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Vision Statement | Core Values | Great Commandment | Great Commission | 5 Ministries
Our Savior's Vision of a Mature Church
We have a vision of a Church whose members are committed to the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19- 20)
We have a vision of people coming to and growing up in Christ through a "Spiritual Life Development" process. This process would involve commitments to: Membership, Maturity, Ministry (Service), and Missions (Outreach). The "Spiritual Life Development" process would offer a balanced program of Bible studies, classes, topical seminars, and annual conferences for building knowledge, perspective, conviction, skills and character. The "Spiritual Life Development" process would be age appropriate for children, youth, and adults.
We have a vision of people coming to know Christ and their relationship to His Church: Professing to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and recognizing that God has a plan for them to be in relationship with other Christians and desiring to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
We have a vision of people committing themselves to the Membership Covenant: pledging to promote harmony within their church, sharing in the responsibility of their church, serving the ministry of their church and supporting the testimony of their church by attending faithfully, living a godly life and by giving regularly.
We have a vision of members committing themselves to the Maturity Covenant: Having a daily time with God, practicing the principle of weekly proportional giving to God, and participating in a weekly team (small group) for God. In this dream Our Savior would be a model of Christian education that focuses on life change, not just comprehension. Our model would have a system of small groups to provide support, encouragement and accountability for our members as they seek to grow in to fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. These groups will be led by trained lay ministers and leaders who lovingly lead, feed, and care for those in their group. The model would also include a faculty of gifted lay teachers, equipped with vision, character, knowledge, and expertise to feed our flock.
We have a vision of members committing themselves to the Ministry Covenant (Service): Responding to God's love by serving Him; discovering their spiritual gifts, discovering where their heart for ministry is, then using their abilities, personalities and experiences in service to others.
We have a vision of members committing themselves to the Mission Covenant (Evangelism): Personally seeking those who don't know Jesus Christ to intentionally develop relationships with them so that the Gospel can be communicated life by life.
The goal of this vision is to bring glory to God by presenting Jesus Christ with as many fully committed disciples as we possibly can before he returns. (Colossians 1:28)
Vision Statement | Core Values | Great Commandment | Great Commission | 5 Ministries | | Back to the top
The Core Values of Our Savior Lutheran Church
Naturally, because we are a collection of diverse individuals, we all have slightly different values with regard to how we go about serving Christ. Yet certain common values unify our efforts and define our distinctive approach to ministry. We can summarize our core values using the following statement.
| Value 1: We
believe that lost people matter to God, and therefore, ought to matter to
the church.
This includes the concepts intentionally developing relationships with those who don't know Jesus Christ and evangelism as a relational process -- Luke 5:30-32, Luke 15, Matt. 18:14 |
Value 2: We
believe that the Holy Spirit is the Transformer of individuals' lives and in
the Church. The means He uses are "the means of grace" (God's Word, Baptism,
and Communion.)
This includes salvation by grace through faith and the teaching of Biblical truth for life change -- Eph. 2:8- 9, Rom. 1:16, Rom 10:17, Rom. 12:7, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, James 1:23-25. |
| Value 3: We
believe that Christ-followers should reflect, by their words and actions,
what they believe and yearn for continuous growth.
This includes concepts of personal spiritual growth, authenticity, and wholeness -- Eph. 4:25-26,32, Heb. 12:1, Phil. 1:6. |
Value 4: We
believe that the church should operate as a unified community of servant
hood.
This includes the concepts of harmony, service to others -- 1 Cor. 12 and 14, Rom 12, Eph. 4, Ps. 133:1, Phil 2:3-5, John 13:12, Gal. 6:9-10, Matt. 25:35-40 . |
| Value 5: We
believe that every believer has been given at least one spiritual gift for
the building up of the body of Christ and that everyone should use their
spiritual gift in their own ministry.
This includes concepts of a spiritual gift discovery process, education about spiritual gifts and stewardship of those gifts. -- 1 Peter 4:10, Romans 12:4-8. |
Value 6: We
believe that churches should be led by men and women with leadership gifts.
This includes the concepts of empowerment, servant leadership, strategic
focus, and purposeful direction -- Neh. 1 and 2, Rom. 12:8, Acts 6:2-5,
Romans 16.
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| Value 7: We
believe that the called staff are to equip the members for service to others
for the building up of the body of Christ.
This includes the concept that everyone is a minister. -- Ephesians 4:11-12 |
Value 8: We
believe that life change happens best in small groups.
This includes the concept of discipleship, vulnerability, and accountability -- James 5:16, Romans 12:15- 16. |
| Value 9: We
believe that the church should be culturally relevant while remaining
doctrinally pure.
This includes the concept of sensitively relating to our culture through our facility, printed materials and the use of the arts -- 1 Cor. 9:19-23 |
Value 10: We
believe that all people are different, yet all belong to the same body of
Christ. Therefore we employ different ministry approaches to reach as many
people as possible.
This includes the concept of being all things to all people. -- 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, 13:13, 1 Corinthians 9:22. |
| Value 11: We
believe we should offer worship services and Bible studies which meet the
needs of the spectrum of people from the un-churched to the mature
Christian.
This includes the concept that the Word of God is relevant to all people no matter what faith level or culture. 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, 1 Corinthians 9:22. |
Value 12: We
believe that excellence honors God and inspires people.
This includes concepts of evaluation, critical review, and excellence -- Col. 3:17, Mal. 1:6-14, Prov. 27:17.
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Vision Statement | Core Values | Great Commandment | Great Commission | 5 Ministries | | Back to the top
Members of Our Savior Believe That What the Church Should Be and Do Is Summarized By:
The Greatest Commandments
(Matthew 22:37-40)
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind -- You shall love the neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and prophets" -- Jesus
The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)
"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
Members of Our Savior Believe That the Great Commandment And the Great Commission Give us Five Ministries:
| 1) Worship | Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your mind. | Also Matthew 4:10, Psalm 34:3 |
| 2) Service | Love your neighbor as yourself. | Also Ephesians 4:12, Matthew 20:26-28 |
| 3) Fellowship | Love your neighbor as yourself. | Also Ephesians 4:19 |
| 4) Evangelism | Go and make disciples | Also Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47-49, John 20:21, Acts 1:8 |
| 5) Discipleship | Teaching them to obey | Also Colossians 1:28, Ephesians 4:12b-13 |