ABOUT

Immanuel lutheran church

VISION + MISSION

Reflecting God’s Love

Celebrating that God is with us

Witnessing that God is for us

Growing as God works in us

Serving as God loves through us

A Message From the Pastor-

From Pastor Dan

As a pastor, there are two pieces of scripture that are central to how I understand my role in the world. The first is Romans 8.38-39 which states that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. The second is Apostle Paul’s guiding principle in ministry as stated in I Corinthians 2.2: “I have decided to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified.”

From these two passages, I feel it is paramount to my work as a leader in the church to see and treat all people not only as being created in God’s image but also as people for whom Christ has died, people who are loved by God freely, without limit. Jesus is the judge over the living and the dead—not me, thanks be to God—and if Jesus loves you enough to die and to rise from the dead, who am I to do anything but love you? Therefore, I see my call to be a pastor not just to serve among the community of Immanuel, but to help anyone and everyone experience the love of God, whoever they are, no matter what they have done or not done, however they understand themselves to be.

By the grace of God and to the best of my ability, I am here to listen to, talk with, pray with and for, challenge to grow in love, and guide in questions and situations of life and faith anyone who needs to know and trust that they are loved, accepted, forgiven, and have a God given purpose in the world. And I ask for forgiveness when I fail in this endeavor. It is my hope, that no matter who you are, you may know that you are loved and that you are welcome with this pastor and at Immanuel. God’s peace be with you.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

Immanuel Lutheran Church-Cresco is a congregation in the Northeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Our name, Immanuel, means “God with us.” As a faith community, we seek to live out the reality that God, in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is with us. We believe that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that God’s love has been made real and accessible to the whole world as a free gift—grace—and that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8.38-39). Our mission is to reflect God’s love into the world through our thoughts, words, and actions as individuals and as a faith community. 

We recognize the Bible as the written Word of God through which God reveals to us God’s promises and who God is for us and for the world, especially in Jesus—the Word made flesh. We confess the Nicene, Apostle’s, and Athanasian Creeds and recognize the Lutheran Confessions as helpful interpretations of scripture. We recognize that the church is the body of Christ in the world, not limited to a specific denomination or faith tradition. Therefore, we actively seek to partner with other congregations, both within and outside of the Lutheran tradition in ministry for the sake of the Gospel.

We believe that the church exists for the sake of others. Recognizing that we are imperfect human beings, we fall short of what God desires of us. Yet, by God’s grace and the help of the Spirit, we seek to live as a community grounded in the Gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ. In worship, we are encountered by God’s presence and made new by God’s grace through preaching, the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, confession and forgiveness, and the unity that we have as God’s beloved children—chosen, loved, forgiven, and redeemed by God—so that we might share God’s love with others. As a faith community, we seek to reflect God’s love through Christian Education, food and clothing ministries, prayer, and mutual support of one another.