What We Believe
STAINED! Windows Into God’s Story… Our Story…Your Story
They’re unavoidable. In fact, you’re surrounded by them at Redeemer! Created by artisans who have crafted masterpieces for some of the world’s greatest cathedrals (Washington National Cathedral, St. John the Divine Cathedral), Redeemer’s stained glass windows shine forth not only as a vivid proclamation of God’s story of redemption, but also as a testimony to Redeemer’s enduring commitment to “proclaim the Gospel to all generations” in everything we do.
God’s Story
Yet the windows are not the only things stained in our church. For we are a broken people, who gather together as a family, stained with all types of sin and the suffering sin causes. But that is a part of God’s story too that shines in our windows – God’s story that shines into the darkest recesses of our sinful stains and suffering with the light of Christ. God’s story of His Son, Jesus, being born among us and living in a stained world. God’s story of Jesus meeting stained people just like us and offering them hope, forgiving their sins, and granting them new life in Him.
Our Story
And so – because Jesus was stained with our sin, crucified, died and was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead – we are stained no more. Through Jesus, God’s story becomes our story. A story that not only shines through Redeemer’s beautiful stain glass, but shines through its beautiful stained, yet redeemed, people. God’s story shines as the stains of young and old alike are washed away in the baptismal font and we are stained no more. God’s story shines as His Word is proclaimed in the absolution, in the liturgy, and from the pulpit. And God’s story shines as our sins are forgiven and our faith is strengthened by Jesus’ body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. Through these means – God’s Word and Sacraments, which are Christ’s cross and tomb made real here and now – God’s story is made our story each week and lived out in our members’ lives each day.
Your Story
So how will your story end? We invite you to consider Redeemer as your church home and welcome you to become a part of our church family! Please take a few moments to learn more about us in the pages that follow. And it is our prayer that Redeemer might become your window into God’s story and the place where His story becomes your own.
To learn more about God’s Word and how we understand it as Lutheran Christians, check out this resource page provided by our church body, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.