Discipleship, Marriage, Uncategorized | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Our church is predominantly single, which makes sense given that singles are the primary demographic in our context. Given the lack of godly, Jesus-loving, potential spouses, a common issue among Christian singles is, “Should I just date a non-Christian?” This has become an increasingly common issue within Downtown Cornerstone, so I thought I’d take a brief opportunity to address this practical issue and open it up for discussion. Just so you know, I’m not writing this about a single incident or individual but a general trend.

Dating

The Bible doesn’t talk about “dating” because “dating” as we know it is a fairly recent phenomena. In ancient times into the 19th century, marriages were ordinarily arranged – typically for social and financial motives. (Note: There are perks to living in 2012!)

That transitioned into courting, sometimes referred to as “calling”, that was typically done in the context of family and community, overseen by the parents.

Then, somewhere in the early 1900’s dating came onto the seen, which removed the entire process from the context of the family and made it about the individual with a new emphasis on entertainment and “just having fun” – away from the idea of marriage as the primary goal.

Today, we live in a hook-up culture where marriage is only seen as one of many potential results of dating; definitely not the primary goal and often the last. Clearly, a significant shift has taken place.

So, the first thing that must be highlighted is that all Christian dating or courting or “dorting” should have marriage as the primary goal. This doesn’t mean you can’t sit down, have a cup of coffee and a conversation. But, it does mean that both folks involved know the ultimate goal. This is counter-cultural, but it is biblical. Just think of all the emotional, psychological, and physical destruction that would be avoided if this were the rule and not the exception.

Non-Christians

Additionally, the Bible does assume that followers of Jesus will marry other followers of Jesus. For example, in 2 Cor 6 Paul says do not be “unequally yoked with unbelievers…” Similarly, in 1 Cor 7:39, Paul says, “A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.” There are also continual warnings throughout the Old Testament to the Jewish people to not marry non-Jews (cf Numbers 12). The concern at hand is not interracial marriage, which the Bible does not prohibit, but rather inter-faith marriage. Lastly, Ephesians 5 tells us that the purpose of marriage is to point to the relationship of Jesus and the church, which is impossible to fully realize in a “mixed” marriage.

Objections

So, why would the Bible place these types of prohibitions on marriage? Is the Bible just being narrow? Are these just fundamentalistic interpretations? No. In fact, they are very practical. If you’re a follower of Jesus and your partner is not there are two inevitable results. I’ve seen both of these play out over and over again. On the one hand, if you keep Jesus central to your life, your non-believing partner will need to remain on the periphery of your life – which will inevitably lead to conflict, distance and aggravation. On the other hand, if your non-believing partner is central, then Jesus will need to move to the periphery of your life (this is far more common) – that of course, is spiritually soul-shrinking.

Often people will say, “Oh, he/she doesn’t mind that I follow Jesus…” But, what that really means is that that person doesn’t really understand the most important thing about you and about your life. If she/he doesn’t understand your faith, ultimately she/he doesn’t understand you. Often then, people will just put Jesus on the periphery to keep the peace, while elevating the more superficial aspects of the relationship (e.g. “But she loves canoeing!”)

So, don’t misunderstand. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a decent marriage or that you’re no longer a Christian should you be in a relationship with an unbeliever. But it does mean you can’t talk about God together, what you’re learning in the Scriptures, conviction of sin, application of the gospel of grace, pray together, have a ministry to your neighbors, raise up your kids in the faith, share the same eternal hope, etc – in other words, share the most important things in life together. God will, by necessity, get pushed out of your life. If you end up in a marriage like that, you’re stuck without a supernatural intervention by Jesus.

Last Note

In saying all that, it is important to keep in mind that you’re not just looking for someone to “pray a prayer” or “sign the dotted line” so that you can start/continue a relationship with them. I have an unbelieving friend who “became” Mormon to marry a girl and another who “became” Catholic to marry another. It is known to happen. You’re not just looking for a checkmark, you’re looking for character and a life that has been gripped by the King. You don’t want to just marry a church boy/girl – you want to marry a godly man/woman.

