Community, Uncategorized

From time to time, we want to share stories of how God is working in the lives of those who are participating in community. Recently, we sat down with Josh and Angela Armstrong, members of the Magnolia Community, to asked them a few questions about their experience with community.

What was your original take on community when you got to DCC?

Over the years, we have been blessed by being members of some really great communities. At different churches we’ve attended they’ve been called community groups, small groups, life groups, or Bible studies – but at the core, they’ve all been Jesus-loving people who do life together. We knew that when choosing a new church to call home, it needed to have a strong community ministry. We loved DCC and were excited to see that communities were key to serving and being served, as well as growing deeper in relationship with Jesus and His people.

What was your experience like once you jumped in?

At first, there was some hesitation to commit to our neighborhood’s community because we weren’t sure how long we’d be living in Magnolia. But we felt God’s prompting to join, regardless of how long we’d be there. If it was going to be a while, then great! More time to build friendships with our neighbors and study God’s Word together. If it was going to be a shorter season, we knew that God could still teach us and use us through our Magnolia neighbors. And once we started participaing, the church that we really liked became our church that we love.

Shortly after joining, our little family encountered some trials. Our son arrived nearly 5 weeks early and we spent a couple weeks in the NICU. Then, our almost 2-year-old daughter got a serious kidney infection that hospitalized her for 11 days, which led to surgery a couple weeks later. All together we spent a month admitted at Swedish First Hill. That season was the hardest thing we’ve gone though. Even though we hadn’t been a part of our community for very long, and they didn’t know us very well, they rallied around us in love, prayer, encouragement, meals and gifts. I (Angela) remember one particular night that we were at the hospital, and Josh said “I feel like I need to go be with community tonight…for me.” It was a time when we were wrestling with God’s goodness and His will for our family. Going to be with community was a place where he could be transparent and have prayerful support. They loved, and continue to love, us so well!

What role does community play in our life today?

Community is very important to us all throughout the week, not just Sunday mornings and Tuesday nights. For me (Angela), in this big, beautiful city of ours, I can feel a little anonymous, a little lost in the shuffle. I desire to feel at home and being in a community, as well as making a family choice do as much as we can here in Magnolia, has given me that sense of family and home. We have community friends who are actual neighbors with whom we grab coffee, sit alongside at library story times, and meet for park dates…friends who utilize the same community center and children’s consignment store and who we run into at the farmer’s market. Friends who are quick to ask how can I help? Can I bring you a meal? Need any help with childcare? And true story, friends who will loan you toilet paper and bananas to hold you over until your next grocery trip. We get to watch our little ones build friendships and although she’s only 2 years old, our daughter eagerly awaits Tuesdays to go to Gisele and Peter’s house! Throughout the week she loves to list off everyone who comes to eat, play, and pray.

While we love our community and it’s a priority for us, that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. We are busy people. Work sometimes runs late. Attitudes often need adjusting and bedtime can’t come soon enough. Both kiddos have sleep issues (and by default, I guess that means we do too). Sometimes we are racing across the city, and usually we grab something store-bought on the way. Let’s be real, I (Angela) probably still have on yoga pants, no make up, and hair in a messy ponytail. Sometimes we need to leave a little early. But we come. If we were going to wait to be committed and invested until life slowed down and we had all our ducks in a row, I don’t know if we’d ever come. We come, messy and all….and so does everyone else. Like I mentioned above, we do life together and life is messy. This reality is beautiful and such a blessing. In our community, the number of kids might equal the number of adults and so our format (and noise level) isn’t what it used to be. Sometimes that’s great, and I can roll with it and enjoy myself. And other days, I might actually grieve a little, remembering past life seasons of community groups where I was fully present, completely focused, able to have deep theological discussions and then linger afterwards.

In short, we’ve been super blessed by community! We would encourage everyone to participate, even if you’re not sure how long you’ll be here. For those who are especially busy, we encourage you to pray over your schedule to have God reveal ways to switch things up so you can carve out time for group. And for those with little ones, we pray that community can be a place where your cup is filled, you are loved and supported, and can be love and support to others.

Thanks for sharing Josh & Angela!

About Cornerstone Communities:
Cornerstone Communities are at the heart of who we are as church. We aren’t simply interested in holding events – we desire for people to connect, share life, and form communities that are deeply rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Cornerstone Communities are neighborhood-focused and typically meet for a weekly dinner, while also sharing life throughout the week. You can learn more about our communities here and email to request more information.

