Messiah Lutheran Church, Knoxville TN

Pastor Eric Murray

A graduate of Georgia State University, Pastor Eric moved to Knoxville where he worked as a physical therapist at Fort Sanders Hospital prior to entering seminary. Upon graduation in 1995 from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC, Pastor Eric received a call to serve Mt. Zion - St. Luke Lutheran in Oglethorpe, GA. In 1999, Pastor Eric was called to a staff ministry at Christ the King Lutheran in Norcross, GA. Pastor Eric has been serving as Messiah's Pastor since July 2004

When not at Messiah, Pastor Eric enjoys spending time with his wife of 20 years, Heidi, their 8 year old daughter, Anna, and the "greatest dog East Tennessee has ever known," Buddy. Pastor Eric is also known to spend time bicycling, hiking, reading and enjoying a good cup of coffee with friends.

Contact Pastor Eric by email.

Joan McGinnis - Director of Music

Joan McGinnis has been the Director of Music at Messiah since January, 2006. A native of Powell, TN, Joan studied organ with member and former organist, John Brock, Professor of Music at the University of Tennessee where she received her Bachelor of Science in Music Education. Joan has served churches in Knoxville and Memphis, Tennessee, and Warren, Michigan. Prior to coming to Messiah, she was organist at First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, TN.

Joan teaches organ lessons at Messiah and piano lessons at her home studio in Powell. She has two "furbabies," Charley and Emma, and enjoys spending time with her family, especially her great nephews and nieces.

One of her interests is the visual aspects of the worship space. She has made several paraments and vestments for the churches she has served. She has also contributed to the worship space for the Methodist retreat center at Lake Junaluska, NC, as part of Liturgical Arts Week and Holston Annual Conference. As owner of threads of faith she has also been commissioned to create banners and paraments for churches and pastors across the southeast.

Contact Joan by email.

Kristin Kennedy - Administrative Assistant

Kristin has served as Messiah's Administrative Assistant since September, 1995. Prior to moving to Knoxville she served several years at a Southern Baptist church in Virginia Beach, Virginia and also a Lutheran church in Hampton, Virginia. Kristin has an additional eight years of experience working with other nonprofit organizations, such as the Confederate Air Force and Ada Wilson Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas. Kristin with her husband Karl have two adult children, Josh and Kelsey. They are members of Grace Lutheran-Knoxville where Kristin sings in the choir and plays handbells. Her special interests include music and scrapbooking.

Contact Kristin by email.

Allison Pressley - Financial Assistant

Contact Allison by email.

Living in God's Amazing Grace...

... Messiah Lutheran Church is

gathered,

empowered,

and sent as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Click here to read Messiah's complete Vision document.

What do Lutheran Believe?

With churches of so many denominations located within just a few miles of Messiah Lutheran Church, many visitors to our church ask us this question.

Lutherans are Christians

We confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God's self, who became a human being, died and was raised from the dead, so that all who believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. We believe that we cannot save ourselves, but that Jesus Christ has done all that is necessary to save us from sin and eternal death.

The Story of Jesus.

We believe that we can best understand God in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. In the life of Jesus we understand God to be our teacher, healer, and Lord, who comes to us to reveal God's love. In the death of Jesus we understand that God would rather endure our punishment than give us the punishment we deserve for rejecting him. In the resurrection of Jesus we understand the undying love of God that triumphs over death and tragedy.

At Messiah, we preach about and pray to a saving God who teaches, heals, and renews life.

Our Father.

Lutherans call God Father. This means that: First, we acknowledge God as the creator of the universe, continually creating, calling into being each moment of each day. Second, we acknowledge that God maintains a parental relationship to creation in which he is committed to our growth and the survival of creation.

We believe we are God's children, brothers and sisters of Christ. Jesus taught us to pray to our Father and to look to God for our daily needs: food, safety, all manner of blessings and the strength to avoid evil.

At Messiah, we teach and preach that God blesses us as a good parent provides for the children's needs, as a Good Shepherd cares for the sheep. We bring our needs and hopes to God in prayer trusting in God's love.

