Grace Lutheran Church

Sunday Evening Casual Prayer & Praise Service: 6:00 PM

Grace Lutheran Church is a body of believers called to a covenant relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As Children of God, recipients of His mercy, we serve and love in peace and unity, forgiving others as we have been forgiven, and so reflect his light throughout the world.

1. Provide, invite and involve people in a vibrant Lutheran worship experience centered on Christ and the sacraments.
2. Proclaim the love of God through Jesus Christ, inviting all people to become members of a caring, supportive and witnessing Christian community.
3. Provide a vital educational ministry which spans all age groups and supports the Christian’s lifelong process of spiritual growth and maturation in a non-Christian world.
4. Through preaching and teaching, invite all members to commit our time, talents and treasures to the service of God as part of our Christian responsibility.
5. Build a strong youth ministry that will support each youth’s growth in faith and his/her desire and ability to actively participate in the life of the church.
6. Fully integrate our congregation’s preschool, kindergarten and childcare program into the life of the congregation.
7. Develop an outreach ministry to Penn State students who worship at Grace, inviting them to become actively involved in the life of the congregation.
8. Establish a diverse broad-based adult ministry to, and with, our senior members, designed to: mobilize and enable the talents and energy of our seniors; provide for fellowship opportunities see to their ongoing education in faith; provide assistance to those who need help in meeting life’s transitions’ and to have regular pastoral visits with those in need.

What We Believe

About God

• We believe the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
• We believe God is the one and only God.
• We believe God created the world and all that exists.
• We believe God loves all His creation and gives humans free will. With our free will, we have sinned and fallen away from God.
• We believe God is intimately involved in every aspect of His creation.

• We believe God came to earth in Jesus to show us how to live in love and with justice; and to save us from our sins.
• We believe Jesus is God in the flesh. If you want to know God, then study and learn about Jesus.
• We believe Jesus was crucified and through His death, our sins are forgiven, and we are restored to a right relationship with God.
• We believe Jesus resurrected from the dead, and all who believe and trust that Jesus died for their sins will have their sins forgiven. They will be resurrected after they die to spend eternal life with Jesus.
• We believe we are justified and made right with God because of Jesus death. We cannot justify ourselves before God by our works.
• We believe that loving God and loving our neighbor, keeping the Ten Commandments and any other "good work" we do in Jesus name is extremely important and good. However, we believe all these actions are done in response to God's love for us in Christ and not as a way to earn God's love or salvation.

• We believe the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
• We believe it is given us in our baptisms.
• We believe with the Holy Spirit comes spiritual gifts given to each baptized person for the edification and mission of Jesus Christ and His church.

• We believe there are two sacraments - Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
• We believe God comes to us through the Word and water of Baptism, making us His children and heirs to all His promises.
• We believe baptism is God's action - not ours, and is dependent on God's promises. Therefore, we believe in baptizing infants as well as adults. We believe baptism is to be done once.
• We believe God comes to us through the Word and bread and wine of Holy Communion. We believe God is present in the bread and wine - His body and blood giving to all who eat and drink, the forgiveness of sins.
• We believe Holy Communion is to be given weekly for the nourishment and spiritual welfare of our members.

We believe the Holy Bible is the chief and most important way God reveals His word to us.
• We believe the Word of God and all one needs to know for salvation is revealed to us through the Holy Bible.
• We believe the Holy Bible is not the Word of God in and of itself-but we believe the Bible reveals the Word of God to us through its history, stories, and parables.
• We believe the Word of God to be infallible, authoritarian, and the norm and standard for our faith.
• We believe the Word of God comes to us either as Gospel or law, and it is our job to distinguish between the two.

• We believe the church is the group of people who regularly gather around Word and Sacrament.
• We believe the church is composed of all who believe that God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• We believe God is the one and only God, but He has revealed Himself to us in three ways - God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Spirit. Thus, we believe in The Trinity.

www.glcpa.org/

Contact:

Church Secretary
205 S Garner St
State College, PA 16801
Phone: (814) 238-2478
E-Mail: churchoffice@glcpa.org