News, Teaching | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

This Sunday we are beginning a new sermon series, On Being Human: Relationships, Gender and Being Made in the Image of God. One of the most profound questions we face in life is: “What is a human being?” Philosophers wrestle with it. Sociologists study it. Psychologists delve into it. Social activists fight for it. Politicians try to legislate it. But, what is a human? Specifically, for our purposes, what does it mean to be a man or a woman? How should we view relationships, gender and human sexuality? Can they be whatever we want or is their meaning predetermined? It is hard to exaggerate the importance of this topic. Our view of what humans are impacts our lives on every level and, yet, we often think little of it. On this point, Augustine once said:

“Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the mystery of themselves without a thought.”

In light of that, we’re going to take the fall to work through these important questions from the scriptures. The Bible is not silent on these profoundly relevant issues. Throughout its pages we see that human beings are inescapably related to, and dependent on, God. Humans were created in the image of God with inherent dignity, value and purpose – for joy, in relationship to Him and others. In a culture awash in conflicting perspectives, opinions and conjecture, there is perhaps no greater need in our day than a deep, penetrating and fresh look at God’s revelation of his purposes in the creation of mankind. That is our goal in this series. The following describes the flow of our study:

10/18 On Being Made in the Image of God
10/25 Men and Masculinity
11/01 Women and Femininity
11/08 Marriage and the Mystery of Christ
11/15 Men as Husbands
11/22 Women as Wives
12/06 Singleness and the Mystery of Christ
12/13 The Imago Dei and Sexuality*
12/20 Raising Image Bearers: Foundations
01/10  Raising Image Bearers: Practices
01/17  On Being Human and the Sanctity of Life

Please be praying for our time together.

With affection in Christ,
Pastor Adam

_______________

*Parents: On Sunday, December 13th, we will be exploring topics specifically related to human sexuality. The content will not be explicit nor graphic. However, we will speak about pornography, same-sex attraction, gender confusion and other sexual distortions. If your child(ren) normally participates in the main gathering, and you would prefer they sit out this week, we have made preparations with Cornerstone Kids.

Global Issues

When heartbreaking pictures and video from halfway around the world begin to appear on the news, in the papers, and even on our Facebook feeds it is hard not to feel a range of emotions. Seeing the haunting images and hearing the stories of the families connected to them often brings emotions of grief, sadness, and even anger. After these emotions often come questions: What can I do? Where do I even start? This problem seems so big…

Within the last couple weeks, we’ve started talking about this as a DCC family, educating ourselves and considering how we can, by God’s grace, respond to this enormous crisis in meaningful ways that glorify Jesus. Let’s dig a little deeper into how we here in Seattle can come alongside refugees both across the globe and right here in our city by Learning, Responding, and Welcoming.

Learn

The 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention defined a refugee as a person who crosses an international border fleeing persecution because of their religion, race, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

The Syrian Civil War has been going on for four and a half years. It began with the uprisings and protests of the Arab Spring, and escalated into war between President Bashar al-Assad’s government and multiple rebel groups. ISIS has taken advantage of the chaotic situation to invade and take control of large parts of Syria. The violence has been absolutely devastating for civilians. According to the UNHCR’s latest figures, 7.6 million Syrians are displaced within Syria, and 3.8 million have sought refuge in other countries. After four years of violence, what’s causing the ballooning of the refugee crisis right now? Many Syrians have given up hope that they can outlast the devastation. The breakdown of hope creates a tipping point where people finally make the choice that they must walk away from their homes, their communities, and everything they have ever known if they are to save their lives and their children’s lives. This video by statistician Hans Rosling breaks down where Syrians have fled to as of this summer.

Due to the long vetting process that includes medical checks, several interviews, and intensive background checks, only about 1,500 Syrians have been resettled into the United States so far. I (Megan) work at World Relief Seattle, which is a Christian organization that works to welcome and support refugees who are rebuilding their lives in the Seattle area and connect them to the church and the community. Our office has just been notified that we will receive our first Syrian case this week, and we are preparing for them to come, but are also continually resettling refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and other countries in turmoil.

Our team at World Relief Seattle has been welcoming and resettling refugees in the Seattle area since 1979. Our experience over those years has taught us that we are not meant to do this alone and so we ask local churches and the whole community to partner with us in the work of welcoming and empowering and loving refugees who are arriving in our city weekly.

