About St. Raphael The Archangel Holy Catholic Church
-
At St. Raphael The Archangel Holy Catholic Church, Springfield in Missouri, we believe in The Holy Trinity: Father, Son, Spirit. Three in one. That is, God the Father: Eternal. Creator. Loving. Life wouldn't exist without Him. Jesus: The only Son of God. He died on the cross for our sins. He rose from the dead. We can have eternal life through Him. And The Holy Spirit: God is active in the world through His spirit. God gives His spirit to live inside of those who follow Jesus. We live in a universe that's been created and designed by God. God allows evil to exist because He allows free will to exist. Everyone has been separated from God because of sin. We all need to be saved. God offers salvation through Jesus. Anyone who accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior can receive salvation. We take the Lord 's Supper every week. This is a time we come together to remember Jesus and what He has done for us. Be ready, friends. Jesus will return and we won't know when. Heaven and Hell are real. Anyone who accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior can have eternal life in Heaven. Everyone else will be eternally separated from God in Hell.
We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ - God's very wisdom. Utter folly to the world, even though it is the power of God to those who are being saved, this good news is christological, centering on the cross and resurrection: the gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, and the authentic Christ has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central. This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Christ died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all others), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individual persons are saved).
About The Sacraments: We believe in partaking of the sacrament of Baptism in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit following a person's profession of faith in Christ. We believe in Communion, the receiving of the Lord's Supper (bread and grape juice representing the Body and Blood of Christ) as a remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross.
About The Ministry: A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord for the fourfold purpose of leading the Church in: Evangelization of the world. Mark 16:15-20 Worship of God. John 4:23,24 Building a body of saints being perfected in the image of His Son. Ephesians 4:11-16, Meeting human need with ministries of love and compassion. Psalms 112:9, Galatians 2:10; 6:10, James 1:27