Christ Our Savior | LCMS

"Tell me about yourself." If a new acquaintance prompted you in this way, chances are you'll launch into a story, "I was born here, went to school there, married so-and-so, then we moved to that place to work this job, etc..."

Our lives are a narrative. The events of our stories will shape who we are, how we understand the world, and how we understand ourselves. If you changed an element of my story, you would change who I am today. If you changed an element of my story, you would change the way I receive the world today.

Our lives are their own narratives, but these stories cannot be separated from the larger narratives we live within. Just like your personal story will guide the way you see yourself, larger stories will explain the context of your personal story. These stories explain the way the world is, the way life should be lived, what happens after death, etc... These are stories that explain everything.

Christians are people that find themselves living in a certain over-arching story. The Christian story covers all of human history and should direct the way Christians see themselves and the world around them. So, with that in mind, this is the Christian story as we at Christ Our Savior understand it.

In the beginning, God created everything. He made the heavens and the earth, water and land, plants and animals, and his chief creation, Adam and Eve, the first man and woman.

God set man over creation and gave him the task of caring for what God had made. This creation was a paradise and when God surveyed all that he had made, he declared that it was "very good".

Then sin and evil entered into the world. God had placed Adam and Eve in a garden where they could eat from any tree they like, except one. They understood God commanded them not to eat from one specific tree but they were deceived and rebelled against God by eating from the forbidden tree.

Disobedience was bad enough, but in eating from this tree they messed with the very fabric of creation. Because of man's sin, God's wonderful universe was tarnished. For this, God cursed the snake who deceived Adam and Eve, he cursed Eve, and he cursed the ground that Adam worked. But God did not only curse, he also promised a future day when he would restore his creation, when he would make right what his human creatures had made wrong.

As the story of human history unfolds, things go from bad to worse. First, they eat from the wrong tree, then Cain kills his brother Abel, and soon there is sin and mayhem all across the earth. But God isn’t content to let his once beautiful creation descend into chaos. He begins his work of restoration by choosing a man named Abraham. God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants and that through them, all the families of the earth would be blessed. These descendants became the people of Israel.

God made good on his promise to Abraham and his descendants. When the people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt, they cried out to God and he rescued them. When Israel came against rival nations, God fought for his people and protected their lands. God provided his people a special land that he had chosen just for them and made them prosperous.

But despite God’s faithfulness to his word, his people rebelled and disobeyed. His people worshiped other gods, they broke the commandments that God had given them. God punishes his people and they repent. But then they disobey. God punishes them and they repent. But then they disobey. Over and over this cycle continues. God sends his people prophets to tell them what God desires of them, but they ignore some prophets, and kill others.

God was patient with his people, but ultimately, for them there is destruction and exile from their promised land. The kingdom of Israel splits in two. Eventually, the northern kingdom is conquered and dispersed, and the southern kingdom is carried off to Babylon. Even when the people of Israel return to their land they are under foreign rule.

But God did not desert his people. He heard their cries, just like when they cried out from Egypt. Israel seemed to be in a hopeless situation but God gave them hope by the promise that he would send them a king who would deliver them from their sin and their enemies.

Then, a prophet named John appeared in Israel and proclaimed that God’s deliverance was near. John baptized Jesus of Nazareth who began preaching that he was sent by God to reestablish God’s rule over his people in a new way, to rescue them from their sin and its effects. Jesus taught God’s people about this gracious rule of God and how life should be lived under this rule. Jesus not only taught about the reign of God, but he brought it to bear. He began erasing sin and the brokenness of creation. Jesus gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, he cast out demons, he forgave sins, he raised the dead. This was the king promised by God to deliver his people.

But tragically, God’s people rejected the deliverer whom God had sent. As they had rejected God so many times before, so too, they rejected Jesus. In the height of human sin, they arrested Jesus and gave him over to the Roman authorities who crucified him on the cross.

But God’s mission to restore his creation could not be foiled by even rejection and death. God raised Jesus from the dead, and in his death and resurrection he triumphed over sin, death, and the devil. The risen Jesus appeared to over five-hundred witnesses and he commissioned his disciples to spread the good news: Jesus truly is the one sent by God, he came to bring the reign of God and even now God’s kingdom is available to those who repent and believe. Further, Jesus will one day return and finish what he started: the restoration of all creation. In this restoration sin, evil, and death will finally be destroyed once and for all, creation will be restored to perfection, and God will once again dwell with his people as he did in the very beginning.

This good news of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the promise of a future restoration was preached by Jesus’ disciples throughout Israel and beyond. It was preached in Athens when Paul proclaims, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which to judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31) The church spreads the good news concerning Jesus as it waits for his return.

The good news has made its way around the world for the last two thousand years, leaving in its wake communities of Christians who gather together in churches. Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church is one of these communities. Our church finds itself living a grand story, the story of God restoring his broken creation through his Son and Holy Spirit. Christ Jesus will return, but until he does we seek to live as a community that follows Christ where he leads today - and we hope you will join us!

The Christian Story is a good starting point but there is more to be said. The Christian Story gives rise to Christian Doctrine, our beliefs about God and his world. As Lutherans, we hold to Lutheran doctrine not because of our desire to be Lutheran, but because we believe that the Lutheran understanding is the best way to be Christian.

Our church is a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Our doctrine is confessed in the Book of Concord. This book is a collection of confessional documents. Luther and the other writers of these confessions did not want to be doctrinal innovators. They maintain that we believe and teach nothing more and nothing less than what the Scriptures themselves teach and what Christians through the ages have always believed.

For more information regarding the doctrine confessed at Christ Our Savior, here are some resources:

The Book of Concord, the confession of our beliefs

Belief page of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod has many helpful links that will help you get to know Lutheran theology.

Hopefully these online resources are helpful, but we encourage you to bring any questions or concerns to our pastor. Pastor Drew would love to set a time to get to know you and talk about any questions, doctrinal or otherwise, that you may have.