CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

TO

ST. MATTHEW LUTHERAN CHURCH

Introduction

Welcome to St. Matthew Lutheran Church! What follows is a booklet of documents designed for those who would like more information about the Christian faith and about our church. The first document What Makes Lutheranism Different? is a brief description of Lutheran views and how Lutheranism differs from other types of Christian churches. Next follows The Vision of St. Matthew, which seeks to express what is unique about our particular congregation and how we seek to use our unique gifts to further God’s kingdom in this world. The final document is Opportunities at St. Matthew, which gives detailed information about the congregation and its various programs.

What Makes Lutheranism Different?

What is Lutheranism all about? One way that Lutherans often answer this question is through three key phrases. The first is “through grace alone,” which refers to the undeserved favor of God that flows from his love. The second is “through Christ alone,” which says that Christ’s work in his life was absolutely necessary for human salvation. And the third is “through faith alone,” which says that the Holy Spirit causes us to believe and that human good works cannot aid this. These phrases will also be mentioned below. What follows are a few bullet points that describe our Lutheran views (Martin Luther lived from 1483 to 1546) and at points contrast these from other views.

· The Trinity. The Trinity is the divine, loving community of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that has existed from eternity.

· Creation. The Father, Son, and Spirit created the world out of love, with human beings made in their image as the pinnacle of creation. The Father, Son, and Spirit have always wanted all human beings to be in a loving relationship with them, even as they have eternally had a loving relationship with one another. This contrasts with a view found in some Christian churches historically that says that God created the world chiefly to show forth his power.

· Jesus. The Son about 2000 years ago miraculously became a man named Jesus on this earth, doing powerful works that pointed to the Father as Creator, training a community of disciples to show forth his love, and sacrificing himself to pay for the sin of the world and bring the world to its consummation in heaven. Lutherans emphasize that Jesus had to die for the sin of the world and that salvation can only come through him. Salvation is “by Christ alone.” This contrasts with some “higher critical” views that deny that Jesus was born from the virgin Mary, did miracles, had a death that paid for the guilt of human sin, and was truly raised from the dead.

· Baptism. Lutherans believe that God has made us members of his family through Baptism and in connection with Baptism has created faith in us. This contrasts with some evangelical and Baptist views that say that Baptism is more a good work that a Christian does to prove his or her devotion to God. Lutherans emphasize God’s work in Baptism (“by grace alone”); these other views emphasize human work. A Lutheran view of Baptism also contrasts with Roman Catholic views that state that each of the “seven sacraments” helps a person along a spiritual journey, but a person can never know for sure that they are a Christian. In this Roman Catholic view Baptism only is helpful as a remedy for sin committed prior to the Baptism and has no lasting effects after this point in time.

· The Lord’s Supper. Lutherans believe that the Holy Spirit works through the Lord’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper to calm our consciences and forgive our ongoing sins. This contrasts with various Protestant views that state that one can’t be sure if the Holy Spirit is working in the Lord’s Supper. It also contrasts with the Roman Catholic view that in partaking of the Lord’s Supper Christians can’t be sure that all of their sins are forgiven but rather must do as many good works as possible to help earn their own salvation.

· Faith. Lutherans believe that faith is trust in God that is created and sustained by the Holy Spirit. For Lutherans salvation is “by faith alone.” This contrasts with certain Protestant views that say that an unbeliever has to make a “decision for Christ” and convert himself or herself apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lutheran view also contrasts with the Roman Catholic view that says that faith of itself is incomplete; here good works help complete faith so that faith and good works together earn human salvation.

· Scripture. Lutherans sometimes use a fourth phrase: “by Scripture alone.” Lutherans believe that the Scriptures are the means through which the Trinity reveals itself and the plan for human salvation. This contrasts with especially the traditional Roman Catholic view that sees church tradition and the authority of the pope as equal authorities next to Scripture and thus not truly subject to Scripture’s teachings.

· Worship. A person who visits a Lutheran church and is not familiar with it might think based on our worship that we are Roman Catholic. This is not true! While there are various similarities between Lutherans and Roman Catholics, what Lutherans and Roman Catholics believe is going on in worship is often radically different, as has been shown numerous times above. Lutherans always emphasize how things like Baptism and the Lord’s Supper have been set up by God (long before we existed) and that God works our salvation through these things. Roman Catholicism often rather sees human good works mixed up in these things so that the worshipper becomes an equal source of their own salvation. The Lutheran view also contrasts with various other Protestant views to the extent that other Protestants often don’t want to concretely tie down God’s working to what happens in worship. For Lutherans God is working in things like Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; for many other Protestants, God may be working in these things or he may not.

This then is a brief description of some of the things that make Lutheranism different. In pointing out a few differences between Lutherans and other Christians, it isn’t meant to be judgmental. We differ from each other as fellow sinners and more importantly as fellow Christians. We try to confess things that we believe agree with Scripture and will be helpful to other Christians and other people so that as many as possible might have eternal life.