Don’t misunderstand me here. You’re not looking for a saint, but you are looking for someone with a hungry heart for Jesus. If that’s present, Jesus will take care of the rest. Clearly we’re all at various stages of maturity, faith, etc but what’s common in every stage is a hungry, humble heart for Jesus. Don’t look for perfection, you may have to embrace the gift of singleness for lifetime in that case, but do look for someone who you can foresee becoming your best friend, centered around the person and work of Jesus.

And, I have to add this, instead of griping about the lack of such people, focus on becoming one, and we’ll have an ample supply in short order. Amen? Amen. Yes, it requires patience. Yes, it requires prayer. Yes, it probably involves more awkward conversations with your parents, “So, when are you going to find that special someone…” So, yes its hard, but the alternative is much much much harder.

Community, News | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

CAMPOUT LEAVENWORTH

June 8-10 | Sign Up Today

In just a couple weeks we will be heading to the woods of the north Cascades – actually just a couple miles outside of Leavenworth for those with an allergic reaction to all things rustic. The KOA campground has released our previously reserved camp sites, which means they are now open to the general public. That also means, it’s not too late to sign up! All you need is to call in and reserve a campsite or join a group that is in process of organizing.

Why a campout?

#1 Community.
We’re a newly forming Jesus-people which means many of us are new to one another and to Jesus. Focused time away can go far in forging relationships, breathing unity and giving space to think outside the unceasing movement of the city.

#2 Mission.
Many, if not all, of us have friends, family, neighbors, coworkers that would never set foot in a Sunday gathering but would be willing to join us on a trek into the great outdoors. Opportunities like this are perfect bridges for building relationships and creating space for meaningful conversations about Jesus and his gospel. It’s not a bait-and-switch. Friends won’t find freaky Jesus tracts under their pillows when they wake up in the morning, but they might just become friends with people just like them who need a Savior just as much as them. Who will you invite?

#3 Worship.
Something powerful happens in the soul when out in nature. In addition to the above, this weekend is also intended to serve as a retreat, of sorts, to recharge, reconnect, and just get away. Some of you do that best alone; some of you do that best with others. How you spend your time there is up to you. The itinerary is very open and whether you come with a group or not, I encourage you to grab some time alone at some point.

What if I…

“…have other plans.”
Consider canceling them. Seriously. This is our inagural campout. Don’t you want to tell your kids that you were at the inaugural DCC Campout. Ok. Maybe not. But, you don’t want to miss this. We all have summer plans. We are all busy. We all have conflicts. Change your plans. Consider it a step of faith, a sacrifice to God, to give up doing something else you may even want to do more – then watch Him work. You won’t regret it.

“…don’t have the finances.”
Talk to me or your community lead and we’ll make sure you get taken care of.

“…don’t know how to camp, don’t have camping gear, don’t have anyone to camp with, or am scared of spiders.”
Humans have lived the majority of our existence camping. You’ll be fine. Plus, we have some pro’s that will gladly help you out. Brandy (Campout point person) will help you get set up with fellow campers, gear and may even be able to cure your arachnophobia.

“…haven’t signed up yet. Sounds like it is too late.”
Not to late! We just had to release those sites that were reserved. You can still call in and snag one. Do it today.

“…have to be back on Sunday.”
Perfect. There are a good number of us that will be leaving Saturday, later in the afternoon, in order to be back for Sunday. I will be preaching @ AMC on 6/10 and Deacon David Parker will be leading a informal devotion for those that choose to stay in Leavenworth. As always, if you want to track with our series in Acts, you can catch the recorded audio via the DCC podcast.

“…just don’t want to go.”
I understand that. We’ll be bringing our three kids for a one night stay. Do you know how much work it is to prepare three kids for a one night stay? It’s like preparing for battle against a small nation. It’s a lot of work. Sometimes – no, most times – in life we need to do what we need to do, not only what we feel like doing. Do you know what happens when you do that? You actually want to do the very thing you previously did not want to do. Good things are in store and I don’t want you to miss out.

Community, City Life, Photos

News

Last week we were informed that the Union Gospel Mission (UGM) is moving its monthly graduation to the last Thursday of each month starting this month (May 31st). This, unfortunately, conflicts with our monthly prayer nights. So, given our strong relationship with UGM and many men walking through their discipleship program we’re going to change our monthly prayer night to the last Tuesday of every month, starting this month (May 29th).

