The Mission, Vision, and Values of Grace Lutheran Church.

Mission:
To make disciples of Jesus Christ baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Mt. 28:19)

Vision:

Grace is a fellowship of worshiping disciples of Jesus Christ centered on the Word of God.    Our Vision statement contains
five crucial elements:
             
Fellowship:  As a “family size” church, fellowship is a strength of our congregation.  We regularly     gather for a fellowship meal after each Sunday worship service.  Time is reserved in team meetings and bible studies for this essential aspect of our life together.  During these times we listen to one another’s stories, joys, needs, and concerns.  In doing so, we, “bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2)

Worship:  The Worship of God is central to our life together at Grace.  While not a confessional  document of our faith tradition, we concur with a line from the Westminster Catechism advising  that the main purpose of life is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” As such, we endeavor to practice liturgical worship in the Lutheran tradition that glorifies God, proclaims the Word of God,  and assures congregants of the promises of God. At Grace, we often say “Worship is the Most Important thing we do.”  This includes what happens at 10:30 on Sunday morning and extends to worship as a way of life.

Disciples
: A Disciple is one who has fully absorbed his master’s teaching.  As disciples of Jesus Christ, we seek to embrace, fully absorb, and practice his truth.  This is not merely intellectual ascent but instead is a transformational connection. To truly know truth is to  know The Person Jesus Christ.  It is to be in communion with him.

Jesus Christ: Jesus is Lord of all and Lord over us.  The Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed focuses on the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Luther explains as follows in the Small Catechism:  “He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, and has freed me from  sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with silver or gold, but with his holy  and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.

 “He has done all this in order that I might be his own, live under him in his kingdom,
and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as
he is risen from the dead and lives  and reigns for all eternity.  This is most certainly true.”
 
Word of God: The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith and life,  “according to which all doctrines should and must be judged.” (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Part I).
 
Values:  The following values define our life together:
 

Grace:
Grace is our first name!  It is that quality of Christ which we experience in his unconditional love toward us and which we must offer to others, even with those with whom we disagree.  Grace enables us to see our fellow disciple as a child of God, one who is loved infinitely by God in Christ. Grace is evidenced by our actions toward one another, our words to one another, and our words about one another.

Faith
Faith is two-part, and both are equally important. The first part is belief–belief that God exists, and that He loves us and sent His Son into the world to save us. Faith isn’t a vague hope that God might exist; it is a definite belief that what the Bible says about Him is true. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
 

The second part of faith is commitment–a definite decision not only to believe in our minds that Christ can save us, but to put our lives into His hands and trust Him alone for our salvation. True faith not only believes Christ can save us, but actually trusts Him to do it. The Bible says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8).


Trust:
Congregations move at the speed of trust.  Trust is an intentional attitude toward another, saying, “Until you prove otherwise, I will trust you, trust what you say, and trust will do what you say.”  As members of this congregation we are committed to being worthy of the sacred trust of one another. 

Accountability:
Accountability is the flip-side of trust.  It is the motivating mindset of those who have “bought in” to the mission of the church.  Trust and Accountability go hand in hand to make our congregation function effectively.  Accountability is taking ownership of my words and actions related to the area of ministry in which I participate.   It is the commitment to act in a trustworthy manner, to mean what I say, and to do what I say I will do.

Authenticity:
Authenticity is personal integrity in action.  As members of this congregation, we seek to demonstrate the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in our actions with one another and those outside of our congregation.  We will be who we say we are, act honorably towards one another, and seek to build one another up in the body of Christ.

Empowerment:
The mission of the church shall be executed through empowered lay-led ministry teams.  The number of ministry teams and the ministry responsibility of each team shall be designated by the church council.  Ordinarily each team shall have a team leader and a council coach.  (However, if the position of team leader cannot be filled, the council coach shall serve as both team leader and council coach.)

The team leader shall recruit team members from the congregation, regularly convene team meetings, preside at said meetings, report team activity to the council coach, and regularly seek the input, wisdom, and guidance of the council coach.

Courage:

Endeavoring to be a spiritual mature expression of the body of Christ, we will practice the courage to speak the truth in love.
(Eph. 4:15).   Our council members, will have the courage to speak the truth in love to one another.  And as members of the congregation, we will have courage to speak the truth in love to one another.  We will seek to maintain witness of our congregation in peace, unity, and purity.   We will follow the resolution model presented by our Lord in of Matthew 18:15-20.
 

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