Sunset Sunday for Crossroads Arlington and Mosaic Church

Celebrating 23 Years of God’s Faithfulness at Crossroads Arlington

What a powerful Sunday we shared together on May 4th! As we gathered to celebrate 23 incredible years of ministry at Crossroads Arlington Church, we were reminded of God’s unwavering faithfulness and the beautiful community He has built.

From heartfelt worship to moments of prayer and powerful stories, it was a day filled with gratitude and joy. We reflected on our journey—how God has used this church to touch lives, serve our city, and built a family rooted in faith, love, and hope.

The testimonies shared reminded us of the impact this church has had over the years—marriages restored, lives transformed, friendships forged, and hearts drawn closer to Jesus. Each of you is part of that legacy, from our founder Joe Centineo and his family, to every past elder, staff member, volunteer, small group leader, member, attender—THANK YOU. Our history is a rich one because you made Crossroad home for the season you did. Thank you to everyone who made the celebration so special—those who planned, hosted, shared, and simply showed up with hearts full of faith. We are so grateful for you.

As we look back, we’re not just celebrating the past—we’re stepping with expectation into the future. This next season holds new opportunities to grow, to serve, and to share the love of Christ in fresh ways where the DNA of Crossroads will be evident in the future of a church in coming days and weeks ahead will be Better Together.

As I served my last Sunday as Crossroad’s Lead Pastor, I am thankful for the last three plus years and grateful for every relationship, song sung, prayer prayed, and conversation shared. I’m excited to see God beginning the new work of bringing faith, hope, and love to Arlington in a fresh new way! We know as one sunset ends, a new sunrise begins—Tyler Arp

Sunsets are amazing things with the Mosaic of different hues and colors.

Especially when you are able to enjoy them with the right people.  And as Mosaic Church held its last Sunday worship service of her existence, we can most certainly say the right people were there for her sunset service. 

What an amazing 2.5 hours of singing, remembering, testifying, praying, crying, laughing and thanking God for all He has done over the last two decades as we have done all we can to make disciples who make disciples for the glory of Jesus and the good of our city. 

People came from all over the city, and all over the State, to come together one last time to celebrate all God had done in and through Mosaic. Some of the faces we haven’t seen in years, but their smiles and tears demonstrated that in their hearts they had truly never left us even if their addresses had to change. Mosaic as a church family has always had a wide reach, and on this last Sunday Gathering the Spirit of the LORD would, once again, confirm just how wide that reach truly was. 

As I sat on the front row hearing story after story of how Jesus has changed life after life all I could think of was “thank you LORD for using broken people to make others beautiful again.” It was a journey that I could have never imagined when we started out with 8 people in our living room 20 years. 

Stories of marriages restored and renewed. 

Stories of lives healed.

Stories of people finding their life partners. 

Stories of men, women, boys and girls saying “YES!” to Jesus for the first time, getting baptized and then moving forward in that journey to serve others.

Stories of homes being opened to friends, neighbors and even strangers.

Stories of reconciliation.

Stories of babies and children dedicated to the LORD.

Stories of people stepping into moments of healthy risks to prove their faith in God. 

Stories of how courage is formed in the beauty of community. 

Stories of feeding thousands of hungry Arlington High School students…both with physical food and spiritual food. 

Stories of how the Gospel not only changed their eternal destiny, but it changed how they treated their employer, their server and their enemy. 

Every story had a common thread and it was simply that the Spirit of Jesus was alive and well, working in and through this small community of broken, yet beautiful, disciples. 

As the Gathering began to close and my family rose to speak, my eyes red from the 2 hours of continual crying tears of joy, I looked over the packed room of saints who had come to say both “Good-bye Mosaic Church” as well as “Thank you, LORD.”  Each of my young adult children shared a few words (which only had me crying even more….I am such an emotional wreck at times like this…LOL). And then my wife opened up her heart so eloquently as only LaNette. (I can’t tell you how much she has walked through, both good and bad, to help make this Mosaic dream a reality). I closed with a few thoughts on how even through this small local church was finishing her race, the greater body of Christ was, and always would, continue. Even the gates of Hell can’t stop what Jesus has started in his people. The Church is an unstoppable force, as the Mosaic founder once wrote. I shared what I think will forever be the theme song of Mosaic, “Peace” by Rich Mullins, and then I thanked everyone for allowing such a broken man to serve them for so long. 

And then we did what Mosaic has done best - we turned our eyes upon Jesus. As one of our leaders came and reminded us of the high cost Jesus Christ paid for our salvation, we each came to the Table where there was bread and juice, representing the body and blood of Jesus. 

Communion was reserved for the very last thing we would do at last Mosaic Gathering because we wanted everyone to know that everything we did, for 20 years, was all about Jesus. Even though at times we messed it up really bad, our hearts were always about pointing people to him. So it only seemed appropriate that we finish with this act of solemn, reflective and, yet at the same time, joyful time of worship. 

And the people came to Jesus as they came to the Table. Once again, one by one by one. Just as we have done for 20 years. Allowing anyone who needed God’s grace to come and eat and drink freely, as Jesus invited them. 

And as they did, I sat on that front row, weeping like a baby, thanking God for a beautiful ride of life and ministry as their friend, brother and pastor. 

The sun was starting to dim ever so slowly as she settled behind the final clouds. Mosaic Church was closing her final chapter. And the story was such a rich one to live in. But as we said over and over again through our history, the best is always yet to come for those who are in Christ Jesus. I couldn’t help but hear those words ringing in my heart from the Holy Spirit. 

“I am about to do a new thing. The sun is rising tomorrow. And it will be even greater than this. Trust me.” I sensed the Father was speaking that to me, to my family and to all those who were heading into the the future with us.

But for now….we watched the sunset.—Stephen Hammond