We Go After One More Together

1 | How have I experienced the tension?

Wicked Dance Clip (1:10-1:16:30 Feel free to edit it down)

What a powerful scene.

Why is this scene so emotional? Because we instinctively know something is wrong. Elphaba dancing alone hits a nerve in us—we ache for belonging. This moment touches a deeper truth woven into creation itself…

Read Genesis 2:18 “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

In Genesis 2, the first thing God calls ‘not good’ in all of creation is the first human being alone.

2 | How have you experienced this tension?

And yet…the default of the human experience is self-protection, isolation, and individualism. It’s why we cancel plans last minute, avoid vulnerable conversations, and spend hours scrolling but still feel lonely.

We’ve all danced alone.

And just as we watch Elphaba dancing by herself, we know and feel that it’s not right.

3 | What do the Scriptures say about this tension?

If you have been journeying with us the last three weeks, you might be wondering what does Elphaba and Glinda dancing at the Ozdust Ballroom have to do with One More Life?

Everything.

Let me show you how this moment on the dance floor actually points us back to everything we’ve talked about over the past few weeks.

“This series was inspired by Desmond Doss, a WW2 medic who, because of his faith in Jesus, refused to carry a weapon. Mocked and harassed, he went on to save around 100 lives in one night at Hacksaw Ridge, praying constantly: ‘Lord, help me get one more.’”

Desmond didn’t aim to save 100—he simply focused on the one in front of him.

As followers of Jesus we have been given this beautiful and epic calling to participate with Jesus in going after the one, which is the individuals God has put in our lives so that they might know the love of Jesus in and through us.

But this isn’t about turning people into your mission ‘project.’ It’s about joining with Jesus in his parable of the lost.

Read Matthew 18:11–13 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came and pursued you and me—not through visions, but through someone’s intentionality: a coworker, a parent, a friend, a pastor.

We were all like the lost sheep in our graphic who finds herself in the warzone and is going her own way toward certain death, but our good shepherd came and rescued us.

And so now the calling is for all of us who know and love Jesus to join into the same story. To go after the one in partnership with Jesus.

For all of us this should be stretching, which is why this vision is truly a discipleship journey, a calling for all those who call Mosaic Church home to commit to partnering with Jesus and with one another in various ways so that we can go after the one more.

Week 1: Extravagently Hospitable

So in week 1, we focused on We are Extravagantly Hospitable. As we have articulated:

“We were formerly enemies of God, but through Jesus we have been welcomed as family to the banquet table of God’s lavish love. We belong to a Kingdom of abundance rather than a world of scarcity, and the God of all hospitality welcomes us each morning with surprises of delightful new mercies. As recipients of this hospitality, we get to extend the same to others. We welcome as Christ has welcomed us. Our hospitality is not of this world. We’re not here to solicit, but to serve. We go above and beyond to welcome well so that all people may experience the welcome of Jesus.”

This is why we desire to go above and beyond within our community to welcome well, to surprise and delight in each ministry space, and to strive to do things well within our gathering… not out of a belief that people will like us better if we are awesome, but to respond to the hospitality we have received from Jesus and express that to those who come into our community.

And so the commitment that is being asked of all those who call this biblical community home is to find a space to serve within the community. We have incredible serve teams, where you will be connected, cared for, and known. When we come together to serve one another its like we come into this space not with a fork, where we look for what can I eat, and instead come with serving spoons, how can I feed others. And in that everyone has an abundance to enjoy together.

Week 2: Fearlessly Generous

In week 2, we focused on We are Fearlessly Generous. Here is how we articulate that value:

We choose to trust the provision of God, who, in infinite generosity, provided His own Son for us. We are transformed by the generosity of Jesus, who gave up the glories of Heaven and His very life for us. So we do not fearfully hoard, but faithfully steward. We see our resources as an opportunity to actively love God and our neighbor. We seek continual contentment in Jesus as we generously sow our time, talents, and treasure that we may reap a harvest of eternally enduring gospel stories.

We live in a world of scarcity, where there is never enough. And yet Jesus poured out his own life so that we could live. “It makes no sense—nothing is free, grace seems like a fairytale. And yet, the fairytale is true: Jesus has come to usher in a Kingdom of Abundance and so we can now respond in intentional creative fearless generosity.

We can transform the way we look at our time, talents, and treasure from a vision of scarcity to a vision of generosity.

And so what does generosity look like? What we see in the Scriptures in the life of the early church was this looked like giving generously to the local church. This is more than just organizational budgets. This is pulling our generosity together to care for our entire community.

When we give generously together it supports everything from our gatherings and staffing to the little details that help people feel known and loved each week, and it provides care for practical needs of those in our church and funding for local and global partner ministries who are doing incredible work across the globe.

It also allows us to dream—planting a campus in Horizon West, funding church plants locally and globally, and paying off our building mortgage to free up more for future ministry.

