This falls under the topic: You’ve got to be kidding me! This information is taken from Acts Church Lakeway, Texas and is current as of August 2010. Acts Church is a mission of the Texas District of the LCMS. Here are your mission dollars at work.
acts church lakeway 1304 rr 620 n. austin, texas 78734 (Formerly Crossbridge Community Church)
If you would like to join the people of ACTS Church Lakeway in a covenant of membership, simply go to the Resources section of this website and print the PDF document called ‘Covenant Membership within ACTS Church Lakeway.’ Then sign, date, and share a copy of your commitment with us! Please make sure we have the names of everyone in your family, as well as your current contact information.
Transformation
The cross on which Christ was crucified forms the ‘T’ of our own transformation. “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
__ WORD: I recognize that God works through his Word to bring me to faith and to transform my life; therefore, I will strive to grow daily by spending time in the Bible
__ WATER: I have been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
OR:
__ I have not been baptized and desire to receive this means of God’s grace
__ MEAL: I realize I stumble daily and count on the forgiveness Christ offers through the Lord’s Supper
__ JOURNEY: I recognize that my transformation in Christ is a lifelong process
Sending
There is a time to study the maps and enlist a crew. There is a season for mending sails, varnishing woodwork, and staring out at the horizon. But there is also a time to roll up the charts, cast off the anchor, and sail past the edge of the painting. Jesus came not just to gather disciples but to send them. “I am sending you.” (Luke 10:3)
__ MYSPACE: I will live out my faith in Christ in the unique context in which God places me: family, work, school, neighborhood
__ LOCAL CHURCH: I will offer my resources of time and money to make the mission of ACTS Church Lakeway possible, and so that more churches may be started
__ LOCAL MISSION: I will work together with other followers of Christ to ‘be the church’ in the Lake Travis area, within specific targeted contexts
__ WORLD MISSION: I will support work done in the name of Christ in other parts of the country or world, through personal involvement or financial support
Signed: ve
Printed name:
Date:
The first constitution of the LCMS said, “Where possible a hundred hours should be used to instruct confirmands,” (Walther, Pastoral Theology, 188). It was lamented when my generation went from about 26 units for adult instruction down to about 15. Then my generation lamented instruction going down to as little as one day before asking someone to pledge their body and soul to the faith. Now all it takes is for a person to sign themselves up.
When will someone in officialdom say “enough is enough”? When will those charged with doctrinal supervision, supervise? I don’t even think you can join a Masonic Lodge with as little effort as you can join Acts Church Lakeway, and by joining her you join the LCMS.
What is at work here is the tried and true Church Growth principle of removing stumbling blocks. But don’t you find it lamentable if not laughable that the Jesus who put stumbling block after stumbling block in the path of potential followers is claimed to be served by followers dedicated to removing them to the point of ridiculousness?
I think most economists agree that the main cause of our recent economic downturn was the proliferation of home loans made to people who shouldn’t have had them. The parallels with the above practice are striking. If you give a person $200,000, you’d be a fool not to consider whether he had the character and perseverance to handle a debt of that magnitude. (And history has now shown that they were, indeed, fools. And criminals.) Can it be any less criminal to hand over the Body and Blood of Christ to someone who has at best only a vague notion of what he is being given? Loaning a large sum to a person who can’t handle it is a huge sin against that person; he may never recover the financial damage. St. Paul says something quite similar about Holy Communion. It puts me in mind of the drunk man with the indulgence whom Luther encountered. This is what the uninstructed do with free forgiveness. (This is what the irresponsible do with easy credit.)
Another, perhaps more secular problem: My first thought on reading this post was, “They’re doing this in _Austin_??!!” How hard would it be to round up a couple hundred pro-abortionists, or gay-activists, get them to all sign the form
and then stack the voters meetings at this “church”? Not very. And then we’ll have a pro-abortion LCMS congregation which has, not only a contemporary
music service, but also a “rainbow” service (which will be led by the female pastor they voted to ordain.)
It’s almost funny that this congregation thinks they’re “cutting edge”, when in fact they’re behind the times. They’ve done nothing here except copy the now-debunked practices of the more famous Mammon-worshipers. I predict they will end just as bankrupt.