Respond

When we begin to grasp the magnitude and heartbreak of this crisis, we ask, “But what can we do?” The answer is, “Much.”

Pray – This crisis is big, but we worship a big God. We must cry out to Him to do what only He can do. Let’s pray:

• that our mighty and loving Prince of Peace, Jesus, would bring His kingdom in Syria and the other major refugee-creating countries through the Gospel and that it would result in shalom in those countries between people and God, and between people and one another.
• for Christians in Syria, that in the midst of the chaos they would be able to plant and water seeds for the Gospel.
• that our loving Father God would protect those on dangerous journeys, and that they would be rescued and welcomed.
• that God would forgive us for how we, as humans, hurt one another, and that He would tear down the dividing walls of hostility between us.
• that Jesus would help us, as His image-bearers, be those who rescue and welcome and love out of His abundance; that God will continue to break our hearts for what breaks His heart, and that our primary reaction to refugees would always be love and not fear.

Advocate – The President and Congress are considering right now how many refugees we will allow into the U.S. next year. Call your senator and your Congressional representatives to tell them that we want to be a country that welcomes refugees and that you are in support of Syrian resettlement in the U.S. You can also sign the White House petition for the U.S. to resettle more Syrian refugees.

Share – We can share out of what God has richly given us. We can share our money with organizations who are on the ground working really hard with the Syrian and Mediterranean refugee crisis and need our support, such as World Relief, World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, and Doctors Without Borders, to name a few. Our World Relief teams in Northern Iraq, Jordan, and soon Turkey are using the funds they are given to provide urgent supplies, trauma therapy, and child-friendly spaces for refugees arriving in mass numbers in those countries. We can also share tangibly with those who are coming to live right here in our own city, as you will see below.

Welcome

Here in the U.S., World Relief and other refugee resettlement agencies work with local churches and the community to welcome tens of thousands of refugees every year. You can come alongside new refugee families in the Seattle area by:

• hosting families for 1-2 weeks until they are able to transition into an apartment.
• renting directly to refugee individuals or families in need of safe, affordable places to live.
• donating furniture or household items to furnish apartments for refugee families.
• using your networks to connect refugee men and women of all different backgrounds and skills to their first job opportunities in the U.S.
• practicing English and building relationships with refugees students in ESL classes
• being a friend. Our goal at World Relief is to match every family with an American volunteer who will commit to just being their friend for at least their first six months in the country.

What if every single refugee who comes to rebuild their life in the Seattle area
had a Jesus-follower as their first friend in the U.S.?

There will be a training for volunteers who wish to come alongside new refugee families in partnership with World Relief on Sunday, October 18th from 1:30-4:00 pm at Quest Church – 1401 NW Leary Way, Seattle, WA 98107. If you want to come, please RSVP to Scott at by October 15th. You can email him for more information or check out the Facebook event.

I love you, DCC family, and am happy to help you in any way I can as you consider how God might be inviting you to join His work of loving and welcoming refugee families for His glory.

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ (which is done in the body by human hands) – remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” Ephesians 2:11-18

By Megan Kennedy (DCC member and World Relief ESL Program Coordinator) with help from Scott Ellis (World Relief Volunteer Coordinator)

Baptism, Event

On August 27th, we gathered as a people at Myrtle Edwards Park for our fifth annual BBQ and Baptisms! Seven people shared their testimonies of God’s radical grace in their lives and were baptized. What a stunning celebration highlighting the stories of people changed and changing by the good news of the gospel!

“I was rescued from a living death. I know today that there is nothing I can do to make God love me any more or any less. In Jesus, my sins are washed away” – Jessica

“God saved me, I didn’t save myself… God says that by faith in Jesus I’m saved and I can finally rest.” – Betsy

“I deserve God’s punishment for my sins, but Jesus saved me. He died on the cross for me – He is my Savior and He has authority over my life” – Diogo

“It’s amazing that the God of the universe who created everything would come down for me…” – Aaron

“I deserve God’s wrath for my sin, but Jesus bore that wrath for me and died for me on the cross” – Colin

“When we trust Christ, we are not defined by our relationships, we are defined by Jesus” – Nick

“God called me from death into abundant life with him…” – Celiz

Special thanks to all the communities and volunteers who provided food, came early to set up, and stayed late!