Community, Discipleship, Service | by Pastor David Parker

Downtown Cornerstone,

This past Sunday we took some time to unpack the current state and health of our church in regards to finances and serving. I wanted to briefly follow-up on the serving front so you can prayerfully consider how you can respond.

WHY WE SERVE

The mission of Downtown Cornerstone is to build a great city through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the glory of God. One of the ways we get to build a great city is by serving others as we’ve been served in Christ. If you are a follower of Christ, part of our ongoing discipleship is a life of service to God and others. Dallas Willard wrote these helpful words, “A disciple is not a person who has things under control, or knows a lot of things. Disciples simply are people who are constantly revising their affairs to follow through on their decision to follow Christ.”

The only place we’re going to get the motivation and drive to follow Christ’s example in serving others, is when we understand and know how much God has served us through the person and work of Christ. Romans 5 tells us, that even while were enemies of God, He infinitely served us and loved us by dying for us. He gave His Son, so that we would be rescued from ourselves — and living for ourselves — and brought back into relationship with our Creator! I don’t know about you, but nothing motivates me more, and reminds me of why I serve, than looking to Jesus and being reminded of how much He served me.

THE NEEDS

Currently we have just over 100 volunteers that are in a regular rotation of serving, but in order to breed health among our ministries, and see more people come to know and love Jesus, we need over 175 volunteers!

You might ask, how could we need over 75 more volunteers, everything seems to be going fine on Sundays? The reality is a few fold, 1) We have many folks that are carrying a lot of weight, and “doubling down” in many areas or serving almost every week. This isn’t sustainable, nor healthy. 2) While Sunday is when the majority of our volunteer needs come to light, we also largely run on volunteer efforts throughout the week (e.g. community leads, website, communications, design, etc.). 3) Lastly, there’s more ways that we want to love and serve the city that God has placed us in, and see more people come to know, love and treasure Him. As we look to the fall, our prayer is not only that we’d have healthy teams, but that we’d be able to launch new ministries so that many more people would get to experience all that God is for us in Jesus Christ.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

For those of you who are faithfully and regularly serving, thank you! For those of you who maybe are brand new, we’re glad you’re here. Take your time, ask your questions, get connected. But for those of you who call Downtown Cornerstone home, consider how you can live out of your identity as a servant of Jesus Christ inside of our body.

Below is a basic list of serving opportunities and current volunteer needs for many of our teams. Most ministries have an every other week rotation of serving, except for Cornerstone Kids, which is roughly once a month. If you would like to learn more about a particular ministry, check out our serve page, and email  to ask any questions or to get connected to a serve team.

SUNDAY OPERATIONS

• Facilities: 5 volunteers
• Connect: 2 volunteers for email followup*
• Beverage: 2 volunteers
• Greeting: 4 volunteers

PRODUCTIONS

• Band: 2 vocalists, 1 drummer, 1 bass player, 1 pianist, 2 guitarists, 2 band leads*
• Audio/Slides/Lighting: 3 set-up techs, 2 sound engineers, 1 monitor engineer, 1 recording engineer*, 1 service lead*

CORNERSTONE KIDS

• Nursery: 5 volunteers, 1 service lead*
• Cornerstone Kids: 10 volunteers, 3 teachers*

MEDIA/DESIGN

• Graphic Design: 4 designers
• Video: 5 videographers
• Photography: 6 photographers

COMMUNICATIONS

• Web Development: 1 webmaster*, 2 developers
• Social Media: 3 editors/contributors

SPECIAL EVENTS

• Planning: 3 volunteers
• Event Set-up/Tear Down: 8 volunteers
• Decorations/Food: 4 volunteers

* Position requires church membership

Because He infinitely served us,
Pastor David

Community, City Life, News

Throughout the summer we’ll be corporately gathering together as Downtown Cornerstone Church around the following events. These events will not only be a great opportunity to grow together as a church, but an opportunity to get to know, love and serve those that Jesus has placed around us. Mark these dates on your calendar and consider who you can invite!

Additionally, our communities will be gathering in various forms throughout the summer. if you’re not connected to one, email  to get plugged in today!

Picnic at the Park | Gasworks Park
Tuesday, June 10th | 6pm

Bring a picnic dinner (non grill-able) and join us for a fun evening to welcome in the summer! This will occur in lieu of our normal community rhythm and is an opportunity to enjoy the sunshine with our neighbors and friends.

Serve the City | Gatewood Elementary School
Saturday, July 26th | 10am

We are partnering with the Seattle School District for a day of service at Gatewood Elementary School in West Seattle. The more volunteers we have, the better we are able to serve this school so please mark your calendars and invite your friends!

BBQ & Beach Baptisms | South Lake Union Park
Tuesday, August 26th | TBD

Join us for our 4th annual BBQ and Baptism event! We will gather at South Lake Union Park for a BBQ followed by baptisms, to celebrate all that Jesus has done and is continuing to do among us as a people. If you are interested in being baptized or want to learn more, you can read more here.

We depend on volunteer support for all of these events!

If you would like to serve the church by helping plan one of these events, please email  or stop by the Connect Desk on Sunday.

News

Downtown Cornerstone now has an AmazonSmile account! What is AmazonSmile? AmazonSmile is a way for charitable organizations, like us, to receive donations through purchases you are already making. If you shop at smile.amazon.com, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price on eligible purchases to DCC. In other words, by using AmazonSmile, you can help further the work of the Gospel in Seattle when you shop!

