2012 Theme
The elders met last year seeking the Lord's direction in the life of His church at DCCC for 2012 and we all agreed that the theme would be about the believer's enduring faith in Christ. The subject of trials is a natural starting point for the simple reason that everyone in the world encounters them. Because we are sinful beings who live in a fallen world, we experience trouble on a regular basis whether we are Christians or not. Even when we succeed in getting our own little worlds under control, something inevitably messes them up. We do everything we can to attain peace and comfort by protecting ourselves from trouble, but trouble arises nonetheless. Marriage was designed as a source of fulfillment and happiness, yet 1 Corinthians 7:28 says those who are married “shall have trouble in the flesh.” There is going to be trouble even in the best of what God gives to us because of the sin principle that is active in the world.Jesus Himself experienced trouble and warned His disciples to expect tribulation in the world (John 16:33). John 11:33, 12:27, and 13:21 record Jesus’ troubled responses to the devastating effects of sin.
Paul said he was “troubled on every side” (2 Cor. 4:8). So it is reasonable to expect trouble in our lives as well. We experience it in our families, from our friends, on our jobs, at school, and with our nation. It comes in the form of criticism, persecution, illness, death of loved ones, personality conflicts, or inflation. Trouble is a way of life, so don’t think you’re alone if you’re experiencing it.
We can only stand in His grace and trust His sovereign work of purifying His church.
The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ
The elders decided last year to form fellowship groups for our weekly prayer meetings, and to fill the study section, they adopted the recent book of Dr. MacArthur titled "slave." Here's an excerpt from chapter 1: "Scottish pastor Alexander Maclaren, a contemporary of Spurgeon, echoed these same truths:"The true position, then, for a man is to be God's slave…. Absolute submission, unconditional obedience, on the slave's part; and on the part of the Master complete ownership, the right of life and death, the right of disposing of all goods and chattels, … the right of issuing commandments without a reason, the right to expect that those commandments shall be swiftly, unhesitatingly, punctiliously, and completely performed-these things inhere in our relation to God. Blessed [is] the man who has learned that they do, and has accepted them as his highest glory and the security of his most blessed life! For, brethren, such submission, absolute and unconditional, the blending and the absorption of my own will in His will, is the secret of all that makes manhood glorious and great and happy.... [I]n the New Testament these names of slave and owner are transferred to Christians and Jesus Christ."
Who has the words of life?
Heard of a gospel that doesn't save? That's not really good news right? Every so often a pastor preaches that all one needs to do is to believe God and everything will be fine. Then he goes on telling the story of his travels abroad, how God has blessed him and his family for a Hongkong trip a church member gave them. At the end of the less then 30 minutes of so-called preaching, he concludes as if to present the gospel, "That's the blessing of believing in God. Now accept Jesus and you will be saved." Where is the real Jesus in this message? and from what danger am I being saved from? Who is This Jesus? is a gospel tract provided by Grace Community Church that clearly presents the Savior and His gospel that saves, while confronting false presumptions of salvation.