“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a Building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Jesus, after His resurrection, speaks words of peace to His disciples: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19).

As messengers of His peace, we now pray, God grant His peace to you and to your house.

My name is Kent Heimbigner. I am the Pastor of Charity Lutheran Church. A little over ten years ago, my lovely wife, my five children (who are also lovely, most of the time), and I moved into a new home in the area of Burleson between I-35 and 174.

We love it here. The homes in this area are good homes, built by good builders. We have great neighbors. A short time ago, we sold our first Burleson home and moved into a new and larger one. We hope to live here for many years. For all these blessings, we give thanks to God.

Are you as excited as we are? Maybe you’ve lived in your home for many years now. Or maybe you’ve only been here a couple of days! In any case, God grant you all the happiness and contentment in your home that we have found in ours. Probably, you were pretty careful about buying your home. You wanted a good one, in a good location. After all, nobody buys a home expecting to live in it for just a matter of months. By the time you purchase a home, you’re planning to stay a while … and if you’re going to live in a home perhaps for many years, you want to be happy with it.

Dear neighbors and, we hope, soon-to-be friends, what if I could tell you, for certain, that you were going to live in a particular place for fifty years. There were only two homes available in that area: one a rundown shack, and the other an absolute mansion. I own them both … but I would be willing to give you one (either one!) for free. Which would you take?

Now, there’s a real “no-brainer.” We’d all take the mansion, wouldn’t we? You know, Scripture tells us that this life is not all there is. Much as we like our homes here, sooner or later, we will move … we’ll move from this world to the world to come. Forever is a lot longer than fifty years, hell is worse than a shack, and heaven is better than any mansion we’ve ever seen in this world. Shouldn’t we give even more thought to where we live for eternity than we did to deciding where to live in this world?

We here at Charity Lutheran Church have good news. Jesus Christ has suffered and died on the cross to pay the price for the forgiveness of our sins. On account of Him, God offers us the mansion — even more, He commands us to receive it! “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children…” (Acts 2:38-39).

I’m thankful for the neighbors I have in this world. And there is nothing … nothing … I want more, than for you to be my neighbors in the life of the world to come as well.

So welcome: welcome to the neighborhood (even if you’ve been here longer than we have!), and welcome to Charity Lutheran Church. We know we’re not the only church in town, and we absolutely do not believe you have to join ours in order to go to heaven. Just the same, if you are looking for a church home or if you do not already have one, we would love to have you come visit ours. Bible Classes are at 8:30 A.M., and Services start at 10 A.M.

We have sometimes been called a “TLC” congregation: that’s “traditional, liturgical, confessional.” We don’t chase after everything new and trendy. Our doctrine doesn’t change just because the date did. We’re a church that takes the Word of God seriously, that is, both the Holiness of God’s Law and the Good News (Gospel) of forgiveness for all our sins and failures in Christ Jesus. We take worship seriously, and you will see among us immediately the reverence that attends our services (punctuated, of course, by the occasional voice of the children, whom we welcome with open arms). We take eternity seriously, and we strive in every way to impart the saving Faith to all who come within our walls.

Visitors are always welcome. Communion is reserved for those who have been properly instructed, but New Member classes form frequently to prepare people to receive the Lord’s Supper with us. So come. “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him” (Psalm 34:8). If you have spiritual needs with which I as a Pastor or we as a congregation can help you, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Peace be with you! Your servant in Christ Jesus,

Rev. Kent A. Heimbigner, Ph.D.
(817) 295-8621