Ethnic Harmony, Global Issues, News | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Our family just returned from vacation this past weekend. As we did, we watched the horrific scene in Charlottesville, Virginia unfold on Saturday. Many of you saw it. A group of so-called “white nationalists” held a protest that, in turn, spawned a counter-protest. The result? Three dead, at least 34 wounded, and a nation vividly reminded that racial issues remain unresolved in our country. Unfortunately, as we all know, this is not a stand-alone event. 

As Christians, we need to be emphatically clear that all forms of racism, personal or institutional, are radically evil. The essence of racism is discriminating against others based on their race. This discrimination is fueled by a wrongly-held belief in the superiority or inferiority of one race over against another. We need to be clear, however, that this belief is not merely wrong, it’s evil. Racism is sin. 

This is not primarily a political issue. This is primarily a God issue. The Bible reveals that every single human being—young and old, rich and poor, born and unborn, black and white—is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Therefore, every single human is equally worthy of dignity, value, and respect as an image-bearer of God. 

The Apostle Paul said, “[God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). The beautiful, diverse, multi-hued tapestry of humanity is God’s idea. Racial distinctiveness is meant to showcase God’s immeasurable creativity and boundless originality. 

Further, we shouldn’t miss that Jesus came as a middle-eastern man. God-incarnate was brown. When He returns again, His redeemed people will be comprised of a countless multitude, “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rev. 7:9). In a word, God’s saving purposes in the world, in Jesus, are multi-ethnic. 

In light of all this, the racist ideology of groups such as the KKK, “Alt-right”, “white nationalists”, or others like them, is not merely a matter of poor politics nor bigoted ignorance, but of radical moral evil. Racism is fueled by a heart that has separated the gift of race from the Giver of race and distorted it for its own selfish purposes—and Satan couldn’t be more delighted.

Friends, let’s humbly submit ourselves to God when we see events like this unfold before us. We know that politics, blogs, and social-shaming can’t ultimately change the human heart. We know that racial utopia is not possible in this life. We’re not naive. But, neither are we paralyzed. The world is in search of answers; we know who He is. 

We are in this city to know Jesus and to make Him known. So, let’s ask Jesus to search our hearts and dismantle any residue of racism within. Let’s build meaningful relationships with others who are different from us. Let’s engage in the discussion with wisdom, tenderness, and courage. Let’s passionately share the heart-changing, racism-crushing, all-satisfying good news of Jesus with all who will hear. Together, let’s be a visible, albeit imperfect, local expression of Jesus’ redeemed multi-ethnic people to a divided world in desperate need of help. 

Christ is all, 
Pastor Adam

City Life, Event, Serve the City, Service, Video | by Micah Rickard

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” – John 17:3

Jesus begins his prayer for his disciples and all believers, recorded in John 17, with this brief and beautiful statement on what it means to be in Christ. Later in this prayer, Jesus prays, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (v. 22-23). The reality that we are in Christ brings a transformational unity with each other, and God uses this unity to display his glory to the world, that others may know him and have eternal life. Paul highlights this when he refers to believers as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

It is out of these deep truths that we are committed to building a great city, not just a great church. It’s why our desire as a church is to see gospel renewal take place from the avenues to the alleyways. We have been infinitely served and loved by Christ, and out of the joy and gratitude that brings, we get to serve together as God’s people to display his glory in our city!

Last month, on July 15th, Downtown Cornerstone had the opportunity to partner with Gatewood Elementary School in West Seattle to help out with a variety of grounds work projects, including repainting US and World maps, repainting foursquare and tetherball courts, turning up ground and laying down mulch to outline a new track, removing massive amounts of ivy from fences, weeding along edges and fence lines, and more!

One woman and her family walked past the school, witnessed our efforts, and were moved to tears to see us “carrying out Jesus’ mission to serve others.” She mailed a thank you note sharing her appreciation saying, “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for living the true Spirit of love and community. I will never forget your collective and individual kindness.” Her son will attend kindergarten at Gatewood Elementary this fall!

It’s stories like this that remind us we really are the hands and feet of Christ, sharing the love He’s given us with those in our community. With over 200 volunteers (plus kids!) serving a total of 800+ hours we accomplished an incredible amount of service and support for the students and staff at Gatewood! If the Department of Neighborhood approves the grant Gatewood’s Parent-Teacher Association submitted, they’ll receive an equal amount of paid hours toward additional improvements. What an incredible gift!

Thank you to all who came out to help!