Sin.

We believe that we and all God's children are created good, but sin has separated us from God; sin is our desire to be independent from God, to be our own god. Sin is not so much individual acts of wrongdoing as a fractured relationship between God and his children.

Redemption.

Separated from God, we attempt to save ourselves by our accomplishments or by pleasing God. In our efforts to justify ourselves, we fall short of the mark and deny our need for God and our nature as creatures. We believe that God bridged our separation by becoming a son, Jesus, both God and human, born of a human woman by God's power. Jesus shared our human limitations and woes, even death on a cross. We believe that for Jesus' sake God forgives our sin and brings us into a right relationship with God. This right relationship is called righteousness or the state of being justified by God's grace through faith.

Lutherans consider humans to be both sinners and saints at the same time. On our own we are sinners but through our faith in Jesus Christ, God gives us forgiveness and the power to overcome sin.

The Holy Spirit.

We believe that faith is a gift to us. We are not able to come to faith on our own, but by God's Holy Spirit our hearts are moved to believe in a loving and saving God and take hold of faith. We believe the Holy Spirit moves in and influences our lives beyond boundaries of time and space. God has promised to pour the Holy Spirit upon us through baptism and in holy communion.

By the water of baptism and the Word, God freely gives his grace and lovingly establishes a new member of the universal church of Christ. At Messiah we baptize infants, children and adults bestowing upon them God's promise of new life in Christ. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit received in baptism, each will become a believer as the Spirit inspires his or her faith.

By the Word, the real flesh and blood Jesus is present for us in the bread and wine of communion. Jesus comes to us bringing God's forgiveness, nourishing our faith and reestablishing our fellowship with our Lord and each other.

These two sacraments-baptism and holy communion-are the visible acts which God has commanded and through them God promises to pour out the Holy Spirit on us. They are not the only means of God's self-revelation. Indeed, at Messiah we bear witness to the many ways God seeks out the lost, changes lives for the best, and brings goodness despite the hardships of everyday life.

Martin Luther.

The discovery of a gracious God who seeks those who are lost was the turning point in Martin Luther's understanding of the Christian faith. For him, the matter was clear: we cannot climb to God, we cannot even meet him halfway. Rather, God comes to us in the person of Jesus. We only need to receive God's acceptance of us in faith.

During the Reformation of the 16th century this became known as the doctrine of "Justification by Grace through Faith," an affirmation of most Christian churches. Lutherans recognize how easily Christians tend to forget this central affirmation and persist in trying to justify themselves by good works and accomplishments. Lutheranism as a Christian movement strives to keep this affirmation at the center of its faith and practice-that reconciliation with God is wholly God's act through faith in Christ.

A Community of Faith.

Messiah is a community of faith centered on Christ and following the Lutheran tradition. This community welcomes all who have been restored to God through Christ. We make no claims to perfection; rather, we believe the Church is essential to Christian life and growth. All our members are sinners in need of God's love and forgiveness. All our members are saints by the power of Christ in their lives. As a community we exist solely to preach and teach the faith of Jesus Christ crucified, to administer the sacraments and to serve the world.
We practice open communion, that is, all who believe that Jesus Christ is truly present in the bread and wine are welcome at the Lord's table during our worship services. Christian education is also open to all who seek to know God through the Bible, theology and studies on faith in daily life. Our service is growing and evolving to meet the changing needs of the world around us.

Join our Community of faith.

There are three ways in which one can become a member of Messiah Lutheran Church

• Baptism
• Affirmation of Baptism
• Transfer of Letter

Baptism. An individual becomes a member of this congregation the day the Sacrament of Holy Baptism is administered.

Affirmation of Baptism. Persons already baptized in the Christian faith can affirm their baptismal covenant publicly and be received as members.

Transfer of Letter. Baptized members of other Christian congregations may request that Messiah's church office send for their transfer of church membership to Messiah.
Classes for instruction in the Christian faith are available. For more information or to receive a form to request membership, please speak with the pastor.