A Students Perspective

I asked a series of written questions this Sunday about Dungeness Community Church to our High School students... and this is what I got. It has not been edited for content but some sentences were shortened/combined for ease of reading. If you see a awkward word used, know that it is a direct quote from the anonymous student author. "[........ ]" Have been added by me for clarification.  Each space represents a different students view. There are a few instances where it's hard to discern whether students are referring to Sunday morning sermons in the main congregation or to Sunday school talks. I appreciate the students honesty.

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Write down what you think Dungeness Community Church does well.

They chose a great youth pastor

Everyone has each others back no matter what like a family.

I think DCC welcomes people really well especially new people.

Our mission trips and outreach is our best strength

I like how DCC is welcoming of other people who are atheists or believe Jesus in a different context. I like the singing. Everyone is so nice and intoxicated with the essence of God.

Our church does missions well including support of missionaries

Church

The location provides gorgeous scenery. The church is welcoming to newcomers.

Music/Worship/Sunday school

Building relationships w/ students in YM. Short term missions. Serving others. Fostering relationships in church community.

DCC is great at providing opps for service and worship involvement. Church supports short term missions and local outreach.

I think they do good with having lots of trips and activities for youth.

I think DCC runs a very welcoming and ministry purposed youth program. The amount of kids that have made friends and have been influenced by Christ is remarkable.

Mission trips

Missions and services

The community outreach with programs like Mychoices and the out of area missions trips.

What is your general feeling about sung worship at DCC? What do you like about it? What could make it better?

As a muscician I see many areas that need work, but most of those are things like tempo. Worship could be better by calling the youth into the worship service and leading others.

To old school.

I feel that we often over use songs. Also, louder and more bass instruments.

I feel like a lot of improvement could be made at this church, although I think there are a few singer have much potential to reach people through their gifts. Sound board and lighting needs help and advice.

Sometimes it’s good. There are mostly old people, but it would be cool to have music like Mars Hill although that might be unrealistic.

I like it but it could be better. I’d like it louder and darker in a smaller area like the Upper Room. I do thing song choice and quality has gotten a lot better.

I appreciate the heart behind those singing and their willingness to be involved. More upbeat songs, clapping songs- that are easier to get audience involved.

I love how everyone sings and worships the Lord.

It’s def emphasized here, which is very nice. Instrumentation gives full sound. I think the church could expand their song library and include new songs..

I don’t like a lot of the songs. I like the instrumentation. Improvement: Better songs, more hymns, not skipping verses.

Overall it’s ok, not perfect but improving. I like when we have more people up on stage and upbeat music. We need more contemporary music mixed in (not limited to older music)

I really like it because it inviting and the singers look happy to be doing their job.

Worship is alright. I feel it’s more for older people and we could use more upbeat music.

I like most of songs, but feel like we have been singing the same ones over and over. Some morning are more alive than others. I like how anyone who wants to sing, can.

I like it. Everyone gets into the songs. The lady who did it today [Breva Funston] was really uplifting and it made me feel better.

It’s too slow and old fashioned.

What is your general feeling about spoken worship at DCC (aka Piper’s teaching on Wednesday/Sunday teaching) What do you like about it? What could make it better?

I think that if we were a little more deep and philosophical it would be better.

Good. I like it. He is so cool and can make the messages so we understand them. He interests everyone which is great.

I like both Wednesday’s and Sundays. Both times I’m generally able to connect and reflect on the message being given.

I think it’s fine, one thought though is maybe something new.

The content is good because it connects with the HS/MS students on their level

I like how he makes personal connections and stresses application. It could be made better through less tangents and getting quickly to the point so you don’t lose attention.

Spoken worship is good. I like that he is able to connect to us well. It would be better if... [this sentence left blank].

What I would expect from a church based on my experience. Sometimes is repetitive (ex. “we just finished a 14 week series” 1 ½ months ago)

I’m new

I appreciate the enthusiasm and big picture ideas that you bring to your lessons! However, sometimes you have so much background knowledge you want to share with us that it can get us on some tangents, and while interesting, may make some confusion for your audience J

Piper… you’re awesome. The lessons are awesome and I think you do a really good job of reaching everybody.

I think they’re good. Easier to understand the message, and not boring [I couldn’t tell if the student meant this in a positive or negative way based on final sentence]. Usually pretty funny though.

