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Who We Are: .................. > About > History |
Our Denominational
Affiliation...,
The Lutheran Church is a
Christian denomination that finds its roots in the teachings of the Bible
as professed by the leader of the
Reformation of the Christian Church -
Dr. Martin Luther and those who joined Luther in their opposition to
abuses to the Unfortunately, as time went by, Christians within the Protestant movement found it easiest to simply refer to those who joined Luther in the goal of reforming the Church of Luther's day as the, "Lutherans." Thus the nick-name "stuck." Nonetheless, the Great Reformer himself was not at all pleased with having his name placed upon those who sought to join in the Protestant movement of Luther's day. Several quotations reveal Luther's own disdain for such use of his name: "Why would anyone place my maggot-ridden name on a child of God?" and furthermore, "I ask that men make no reference to my name, and call themselves not Lutherans, but Christians."
Over the years, due to the
continuing struggles facing all of today's modern Christian communities
and the reality of mankind's fallen nature, large differences in
It is in light of this lack
of understanding and misperception that Crosspointe made the conscious
decision to forego the inclusion of the moniker "Lutheran" in our church
name. This was not done to be deceptive, nor out of a sense of
shame but rather to allow for us to have the opportunity to
share
our faith with those who would be inclined to avoid a church ear-marked as
Lutheran due to their misperceptions of just what the Lutheran
denomination is all about. One cannot dispel misinformation without
the opportunity to share the right information with those who have been
misinformed. Our goal has always been to simply bring people through
the doors in order to share the wonderful message of our Lutheran
Christian faith. To date, this goal has largely been successful.
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Christian faith in their day. To be sure, and to
dispel one rather popular form of mis-information, the Lutheran
denomination is NOT based upon a some "cult-like" following of the man
Martin Luther. Nor, as some have stated, is the Lutheran
denomination an offshoot brand of Roman Catholicism. In point of
fact, the original reference to Lutherans was filled with negative
derision on the part of the Roman Catholic
Church of Luther's day and was not at all a cordial "nick-name" but rather
was employed as a means of expressing disdain and dislike due to Luther's
consistent call for reformation within the Roman catholic Church itself.
interpretation
of the Lutheran Christian faith began to sever and divide the Lutheran
denomination. The Missouri Synod ("synod" meaning "a gathering
together" as in gathering specific congregations into a group) found itself holding
firm to the original Lutheran teachings such as "Grace Alone,"
"Faith Alone" and
"Scripture Alone," as defined within the "Lutheran Confessions" while
others claiming Lutheran heritage became more and more removed from such - becoming what most in the LCMS would define as "liberal." These differences include how the
Bible itself is to be viewed and interpreted as in whether or not it
contains errors, contradictions and man-made mythical stories or is in
fact inerrant as God's wholly inspired Word. This also includes a
variety of different teachings regarding some of today's social issues such
as the ordination and now blessing of homosexuals and homosexual unions,
approval of
the use of abortion etc. With the Missouri Synod holding
fast to the original understanding of Lutheranism's Biblical teachings and
standing avowedly conservative regarding today's social issues, it has become more
and more clear that a deepening division among Lutherans is in fact a sad
reality. Unfortunately, to those outside of the Lutheran
denomination, none of this is clearly understood, and where there is a
lack of understanding, misinformation and the like flows wide and free!