– Deacon Micah Rickard

Baptism, Discipleship, Stories of Grace | by Laura West

“The Stories of Grace series is intended to capture snapshots of God’s grace and glory amidst our every day lives. They are real stories of real people who have seen the fingerprints of God amidst the ordinary—God’s favorite canvas. Each story is personal, unique and, often, unfinished. Through it all we get glimpses of God’s steadfast love, sufficient grace, and ongoing presence with his people.” 

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Last Sunday I walked down to Myrtle Edwards Park, dipped my toes into the Sound, and reflected on dramatic marks of God’s grace in my life. 

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I grew up in a small, southern town where churches outnumbered grocery stores; where faith was assumed, yet the implications of a life marked by faith were murky. At best, I understood God to be some cross between a genie and a judge. I wanted a protected life, so over and over I asked for faith but never felt the blanket of warmth I imagined must signify security with God. Eventually I rejected the God who I felt had rejected me. 

As an adult, I was successful by all the world’s standards. I had done well in school, had multiple jobs with serious career potential, spent my money wisely, surrounded myself with friends, and looked happy. But the truth was that my life was filled with sin and desperation as I pieced together my identity with whatever others would give me. I decided that I needed to escape, to reinvent myself and start over. 

Completely out of my cautious character, I booked a spontaneous vacation to Seattle. Looking back, this was the first sign of God actively and physically pulling me to Him.  That week, I fell in love with this city and the promise of a new life.  

I imagined that my life in Seattle would be anything I wanted to create it to be. I didn’t imagine that my old scars would be so hard to hide. That the same haunting feeling of discontent could return so quickly. 

But God.

God had other plans for my reinvention. Against all odds, He drew me to a church where again I was confronted with a bitter desire for faith. I wanted to believe, but there were too many unanswered questions. Again and again, He stripped away my meager attempts at self-reinvention and slowly but surely did His great work in me. Jesus so sweetly rescued me, patiently pulling me along while I looked everywhere but at Him.  

I was drawn to Seattle with the promise of a new life – I had no idea that the promise that drew me here was one of eternal life. That my reinvention would be more than a new job in a new city, but a new identity as a daughter of the King.

Sunday marks six years since I walked into the cold, salty water of the Sound, declared my new identity in Christ, and was baptized looking at this city that I love so dearly. Every time I gaze out over those waters, I remember my own unlikely story of redemption and the incredible stories of so many others who have returned, shivering and alive, to that pebbly shore. 

Like me, they had moments of self-reflection and found themselves lacking. Like me, they saw dissatisfaction rippling through their lives. We all need reinvention beyond a new job, a new city, new clothes, or new hobbies. We need more than another attempt at escape. We need God to intervene and rescue us from our failed fresh starts – we need new life in Him. We need Jesus to make us new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

On August 24th, I’d encourage you to join us at Myrtle Edwards Park to celebrate the beauty of summer and, Lord-willing, in the glory of the gospel in baptisms. I’ll be there chowing on hot dogs, enjoying the company of friends, and smiling into the sparkling waters of the Sound.

To God be the glory!  

Laura West, DCC Member

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If you are a member with DCC and have a story of grace to share please email . 

Community, Discipleship, Uncategorized | by Pastor Craig Sturm

Downtown Cornerstone is a community of communities scattered throughout the city, declaring and displaying the gospel of Jesus Christ in relationship to each other and the city. These are communities of diverse, imperfect people that are committed to living out the implications of the gospel in every sphere of life.

These are communities that eat together, pray together, laugh together, and study the Bible together – in essence, share life. These are communities that build up the church by encouraging people to faith in Jesus Christ and build up the city through deeds of justice and mercy. These are communities where you can be who God created you to be, yourself.

This month, we launched a new community in Green Lake! Taylor Hawkins will be leading the new community, so we asked him to answer a few questions about the people, vision, and prayer requests for the Green Lake neighborhood and community.

Q. What is your vision for the Green Lake community?

We want to cultivate a culture transparency, a culture that allows you to come and be real. (1 John 1:7) As we grow in our love for Jesus and one another, we want to be on mission together as well. Our desire is to be active in the community of Seattle (parties, parks, concerts, bars, restaurants, etc.) and create social gatherings that are easy to invite non believers to. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Q. What are you excited about in launching this new community?

We’re excited about creating our own community culture that seeks to build up one another in our faith and be on mission together in the city of Seattle. Our desire is to make much of Jesus in our lives and see others come to know him.

Q. Who will be a part of the Green Lake community?

Our core group is currently comprised of young professionals. Though much of our community is in a similar life stage, we’re open to any Seattleites that want to partner with us in their walk with Jesus.

Q. Any specific ways we can be praying?

Pray that God would show up and do what he does best, transform lives and bring about redemption. We’d like to grow in our personal walks with Jesus and see him open up opportunities for us to be a light to those walking in darkness.  

