About Us-Church
What We Believe
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod…Oldest Christian church!
Learn more at: The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod
What we believe:
- We believe in one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- We believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and the only way to heaven.
- We believe the Holy Spirit lives in us and empower us.
Many people say that “All religions are alike.” To some degree that is true. If you consider the entry point of all Christian faiths, they look alike. Everyone says they believe in Jesus and are founded on the Word, but when you get deeper into that faith, you find out what is unique about that church.
Unfortunately, by then you have relationships with the Pastor and people. Many people decide to ignore the things they don’t believe and stay superficial about their faith. I want something different for my people and will discuss our differences with you anytime. I have also prepared an outline of the different beliefs from their own literature so as not to be biased.
It’s fun to church shop and find a church that is nice!
…but…
Wouldn’t it be better to find one that is right?
Therefore, let me sum up what we believe in a way that may help you to understand the differences:
After much study and searching, Martin Luther broke from the Catholic Church because he realized that the focus was not on Christ alone. He was against buying your way out of purgatory and praying to saints. He was against works that made the individual look good. He said everything was about Christ and His redeeming work.
As “Protestants (protestors)”, most of us agree on this but our motives are distinctly different. For us as Lutherans, we believe it is only Christ. We don’t accept or do anything to receive God’s grace. Christ does it for us and if we get out of the way and let Him, He will do great things through us. At the end of the day, a Lutheran can only say, “WOW, God is so good!” Look what He did here and here. All others, except Presbyterians, will begin by saying ‘I’. For example, “When I accepted Jesus…” or “I did this or I did that.” This does not make those faiths the antichrist. They are faiths that came out of the enlightenment and placed the focus on human reason and personal endeavor. What about works and doing good things? Yes! We should do them more than anyone and more graciously, because all our works are in thanks. We are like the one Leper who returned to give thanks. I’ll help you because God is so gracious to me that I am compelled by love.
NOTE: This is what we believe, but not always what we practice. All beliefs have a variety of people’s faith in them. I’ve spoken with people of almost every religion, even Jew and Greek. They all have people who really know their beliefs and some that don’t have a clue.
My witness is that Jesus claimed me and makes me worth more than I could ever imagine. I want to share how I couldn’t do all that fancy “churchy” stuff. I didn’t know the Bible or all the rules, but Christ used me and opened my eyes. Then I went to school where I studied and learned. I studied in Greek and wrestled with the faith. All along, I found that Jesus was preparing me for this moment in time. Jesus used me in the creation of Promise. As Mother Teresa once said,
“I am nothing. He is all. I do nothing on my own.
He does it. That is what I am, God’s Pencil.”
Obviously, we have endless books and scriptural references, but I assume if you’re reading this, you’re trying to get a quick understanding of what it means to be Lutheran.
Only Jesus! Only Grace! Only the Word!
Point of clarification: I believe there are many “potential” bridges we could make in all our beliefs, but we take sides and fight. Shame on us all! But there is one area that we should never compromise and that is Jesus Christ Son of God. The MORMON and JEHOVAH WITNESS CULTS have violated that witness and will be held forever accountable (Galatians 1:6). They are NOT Christian, they are Cults. Mormons believe in 3 Gods. They have a secret society. They use Christian language in their literature to lure you in. BEWARE!!!! Jesus was a man to Mormons and a lesser God to the Jehovah Witness. The book of Mormon is filled with lies. They even claim Jesus was born in Jerusalem and Joseph Smith was in the line of Melchizedek. Joseph Smith was born in England. Only Christ was born in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6). The name Jehovah in itself is a corrupt form of Hebrew and yet they proclaim they have the true name. These cults were created in the 1800′s and come from a long line of heresies that were present in the early church. They have always been renounced!
Church shop away! Put us to the test. I will talk with you about any Christian faith, objectively! BUT DO NOT allow yourself to be captured by the Mormon or Jehovah Witness cults. The price is eternal!
Promise Lutheran Church and Preschool was founded on December 1, 2002 by Pastor Chris Deknatel and family. The work began in February of 2002 as he and his family went door-to-door passing out fliers and following up with anyone interested. December 1, 2002 Promise opened with our first worship service with 100 worshippers. From that point on we have grown and developed into a thriving, healthy, positive church of over 200 in worship and 250 in membership.
Promise has seen some amazing days. Our offices were in the Pastor’s living room and often people would walk in the front door after hours not realizing it was his home. We have passed out fliers by hand, filled plastics bags with postcards and drove around throwing them on driveways, participated in parades, worshipped in the High School, Elementary school, Junior High school and now our own Preschool. Some of our favorite events have been Steak, Potato and Football on Monday Nights, Living Nativity each year, Retreats, Youth choir and music, our preschool events and many more activities that are being added every day. We have had an amazing journey and opportunity to serve our Lord and bring a genuine Christ loving, people teaching church to Murrieta.
Our church is now in our preschool on 9 acres, 1 mile south of Wal-Mart on Madison Avenue. Our driveway borders the Border Patrol fence, 50 feet south of Guava. Our hope is that one day we will build a beautiful sanctuary to the Lord, but only if we grow. We will NOT burden ourselves with finances so as to spend the rest of our life beating people up over money. Our goal is to remain a manageable size so that there is a sense of fellowship and community. As we grow beyond that size which is our Lord’s ultimate goal, we will birth more churches in our area, retaining the faith community in each church.
