There are a number of milestones in the course of planting a church. Announcing plans to plant is one. The public launch is another. Between those two milestones is another big one: the establishment of the core team.

The following core team members initially expressed interest around January, following the Christ Church info meeting. From there, through a series of meetings, prayer, and discussion among DSC’s elders, the following core team was established.

Each of these people have known for a while, but we are thrilled now to share with everyone else the names of those who are going out. Here they are:

Hayden Armstrong
Karin Avery
Ben and Jenna Balman
Mason Banning
Nando and Isabel Betancur
Michael and Stephanie Bestwaros
Mark and Stephanie Bieniarz
Jason and Dani Brown
Jeremy and Naomi Brown
JR and Feven Bucklew
Jacob Covell
Adam and Charis Church
Walter and Jody Dehority
Leonard and Astraea Duran
Ruben Duran
Sophia Edwards
Tim and Angela Englemann
Lauren Ferguson
Tonya Garrison
David and Rita Gatt
Emily Gidlow
Ryan and Lesley Gilmore
Mike and Sydney Graczyk
JJ and Danielle Johnson
Matt Jones
Kyle and Jessika Junick
Z and Mary Hall
Taylor Kidwell
Eric and Shannon Layer
Ana McElroy
Randy and Eva McElroy
Clint and Joanna Moore
Tim and Cara Ray
Raybeau and Annie Richardson
Matt and Anne Ryals
Haley Templeton
Chris and Britt Sanchez
Nathan and Marcie Sherman
Tara Sigur
Marc and Cara Sowers
Caity Spencer
Kyle and Michelle Stevens
Crystal Valdez
Haley Waggerman
Andrew Ward
Caleb Ward
Quinn and Morgan Wingerd
Caleb Wiseman
Jeff Voris

While the public launch of Christ Church is not until November, the core team phase begins in August. This means that these brothers and sisters will begin meeting as a church, and not with Desert Springs Church, starting one month from now.

With that in mind, be sure to offer those you know a hug and a meal as a way of sending them off. No one is moving out of town, of course. But we will miss one another in real ways, and your kind words and hospitality will be a way of sending them in a manner worthy of God.

On April 17 we had the joy of witnessing the baptism of fourteen brothers and sisters between our two Sunday services. In case you missed one or both of the services, here are the video testimonies from those who were baptized.

As we listen to these testimonies, mediate on Paul’s words to baptized Christians in Romans 6:3-4: “. . . all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

9:00 AM Service

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10:45 AM Service

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For more videos like these, click here for DSC’s YouTube Baptism playlist.

At our Good Friday service we left in quiet and contemplation after viewing this animated video, “It is Finished!”

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This song was written by Caitelen Schneeberger, produced by Drew Hodge, and animated by Chris Powers with Full of Eyes. You can buy the song here.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
– 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

This is going to be a full week. That is, a week full of Christ and his people. In addition to Wednesday’s Lord’s Supper service, here’s what we have in store:

• Friday, March 25: Good Friday service at 6:30 PM with childcare for children four years old and under
• Sunday, March 27: Easter services at 7:30, 9:00, and 10:45 AM, with childcare for all children during the later two services.

Of course, don’t forget to invite someone to our weekend services. Here’s a digital invitation to make that easy.

A Special Request for Easter Morning

If possible, on Sunday morning, please attend the 7:30 AM service. Imagine that you come to church once a year and this year a friend from DSC invited you to church. You plan to arrive when service starts. You show up maybe even five minutes early, but you are directed to an overflow room to watch the service on a TV. This is too-bad at a number of levels. But it is preventable if several hundred of our normal attenders attend the 7:30 AM service instead of their regular service.

If you have young children, this may not work, as we don’t provide childcare for this service. Or if you are inviting a friend or family member to join, 7:30 AM may not be the better time. But if it’s a matter of convenience we would ask that you do come early to ensure a seat for our many guests who will attend the later services. Thanks for helping us be hospitable.

The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) has released an important statement on gender identity, gender ideology, and children.

Here’s how their statement begins:

The American College of Pediatricians urges educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. Facts – not ideology – determine reality.

In the full statement here, each of the following points is elaborated on in the space of a paragraph.

1. Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: “XY” and “XX” are genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder.

2. No one is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex.

3. A person’s belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking.

4. Puberty is not a disease and puberty-blocking hormones can be dangerous.

5. According to the DSM-V, as many as 98% of gender confused boys and 88% of gender confused girls eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty.

6. Children who use puberty blockers to impersonate the opposite sex will require cross-sex hormones in late adolescence.

7. Rates of suicide are twenty times greater among adults who use cross-sex hormones and undergo sex reassignment surgery, even in Sweden which is among the most LGBQT – affirming countries.

8. Conditioning children into believing a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse.

This is what they are calling a temporary statement that precedes a fuller project to be released this Summer. We can be thankful for socially conservative healthcare professions coming together in organizations like this and for these kinds of bold and needed statements.

(HT: Justin Taylor)