If you are not currently participating with a DCC Community and would like to be involved with Green Lake or another community, email .

City Life, Stories of Grace

“The Stories of Grace series is intended to capture snapshots of God’s grace and glory amidst our every day lives. They are real stories of real people who have seen the fingerprints of God amidst the ordinary—God’s favorite canvas. Each story is personal, unique and, often, unfinished. Through it all we get glimpses of God’s steadfast love, sufficient grace, and ongoing presence with his people.” 

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Like so many who live in Seattle, our stay here will not be permanent. I’m relocating my family back to California after living in the Emerald City for four years. This decision has been years in the making, and it is one that I have had to approach with prayer and careful consideration.

For whatever reason, our lives are marked by constant travel and transition. When Sarah (my wife) and I first met, she lived outside Chicago and I lived in southern California. She traveled the country for work and stayed in one place from just a few weeks to a few months before moving on. I was a young attorney working way too many hours each day. We dated long-distance and flew to meet in various places until we got married in California a year later. After only a few months I transitioned to my company’s new office across the country in Washington D.C. And then, only two years later, we moved back across the country to Seattle. Throughout these first six years of marriage, we’ve both traveled an average of 100,000 domestic air miles annually.

In Washington D.C. we became members of a remarkable church called Redeemer Church of Arlington. Even though we both came from lifelong faith backgrounds, it was the first time we joined a body of believers where passionate and theologically rigorous teaching was the main focus. In addition, meeting with small groups of believers in our neighborhood was a church priority and we jumped right in.  With this church Sarah took a public step of faith through baptism because she found a new understanding of scripture and a reorientation of her faith. We made lifelong friends who challenged us to work constantly on our theology and to live ordinary life with gospel intentionality.

When we landed in Seattle in 2013, I already had a short list of church bodies to check out, but nonetheless I was concerned about where we would land. Having come from such a life-changing body of believers in Washington D.C,. we were understandably nervous about finding another church body strong enough for us to continue strengthening our understanding of Scripture, and that would guide us in intentionally living life through robust faith in Jesus.

Downtown Cornerstone Church was the second stop we made, and it immediately felt like home even though it met in an AMC movie theatre downtown. The theologically rigorous teaching and passion for Jesus Christ even stepped up a notch from our past experiences. We eventually became members of the church and learned an incredible amount through the teaching of the pastors and the focused commitment to mentorship and creating solid disciples of Christ. In fact, we actually completed the membership process around the time we started discussing whether we needed to move back to California.

I’m sure you are wondering why this life story matters, and why this guy is so long-winded. The point of all of this is that we learned the importance of being present, wherever the Lord has us. Both Seattle and Washington DC are transitory places by nature, where you can expect to be for a handful of years before moving along. When you know life will likely take you elsewhere, there is a strong temptation to limit involvement in your local body of believers and keep people from getting close. We like to use the excuse that we are saving people’s emotions or making sure not to use up limited church resources, or whatever. Taking that track will rob you, and rob others, of remarkable things that the Lord will do. We recognized that it is imperative to be where you are, when you are there.

Life does not start at some point in the future; life is what you are living right now. Don’t use the excuse that you’ll commit to a place once you get married, or have children, or buy a condo, or reach a certain point of financial or career stability. Commit now to the place where the Lord has you living and dive right in. I remember several moments where we made specific decisions to be present and not keep the church at arm’s length even though another move was imminent, and that decision yielded unfathomable results. We made genuine and deep Christian friendships in both Washington D.C. and Seattle, participated in church leadership and mentoring (on both sides), contributed to the start of brand-new community groups, learned the depths of Scripture at a new and exciting level, experienced true discipleship through rigorous education programs and cohorts of believers, and truly became Christians that we think non-believers like and respect. Had we taken a seat in the back row at the church gathering and bided our time, we would have regressed instead of enjoying the riches of God’s kingdom. All of this is remarkable evidence of the Lord’s grace in continuing to mold us in His image regardless of the ways we try and limit His ability to work.

Be present where you are when you are there, dig into the people God has placed around you, and allow the Lord to work. Don’t hold back waiting for some unknown future time to join in, because you will choke out the things He has in store.

There is always some trepidation at moving to another city when you have advanced in your faith. Not all bodies of believers have the same vibe, and not all teaching is as rigorous or intentional as others. Yet God, in His wisdom, created and provided church families for us to connect with and belong to in meaningful and substantial ways even during transitory periods. What’s holding you back from digging in and trusting all that He has for you where you are right now?

Growing in Christ,

Jonathan Lamb, DCC Member

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If you are a member with DCC and have a story of grace to share please email .