These changes will allow us to continue our important monthly prayer gathering rhythm, while still allowing us to celebrate and participate in the monthly UGM graduations.

To learn more about our Monthly Prayer Night, go here or email .

Community, City Life, News | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Now that we’ve moved gathering spaces to make room for growth, celebrated our first birthday as a newly forming church, remembered Good Friday/Easter, and held our largest gathering ever on 4/15, what’s next? It has been a great season together, hasn’t it? Many of you, particularly our deacons, community leads, and ministry volunteers, are well deserving of a break to refresh and recoup. If you can, take some time to do just that. Thank you for your selfless service to this fledgling flock of Jesus-followers in the city. He has only just begun his work in, among and through us. You might be asking, “What’s next?” Glad you asked.
Here’s a snapshot:

Spring/Summer

Summer is near and that means every Seattleite comes out of their cave to enjoy our beautiful city under the sun. We want to leverage this summer to develop our communities, engage our not-yet-believing neighbors and enjoy our city. While many churches experience a decline during the summer, we grew last summer. So, we don’t know what to expect. We’re currently working on plans to serve our city, enjoy some good ‘ol fashioned barbecue lakeside, get out of the city for an all-church campout, and celebrate our next round of baptisms at Myrtle Edwards. Email us at or reply below if you’d like to help. It is going to be a great summer.

Sacrificing & Serving

Now that we have our first year down and our new gathering space secured, it can be easy to feel that we’ve “arrived”. The truth is, in one way or another, we will always be planting this church. You need to know that we’re in a critical season. 80% of church plants fail within the first three years and 65% fail within the first seven. Seattle – not to mention urban Seattle – is very hard ground. The odds are against us, but Jesus is for us and that means we win. What does that mean for you? It means that we all should have a posture of sacrifice and service for the good of one another and the good of this city, just as Jesus has for us. We need everyone to be sacrificing time, treasure and talents. We’re a family and, like any family, we need all hands on deck. Our resources are few, our needs are great, but He is sufficient. Let’s ask him for even more fruit in this next season. Again, thank you to all who this is already true of.

Living Everyday (this Spring/Summer) with Gospel Intentionality

To be a follower of Jesus means to know and grow in relationship with him. God has given us particular means of grace to serve as gasoline on the fires of faith in our soul; such as Bible reading, relational prayer, memorization and meditation, fasting, community, serving, and more. These don’t earn favor with God, but they help us to more deeply experience the favor we already possess by nature of our relationship with him, in Christ. As we go into this new season, it may be helpful to reevaluate your current practice of the means of grace. What needs to change? What should you stop doing? What should you start doing? What did you set out to do on January 1st that you need to revisit? Additionally, whether you’re a reader or not, I encourage everyone to always have at least one book that they’re working on that was written to facilitate a deeper knowledge and understanding of Jesus, the gospel and the cross. Check out our recommended reading list here.

New Sermon Series

We’ll be wrapping up our 10 month study of the book of Acts in early July. We’ve taken ample time in Acts in order to examine how the early Christian church was formed and managed to spread the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. The parallels to our season of life are clear. I hope you’re getting as much out of it as I have. We’re not done yet! Following Acts, we’ll walk through an eight week series that will serve as the content for our new membership process. (more below) We will then start a brand new series in the fall, which I’m still working on.

Membership

The Bible refers to the church, among many other things, as members of the family of God and members of the body of Christ. In other words, to be in Christ is to be deeply, vitally, organically connected to the bride of Christ, the church (i.e. people). Historically and traditionally that relationship has been described as membership. This is vastly different than a AAA or Costco membership. We align ourselves with AAA or Costco in order to receive. But, we align ourselves with a local church in order to give. To be a member is to indicate that we belong to this particular local expression of Jesus’ people and all that carries with it. All that said, our hope is to have our first round of a membership process in place by the end of the summer. More details to follow.

Clearly, there is a lot happening and much to thank Jesus for. He has been exceedingly gracious and generous to us. Please do keep all of this in your prayers. There is much work to be done, sun to be enjoyed and life to be lived this summer. I look forward to sharing it with you and watching Jesus do his work of saving and sanctifying. Thanks for allowing me to be your pastor. It is a privilege for which I thank Jesus daily. Let’s ask Him to do what only He can this summer.