In the Love of Christ

We invite you to worship where you will be graciously welcomed in the love and hospitality of Jesus Christ.

Our purpose is to worship God together, share our faith, and spread the love of Jesus through service to all.

We've been a part of the growing Heath Community since 1965. We are a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ( ELCA).

Here is an opportunity for all ages to grow, learn, share and celebrate the love of God! Come and See!

We hope you are inspired by our website and will want to come and join us in worship next Sunday.

We also encourage members and visitors alike to look us up on Face book as we move more and more of our dynamic web content to that platform.

We can be found at two spots.  Our Fan page is called :

"ChristEvangelicalLutheran"

Our Internal Group page for sharing and networking is called:

"CELC E-Church"

Both of these forums require you only to be a Facebook member to read information.  Implicit permission to Post on our E-Church Group Page is part of group membership privileges and responsibility.  The Facebook group forum is monitored by three administrators but not censored. 

We look to this quasi-static website and our Fan Page to be primarily a one way information transmittal platform and the Group Page to be a place to share dynamic information with your brothers and sisters in Christ through  our chosen  CELC social networking tool.

Ask anyone on the e-team for help setting up your Facebook access. Visit and "Like" our Facebook page often to help spread the gospel to you friends outside the church.  It really works!!!

Next Sunday's Gospel Theme

January 28 2012 

Authority and Grace

What is this outburst that interrupts Jesus' teaching in the synagogue? "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?" the man rages. "Have you come to destroy us?" And who, exactly, does this man mean by "us"? Mark makes it clear that this is not the senseless raving of a madman but rather the perceptive observation of someone who is demon-possessed. The man's language tells Jesus precisely who he is dealing with. This is spiritual warfare, and "us" is none other than the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:9). Here, in Mark's first chapter, Satan has wasted little time in getting back to work after his failure to defeat Jesus in the wilderness.

 Jesus does not answer the question directly, but his authoritative response to God's enemies speaks for itself and proclaims the reality we encounter throughout the New Testament: Yes! Jesus has come to destroy you!

The gospel message takes us one step further. Being cured of demons does not just free persons who were possessed; it frees them to be with Jesus. This is beautifully articulated in the story of the Gerasene demoniac later in Mark. As Jesus prepares to leave after sending the unclean spirits (again plural) into the herd of swine, the man who had been possessed "begged [Jesus] that he might be with him" (Mark 5:18).

 We all wrestle with demons of various sizes, shapes, and degrees. They manifest themselves as harmful habits, obsessive attachments, and destructive addictions. They sap our yearning for God, that most poignant quality of our humanity, and keep us chained to the myth of self-sufficiency.

 Our first task is to name these addictions for what they are. Then we may call upon God's transformative power and, with the grace that is ours through the love of Christ available to us in full measure in every circumstance of life, walk freely into Jesus' arms.