, on Monday, September 26th at 2:00. Tuesday, October 4th our proposal is presented in Nashville for funding. We have doubled our request to $80,000 the first year and $20,000 of start up money. We have received our 501c3 so we are prepared to receive donations and give a tax benefit. Stanley and I are now putting together our leadership structure. We will be an elder led church.

Everyone is invited to our prayer and praise worship time on Monday nights at 7:00pm at the church on Olive and Linden. Invite a friend.

Todd

Dear Friends,

It was an incredible week at the Winshape Retreat in Rome, Ga. It felt like God brought our entire year full circle. It was the culmination of every thing we have been through and Kristi and I feel so full spiritually. We gained an incredible amount of understanding. Solomon says in Proverbs 4:7, "Though it cost you all you have, get understanding." It has felt like it has cost us almost everything at times, but God has been faithful. We truly feel we have recieved an abundance of understanding.

We have officially settled on the name of the church. It is Mosaic Community Church. Sunday night when I went to bed I was not able to sleep. The Lord was pouring into my heart a greater vision that is far beyond simply starting a church. I finally went to sleep at 4:30. I look forward to sharing it with you in the future. One thing I want to share is a name for the umbrella of what God was showing me. It is called Mosaic Knoxville. So we secured the names, mosaicknoxville.com and .org. I have my own email address todd@mosaicknoxville.com. Mosaic Community Church and many other things come under this umbrella. Our focus today is on Mosaic Community Church. Two areas we are focusing on right now is our Monday night prayer gathering and our first servant evangelism project.

Monday nights are going to be expanded and other facets of worship, prayer walking, teaching, etc are going to be included. We will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We believe it is time to begin to invite people to come to our church so we want to be sensitive to that and prepared.

We will not meet this Monday because of the holiday but Monday night, September 12th @ 7:00 pm; Tribe One building on Magnolia, we will begin a new phase of our church start.

The other emphasis is our first servant evangelism project. Kristi and I have been prayer walking and asking God to show us areas we can care about and give our attention to. One of the places that has grabbed our hearts is the church on Olive and Linden that we talked about purchasing. The property is in terrible condition. Stanley and I feel like we should contact the owners and ask if they would allow us to clean up the property. It is a real eye sore in the community. We have not decided on a date yet but I will let you know after I talk to the owners.

The Hardy Professional building that AME Zion has offered us is being renovated. It is moving along and should be ready in approx a month. How exciting it will be to have our own permanent temporary building.

Tuesday, Sept. 6 our proposal goes to Nashville to the Tn Baptist Convention. We have asked them for $40,000 a year and $10,000 of start up money. Please pray that we find favor in their hearts and they grant us what we feel we need.

Have a great holiday weekend. God bless. Todd

This is a new blog designed to keep people informed of Mosaic Knoxville