- Take the word of God living and active to all people
- Bring grace and salvation
- As we make workers for the kingdom of God
What does this mean?
“I believe God is more often displeased with the church at large than He is pleased. Sin has seized its opportunities afforded by the Devil and made a mess of many churches and church bodies. Through a life of experience in the church, prayer and study, God has given me a vision to create a church that incorporates the strengths of the best, while overcoming the pitfalls of the fallen.”
The vision that we see being planted at Promise contains the following Core Values:
1. Leadership of a church should be well educated in scripture and the church.
“Too often the lay leadership in the church is ignorant of God and the church. They lead from power, ignorance or what they have seen before. They do this with authority as if it is God‟s will. They are seldom in Bible study, but yet are blessed with the responsibility to dictate the direction of the church. I want the people who have studied the Bible, church, church trends and are rich in faith, wisdom and knowledge, to lead our direction; not the person with the loudest voice or the most relatives!”
2. Gifts should be used regardless of age or gender.
“The Body of Christ is made up of its people who are given gifts to be used by God for His service. Many times people are held from using their gifts because their ideas may be too creative or they may be too young. As long as they are in line with the vision, values and direction of the church, and if they possess the necessary skills and abilities to do the job (or are willing to be mentored), then I want a church that encourages their participation. Twenty percent serve because the eighty percent aren‟t allowed.”
3. Use what works. Learn from all environments.
“Why try to reinvent the wheel? There are churches of all faiths that are doing things well. We should take their models and not be so proud. Mormons for example require a 5 a.m. class several times a week and a two year pilgrimage for their boys; while we pray that our youth show up once a week for fun and games and a devotional style study. Every faith in the world has something to consider and learn. Every faith is able to expect, ask, and inspire of its people extraordinary things. Why shouldn‟t we? In addition, the world is a microcosm of knowledge. Watch how the media wins people. Watch how politicians spin something. Make their work ethical, but use the same thing in the church. For example, they use key words and personalities to gather people. Look at signs and advertising in our world. Why shouldn‟t we draw from this and excel in it with God‟s help?” 2007 Vision, Values, and Guidelines 5 Values (continued)
4. Equip the saints with the Word of God for self-motivated, lifelong learning.
“People are massively ignorant of scripture and God. I find that very few of the twenty percent who are doing the serving actually know what Lutherans believe. They all have a reformed dysfunctional idea of scripture and God. It has always been my belief that the church must foster lifelong learning. The desire to learn must be fostered from within. It is the churches job to provide the resources to learn and to call the learner into knowledge. However, it is always first and foremost the responsibility of the learner to learn.”
5. Churches should be active in their work.
“The church reveals the manifold wisdom of God. What has the church done that any heavenly being would want to watch? How are we structured to bring about a revelation of God‟s will? This requires people who are not followers, but rather out on the edge seeking God‟s will and attacking the gates of hell. The Lutheran church has for too long sat and defended its beliefs. If we are the true church we should be attacking the gates of hell and live in a state of war.”
6. People, events, rituals, and traditions should reflect scripture or be understood as a tradition; not a biblical precedence, even if it has been done for centuries.
“A church that practices what it preaches. Its behaviors and actions align with its beliefs and understandings. We give lip service to God. If we want to reach outward, then we have to do things that reach those people who don‟t want to be reached. We must also respond within worship in a manner that reflects what we are saying. If we are proclaiming victory and salvation it should be done with all the zeal of the angels. We should sing and respond as though we believe what we are saying. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. Traditions are the living faith of the dead!”
7. Unified body without fighting.
“Too often I hear people disillusioned by the church. They hear the things going on inside and are appalled that it is a church. People fight with one another over the littlest things. When we first started up I professed to anyone who „causes trouble‟ in this church (to the detriment of the church body and in conscious conflict towards God‟s Word); they would be ushered to the door. For the sake of the lost and new Christians we must always strive for unity or find another church of like-mindedness.”2007 Vision, Values, and Guidelines 6
Values (continued) “Therefore, a collective plan must be put into place that establishes bold desires and expectations of its people to move forward in concert with this vision, which I believe has been given by God. It is really nothing new, since God already spoke most of this against the church in the first four chapters of Revelation.”
8. Invested in the power of God.
“The church must expect and set up situations where God can provide and deliver on His miraculous capabilities. Authentic prayer must be a centerpiece in all our activities, wants and desires. We must learn how to present and ask for things in a way that enables God to work. For example, we should set a realistic vision for our leadership and pray waiting on God‟s return to fill those needs.”
We encourage every member to :
- See Bible Study as a high priority. We can’t worship or follow God if we don’t know Him.
- See outreach as our role and function. Jesus commanded us to seek the lost.
- See the love of God as the only way to live. God’s house should be fun. If we are a body that loves each other, we should have a good time showing it. Who wants to come to a “grouch house?”
Now if you’re wondering about the many other functions of the church, they all flow out of the three main functions above. For example, missions that are local and abroad, flow from outreach, love and understanding through education. Care for the elderly or sick is a natural expression of love. The same would be true for every divorced, single, married or remarried person in the world. Many church professionals have said that a church has to be about one type of person, but that’s not true. We need all ages and people so that we might learn from each other and appreciate each other. To a new mother, some of the best advice can come from a loving “Grandma type”. To lose that would be to lose what it means to be family. Families come in all shapes and sizes. So does Promise Lutheran Church.
