There are a lot of churches out there, even in our small little town of Alpine.  We’re glad you are checking out our website, especially if you are doing what they call “church shopping!”  Some people object to this phrase and what it conveys about the process of selecting a church home.  However, just as you carefully shop for major life purchases, such as cars and houses – which have a limited lifespans – how much more should you carefully investigate your potential church home, which has implications for your eternal life?!

Recognizing that you may be new to Alpine, new to Christianity, new to Lutheranism, or new to the Missouri Synod, this page can help you “shop” well for a good and healthy Christian church.  Not all churches are alike, nor are they equally good, nor do they all lead people to the same place.

Here is a checklist of some things you may want to consider as you “shop” for your church home:

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• Purely preaches God's Gospel message of Jesus Christ

• Rightly administers the Sacraments according to the Gospel

• Has a historic Christian liturgy for divine worship service

• Sings timeless Christian songs/hymns that are Scripturally accurate

• Supports ministries and missions locally and distantly

• Has opportunities for service locally and distantly

• Has opportunities for individual and group Bible studies

• Has activities that engage your social life with other Christians

• Has friendly and supportive people

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Let’s first consider the term “Church.”  Depending on the context, the word “church” can refer to four things: everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, those who belong to a certain denomination, those who belong to a local congregation, or a house of worship (the building in which a local congregation meets).

Church, in the sense of “everyone who believes in Jesus Christ,” is an article of faith.  This Church we confess is to be one, holy, universal (far bigger than one place and time), and apostolic.  When we refer to the Church in the sense of everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, we sometimes say the Church is “invisible” or “hidden” in the world, since we can’t see people’s faith.  At the same time, that use of the word “Church” has “visible” or “revealed” aspects in the world, as those people who truly believe gather around the purely preached Word of God and the Sacraments administered according to the Gospel.

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In such assemblies, believers and unbelievers may be mixed together.  It is on account of the presence of true believers that such assemblies are called the “Church.”  Those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior could be a part of any Christian denomination.  Yet, we would more expect to find true believers in a church that believes, teaches, and confesses the inerrant, infallible, unchanging, sufficient, living truth of the Word of God.

Church in the sense of Christian “denomination” is a group of congregations that have formed their own organization and distinctive confession of faith in Jesus Christ.  This group may or may not have its own formal name and may or may not identify itself as a denomination.  So long as those churches that make up a certain denomination claim, believe, teach, and confess Jesus Christ as their only Lord and Savior, according to the Word of God, they are part of the greater, universal Christian faith.

Other well-known religions in the world are Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.  Yet, the world essentially only has two religions: one that teaches we must save ourselves by our good works, and the other that teaches that God saves us by His grace and mercy by sending Jesus Christ to be born, suffer, die, and rise again for us.  Some denominations that inaccurately identify themselves as Christian, and all other religions of the world, all falsely teach that we must save ourselves.  A true, orthodox, Christian denomination teaches the reality: God saves us.

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As mentioned above, the word “church” can also refer to local congregations because it is in those places that true believers gather around God’s Word and Sacraments, even if unbelievers are mixed in with them.  The Bible gives us examples of such congregations as the early churches in the city of Rome, in the province of Galatia, and in the region of Asia Minor.  Such congregations are where all the definitions of “church” really come together.  So, we usually find the Church, in the sense of true believers in Christ, visible and in the form of a local congregation, usually belonging to a denomination and worshiping in a specific building that may or may not resemble a traditional-looking church building.