DCC Family Ministries Update | February 2025

Family Ministries | by Pastor Luke Davis

February 27, 2025

The Family Ministry Update is a snapshot of our Family Ministries in DCC, where we partner with you to joyfully teach, show, and model who God is and what He has done for us through the person and work of Christ in our households.

GOSPEL FRAMEWORK

Our Lord created the family to be a hub for encouraging vibrant faith:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
and when you walk by the way,
and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

Here, and throughout Scripture, we see the progression of God’s authoritative Word. His truth is not simply to be heard. It is to be believed in our hearts. And then from our hearts his good truth should move out from our lips and actions so that those close by, especially our families, would follow him as well.

Regardless of your household composition at this moment, are you feeding upon the Word? Is love for the Lord shaping who you are? Does his Word define your interactions? Would it be odd for the gospel to come up in your home? Or is the good news of Jesus and the truths of God’s Word part of your daily discussion? We are here to support your growth in this vital call.

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PARENTING CLASS

Explore the most important building blocks of biblical parenting in this five week class. Beginning on Wednesday, March 5 at 8pm, the class is held virtually in order to be most convenient to moms and dads who are just putting young children to bed.
Learn more and sign up here.

FAMILIES TOGETHER IN WORSHIP

As we begin to gather in the new building perhaps now is the time you want to begin including a new child in worship with the church. We encourage parents to bring kids along to gathered worship, and recognize it can be challenging. Our Kids Sunday Worship Guide (for Parents) is super helpful and contains links to a number of additional resources. Check it out!

DISABILITY MINISTRY MEETUP

A new ministry under Families is bringing focus on how we can further include those with disabilities into the life of the church for the glory of God and the joy of all people. Come learn more about our budding Disability Ministry on Sunday, March 30 following the gathering. We will open up the Word to see scripture’s teaching about disability, hear a member’s testimony, and share how you can get involved. Register here.

PRE-MARITAL CLASS 

The pre-marital class, Building a Strong Marriage, is a five-week study on biblical marriage designed to help you gain clarity on theology, your relationship, and relational skills. The course is open to engaged couples who want to build a solid gospel foundation for their marriage. The class is required if you wish to have a DCC pastor officiate your wedding. Our next offering of this class will begin on April 16.

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STAY CONNECTED

You can learn more through our Family Ministries webpage. And, of course, feel free to find me any time at one of our Sunday gatherings.

For the Kingdom,
Pastor Luke

God Still Uses Spaces

Pastoral Note | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Beloved DCC,

We’re on the cusp of an exciting move. Such moves are a little bitter sweet, aren’t they?

We’ve seen God do amazing things over the last ten years in our little former night club on the corner of Western and Battery. We were just over four years old when we moved in. It was our first somewhat-permanent space after years of nomadic setting up and tearing down. Never mind its lack of curb appeal, its trash-ridden alleyway family entrance, or its HVAC that sounds like a car accident when it starts. That didn’t matter, it was ours.

Since then, over the last decade, we’ve seen extraordinary answers to prayer meeting prayers. We’ve welcomed and sent hundreds of members during member meetings. We’ve heard countless stories of the transforming power of Jesus from the portable baptismal. We’re reveled in over 500 expositional, Jesus-exalting sermons from the stage. Hundreds of kids have been discipled to know Jesus in the basement, many before they even walk. Hundreds more were counseled through sin, grief, and tragedy in the downstairs offices. We’ve sung 1000’s of God-glorifying songs in that long rectangle of a room. God uses spaces.

We’ve also endured significant hardship. When a local mega church imploded, we turned into a spiritual foster family. We’ve said goodbye to many loved friends; a sad, but understandable, consequence of gospel work in a transitional city. When one among us committed suicide, or was abandoned by their spouse, or needed help getting clean, or received a terminal diagnosis, sacrificial brothers and sisters rallied. We made multiple offers on other buildings, only to be repeatedly denied. We endured a once-a-century pandemic, political chaos, and social upheaval—all at once. Covid effectively cut our church in half. Yet, by God’s grace, here we are, stronger, more mature, and deeply rooted than ever. God uses spaces.

Yes, of course, God uses people. But, notice that He uses people in specific spaces: gardens, arks, prison cells, tents, deserts, whale bellies, castles, baskets, stables, islands, and more. Such spaces are unexpected miniature stages upon which his story continues to unfold in ways big and small.

Often, such stages are temporary. The Cherry Street Coffee on 1st Ave, which hosted the first DCC men’s discipleship group (DG), isn’t there any more. The Starbucks on 4th and Seneca, which served as my remote office for years, isn’t there any more. The Belltown Community Center on 5th and Bell, which hosted prayer meetings, membership classes, and discipleship training, isn’t there any more. I’m assuming 2333 Western won’t be there much longer either. Recognizing the temporary nature of God’s stages helps us to be thankful for them in every season, without growing too attached to them. After all, as in any play, the stage is merely a platform for the drama.

So, DCC, lets remember this as we move into our new building this weekend.

Let’s pray that the Lord will use this space as yet another stage for his unfolding drama of redemption in Seattle, and through Seattle to the nations. Let’s pray that He would use this space as a gospel outpost, and megaphone, for generations to come. Imagine how many people might come to know Jesus there. Imagine how many missionaries and church planters may be sent from there. Imagine how many hearts will be thrilled with the excellencies of Jesus, sins defeated, marriages reconciled, and legacies forever redeemed there. Let it be, Lord!

Let’s be profoundly thankful for this new amazing space, while remembering the stage is not the point, the drama is. What might He do next? Let’s find out together.

Christ is all,
-A