This weekend we’re beginning a new 4-part series called “The Elephant in the Church.” My hope is this series will help us build bridges with our LGBTQ friends. Far more than abstract questions about how to relate to some group “out there,” we are talking about neighbors, co-workers, close friends and family members who identify as LGBTQ—each a precious and unique individual with her/his unique story, each a person Jesus loves and died for.

All generalities are dangerous, but one that is true is that the majority of people who identify as LGBTQ also identify as Christian—at least in their heritage. Yet most leave the church! Why? Our culture’s spotlight on LGBTQ issues gives us a tremendous opportunity to model Jesus. For the truth is, one question stands behind every other question: How do we faithfully live and love like Jesus, who is the fullness of “grace and truth”? Grace and truth, equally—and (thankfully for us) always in that order.

So together let’s construct a framework for dialogue on how to be a community we all want to run to—not from—in our struggles.

We continue our series on Grace this week (if you missed church last weekend, you can catch up on our web site). John Stott rightly observes, “The Gospel is good news of mercy to the undeserving. The symbol of the religion of Jesus is the cross, not the scales.” Many Christians have an easier time being saved by grace than they do living in grace and thereby extending grace to others. However, God’s grace is at the core of the kind of life He calls us to live, and it mirrors the heart of the One who calls. Once we encounter true and authentic grace, we allow the enduring, powerful, life-giving work of God to continue unhindered in our lives—and rediscover that God’s grace is not only amazing, but abundant. Join us this weekend as we study one of the parables Jesus taught to show us how God’s grace is not only outrageous, unmerited, and marvelous, but also life-affirming and sufficient for anyone who is willing to turn to Him.

What is grace? It is a word we use a lot, but for many of us, grace remains a vague concept, disconnected from our daily lives. But a true knowledge and experience of grace offered to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ can free us from the tyranny of a performance-based faith, it can open our eyes to the reality of God’s power at work in and through us, and it can rewire our understanding of who all can be part of the grace-dispensing community of Christ. God doesn’t offer us wimpy grace, but a sort of wild grace that stuns us, shapes us, encourages us, strengthens us, and grips us by our very souls. It is like a rushing stream that offers both a cool drink and a wild ride at the same time. Join us over the next two weekends with ready hearts and minds to encounter authentic grace!

Whose shoulders do you stand on today? What male influence is in your life right now that you can thank for steady support, wisdom, encouragement and sometimes correction? Bring them to DRCC this Father’s Day weekend where they will be honored and encouraged. You won’t want to miss it!

Click the link below to watch the video of Derek Redmond mentioned in the message.

Last weekend, we launched our series The Pursuit of Happiness and looked at the true and only source of lasting joy (if you missed it, you can catch up on our app or web site). But we are not meant to be just passive recipients of lasting joy. It manifests itself in certain lifestyle changes and behaviors that result in a life of deep meaning. Join us this weekend as we explore the topic of happiness and look at the four ingredients that go into making the secret sauce of lasting happiness!

Check out the video that Rajendra mentioned in his message with the link below.

One of the most famous lines from the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Everyone wants to live a happy life, but what does happiness exactly mean? What does happiness look like? How can we pursue it? And if we find it, is it possible to hold on to it? The Bible has some surprising insights on living a life that is overflowing from the inside out. In this two-part series we look at what true and lasting happiness really is and how each of us has been given an invitation to live a life we won’t regret.

The Day of the LORD! “On that day,” for every redeemed person in Christ, and for every square inch of His once “teeming with life” creation, God will do exactly what He did for Jesus at His resurrection on that first Easter morning. The resurrected Jesus is our model of the new, powerful, eternal and fully united to heaven and earth life that we wait for—when “the time comes for God to restore everything, as He promised…” Acts 3:21 The last, great promise of God in the Bible is: “Behold, I am making all things new!” (Revelation 21:5)—not: I am making all new things. God has never intimated that His goal is to change us from embodied humans called to reign on earth (Rev 5:9-10) to cloud-hugging spirits. Join me this weekend as we wrap up our series on the plan of God for all creation captured in Jesus’ declaration that His return will bring “the renewal of all things” (Matthew 19:28).

***The video that was shown by Pastor Richard in this message was created by The Bible Project. If you want to see more of their videos or learn more about them click the link below.***

End of time and post-apocalyptic films have been a dominate factor in the movie industry for two decades—and they are increasing. The books are legion which claim to predict in a complex series of events the way human history on this side of eternity ends. To date, their cumulative batting average is .000. People are confused: rapture, tribulation, multiple judgments, temple rebuilt, antichrist reign, Armageddon… So, as we continue our series highlighting the Biblical promise of “The Renewal of All Things,” let’s focus in on just what the Bible says clearly and over 300 times about the Day human history culminates in God’s new beginning. It all comes down to one Day, just one: the Day of the LORD. Together, using a front-to-back Biblical collection of statements, we will explore what God, Jesus, prophets and apostles say will happen “on that Day.”

At times life feels topsy-turvy, confusing, misguided; in desperate need of rescue and solid go-to Mom advice!

In Jeremiah 29:12-14 the Lord says, “Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”

Our first instincts can often fall captive to our natural instincts. Worry, insecurity, frustration and doubt often saturate these spaces of our heart to the point of feeling lost and abandoned. However, God offers us a new way to live; a place where God’s reality meets our limited perspective of known and unknown variables. A life FOUND in HIM!

This Mother’s Day join us for a fresh perspective on living in FOUNDNESS!