Hello DBC Family,
I wanted to send an email out for the whole congregation so that we can all worship together, whether it is in person or in our homes. We will be meeting at the Chapel for worship at 10:30 for those that want to worship in person. If you would like to come and worship, but would prefer distance, I was able to get the FM transmitter to work and it will be set at 105.3 so that you can listen from your car. If you do this, we would be glad to bring Communion elements out to you so you can partake with us. For those that are at home, I have uploaded a Communion message from Jared, a lesson from Mr. Chuck, and a message from me. These are on Vimeo, our website and also RightNow Media (and there is an extra good video for the kid from Theo).
The awesome thing about our God is that we can worship Him wherever we are! 
Ivan

Order of Service at the Chapel:
Welcome and Prayer
Song: Better Is One Day

Song: In Christ Alone

Communion
Song: We've Come to Glorify 
Song: This Is the Day 
Song: Here I Am to Worship 

Message: Citizens of on High
Song: Great is Thy Faithfulness 

​DBC Church Family,

One of my children struggles with perseverance. If they can not grasp, accomplish, master something quickly then they get frustrated and want to quit. It does not matter if it is a concept in school, a choir, a project. It is hard to reinforce or instill in them the importance of striving for, working for, struggling with something until it is accomplished. I remember in high school when I was taking Geometry and we got to learning proofs. I did not do well. It was not because I did not get the right answer, but that I would not show all my work. Well as you can imagine I got graded down. It was hard for me to understand that it was not about the right answer, but the processes that I went through to get the answer. Well, now you know where my child gets it from! Many times I feel that we as Christians, myself included are the same way. I want to have that deep relationship, I want that prayer answered, but yet we do not take the time to struggle through the process. We want to jump to the end, but we forget that the most important part is the process or the journey. Just recently Ivan talked about the leap of Faith. We all want faith that can move mountains, but faith is built or grown. The best explanation that I have heard is that faith is a muscle and you have to exercise it to make it stronger. Sometimes that is a big jump other times it is a series of small jumps to warm up for the big jump. It is persevering through, and asking God to help us understand why the process is important. The process is not always rational or logical. Sometimes it is trusting God to do what you cannot do. Other times is understanding that God has the end goal in sight and we have to do what seems counterintuitive because that is what He is saying to do. Sometimes He says jump and we do not know how far or how high, but it is our willingness and obedience that He wants.

No matter the struggle, trial, process or the goal we can exercise our faith by persevering and trusting God. And through that God will move mountains in our lives. 

Jared

​Hello DBC family,

Last Sunday my message was on what the most important part of worship is. Sometimes we think that it is about our needs, wants and desires. It becomes more about “I don’t want to do that," or "I don’t want to sing that," or "I want that.” But the truth is that God is the one we worship and what we feel isn’t the most important. I know that we believe this fact in our heads. We say "all glory to God." But sometimes our hearts and feelings get in the way. Let me pose a few questions: if some Christians met together in Iran or China, but had to do it in secret and only through whispers, would that still be worship to God? If an elderly woman was bed-bound and blind for 7 years and could not get to a worship service in a church building, would she still be able to worship even if it was just by herself? Many times we get our own desires tangled up as most important and miss the One Who is most important in our worship. 

You may wonder why I am summarizing my message from Sunday. There is a reason. I know that you have already read our email about opening the Chapel up this Sunday, May 31st. When we put forth the survey, about 40% of the congregation felt that they would be uncomfortable to either return without safety measures in place or return without seeing how the State does after a few weeks of being “open.” As elders, we had to take their needs into consideration, as well as the needs of the 60% who will meet regardless. Any decision that we make will be met with opinions on all sides of the spectrum, but we have sought God’s guidance and have moved forward with opening the church with safety provisions. You may feel this might be a permanent change, but please rest assured that this is something that we are doing for this moment and will reevaluate again next week. Furthermore, our decision was not based on fear even in the slightest - not to move to online worship on March 16th, nor now to open up worship. It is our love for the congregation that has been dearest to our heart and that is why we have chosen the routes that we have. Please do not feel that you must attend in person if you are uncomfortable. We will be offering Parking Lot worship on FM Channel 105.3 and also will be uploading our Communion (from Jared) and my Message as we have been doing for the past 2 months. 

Please take these words to heart. We love you all deeply and have poured ourselves out before God on your behalf. This is a time of long-suffering and grace and we can all be the bearers of good things.

Ivan

ps. Mr. Chuck made a video about choices and one main choice that can make a difference in your life forever. And I had a thought about my mom and about Jesus.

​Hello DBC Family,
We want to welcome you to our worship service for May 24, 2020. We realize that this is probably getting very tiring. Thankfully, we will be opening DBC for in-person worship next Sunday, May 31st. In a previous email, we let you know how we would proceed as a congregation within the coronavirus time. If you need that email again or have questions, please ask any one of us elders.

Today, we are looking at what is Most Important. Mr. Chuck is talking about Paul teaching the men of Athens about Who is Most Important. I am talking about what is Most Important in worship. As always, our service is on RightNow Media, our website, and Vimeo. 

There are 2 more announcements. 1) There will be no work party at the chapel to clean, etc. It has been cleaned and we have been doing a lot of work during the Quarantine time in preparation to meet again. It will be open and ready for worship next week. 2) There will be no Zoom Communion meeting this week. .

Lord-willing see you soon!
Ivan

Hello DBC family,
I'm sure that you have all read the news about the governor lifting the restrictions, except for travel, on this Friday the 22nd. The elders have been praying about what to do and we realize that there are many opinions from all spectrums. Please continue to pray for us to have God's wisdom. And while you wait, please also have patience and grace with us as we decide what to do. That being said, we are planning to begin worshiping in person at DBC starting on May 31st, Lord-willing. We will have more information coming later this week. 

For our midweek greetings, Mr. Chuck and I have made videos. Mr. Chuck made a video for the kids (and you adults too!) about new life in Spring. And I have been pondering the question, "What is a church?" 

In regards to our communion service on Sunday, we will not be having it on Zoom this week. Jared will still have his communion message and it will be posted online. I know that this might be sad, but we will soon be together in person!!
Ivan

Hi Parents!
Boy, are we skipping over a lot of history with our lesson this week. Last week we were in Acts 6 and 7. The kids were very briefly introduced to Saul. Now we are in Acts 17 (verses 16-31)...10 chapters away. Luke is now calling Saul Paul. Paul's life has changed drastically. Instead of hunting down Jesus believers, he is leading people to become Jesus believers. In our story this week Paul is in Athens. Though these verses are addressed to the pagans (my word) in Athens, he also took time to speak to the Jewish and those who worshiped God. That always seems to be Paul's priority...God's people first and then the Gentiles. Isaiah 40:28

The focus of our lesson is that God created heaven and earth. It's because of that God has the right to judge the earth. The key verse is Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the whole earth.

Please spend some time reading and talking about these words with your children.

Blessings,
Chuck