Lent and Holy Week this year were a profound spiritual journey for me and the body of DEC.  This season of preparation for Easter was so powerful I am still reflecting on the highlights which I know bring great hope to all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The sermon series for Lent had us slow our lives down to get personal with God. There was a period of remembering what God had done for His people in the past. Then we worked on meditating on His word to learn how to communicate with the Lord, tell him what’s on our hearts, listen for His response, and let Him teach us. Truly a miracle that should humble us: the Lord of all creation finding us valuable and communing with us. Then there was a time of cleansing. In our Small Group we spent time in corporate confession and sharing the road to our repentance. At this point we were very open to Him and the emotions that were experienced were powerful – pulled at our hearts – but ultimately freeing of the spirit.

By the time Holy Week came, it all started coming together. Our hearts were prepared through our cleansing. Our minds were set on the details gleaned from the study and meditation on God’s word.  Our souls yearned to experience the resurrection. In talking with people throughout the body, I could sense the anticipation for the events of Holy Week to unfold. Wednesday communion, the gathering of the body for praise, worship, and remembrance, was very powerful.

The Maundy Thursday service was a time of meeting with God through His word, reflecting on the significance of the last supper, the first communion, and Jesus’ example to us of humility and serving others by the washing of the feet, his mission to go prepare a room for us in His Father’s house, and the promise to return to gather His faithful servants.

Good Friday was a night of intense personal soul searching as we reflected on the heart of Jesus, The Father’s love, the gift we’ve been given, and trying to come to grips with the enormous cost of that gift.

At all three of those events the seats were filled with God’s people seeking His face, honoring Him in prayer and praise.   All to the glory of God the Father.

Easter Sunday was the culmination of all these things, building over the six weeks of Lenten preparation. The worship was genuine and intense.  Hands were high in the air, and tears of joy were being shed all around me. The tomb is empty, and all God’s people rejoice with Him. I was thinking, as I pondered that scene, “This body that we call DEC really gets it.”

So it’s Monday morning after Easter. Is there such a thing as a spiritual hangover? We’re feeling that there’s got to be more. This intense spiritual journey we’ve been on together can’t end here. Well it doesn’t. To us has been revealed the truth in God’s word. He has given us peace, hope, purpose, and the offer of life to the fullest. We understand life so it is a blessing and not a drudge. Remember your old life before Christ, and then think of what you have now.  We need to make sure at every opportunity we share what we have with someone who doesn’t have it. It’s an awesome gift, and we want it for everyone.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul urges the faithful on: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Philippians 2:12-13.

Nothing ended on Monday morning. The experiences of Lent, Good Friday, and Easter were just part of a journey, a journey which is our faith. It is a journey which will not end until we see the good Lord return or call us home. Let’s take all we’ve learned, all the emotion we’ve felt, all we’ve experienced, and use it to allow God’s good purpose to be fulfilled through us. This is the way to continue the Easter journey. This is the way to continue the Easter miracle.

I pray God blesses our efforts for His kingdom.
Mark

I was at UNH attending a New Orleans planning meeting with the group leader students. The question the speaker asked the group was , “Why are you going?” This is my third trip to New Orleans, and I had never asked myself that question.

Is it to go and build a house, repair a roof, or hang sheet rock so that people can get their homes back the way they were before Katrina, people who lost everything? Is it to share the faith I have in Jesus with UNH students? Is it to strengthen my own faith? I think it is all these things.

I am reminded of our DEC mission statement that says we are A Christ-Centered Community that Cares for People. Through worshiping together, serving together, and growing together, we build one another up.

I go to serve the people of New Orleans and the students of UNH. I go to share my faith and what Christ has done in my life with the students so they may come to know Him. I have seen what God can do in students’ lives and have watched them grow in Christ Jesus. Peter says in II Peter 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

I am so thankful that I can go on this trip to New Orleans. I ask for your prayers for the team of DEC people who are going and the students for whom God has prepared to go. Paul writes in II Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

To God Be The Glory

Joe Bard

Welcome to the first installment of the newly created Elder Blog. I, personally, am a Blog novice, but we are all hopeful that this will become a useful tool that will help us communicate more effectively with you, the D.E.C. community.

The Elder Board is currently composed of Joe Bard, Jim Quinney, Terry Sharbaugh, Mark Valliere, Wayne Wilson, John Wiswell, and myself. We are charged with the responsibilities of figuring out where God wants our Church to go and deciding on how God wants us to get there. We consider it a true blessing to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, and you, the Saints at D.E.C. in this way.

At D.E.C we strive to be a “Christ-centered Church that actively cares for people”. We do that by bringing people to a life-changing acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal savior, and by building them up in their faith as believers. Several years (decades?) ago we had t-shirts printed up that had our logo on the front and the following words on the back; “At D.E.C. we Worship Together, Grow Together, and Serve Together”. We believe that those who participate in these three activities will be built up in their faith.

What has been important to me lately is highlighted by the word in the above phrase; Together. I believe this spirit of togetherness is what makes D.E.C. different than many other evangelical churches. Togetherness, or unity among believers is very important to Jesus but is not a reality in many churches. We catch a glimpse of Jesus’ perspective as he prays for all believers at the Last Supper. The Apostle John records this portion of Jesus’ prayer in chapter 17, verses 20-23.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

I thank God daily for this Church that God has allowed me to serve, and for the unity
that he has blessed us with. May those we come in contact with outside D.E.C. look at us, and what God is doing within us, and believe that God has sent Jesus as the only savior.

In the coming months my colleagues on the Elder Board will fill you in on other issues that we are seeking God’s direction about, including Communion, Baptism and the building program.  We welcome your questions and comments, and will try to respond as quickly as we can.