How do I get started?

There are a few things to remember. First, you have to choose Downtown Cornerstone Church as your charitable organization. You can do this by clicking on our AmazonSmile link or the banner above to automatically select DCC as your charitable organization. You can also go directly to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com). The website will prompt you to select a charitable organization. Search for Downtown Cornerstone Church and select from the list.

Second, keep in mind that if you don’t shop through smile.amazon.com, it doesn’t count towards a contribution. You cannot select DCC as your organization and then shop through amazon.com. You must do all your shopping through smile.amazon.com, which has all the same products and looks exactly the same as amazon.com. There are extensions you can add to your browser to ensure that anytime you visit amazon.com you’ll be redirected to smile.amazon.com.

Extensions

If you use Chrome, click here.
If you use Firefox, click here.

Unfortunately there is not an extension for Safari. If you use Safari, please remember to use our AmazonSmile link instead of amazon.com

To find out more details of how AmazonSmile works, please visit their website.

Downtown Cornerstone Chur

Uncategorized

DCC Family,

On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11th, we’ll be holding our next round of child dedications. If you’ve recently welcomed a baby into your family, or have a child you would like to dedicate (regardless of age), we’d love to give you the opportunity to do so.

As a church we do not baptize children, however we do offer an opportunity for parents to publicly dedicate their children to the Lord before the church and for the church to publicly commit to supporting the families. For more information, read more below. If you would like to dedicate your child on May 11th, please let us know by filling out this form:

Child Dedication Sign-up Form

Why Child Dedications?

1. The practice of child dedication is based on scriptural precedent, rooted in the Old Testament, in which Jesus was presented to the Lord in the temple as an infant (Luke 2:22-35).
2. The practice of child dedication is also based on, and acknowledges, God’s blessing towards and care for children (Isaiah 54:13; Matt 18:1-5, 10; 19:13-15; Luke 18:15-17; Acts 2:39; 1 John 2:12-13).
3. The practice of child dedication is fundamentally an act of the parents. It is a commitment you, the parents, make in your heart before Jesus and agree to live out in your home together. The dedication we perform during the church gathering is simply a public acknowledgment of that commitment.
4. In dedicating your child, you acknowledge that your children are a gift given to you by God (Gen 33:5; Psalm 127:3-5). As such they are a blessing, privilege, and tremendous source of joy (Prov. 23:24-25) — even though they require much labor. Ultimately, we recognize that they have been created by our Father in heaven (Psalm 139:13) and, as such, belong to Him, though entrusted to you to be raised in Christ (Exodus 13:2, 12).
5. In dedicating your child, you commit to live as parents who, by the grace of God, have a genuine walk with Jesus. In this way, you are committing to live a life worthy of emulation so as to not serve as a stumbling block to your child’s ongoing faith and trust in Jesus. (Matt. 18:5-6)
6. At the same time, your church (elders, deacons, members and community) commits to supporting, encouraging and praying for you, by the grace of God, as you seek to fulfill your God-given task of parenting and raising your child up in the knowledge of the Lord.

Child Dedication is Not:

Baptism: In order to avoid any confusion, it is important to note that dedicating your child is not a “dry” baptism nor a substitute for baptism. As a church, we recognize believer’s baptism (i.e. baptism following the placing of your faith in Jesus) as the biblical model of baptism. For more information go here.

Magic: This likely goes without saying, but it too needs to be said. The practice of dedicating your child is not magic, nor a formula by which to manipulate God, nor does it place any kind of extra-special blessing or protection upon your child, nor does it secure or ensure their immediate or eventual salvation.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to email us at:
.

We are looking forward to partnering with you to raise your little ones to trust and treasure our King, together. (Eph 6:4)

Christ is all,

The Elders of Downtown Cornerstone

Easter, Uncategorized | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Jesus is alive and he met us, by His Spirit, as we gathered for Good Friday and Easter this year. I hope you were able to be a part of it. In case you missed it, feel free to listen to the Easter sermon. I want to give a huge thanks to all who served in one way or another over that weekend. Thanks for being open to being used by God through the simple act of service. Throwing two gatherings like that, back-to-back, is a huge undertaking and, by God’s grace, He showed up. People encountered Jesus afresh. I’ve already heard some amazing stories. In fact, if you have any to share, we would love to hear from you! Share them on the City or send them to .

There is much to be encouraged by (for example, having our largest gathering ever on Sunday at 400). However, the most glorious, profound, encouraging reality of the weekend is that Jesus the Christ is still alive, still ruling and still reconciling people to himself. Without question, we want to see God do something unique and special – and He is. From the beginning we have asked God to do what only He can do among us and through us (Eph 3:20-21) – and he is. We continue to dream, plan and pray big – and we will. However, our hope is not in our dreams, plans and prayers, but Him. Our treasure is that we are treasured and our names are written in the Book (Lk20:10). So, let’s rejoice in what He is doing among us and through us, not as an end, but as a means to greater rejoicing in Him.

All earthly joys are shadows of the joy found in Christ, which is why they taste so good. But, understanding they are shadows, and not the substance, will keep us from making idols of them while setting us free to seek to do big things with our big God without our hope being in them. It is amazing what God can do with people that are hungry for Him and happy in Him. Our city needs more people like that. By God’s grace, may we be among them. He is risen!

Christ is all!
Pastor Adam