Can you imagine? Can you imagine what would happen if we were living in generosity within our community? Not to simply sustain an organization known as Mosaic Church, but to care well for Mosaic Church (one another) and those beyond our walls.

You might wonder why we’re asking for an annual generosity commitment today. This isn’t about a fundraising initiative—it’s a challenge in discipleship.

We live in a very commitment-averse culture. And yet I was reminded this week of a powerful story from the life of the prophet Elisha

Read 1 Kings 19:19–21 “So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.”

Elisha burns his business down and throws a farewell party. That’s an all-in commitment. No turning back.

That’s why we’re inviting each of us to write down the number we plan to give toward Mosaic over the next year.

It is a calling to commitment—to say, “I’m in.” The only way back is through. I’ve crossed the line in the sand. Pick your favorite metaphor.

Week 3: Daringly Missional

Last week we journeyed into the final value, We are Daringly Missional.

“God is on mission for His glory among all peoples. Jesus, the ultimate missionary, left Heaven to reach a world enslaved by sin and death. As recipients of the gospel, we participate with Him in pushing back death and darkness, wherever they are found. We proclaim Jesus with our words and demonstrate Jesus with our actions. Our task is marked by sacrificial love and urgency, knowing that Jesus is coming soon to make all things right and new. We dare to live into the belief that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or imagine, so we spend our brief lives spreading the good news of His unstoppable Kingdom.”

Because we were once the lost sheep, we all are now called to carry the Gospel to those God has put in our lives. Ultimately we know it is God who saves people not us, but we do not have a way to know who he will save and so the best thing you or I can do is live as if every person in our lives in there on purpose. God has put your coworkers, your friends, your roommates, your children in your life, in the life of someone who carries the good news of Jesus!

So going after one more doesn’t just mean inviting them to church, although introducing them to our biblical community is a great space for them to get to know your people and to hear the Gospel from the stage. You already carry the good news—and a story of how it’s transformed your life, and this is the case regardless of how qualified you feel like you are.

This is why we are asking you to commit, ready or not, by writing their name or names down on your commitment card. Not so we can show it to them on their first Sunday with us. But as a way to say I am burning the oxcart. I'm crossing the line in the sand. I am going to be intentional in that relationship and prayerfully discover a time within the next year when God is going to allow me to share the gospel and my story with that person or people.

Lord, help us go after one more.

So what does this have to do with the Ozdust Ballroom?

Read Matthew 9:35–38 “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

I love that when Jesus looked out at those who were in pain, afflicted, marginalized and impoverished, that what he saw was lost sheep in need of a shepherd. And then what he says to his followers is yall, get ready.

Have you ever worked somewhere understaffed?

I once worked at Subway in my small hometown. One day, the assistant manager had a meltdown and walked out. I was six months in, and my coworker was brand new.

And then the lunch crowd started coming in from a local festival.

When you’re understaffed, you’ve got two options: every person for themselves, or creative teamwork.

Jesus said I am going to need more shepherds of lost sheep. So pray for more to come to work.

Do you want to know who he was praying would arrive on the scene?

You and I. Not as individuals but as a collective.

It was not okay for Elphaba to dance alone. And so when Glinda takes the step onto the dance floor and begins to dance you see the relief and connection that makes for

And then slowly everyone else joins in on the dance floor…

There is an old African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

We go together.

We go together because all of this started with the one who pursued us through others

Read 2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

We go together because we need one another

Read Philippians 1:3–6 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

4 | How can the Gospel bring resolution to this tension in your life?

Perhaps you are not really a local church person, you believe in the capital C church but not so much in the local church.

The global historic church is nothing but a collective of local churches across space and time, who have imperfectly gone after one another and after one more with the beauty of the Gospel.

Don’t allow whatever church hurt you carry to be manipulated to turn away from the covenant community that Jesus has called you to belong to. Yes, the Church can be messy. But it can also be breathtaking—a place where people carry each other’s burdens, celebrate each other’s wins, and live on mission together. That’s what we long to be.

A place of grace and grit. A people who limp forward together, clinging to Jesus.

Whether it is this local church or another, what matters is that we see ourselves committed to his mission as part of a particular group of Jesus’ followers where we can know and be known, where we can be encouraged and challenged, where we can share in the grief of others and have others celebrate alongside us.

5 | Commitment Card Explanation & Response

Everything we’re inviting you into is in response to what Jesus has already done. He saw us dancing alone, and He didn’t stay at a distance. He stepped onto the dance floor of our lives, even when it cost Him everything.

If you call Mosaic Church home, no matter for how long—whether you’re here for a few more weeks or the long haul—we want to invite you to fill out your commitment card.

If you belong to another church—amazing. Take these commitments and live them out there.

In a moment, you’ll have time to fill out your card. When you’re ready, come to the front, drop it in the basket, and take a wristband as your reminder.

That wristband isn’t just a reminder of a name. It’s a reminder that someone once stepped onto the dance floor for you—and now, it’s your turn.

Let’s pray.