Shining His Light Today in Light of That Day!  2 Cor. 5:7-11 

“Our hearts and relationships shining His Light, our homes being His Lighthouses”

 

bringing people to maturity and helping them get ready for that day

 

 

“We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone MATURE in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” (Col 1:28-29) 

 

Our Responsibility:

DSC leaders are to equip and train God’s people to do His work and build up His church and the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12),  bring people to maturity (Colossians 1:28, 29)  and help them get ready to face Jesus Christ on That Day (2 Corinthians 5:9—11)

 

Our Model of Leadership:

As leaders our model is three-fold:

· being an example—a mature follower of Jesus

· inviting people to Jesus, to community, to maturity, and

· providing training &encouragement for those who are committed to DSC

 

What is Community? 

A community is a group of people who are developing relationships for the sake of fulfilling a common purpose. People were created for community, and it’s only in community that one can reach maturity and have joy on THAT Day!

 

The purpose of the community of followers of Jesus is to live life as His mature disciples, fulfilling the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

 

God’s heart is big and He desires that every one come to faith in Jesus, His Son, step into the community of believers and become mature disciples—followers of Jesus. 

 

The Path of “Doing” Life—God’s Way or Culturally

Each person is on a path of ‘doing’ life. Some paths are based on scripture—other paths are based on personal, cultural, or humanistic ideologies about how to know God, do life and live with others.  DSC is about inviting others onto a Pathway of Maturity—based on God’s Word. The next few pages will clarify this Pathway of Maturity at DSC.

 

We Invite You To…

 

...the PERSON: JESUS CHRIST.   BECOMING A CHRISTIAN (Salvation)

For the “not-yet” believers (neighbors, friends).  The responsibility for evangelism is not mainly on the leadership or the Church, but on our people; though the leadership sets the example and sets the stage for opportunities to share the Good News:

 

·   Equipping the saints to share the Good News of the Kingdom: Modeling this in our lives, teaching others how to share our faith in Jesus, showing acts of kindness toward, pray for the lost.

             ·   Providing opportunities for Missionary outreaches (personal and Church) to the unsaved, poor, needy (whether it’s prayer, financial support, short term missions), so that those who don’t understand what it means to know and follow Jesus can know Him. We personally model this first.

             ·   Training and encouragement in an outreach group: Alpha, International Students

 

...His PEOPLE:  JESUS’ COMMUNITY. BECOMING A MEMBER (Connecting)

For those who are MEMBERS & REGULAR ATTENDERS, though the invitation extends to all people as a “door” into Community, Salvation and Discipleship. The focus in our gatherings is not to be “Seeker-Friendly” - but to be a training gathering where our focus is on God—to worship Him, and on encouraging and equipping the saints; caring for the saints, and yet being sensitive to the unbeliever & unchurched.

 

 

· Sunday Service: Refreshed and Equipped for the battle through a focused corporate worship time, prayer, hearing His Word and fellowship

· Home Groups: Connection with others, a sense of family, prayer for one another, sharing His Word together, learning the truths of God’s Word together

· Small Men (LEAD) and Women (Coffee Talk) Groups:

· Personal Care for Members:  from Elders toward the members and regular attenders (marriage support, financial support, crisis situations)

· Connectings:  On common ground places, meeting (especially with new members) over coffee, lunches, or having people over for dinner, doing a task or fun thing  together.

 

...His PURPOSE: JESUS’ CAUSE. BECOMING MATURE FOLLOWERS (Discipleship)

For those who are serious about following Jesus, becoming mature and moving into partnership/leadership; living for reward on THAT DAY—a place with Jesus in His Kingdom to come (Rev. 3:20-22)

 

· Support and Accountability for Personal integrity – LEAD/Coffee Talk groups, Home Groups.  Fully devoted to our Lord, A student of God’s Word, Understanding Identity, listening, dealing with undealt-with-stuff (present & past, sins, fears, double-mindedness, relationship struggles and failures); walking with purity, integrity, contentment.

· Support and Accountability for Relational integrity – Marriage Enrichment (dealing with areas that do not surface in small groups: how to respect, relate, resolve conflicts, move together as a team

· Leadership opportunities, or MATURITY – Membership/Partnership.  A person must be a member before joining a LEAD/Coffee group and moving into any leadership position.  The Partner shares the responsibility for the Vision and Task that God has given to DSC.

 

-     A Partner is in the core small group(s) and is working on personal and relational integrity issues (not ignoring them)

-     A Partner understands and is in agreement with the doctrines and core values we teach at DSC (see back page for Core Values)

-     Partners receive coaching to help them discover their unique calling and to train them to work together as a team.

 

 

          

 

 

 

        

 

 

                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CORE VALUES that make up DSC’s Church Culture:

 

Discipleship (Matt 22:36-40; 28:18-20)               

Safe place (through listening: James 1:19)

Every member a minister (Rom. 12:5,6)          

Teachable (1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18; James. 1:21)

Stewardship (Matt 25:13-30; Luke 16:9-15; 1 Cor. 4:1-5)  

Relationships (Rom. 12:10; Mark 12:30-31)

Eternal perspective (2 Cor. 5:7-11)                  

Evangelistic (His heart for the lost: Matt 9:36-38)

Respect for human life (Prov 31:8,9)             

Approachable (Acts 5:42; 2 Cor. 6:11,12; 1 Thes 2:7,8)

Trust building (Rom. 12:10; 1 Cor. 16:14,15)      

Marriage strengthening (Eph. 5:22-23)

Servant hood (Mark 9:35; 10:42-45)

 

OUR CONVICTION: Part of maturity is being connected with others. We were created by God not to be loners, but to be in community with others— to have a sense of interdependence one with another for support and accountability.  A mature follower does not just walk with the Lord, but walks with the Lord in community— having the support and accountability of others as they walk on this pathway to maturity—getting ready to stand before Jesus on THAT Day.

 

ON BECOMING MATURE: Mature people leave behind that childish unbalanced independence (based on fear, pride, selfishness and a “spirit of entitlement”) and learn to become inter-dependent. A degree of independence is healthy for a person, BUT without a healthy sense of inter-dependence, we develop an independence far beyond God’s design or intent.  How do we know when this is happening?  When we don’t have that sincere sense of inter-dependence with others, when we isolate, don’t tell the truth to ourselves and others or when we think we “have it all together.”  The biggest and most needed step toward maturity is to willingly commit to regular accountability, receiving support of others and giving it, being challenged and being honest with struggles and growth areas. A mature person will not be afraid to get close and know others as well as be known by others.  Home Groups and LEAD/Coffee Talk groups are for those who want to go on to maturity in their walk with the Lord.

 

Immaturity keeps us from committing and connecting with others.  An immature person will either completely isolate or disconnect from the body (one local church) or they will hop around seeking pieces of ‘truth’ from one place or another—never fully coming to understand who they are, who God is, what their purpose is, and what That Day is truly all about.  Immature people practice hiding their fears, secret sins and polishing their idols.  Mature Christians not only fully depend on God (dependence), they take responsibility for their lives (independence) and connect in community with others (inter-dependence).  Our congregation is a discipleship training center for people who want to grow into mature followers of Jesus Christ.

who we are, what we do and why we do it