Finding Your Place in the Church

Last night we talked about finding our place in the church. Everyone is called to find their place and use it for the building up of the church. Check this out! To do so, we can take a look at 5 things we need to evaluate to find out where we can best fit. These are:

1) Spiritual Gifting – What is your spiritual gifting? Contact the church office for a gift analysis that will help you discover where God has gifted you.

2) Temperament/Personality Type – It’s really important to know yourself. Some excellent resources have been made to help you discover these things. Check out a Meyers-Briggs test here, and the Keirsey Temperament test here. (The Keirsey test is free, but you can buy more detailed results. When finished, you’ll have an option to view the free report. It will be at the bottom of the list).

3) Natural Talents/Learned Skills – Psalm 33:3 talks about musicians needing to ‘play skillfully’ before the Lord. That requires a sharpening of natural talents. God has given everyone talents in something, and we must sharpen them to make the useful!

4) Life Experiences – What’s your story? Don’t underestimate the power of your testimony and your life experiences. Chances are your journey can help lead others. Read about Paul’s testimony.

5) Your Calling – Where do you feel God is calling you? What desires do you have in your heart? God will help lead us to our calling through everything else on this list. We must listen and answer to the call.

A King and a Kingdom

This past Sunday we talked about the ‘Kingdom’ Jesus brought. This ‘kingdom’ was mentioned over 60 times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It was also prophesied in Old Testament. This is the very kingdom and king that we should be sharing with people. Here are some challenges we talked about.

Read Mark 4:3-9

- 3/4 will not receive the Kingdom. Don’t be discouraged by this reality.

- Two things have to happen for success: strategic placement and fertile ground. The ‘sower’ of the seed has to put the seed in the right place, and the ground has to be fertile to receive it. As a sower you should invest your time and resources into fertile ground. Otherwise you’ll toss seeds that will not grow. Preparing the ground takes work, but the harvest is worth it.

Now read these passages about the value of the Kingdom: Matthew 13:44-46, Mark 4:26-29, Matthew 6:25-33. What do they tell us about the Kingdom? And what about the authority of the King? Read Mark 4:35-5:11.

We have to remember that our first allegiance is not to anything other than the Kingdom of Christ. I shared the lyrics of this song Sunday. Listen to it, and let it encourage you.

Spring Playlist!

The Scriptures often say ‘sing a new song’ to the Lord. As a worship leader, I try to follow that command by keeping up with new songs that speak the truth of God across generations. I dove into a bunch of new songs the past few months, and here’s a list of some songs to be on the lookout for at DCC. You may want to go ahead and check them out! These songs really spoke to me, and I believe are appropriate for our church and community (i.e., speaking to our needs and longing for Christ).

Here are some songs to listen out for this spring!

Our God is Love (iTunes, Youtube)

The Lost are Found (iTunes, Youtube)

God is Able (iTunes, Youtube)

Glorious (iTunes, Youtube)

Wonderful God (iTunes, Youtube)

We Are (iTunes, Youtube)

You Are My Vision (iTunes, Youtube)