A community that intentionally cultivates joy and love.
Faith Lutheran Church and Preschool (LC-MS) sees Discipleship as the nexus by which we know Christ, live Christ, and make Christ known.
All Christians are made to be disciples, are empowered to live as disciples, and are called to make disciples. Discipleship involves (a series of) behaviors that God has done for us in Christ and that we, as Christ’s body, enact in the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. These behaviors include hospitality, reconciliation, advocacy, proclamation, generosity, intercession, praise and thanksgiving, and blessing. This overarching value of Discipleship is facilitated by three more specific values: Worship, Christian Education, and Human Care.
Overview
With the universal Christian Church, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod teaches and responds to the love of the Triune God: the Father, creator of all that exists; Jesus Christ, the Son, who became human to suffer and die for the sins of all human beings and to rise to life again in the ultimate victory over death and Satan; and the Holy Spirit, who creates faith through God’s Word and Sacraments. The three persons of the Trinity are coequal and coeternal, one God.
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God loves the people of the world, even though they are sinful, rebel against Him and do not deserve His love. He sent Jesus, His Son, to love the unlovable and save the ungodly.
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By His suffering and death as the substitute for all people of all time, Jesus purchased and won forgiveness and eternal life for them. Those who hear this Good News and believe it have the eternal life that it offers. God creates faith in Christ and gives people forgiveness through Him.
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What does “Lutheran” mean?
The word “Lutheran” does not mean we think Martin Luther was some sort of higher man.
On the contrary! He was a normal man, a broken man, who through his own STRUGGLE of asking “Who is God?” and “What do I think of Him?” was led to a moment after reading and contemplating Scripture to say:
“At last meditating day and night, by the mercy of God, I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith. Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open.”
— Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther's Latin Works (1545) by Dr. Martin Luther, 1483-1546
His “discovery” led to the ignition of a chain of events in the 1500s which we now call the Protestant Reformation, a time in the history of the world when everything began to change—again. Most notable for us, was when these reformers stood up in the midst of a boiling cauldron of political, social, and religious pressures and confessed their faith to Emperor Charles V, in Augsburg, in June of 1530. We now call that the Augsburg Confession.
Who Is Jesus?
For nearly 2,000 years people have asked the question, “Who is Jesus?”. We were not present when Jesus lived on this earth, but in the Bible we have the record of his birth, life, death on the cross, and resurrection. Study of the Bible, God’s Word, will enable you to seek out the answer to this age-old question. Here at Faith, we strive to bring you closer to Jesus in a caring and loving community of believers.
The Lord’s Supper
-is offered weekly at Faith. It is offered and received by God’s people with glad hearts, as Jesus enjoined us to “Do this often!” The Lutheran teaching accepts at full value the true body of Christ and the true blood of Christ in the Sacrament (Real Presence) according to Jesus’ own words. This meal, therefore, is not merely a church custom, but a divine means of grace instituted by our savior for the spiritual nurturing of His people to strengthen them to live in the faith and love their neighbors.
What does “Synod” mean?
The word “Synod” in The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod comes from Greek words that mean “walking together.” The term has rich meaning in our church body, because congregations voluntarily choose to belong to the Synod. Though diverse in their service, these congregations hold to a shared confession of Jesus Christ as taught in Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions which they believe are a correct interpretation and presentation of Biblical doctrine. Contained in The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, these statements of belief were put into writing by church leaders during the 16th century. The simplest of these is Luther’s Small Catechism. The Augsburg Confession gives more detail on what Lutherans believe. Read an article from the May 2004 Lutheran Witness about what a “Synod” is.
Useful Links
Know Christ!
Live Christ!
Make Christ Known!
Worship is the primary means by which we know and live Christ as individuals-in-community.
The Sunday morning gathering is the primary place where we encounter God and receive his promises for us in Christ: forgiveness, life, and salvation. God delivers these promises to us through particular means: the reading, preaching, praying, and singing of His Word, the reception of the Lord’s Supper, and the confession and absolution of sins. Baptism marks our initiation into God’s Kingdom and our share in these promises, by grace, through faith.
Christian Education is also a vital place where we learn the Word!
Faith maintains an active schedule and robust encouragement of regular and lifelong Christian education. Faith Lutheran Preschool is also faithfully oriented around the reading and teaching of God’s Word.
Through human care, we live Christ and make Christ known.
By human care, we specifically mean the advocacy, intercession, and acts of service for the material and spiritual needs of our neighbor: family, friends, community, region, and world, bringing forgiveness, life, and salvation to all for the sake of Christ.
The discipleship behaviors, found in Worship and Christian Education and practiced in Human Care, are the ways in which we know Christ, live Christ, and make Christ known.