The Vision of St. Matthew

I. Mission (What are we doing?)

· The mission statement seeks to identify what we're the best at. It looks at the intersection of the gifts of the various people in the congregation, the pastor’s gifts, and the needs in the community. Our mission statement is the following:

· “Enlightening people to make them blessed in Christ.”

II. Values (Why are we doing it?)

· Values refer to what we find important as we consider our mission. Some of our values are the following:

· grounded in worship

· graced mutual support

· passionate discovery

· loving motivation

· reaching neighbors

· equipping new disciples.

III. Strategy or Map (How are we doing it?)

· The Map looks especially at the programs that we offer as a church body whereby we might accomplish our mission (some of our programs would be worship, Bible classes, Sunday School, choir, handbell choir, LWML, community group, quilting group, sponsoring West Elementary school, etc.).

· Our church at the present time is focusing especially on:

· Devotional Resources to accompany other programs.

· Music programs.

· Children programs.

· See the picture on the next page for a visual depiction of our map.

IV. Measures (When are we successful?)

· Unlike the map which is a guide for what we want our programs to accomplish, the measures focus on what we want to see happen in individual people both within and influenced by our congregation.

· Some of our measures are the following:

· Grow

· Relate

· Listen

· Offer

· Invite

“Enlightening people to make them blessed in Christ.”

Opportunities at St. Matthew.

Welcome to St. Matthew Lutheran Church. What follows is meant to help familiarize you with some of the various programs offered by St. Matthew that you might want to utilize or contribute to.

Worship and Bible Study. St. Matthew has Sunday services with communion at 10:45 each Sunday with a Bible Study preceding at 9:30 in the Education Building. There is also a fellowship time with coffee and refreshments in the Education Building following the church service. We also offer midweek services during Advent and Lent on Wednesdays at 7 PM with a light supper preceding them at 6 PM.

Serving in Worship. There are various opportunities to serve our Lord during worship. Please call the church and speak with our secretary Sally if you are interested in any of the following: altar guild, greeter, reader, usher, acolyte, or worship assistant.

Music. St. Matthew takes pride in its music. Our organist Sarah Dukeman has a degree in Music Education and has also been classically trained on playing the organ. We have a new Allen organ, and we also utilize a piano in our worship. Our choir sings at various times throughout the year and always wants new voices. We also have a handbell choir that plays at services and occasionally at a local nursing home. We regularly involve various instruments in our services, such as trumpet, trombone, acoustic guitar, flute, strings, and more. Sarah is also eager to work with anyone interested in singing or playing an instrument to help accompany our worship.

Youth. We offer Sunday School for children at 9:30 AM using the “Growing in Christ” curriculum from Concordia Publishing House. Our organist Sarah also leads a children’s choir at certain times of the year. Our young families often get together for fellowship together, whether it be at a fellowship event, a service event, or a more informal gathering in a member’s home. We are currently offering a confirmation class that meets at pastor’s house each week. We also have either a traditional VBS or a “neighborhood VBS” at a local park each year. For more information about our youth opportunities please contact our church secretary Sally.

Other Opportunities. There are numerous other outreach opportunities and ways to help at St. Matthew. If you would like to be a part of our church leadership we encourage you to do so! When a month has five Sundays, on the fifth Sunday there is a potluck following the church service; we also have various other special fellowship opportunities throughout the year like pizza parties, football parties, bowling, etc. On the fourth Sunday of months with five Sundays, we assemble sack lunches for the needy at Feed My Sheep at the beginning of the Sunday School hour (9:30 AM). We have a community group that meets every two weeks and focuses on personal development and mission to the community. Women might be interested in our Lutheran Women's Mission League (LWML), which usually meets the first Tuesday of each month. The church also has a quilting group that meets each Saturday at church around noon and regularly donates numerous quilts to Gulfport Memorial Hospital for cancer patients. Our church often utilizes a Thrivent Action team to help the nearby school West Elementary, which we have adopted. If you would like to be in a community of prayer, we also have a prayer chain that serves our church and community. We also have a fairly substantial church rummage sale once per year that many members enjoy participating in. Finally, we welcome and encourage you to think of new opportunities for our church that you might have special gifts for.

General information. This book has much information about the church, but there is much more. Please check out our website (http://stmatthewgulfport.tripod.com) for sermons, resources, and more information. Check out our facebook page as well. Also available is a devotional booklet based on the Gospel of Matthew; copies may be picked up in the narthex of the church. Also available is a church directory with the pictures, addresses, phone numbers, and emails of the members of St. Matthew; also note at the beginning of the directory that the various committee chairs are listed. A copy of St. Matthew’s constitution and policy manual are also available upon request with our secretary Sally (228.864.6264). The church has office hours of at least Monday through Thursday, 9 AM until 1 PM. Please also feel free to contact Pastor Dukeman at any time to talk, ask questions, schedule a meeting, etc. Finally, more information is provided in the announcements at the end of each week's church service bulletin; we also have a monthly newsletter that can be emailed to you upon request or picked up in hardcopy form at the rear of the church (it is also available on our website).

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