I think Piper has very good insight and inspirational teachings to share with us, and I appreciate his clear passion for the Lord. One thing that could make it better though, is maybe more of a direct focus on the topic at hand, instead of a multiple focused speech.

I enjoy theological discussions. I don’t like questions that nobody answers.

It’s down to earth and more understanding.

I don’t usually attend this (I’m graduated) but from what I have observed, it’s great!

Write down what you don’t like about DCC.

How the youth and older generation are kind of separated.

There is not enough seating in the auditorium.

Mission trip fundraisers. (I don’t like swags+ Auction)

Sometimes it feels like there is not much enthusiasm during worship and I can’t usually connect to the sermon.

I dunno. Sort of like the big churches with sort of a young people type vibe. I’ve always gone to DCC and this is sort of what I’m used to.

Generally it’s pretty good. Maybe a few too many old people but that’s not going to change.

Regular long sermons and sometimes going off track. Lot’s of elderly, which is ok, but sometimes makes it difficult for youth.

I’m new

Needs new carpet. Nothing.

No one goes to [HS] youth group so it’s kind of boring.

Small [HS] youth group

N/A

Worship is too mellow and laid back.

I don’t like that the grass isn’t two inches long. It’s not conducive to playing games safely outside.

I like everything. I wish there was Firwood [summer camp] for High Schoolers. (it was a big eye opener)

I don’t know

Write down what you would change about church if you could.

The high school needs a summer retreat..

Nothing, just wish there was Firwood and more mission trips. I love them!

If I could I would like to see the youth band sing on Sundays more often also I would like their to be cake on Wednesdays J

Worship. I think worship is important because it’s how we start our day.

N/A

More information about long term [supported] missionaries. Do announcements. High school summer retreat.

More people at [HS] youth group, better games.

Add another hs/ms retreat.

[Left completely blank]

More community building opps b/w youth and church family. More lively and upbeat services. Steady and exciting worship opportunities.

DCC has its own unique atmosphere. I wouldn’t really change anything.

I suppose if it was possible, having more young people music, I like the concert vibe some churches have but I don’t think it could work here for this church.

I still want it to be more active and personal relationship with God… sometimes it feels like it’s just a bunch of information.

More chairs.

More chairs for the high schooler’s in the auditorium.

I wish that the generation gap wouldn’t be such a gap and that the youth would be called into adulthood by the adults on a more personal level. 

Relationships

I’m excited as we approach the end of our series on relationships. Over the last five weeks we have unpacked:

Relationship with God (Sin: Broken relationship with God leads to broken relationship with people)

Relationship with People

The Problem of Evil/Suffering from a Philosophical/Biblical perspective.

Broken Relationships: Homosexuality

Broken Relationships: Pornography

This weekend the series continues as Glenn Brown discusses Jesus perfect relationship with God the Father over three sessions this Saturday and Sunday at our High School Fall Retreat at Maple Grove. If you’re in HS you still have 4 days to signup!

Upcoming:

Recap and more with Darren Sweeney November 17^th.

Closing the series November 24^th- Relationship Restored: Jesus

Links to some Resources I showed in class:

Porn

Parents: do you realize that 90% of our boys between 8-18 have seen hardcore internet pornography? Have you talked with your children about this? Statistically, if you’re not- your home computer already has. Parents, never before in the history of the world ,  has relationship destroying porn been so available. Never. No sin is new, but never before has this type of sin been so accessible. Please get educated and please talk to your boys. 

Ladies: Don’t date boys- date men. If a guy wants to pursue you, ask him about the last time he viewed porn. An awkward conversation now might save you an awkward conversation once you’re married to him. If he is serious about you and his relationship with God he will ‘man up’ and submit this sin to Christ.

- http://marshill.com/2012/03/05/stats-on-porn (stats)

http://www.covenanteyes.com/.../19/pornography-statistics/

http://unboundnow.org/your-no-is-her-hope/ Sex trade tied to pornography.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/05/08/9-things-you-should-know-about-pornography-and-the-brain/ Your Brain on porn.

