Our Savior Lutheran Church

What are services like?
Sunday Morning Worship Services 8:15a.m. is a traditional, organ led worship service using Divine Service II from Lutheran Worship for communion and Divine Service, Setting Three from the Lutheran Service Book. The service often includes a children's message and special music. Communion is celebrated on the 1st and 3rd Sundays. 10:45a.m. is a spoken worship based on the Divine Service II liturgy from Lutheran Worship. Our music is led by a worship band and contains contemporary music as well as traditional hymns. Like our traditional service, it is family friendly with a children's message. We use multimedia technology which allows us to communicate the ancient, neverchanging Word of God using modern means. Communion is normally celebrated on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at 10:45am. Seasonal worship services include: * Thanksgiving Eve at 7pm and Thanksgiving Day at 9am * Christmas Eve 5:30pm Traditional "flashlight candle" service especially for families with small children 7 and 9pm Traditional Candlelight with hula 11pm Traditional Candlelight with Holy Communion * Christmas Day at 9am for a service of Holy Communion * New Year's Eve at 7pm. * Easter Sunday 6:30am Sunrise Celebration Service 9:30am Festival Service with Holy Communion (a buffet breakfast is served at 7:37am). * Advent is celebrated on the four (sometimes three) Wednesdays prior to Christmas at 7pm. * Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues each Wednesday until Holy Week with worship at 7pm. * Holy Week Maundy Thursday Holy Communion 7pm. Good Friday Service of Darkness 7pm. Bible Study Sunday Mornings at 9:37am, we study God's Word alternating between topical studies such as: "A ToolTime Marriage," "Living in a PostModern Church," and "ACTS: the Original Ancient Future Church" and studies of specific books of the Bible. From September through May we meet at the Mission Center for a weekday Bible study (call the church office to find out what we're studying and when.) Nursery Our Savior believes strongly that all children belong in worship, but we also understand some kids aren't quite ready to sit through an hour long service. There is a NURSERY AVAILABLE for children four and under during Sunday morning worship. Our volunteers are happy to help watch your children. The nursery is located next to the sanctuary (just look for the sign that says "FaithIsland/Nursery." It opens as soon as our volunteer arrives and closes up shortly after the 10:45am service ends. If you are interested in helping as a nursery volunteer, please speak with Pastor Mitch. A love for kids and a willingness to read a few stories or play some great games is a must! Fellowship Fellowship is an important part of Sunday Morning worship. Between services there is always coffee and tea available. On the Second Sunday of each month, the LWML has a goodie bake sale featuring all sorts of homemade (and other) brownies, cookies and cakes. The proceeds of the bake sale go toward a scholarship fund for students at Our Savior Lutheran School and Lutheran High School of Hawaii.

What is the community like?
Our Savior is a Bible centered church. 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 in Luke 2 - we have known that God loved us. And Jesus ' sacrifice on the cross in John 19 and His resurrection in Matthew 27 confirms both our hope and our future. We are the people of God - Gathered together to Worship and Sent forth to Serve. Our basic beliefs are summarized in a Small Catechism (the word catechism means 'teaching tool') that includes our beliefs on Communion, Baptism, the Lord's Prayer, the Apostle's Creed, Confession and Absolution and the Ten Commandments. What denomination do we belong to? We don't really belong to a denomination. Our Savior is part of a "synod" of churches that is located not only in the United States but around the globe. 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 to the other congregations through a common confession of faith and life. If you would like to know more about our "synod" - you can log in to the official website at www.lcms.org. There's even a place where you can find answers to Frequently Asked Questions and lots of informational brochures and flyers about who we are and what we believe as a church body.

What if I'm not a Christian?
Missions Missions are an integral part of the Christian life. We are Gathered Together to Worship AND Sent Forth to Serve. In Matthew 28:19, God sends us out as His ambassadors so that all people of all nations can hear the great news (Gospel) that God loves them and wants them to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Our Savior "does" mission work in many ways. We intentionally budget money each year to support our District and Synodical mission teams. We have a Quarterly Mission Offering chosen by the congregation (last year we gathered over $12,000 to support them). And we encourage people to go on short-term mission trips to Alaska. We have also been blessed to support field teams in Guinea, West Africa, Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea and other places as God opens both our hearts and minds to the needs of His world. If you would like to know more about where and how our Synod is working in the world, log into www.missions.lcms.org. It is every Christian's blessing and commission to share the Gospel with friends and relatives as God gives them the opportunity. Every believer has been given resources - they just need to follow their heart and get about His Work. Sometimes the greatest and only work we can do is to remember those in the Mission Field in our prayers, trusting in God to guide, direct and protect them in all their work.