Welcome to St. Matthew Lutheran Church
We celebrate Divine Service each Sunday. We gather together at the call of God to receive the gifts that He so graciously wishes to pour out on us. It is His Service to us. In each element of the service, every tradition, and every ceremony confesses the promises of grace found in God's Word. As we gather together in fellowship in our small congregation here on the south shore of Kauai, we know that believers around the world are celebrating with us, receiving the same Body and Blood, using the same traditions, and praying many of the same prayers.
St. Matthew began as a small group of families that came to the Lutheran faith from a wide range of Christian backgrounds. Almost every adult member converted to Lutheranism being granted a desire for a worship that is centered around what God does for us, learning a deep respect for God's Law and a great appreciation for the Good News of His Grace especially considering our failure to perfectly keep His Law. For most of us there was much study and personal searching to find a church that focused on what God does for us, and the Grace God offers us in the person and work of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is His righteousness that redeems our pitiful attempts to love our neighbor and His gifts that continue to strengthen us for that service of our neighbor.
We are a mission endeavor of the California/Nevada/Hawaii district of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
The word synod means "walking together," and that is what we desire to do - walk together with other churches in what we believe (doctrine) and the way we do things (practice). In a synod, individual congregations link themselves together and to the other congregations through a common confession of faith and life.
We trace our faith back to the very beginning when God created the heavens and earth and first fellowshiped with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. From the first promise of a Savior in Genesis 3:15 to the Word becoming flesh - we begin to see how much God loved us, and Jesus ' sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection confirms both our hope and our future. We are the people of God - gathered together, fed and formed in His Divine Service of us and sent forth to love our neighbor.
We celebrate Holy Communion each Sunday with the biblical conviction that the body and blood of Christ are truly present with the bread and wine for the edification of the believer and the condemnation of those who do not believe. We rejoice in this mystery, where our gracious Lord gives the gift of the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation by giving Himself in this Sacrament.
If you want to know what we believe, teach, and confess about God and His Word, you may refer to our confessions contained in the Book of Concord. A good place to start in the Book of Concord is the Small Catechism (the word catechism means 'to echo back' speaking of the nature of learning the truths of God through repetition) which teaches the Faith through the explanation of the Ten Commandments, the Apostle's Creed, the Lord's Prayer, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Confession and Absolution.
http://bookofconcord.org/whatisalutheran.php
We Welcome YOU to join us for worship!
This is a gathering of lowly sinners before a loving and forgiving God. We have each had the pleasure of bowing our heads before our Lord, and felt the refreshing blessing of His Grace in the Absolution delivered in Word and Sacrament. We hope that we can share this blessing with you and enjoy each others fellowship here on earth; and then as we are promised, a deep abiding fellowship for eternity in Heaven.
It would be our joy to meet you and celebrate God's Grace with you.
We would like to encourage those who could use prayer right now, and especially hope that if you have questions, doubts, or fears, that you will take this opportunity to hear more about God's Good News and the love that he has for His people.
We offer a special welcome to those of you who are visiting Kauai, and look forward to introducing you to our church family. As Christian brothers and sisters, it is a joy to meet more of the family! We would be blessed to have you worship with us.