Homosexuality:

Homosexuality is the sin of the 10%. We in the 90% (heterosexuals) like to make a big fuss about this when we struggle with lust, pride, gluttony, and withholding justice from the poor etc.- which when you look at the thousands of verses in scripture, deeply offends God and is the major reason why kingdoms/cities get destroyed. All sin is sin and should be named as such (Romans 1:18-32). God meets us wherever we are at, but all sin is second best. God doesn’t desire second best for any of his children.

Ravi Zacharias http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIw6ngIqaD0

Trevin Wax http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2013/09/30/learning-from-a-lesbian-visitor-to-your-church/

Pastor's Pen: October

The Trinity and Human Relationships

We will never turn our back on you; breath life into our lungs so we can shout your name! Psalm 80:18 MSG

The last three months have been an absolutely beautiful time for me as I have returned to my home church and begun ministering here once more. Three months?! It feels like I just got here- time flies when you’re doing youth ministry eh?

Since I’ve arrived, it’s been on my heart to teach through God’s story, the story that we all live in and under as those made in His image. The story that begins with creation (Gen 1) and ultimately ‘ends’ with renewed creation (Rev 21)- my heart beats to proclaim this to the next generation. On Tuesday and Wednesday night youth group we have been walking through the narrative of scripture in a twelve part series; we are currently four weeks into it. I believe if we don’t understand where we came from, we will have no idea where we are going- and even much less what we are suppose to be doing today.

The universe and everything in it was created through God, by God and for God. He beckons us into a life giving relationship with Him, but ultimately doesn’t need us. That might sound a little cold, but it’s ultimately a very freeing truth. Life isn’t about me, it’s all about Christ. In trying to help students grasp this foundational concept, I believe God shared this with me in my 1989 Honda Accord in the DCC parking lot about the power of relationships.  Let’s switch gears now and let me paint you a picture of days past…

The year is 19xx and your parents were thoroughly enjoying life with each other. They had hair, good looks, excellent style and were anything but boring. You (and your siblings?) hadn’t been born yet. They dreamed big dreams and were excited for the future as they navigated life together. As a product of their (hopefully) loving union, life flowed from their relationship and now you enter the scene. Out of their relationship you came into existence. Their relationship didn’t depend on you for its existence but you were now participating in the relationship that your parents shared between themselves. Outside of your parents, you wouldn’t have had life. As a young child, if you had chosen to reject this relationship, it would have tragically ended in your demise.

In a similar vein, before the Triune God went about creating everything we see around us today, God was fully complete and satisfied within the intimate relationship He had with himself.  It wasn’t like He woke up one particular Monday morning feeling lonely and decided to create the universe with people to worship Him, complete Him and make Him feel better about being God. The Triune God, consisting in Father, Son and Holy Spirit was lacking nothing in an unending bond of perichoretical (Google that) love. It was out of this life giving relationship that the universe was birthed. Genesis tells us that God spoke creation out of his mouth. Let that sink in for a second. God spoke the entire universe out of his mouth. A God that was full of love and free of need, made you, me, and everything that is seen and unseen.

It’s for our joy and the Triune God’s glory that we recognize these foundations.

“Ok Piper, I’m a pragmatic person, so what does this all mean?” Great question. As I survey scripture, I believe the Bible points to a relational, life giving God who desires fullness of life for all His creatures. As the source of life, only in relationship with Him is it to be truly found. We as the disobedient creatures we are, at one point defiantly shook our fists at the heavens with delusions of entitled grandeur. But really, it’s not about us. It’s about the God that brought us from the dirt with his breath of life. When his first disobedient children walked away from him, He didn’t leave them to their own devices. He very well could have, but out of his deep love He relentlessly pursued his wayward children. In Genesis 12, God selects a man named Abraham to be the medium of his blessing to the entire world. We stand in continuity with this promise as the adopted children of God, compelled by the knowledge of our Great Father to bless others. We have found life in this relationship that we have been invited into.

Relationships are powerful. The first three of the Ten Commandments are about our relationship with God and the next seven are about our relationship with others. Broken relationship with God leads to broken relationship with people. For us to live out of the commission of Genesis 12:3, how are we as the community of faith inviting others into this life giving relationship with our Father through his Son? It plays out in a variety of ways, but I believe it starts with us surrendering our hearts to his good news (Gospel) that He is Lord, and us inviting those around who don’t know our Father into this family. God truly didn’t need us but out of his complete relationship with Himself, He allowed us to partake in His mission.  Ultimately, it’s not about me as I exist only by His will and it is for my joy to be about my Father’s business. All of our relationships are about building for God’s Kingdom. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ’s life should flow through us and be visible to those around us.  

