Yesterday we started a new series at Mosaic that I am really excited about entitled, “I Love My Church.” As I have been getting ready for it, it has been so refreshing and energizing to dig into the book of Acts and remember how the church began and what it is meant to be: not an institution, but a movement of God’s grace in and through his people.

It can be easy to get negative on church, can’t it? I pastor a community that is full of people who bear the scars of organized religion and religious leaders who at times did awful things in the name of Jesus. I, too, bear those scars. Perhaps if you’re like me, you can find yourself at times fixating on the things you feel are wrong or frustrating or things you wish were different about your church. I fear this is one of the subtle ways that our heart is drawn away from The One who loved and died for his church.

This negativity can be all too natural for a generation that struggles with cynicism and is increasingly skeptical of institutions, whether they be corporate, political, religious or otherwise. And so I think the challenge for us is this: Jesus loves his church, warts and all. He willingly died for her, in spite of all her imperfections and perpetual unfaithfulness. And he calls us to love her as well.

So one of the things I did this week as a discipline of reflection and thankfulness was sit down and list some of the things I LOVE about my church. Even I was surprised at how easy this was. In just 5 short minutes, I had filled an entire page with things I love about the community of Mosaic. (By the way, I can’t tell you what this did for my heart.) It was so fun to reflect on the beautiful mess that is Jesus’ church and all that I have to be thankful for. I would really encourage you to carve out some time to sit down and do the same!

25 Things I Love About My Church

25. I love that I don’t have to be perfect.

24. I love that I don’t have to pretend.

23. I love that we have more tattoos than people.

22. I love that can invite my unbelieving friends and know they will embraced.

21. I love that we laugh…a lot.

20. I love that we talk…a lot.

19. I love that we play 80′s covers on Easter Sunday.

18. I love that my atheist buddy Brian is proud to call himself Mosaic’s “resident atheist.”

17. I love that we are a church of second chances.

16. I love that at my church I don’t get emails for using words like ‘crap’ and ‘freekin’. (It’s a miracle that’s all I’ve said.)

15. I love that for over a year we used a sound system that shot out sparks every time we turned it on and eventually caught fire on Sunday morning so that we could invest more money in people.

14. I love that at my church you might hear metal electric guitar, a banjo and a keytar all on the same Sunday.

13. I love the stories of life change we constantly get to be a part of.

12. I love that we don’t tolerate the slandering of other churches.

11. I love that my church is willing to take risks and fail (and we do a lot of both).

10. I love that we watch clips from films like the Dark Knight on Sunday morning and watch them in such a way as to blow subwoofers. (True story.)

9. I love that we love our city.

8. I love that we refuse to use guilt or shame to manipulate people.

7. I love that we are a church that doesn’t buy into the lie that you have to choose between grace and truth, but that they can go hand in hand.

6. I love that we are a church full of people who have disappeared from church.

5. I love that we are young, poor, and financially solvent.

4. I love that Jesus is front and center.

3. I love that we have arguably the coolest church foyer in the city (aka Antelope Park).

2. I love the people who make up Mosaic and make it what it is.

The truth is there are a lot of things I love about my church, but the #1 reason is this:

1. Jesus loves his church and He calls me to love her as well.