A Christmas Message

Grace and peace,

As you all know, we are part of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The NALC has four core values to which we also ascribe. They are a sort of way of saying, “this is who we are and what we are about.” Our core values are: Christ Centered, Mission Driven, Congregationally Focused, and Traditionally Grounded.

Christ Centeredness is rightly the first of these. Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ is our purpose. Jesus said, “when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself,” (John12:23). This means that through the proclamation of God’s word, He will work to bring others to faith. This also means that our main purpose is not social service and civic virtue. However fun an event may be, and however old the traditions may be, if they are not for the sake of the Gospel, they are secondary. In our modern world, issues like social justice, civil welfare and political advocacy have become mistaken for the main task of the church. If that is the case, then the church is redundant. The Lions Club, Kiwanis Club, and the Rotary Club fulfill those purposes and do a much better job than the church ever has. That’s not to say that we are not supposed to care for our neighbor or do good works. St. James’ epistle tells us that true religion is caring for the widows and orphans. However, the first and greater command is to love God. We must remember that we are God’s people and Christ’s church. Any attempt to be anything else means we cease to be the church. The NALC is devoted to encouraging and helping our congregations to remain Christ centered. They create doctrinal statements for issues such as abortion, marriage, the proper use of baptism and more. They provide free teaching resources such as the Online Confirmation class that our own confirmands will benefit from. They oversee the ordination and placement of pastors to ensure that our pastors are devoted to Word and Sacrament ministry and are properly educated in the faith. For more information, I encourage you to go to thenalc.org.