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NIV

His,

Piper

Pastors Pen: August

Kia Ora church,

What a whirlwind of a journey my life has been to this point. In recent weeks I’ve: graduated from Bible college, shifted countries, continents, time zones, houses, become a youth pastor and had to forget a few Kiwi colloquialisms that just don’t translate well into American English. Prior to that, I traveled the world trying to figure out how and where I fit in. I didn’t have an active faith in Christ until he met me for what seemed like the first time in a dingy Guatemalan apartment cell in January of 2007. The moment was decisive and radical; much of the old David Piper died that day. New Zealand was incredible to me. I’m forever grateful to my Avondale Baptist Church/Laidlaw family that adopted me into theirs very early on in my arrival to the country in 2010; how good it is to be offered rest as a displaced traveler.

In this new season of life, I’m excited to bring vision and passion to this community of faith, especially its young people. Life has taught me that I’m more than inadequate on my own without Christ and a quick survey of history reveals that in a hundred years, no one will remember my name. I don’t mean this in a negative or morbid sense, but a freeing one. Everything is about Jesus. Everything. From start to finish. All creation was created through him, by him and for his glory. Only in relationship with Jesus is life found. To deny Christ is to deny ultimate reality and the source of all life itself. I firmly believe in life before death for those that chose to repent and participate in building for God’s Kingdom today. One of our prayers needs to be, “God what are you already doing in Sequim (plus the wider world) and how can we participate in that?” It’s about God’s Kingdom, not ours. How freeing is this?

I bring with me my extensive twenty-seven years of life (just joking) and a highly relational style of ministry that has been shaped by my interactions with believers from around the world, which include weaknesses and strengths. I don’t come as a shining ‘superstar pastor’ (whatever that means?) from a land far, far away- but from Sequim where the majority of you have watched me grow up. I can take very little credit for where I’m at today as my life and faith has been shaped by older women and men who were loved and shaped by men and women older still… it ultimately goes back to Jesus. From the Holy Scriptures, we see that the Bible begins with creation (Gen 1) and ends with renewed creation (Rev 21). We live in between these times. So what does it look like to live an authentically Christian lifestyle in light of the Resurrection in the 21^st century? How do we faithfully participate in the triune God’s commission to us in Sequim, Washington? These are the questions that we must ask and pursue in community with one another.

Hebrews 13:2 exhorts the persecuted community of faith to never stop showing hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some had entertained angels. Before Bible College, I was convinced hospitality was a huge medium to share the gospel of Jesus Christ; after, I’m even more convinced. Starting in September I will be hosting mid-week pancake breakfasts at my Sunnyside Flat (1/10^th of a mile from the High School praise God!) that will be inclusive of all High School students regardless of their church attendance. God has also placed a fire in my heart to develop disciple (mentorship) type relationships between a vast range of ages at DCC. For lack of better terms, I believe those from the Wisdom Years (adults) need to be in conversation with those who make up the Wonder Years (youth); for the benefit and health of the entire Church. I heard a preacher once say, “like the Dead Sea, if water is flowing in but not flowing out… everything dies.” I understood this as meaning that if we’re not teaching what we are learning or have learned, it’s not just us who are losing out. If you feel like anything that has been said is tugging at your heart, consider that your invitation! I trust we will be in contact shortly J

As for now, I will enjoy the honeymoon period and pray that God uses DCC to mediate his love to the wider world. Genesis 12:3 states that Abraham was blessed to be a blessing to the world; as his children by faith, we stand in continuity with this promise. We aren’t blessed to simply be blessed, but blessed to bless others. Our joy is fully rooted in how much we are willing to mirror Jesus to the world in humble obedience to His singular mission and the plurality of ways it is faithfully enacted every day. The total (C)hurch needs to be involved in total mission, from youngest to oldest.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” -Hebrews 12:1-3

Now it’s our turn.

 I look forward to journeying with you in this season as your youth pastor navigating the joys and pains of life in Christ centered community together.

His,

Piper