"An Evangelical Lutheran Church helping a multicultural faith community serve Christ our neighborhoods and the world."
Our Mission Statement
To make disciples of Jesus Christ; to transform all people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
Our Vision
To be a community of believers making and baptizing disciples so that Christ's forgiveness and healing can be accomplished in the world.
We are a community of believers because God wants us to be something together and represent God with our unified diversity. Our vision is to further God's Kingdom in our midst.
The Five Purposes of the Church
Purpose One: Worship
"Love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind" - The words that best describe this purpose are exaltation and praise. The church exists to worship God. This purpose comes before service or anything else we do in Jesus name. Worship is how we express our love to God and receive forgiveness and unity through the communion meal. Throughout scripture we are commanded to celebrate God's love by magnifying Jesus and exalting his name. Psalm 34:3 says, "O magnify the Lord with me and let us exhalt his name together."
Purpose Two: Service
"Love your neighbor as yourself" - The words that best describe this purpose are mercy, compassion, and justice. Service is demonstrating God's love to neighbor by meeting needs, seeking justice for the oppressed, and healing hurts in the name of Jesus. The church is to serve neighbors with all kinds of needs: spiritual, emotional, relational, and physical.
Purpose Three: Evangelism
"Go and make disciples" - The words that best describe this purpose are witness, invitation, hospitality, and share. It is every disciples responsibility to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. We are instructed to witness or tell the whole world of Christ's coming, (given in each Gospel and the book of Acts as a mandate, as an invitation to all people) for the kingdom to grow. We do not seek growth for our benefit, but because Jesus loves people and wants an eternal relationship with them.
Purpose Four: Baptizing
"Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" - The words that best describe this purpose are new life - everlasting relationship, belonging - body of Christ, nurture - becoming, and fellowship - community of believers. Baptism is so important to Jesus that he commanded it be done in the Great Commission. Baptism brings everyone the gift of belonging to the fellowship of Christ's family and makes us members of Christ's body. It is in the fellowship of Jesus that we are nurtured and grow spiritually. Ephesians 2:19 (Living Bible) says, "You are members of God's own family...and you belong in God's household with every other Christian."
Purpose Five: Teaching
"Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" - The words that best describe this purpose are edify, encourage, educate, equip, and spiritual maturity. This purpose has to do with disciple making and spiritual maturity. A disciple is one who abides in Chist's love. "Discipleship is the process of equipping people to become more like Christ in their thoughts, feelings, and actions." Discipleship is the process of falling more and more in love with Jesus. Colossians 1:28 says, "We continue to preach Christ to each person, using all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone, in order to bring each one into God's presence as a mature person in Christ."
Christ Lutheran Church Statement on our Mission, Vision, & Purpose
1. Life to the full:
This phrase comes from the teaching of Jesus, in one of his own "mission statements." He said, "I have come that they might have life, life to the full" (John 10:10). Jesus also said, "As the Father sent me, so I am sending you" (John 20:21), so we believe that our mission as a Christian church should be an extension of his -- helping people learn to live in the fullness God intends, a fullness too many of us miss too often. And when we say "helping people" we mean all people, especially people who don't yet have a relationship with God. just as Jesus focused his attention on the irreligious, we feel a special calling to reach out to people who aren't already involved actively in a local church -- and to welcome them in with love and acceptance, wherever they are on their spiritual journey. This high value that we place on welcoming in people who aren't yet committed Chrstians influences everything we do -- the kind of music we use in worship, the kind of language we use in our sermons and literature (carefully translating "religious jargon" into language anyone can understand), the kind of nonjudgemental atmosphere we seek to create and protect, etc.
2. We welcome people into a dynamic Christian community.
Community is essential to our mission. In fact, you'll often hear us speak of pursuing "mission through community." As we just saw, our desire is to truly welcome all interested people in -- wherever they are in ther journey toward spiritual commitment. that's important, because one of the ways Jesus said that people will understand who he is and what his message means to them is for people to see how his followers live...how they love on another, serve one another, work out their differences with one another, and work together with one another. By welcoming people into our community, we lwt them see our faith in action in our daily lives...the good and the not-so-good, the successes and failures. We believe that if people see authentic faith lived out by real people in genuine community, the good news of Jesus Christ will shine through.