This is good news! This is very good news the apostle Paul says is worthy to be received by all, which means it is news that needs to be proclaimed to all.

Therefore, we preach (proclaim) Christ crucified and risen again according to the Scriptures–as the message the world needs to receive in order to be reconciled to God and to come into the peace and freedom of His everlasting kingdom.

The Gospel (“good news”) of the Cross and Empty Tomb of Jesus Christ is the message that defines and shapes our ministry.

As we consider the path Jesus took in obedience to the Father was a path that led to the Cross, we come to realize the call of Jesus is essentially a call to come and die.

Faithful discipleship is a daily taking up the Cross of Jesus, a daily dying to self by submitting our selves–our thoughts, words and deeds–to His lordship.

But Jesus is a Lord worthy of our allegiance. By His own obedience to the will of God, He has accomplished our salvation through His death and resurrection. He is worthy of the title, King of kings and Lord of lords. Indeed, all authority in heaven and earth belongs to Him.

In that authority, He calls us not only to come and be disciples (followers), but to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey His commandments.

We are committed to being and making faithful disciples in the way of the Cross. We believe this is properly done in the context of community, that is, the Church. In other words, we are not called by Jesus to walk alone. We walk together in and by His Spirit, who indwells His Church.

But we have the privilege and duty to gather every Sunday to lift up our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving in worship together as His Church.

There are many benefits in coming together on Sundays, but our primary purpose is to praise and magnify Almighty God, who has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To that end, we try to ensure that every aspect of our Sunday service of worship centers our attention on God, for He alone is worthy of our praise.

Being in God’s house for worship is a great blessing, but we do not come to get something on Sundays; we come to offer something. We are not an audience of spectators gathered to watch or hear or experience worship, we are active participants, engaged in offering corporate praise to the Lord.

Each week in our service, we are reminded our worship is a participation in the heavenly worship of God, as we declare, “Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we worship and magnify your glorious name; forever praising you, and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Glory be to you, O Lord, most high.”

Our God is the King of Glory. Let us make His praise glorious!

Prayer is the notable duty which both disciplines and dedicates the soul to God. It is a sacrifice of our time and the foundation of Christian HOPE. Prayer teaches us dependence upon God and focuses our attention on His promises.

The Lord’s Prayer is our model both for prayer and for life, as it reminds us that we obtain everything we need for life and godliness when seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

The Ten Commandments are the foundation of our love for God and our neighbor.

Fasting is the notable duty that disciplines faithful devotion of the body to God.

While the Creeds provide us the content of Christian Faith, giving is, perhaps, the easiest way to measure our faith in action. (Easy, because there is something tangible to be measured.) Our finances and how we use them are very much a spiritual matter. There is spiritual disconnect, when one claims to trust God with the eternal state of his soul, yet is unwilling to trust God by giving generously of his temporal estate and substance. Faithful Christian stewardship of what God has given to us includes generous giving.

We hope to cultivate a spirit of generosity in our church that corresponds joyfully and appropriately to the lavish generosity of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.

Alms giving (giving to those in need) in particular is the notable duty that disciplines the devotion of our substance to the Lord.

Of course, the kingdom does not grow merely through our being intentional. We recognize that genuine growth is the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of people and in society. But we must always be looking outward–how do we bring the lost sheep of Christ within the fold? How do we shine the light of His Gospel so that others might see and come into the light?

We pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Building, spreading, advancing, growing, multiplying: the kingdom of heaven filling every corner of this world as every heart and mind is set free from bondage to sin and death and brought into the liberty of the lordship of Christ.

And so we work by the power of the Holy Spirit to reconcile the world by winning the heart of Europe–embracing Berlin in the love of God’s Kingdom!

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God!