what makes us unique

Of course, we think there are many things that make us unique, but here are three that we are leaning into and maximizing as we try to serve our community.

  • CHRIST-CENTERED, 

    TIMELESS PREACHING

    We are obsessed with Jesus. We fundamentally believe that the Bible is not about you, it's about Jesus and what he did for you. As a result, Jesus will be the centerpiece of every sermon, Bible study, or devotion. This isn't self-help, it's SALVATION. We also teach the historic Christian faith "once for all entrusted to God's holy people." (Jude 3) We don't shift our teaching to "fit the times" because "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

  • A BLEND OF OLD

    AND NEW

    Most churches tend to be historic and traditional or modern and culturally relevant. While neither of those is inherently wrong, we strive to be different. We honour thousands of years of Christian history by maintaining many of its elements while using modern technology, instrumentation, and language to communicate the gospel. We want to embrace God's gifts in this generation, while also acknowledging that if a practice has stood the test of time, it has a lot of value.

  • PERSONAL PASTORAL ATTENTION

    We structure our congregation so that our pastor has the time and resources to personally guide us in our spiritual lives. We believe a pastor should "correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction." (2 Timothy 4:2) The result is that each person gets personalized care and answers in their unique situations. As we continue to grow, our vision is to start many small churches, so every person can continue to get this kind of personal attention.

WHAT WE BELIEVE


  • In contrast to a world built on performance, we are Gospel-Centered. We preach the good news that Jesus Christ died to save sinners. We believe a person is saved because of Christ's work, not ours; Christ's perfection, not ours; Christ's obedience, not ours; Christ's love, not ours. We preach Christ as Saviour, not as assistant. "We maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." (Romans 3:28)

  • In contrast to a world where religion is all in your head, we are Sacramental. We believe what the Bible says and what the Church has consistently taught for almost 2,000 years: Baptism forgives sins (1 Peter 3:21, Titus 3:4-5, Galatians 3:26-27, Ephesians 5:25-26, Colossians 2:9-12, Romans 6:3-6) and "This is my body/blood...for you for the forgiveness of sins." (Matt 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, 1 Cor. 11) Want to explore the sacraments more? Click one of the following links: Baptism or The Lord's Supper

  • In contrast to a world where religion is abstract, a system of beliefs based on our best guesses, we confess the historical resurrection. Christianity is not just ideas, philosophy, wisdom, or tips for improving your life. It's history. Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be God's Son and then rose from the dead to prove it. And not only is there overwhelming evidence to that fact, but no one has ever provided a viable alternative historical answer to what happened in Jerusalem about 2,000 years ago. Therefore, Christianity is the only true worldview. Want to explore the evidence for the Resurrection? CLICK HERE.


What's a Lutheran?





Our story

Our story starts in September of 1978, when a group of Christians in what had just become the city of Mississauga started looking for a pastor. In 1979, they called their first pastor and held their first worship service at the Mississauga Valley Community Centre. The congregation called itself "Divine Peace." Unfortunately, that congregation only lasted a few years and closed in 1985 because of financial concerns.  However, the few people who remained held strong to the Word of God and continued to meet together, even without a pastor into the 90s. 


Fast forward to 1999 and the group is blessed with a pastor. This new congregation calls itself Cross of Life. This time, things took off, and ever since then, God has been blessing us. We've been committed to presenting Jesus and his Word accurately, not leaving anything out or saying more than what the Bible says. We don't do that because it's easy, in fact, sometimes it's really difficult. But we believe that Jesus is alive(!), and that changes everything. While we definitely have been growing in numbers over the past couple decades, that's never really been the most important thing to us. We'd rather see each individual grow in knowing Jesus Christ and everything he has done for them. Because of that, we've made it our business as a congregation to LEARN, LIVE, and LEAD in very personal ways. We pray that you can become part of that culture and part of our story.


CLICK HERE to learn about our process.

Our Pastor

Caleb Schultz was born and raised in Ottawa, ON, and became pastor of Cross of Life in 2018. He has a B.A. in biblical languages, and a Masters in Divinity. He is married and has two daughters and a son.


Here's a personal message from Pastor Caleb:


Someone once told me that asking a pastor about Christianity is like asking a car salesman if you should buy a car. Certainly, there are corrupt pastors out there, but for me, that's a bad analogy. If a salesman gets you to buy a car, he benefits, but if you learn about Christianity from me, I don't gain anything. My salary doesn't go up, I don't climb any leaderboards anywhere. If anything, if I'm your pastor, that means more work for me! I care deeply about your life, your struggles, your pain, your frustration, your doubts, your family...you. And I don't get anything extra from it, except the joy of sharing something with you that has changed my life for the better and I know can change yours as well. 


I want to be your pastor. If that means coming to your hospital room, your home, or just buying you a coffee at Tim Horton's and sitting down to answer any questions you have about Christianity, life or the intersection of the two, that's my job, and the good people at Cross of Life support me so I can do that for you. Please reach out!


CLICK HERE to email Pastor Caleb.

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