MEET THE PASTOR
Reagon Wilson and his wife Rachel came to ICL in July 2009 from a ministry of pastoral care and encouragement to missionary families around the world. Working under the auspices of Barnabas International in Rockford, IL they spent the last fifteen years in more than forty countries.
Prior to that, the Wilson’s served local churches in Massachusetts, Kansas, and New Jersey. Their 14 year tenure in one church in the New York City suburbs provided a place for their four sons to remember as “home.” They are each now married and scattered (with 12 Wilson grandchildren) from Alaska to Texas, and Washington to Nepal.
Reagon’s childhood was in a globally mobile family living in Japan, Germany, and the four corners of the US. His parents came to faith while living 12,000 miles from home. Rachel spent her childhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The couple met at Harding University. They married in 1971 before either finished their schooling. That means that Rachel is completely responsible for getting Reagon into adulthood and through university, seminary, and graduate school.
Rachel enjoys working with women, with colors, and enhancing the natural beauty of environments. Reagon enjoys working with wood, with pliable people, and with words. He is a published author and a recreational novelist. But their chief objective, individually and together, is to “see to it that no one misses the grace of God”. (Hebrews 12:15)
MISSION & VISION
Mission
There is a resonating Biblical emphasis on those things which matter above all else. These form the core of our identity and our purpose. Consider:
When Jesus was asked "What is the greatest commandment?" he did not hesitate in his answer. He 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."
(Matthew 22:36-40)
"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." (Galatians 5:6)
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." (I Peter 4:8)
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (I Corinthians 13:13)
That is why we are seriously intent on being a community of Christ followers growing in faith, hope, and love.
Vision
The International Church of Luzern seeks to be an English-speaking, non-denominational, multi-national Christian church:
- which focuses on the essentials of the biblical message of salvation
- offers a haven of community for English-speaking ex-patriot
- and emphasizes ministries of mercy and meeting felt-needs outside the church community in order to demonstrate the love of God in Christ.
The International Church of Luzern proclaims the following historic, Protestant essentials of biblical faith:
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The Holy Bible, containing the 66 books of both the Old and New Testaments, is inspired by God and contains everything a person needs to know and to do for a right relationship with God and people.
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There is only one God, the infinite Creator, Sustainer, Ruler, Judge, Lover, and Redeemer of all things, who is eternally existent in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
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Humans are created in God’s image for a personal relationship with God, but have disobeyed God and become alienated from Him as a consequence of that disobedience.
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Jesus is the Messiah, promised in the Old Testament, the Word of God and the Lamb of God. He became human in order to reveal the Father to us and to pay the death penalty on our behalf for our disobedience. He died on the cross and conquered death on our behalf by physically raising from the dead on the third day.
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The Holy Spirit is the manifestation of God’s presence on earth in order to continue the ministry of Jesus. The Holy Spirit empowers people to repent from sin, to trust in the work of Christ at the cross and over the grave, and to follow Jesus as His disciples.
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Salvation means to be spared God’s judgment against our disobedience. It is an unearned gift from God through faith in Christ. None of our good works can earn us eternal life.
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There is a literal Heaven and a literal Hell. Every person has an immortal soul which will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell. Faith in the work of Christ is the sole criterion for where a person spends eternity.
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Jesus will physically return to earth to bring Judgment Day on which His followers receive eternal life in the presence of the Father and those who rejected Him receive eternal separation from God.
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The Church is that body of people, past, present, and future, who have repented from sin and trusted in the work of Christ for forgiveness from sin to become daily followers of Jesus. The Church exists to fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples for Jesus among all nations and to strengthen those disciples.
ICL LEADERSHIP
