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Who We are
We are an ecumenical charismatic Christian community of disciples on mission.
We have heard the call of God, a call to serve him and his people in a particular way in this time -- a time of trial and challenge for the Christian people, a time when he is pouring out his Spirit to renew, restore, and unify his people.
In response to a particular call of God, we have freely committed ourselves to others who have been called in this same way.
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We are
- Ecumenical: members of churches from different traditions and denominations; our community is not a church.
- Charismatic: a people of praise and prayer, renewed by the word and power of the Holy Spirit, and open to the gifts of the Spirit.
- Christian: adhering to the truth of the Scriptures as traditionally interpreted in the Apostles' and Nicene Creed.
- Community: brothers and sisters living a common way of life together.
- Disciples: with a common mission, making ourselves and our resources available for the work the Lord has given us.
- On Mission: a body of
Christians witnessing to and proclaiming the
Word of God.
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Scriptures
Matthew 22:36-40
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
John 17:20-21
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
Mark 16:15
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."
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Our Beginnings
The Morning Star Christian Community grew out of a charismatic renewal prayer group that had its beginning in Jackson in the early 1970's. In 1975 many attending these weekly prayer meetings discerned a call of God to join together across denominational lines in a deeper way. A call to learn to be brothers and sisters in Christ, despite their theological differences.
They were not called to establish a new "church". On the contrary they were intent on not abandoning their many church traditions, deciding that as individuals they would learn to respect and appreciate all of them. Morning Star has members and friends who are active in Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christian churches.
Our call is one of living authentic Christian lives, rooted in daily prayer and the study of God's Word. We are committed to helping people experience the love of Jesus Christ, His saving grace and encouraging spiritual growth towards Christian maturity.
Community Life
Morning Star is a community in the sense that we hold a series of values and ideas in common, and express these in the way we live out day-to-day life. Some of these are:
- A theology shaped by traditional orthodox Christianity but not uniform as we come from different churches.
- Practical teaching on how to live out Christian life in the modern age and day-to-day help in making this relevant in our lives.
- A desire to express ecumenism in an active way through prayer, mission and fellowship together.
- Worship that draws both on our various church traditions and the work of the Holy Spirit through the charismatic movement;
- Support of one another in
day-to-day life through small groups, men's and
women's groups, and youth activities.
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We say we are a covenant community because we have made commitments to live out our community life with one another for a period of time. For community life to work well, we have to be able to rely on one other, and, in our opinion, this requires a higher degree of commitment than is normal in most of our church settings.
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