GLORIA DEI LUTHERAN CHURCH

Mission Focus (re-affirmed 12/15/19)

Called and Sent to Share Christ’s Love

We believe that sharing Christ’s love requires acts of charity and service, advocacy for justice and giving voice to the Gospel of hope.

1.    Acts of charity and service address immediate needs: providing food for the hungry, drink for those who thirst, clothing for those who are without, care for the imprisoned. In doing these things as individuals and as a church we share Christ’s love. Our involvement in such community groups as Matthew 25:40, Garland Good Samaritans, the Garland Overnight Warming Station (GLOWS), Pet Partners, and Feral Friends are also ways of manifesting God’s love for the world. 

2.    Sharing Christ’s love further involves advocacy for justice. The prophets criticized monarchs, aristocrats and merchants as well as people on the street calling them to amend their practices and policies for the sake of justice.* Jesus also did it in confronting religious leaders who were also political power brokers of his time. Justice work focuses on addressing attitudes and policies that have become institutionalized and have resulted in disparities in treatment, neglect and even abuse. As advocates for justice we view the following as among our missional tasks: 

a.     Understanding and addressing all forms of racism and sexism as well as other dehumanizing social processes such as classism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia (the fear of strangers and other cultures);

b.    Advocating for those who are often marginalized with special focus on the intellectually, physically, and/or developmentally challenged;

c.     Affirming the broadly inclusive nature of the kingdom of God, maintaining that sexual orientation and gender identification have no bearing upon one’s status before the Creator;

d.    Caring for the earth and its creatures while celebrating the many ways in which God’s grace and majesty can be experienced in our relationships to animal life in all its diversity.

Care through advocacy is done by sharing our personal perspectives in courageous conversations and making our views known to our elected officials. We do that through partnerships with such groups as Faith in Texas, Texas Impact, Mosaic, Pet Partners, and Feral Friends.

3.    We are called to give verbal expression to the Gospel of hope as a means of sharing Christ’s love. Peter urges disciples to always be prepared to give reason for the hope that is within (I Peter 3:15). Gospel sharing can be as simple as saying, “Because of Christ, I believe our eternal future is good.” 

*I & II Kings can be looked upon as a critique of monarchs. Elijah’s confrontations with the prophets of Baal, Queen Jezebel and King Ahab illustrate prophetic criticism of idolatry and political treachery (I Kings 18-22:40). Amos confronts Amaziah, a priest and advocate for the king (Amos 7:10-17), and criticizes those who engage in deceitful business practices (Amos 8:4-6). Jeremiah is commanded to speak to the people that they may heed the words of the covenant and experience God’s blessing (Jeremiah 11:1-5).