The Good News
The Good News is that we are forgiven and beloved children of God. Period. No ifs, no ands, no buts. There are absolutely no qualifiers on God’s grace. God loves YOU!
Many spend their lives trying to earn God’s approval by following rules, attending religious services, or being a good person. The truth is that morality for morality’s sake gains us nothing. Instead, God calls us to know of the deep love God has for us and then to share the joy of that love with others for the sake of the world.
At Christ Lutheran the following points help to summarize what the Good News means to us.
God loves you and created you good
In the beginning, God created everything out of nothing and declared that all that had been made was good!
Indeed, humans are created in the very image of God and have God’s breath, God’s very spirit, inside us. God created us to live full, beautiful, and bountiful lives.
We all make mistakes
Sin really is brokenness, in our relationship with ourselves, our relationship with our neighbor, or our relationship with God.
We have all caused brokenness in our lives and the world; not a single one of us, no matter how “holy,” can say they are without sin. This brokenness creates distance not only in our human relationships but also in our relationship with God.
God loves you even still, forgives you, and claims you
God is love, and that love became incarnate (which is a churchy word meaning God became human) in the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus manifested God’s love in the world in a way it had never been before. Through his miracles, teachings, healings, eating, drinking, and praying, indeed all that he did, Jesus showed us God’s deep love for each and every last one of us. Whether we are poor or rich, insiders or outsiders, holy code followers or outcasts, Jesus shows time and again that God’s love and grace have claimed us as God’s sons and daughters. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
We are privileged to be called to share this Good News with others
As Lutherans, we aren’t always known to be the best evangelists, but sharing the love of God for us is simple when we realize how fully it affects every aspect of our lives.
As you come to Christ Lutheran, you will see the love of God active in the welcome you receive from others, in the support you receive through meals, prayers, and cards during a time of crisis, in the service that we seek to do for the least of these in our community of San Antonio, and in the justice that we call for on behalf of ALL God’s children. We challenge you to come and see and then go and tell the GOOD NEWS of God!
Christ Lutheran is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Lutherans are Christians who accept the teachings of Martin Luther (1483 – 1546). Luther was a German theologian who realized that there were significant differences between what he read in the Bible and the practices of the Roman Catholic Church at that time. On October 31, 1517, he posted a challenge on the door of Wittenberg University, titled “95 Theses” (to debate 95 theological issues). His hope was that the church would reform its practice and preaching to be more consistent with the Word of God as contained in the Bible.
Today, nearly five centuries later, Lutherans still celebrate the Reformation on October 31 and still hold to the basic principles of Luther’s theological teachings, such as Grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone. These comprise the very essence of Lutheranism:
- We are saved by the grace of God alone — not by anything we do;
- Our salvation is through faith alone — a confident trust in God, who in Christ promises us forgiveness, life and salvation; and
- The Bible is the norm for faith and life — the true standard by which teachings and doctrines are to be judged.
