Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Chancel Window

The stained glass window in the sanctuary was designed, constructed, and installed by the Rev. Martin Heinicke, pastor of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church from its early beginnings in 1980 until he retired in 1989. The church building and window were dedicated on September 22, 1985.

The panels of the chancel window begin with the promise of a Messiah and end with that promise fulfilled and being taken to all the world as the Good News of salvation for all people. The whole work of salvation is centered around the cross of Jesus Christ where “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for all.”

Overarching all these panels is the message of hope guaranteed to mankind through the cross of Jesus Christ and from it flow the blessings and promises symbolized in the rainbow, the ancient promise of God and constant reminder that God keeps all the promises He makes.  Darker shades at the edge of each panel give way to lighter hues, indicating the changes in life from “walking in darkness” to now “walking in light” through faith in Jesus Christ.

Center Panels

The promise of salvation begins in Old Testament times as God chooses a people through whom He brings hope to the world. His message of love is communicated to man through His word of grace and blessing. Sacrificial offerings gave man the assurance of forgiveness. Prophecies foretelling the coming of the Messiah, trumpeting angel, are made many times as a comfort and hope for mankind.
Messianic prophecies are fulfilled in the “fullness of time” and Jesus is born in Bethlehem. The star marks the place of the cradle of the One who came not as King (crown) but as the One who would be the sacrificial lamb who dies for the sins of the whole world.
Death could not and did not hold Him! His tomb is empty. “He is risen!” He lives! New life (symbolized by the open flower and the butterfly – both ancient symbols of the church) is His – as well as ours, as He fills us with the Holy Spirit (symbolized by the flames of Pentecost: seven of them, indicating the special gifts He brings into our new life).
The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, does indeed become the sacrifice for sin as He Himself is heralded by some as the Messiah (palm branches), yet is punished (whip and crown of thorns), judged, and condemned to death, to which he goes willingly, as “God laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
The Holy Spirit also comes through the sacraments – Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (symbolized by the shell with the three drops – Father, Son and Holy Spirit),and in the wheat and vine, coming to us in the bread and wine and His body and blood. By these means the spirit sustains us in our new life.
The Holy Spirit operates in the lives of His People through means of grace – here, through the Word of Scripture. It is in the Word that we learn of God’s grace and redeeming love for us and for all people. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Our mission reaches beyond our immediate environment into “all the world”, as we together with fellow Christian congregations send missionaries to peoples of every race, country, and culture over the world. That’s our given task as His people, His church today.
Salvation is not something we are to keep for ourselves, a “me and God” thing. God has given every Christian the mission of being a “fisher of men”, witnessing to others about the Good News of life in Jesus Christ. Christians (symbolized as a ship, according to ancient usage) reach out with the Gospel net into the waters of humanity with the Good News of life in Jesus Christ.

Gospel Panels

The four, upper-side panels represent the four Gospels, each telling us of the life and mission of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Matthew
The first Gospel panel is Matthew. Matthew is represented throughout church history with the symbol of a man. Matthew begins his Gospel with “the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”, and stressed Christ’s human nature and incarnation.


Mark
The second Gospel panel is Mark. Mark is represented throughout church history with the symbol of the lion. The Gospel of Mark “begins with the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus fulfilled the message of John the Baptist, who cried out in the wilderness. Jesus showing courage and power through His death and resurrection.


Luke
The third Gospel panel is Luke. Luke is represented throughout church history with the symbol of the ox. The ox is an animal of strength, service, and sacrifice. Luke writes of Jesus Christ, bearing the burden of our sin and serving humanity by sacrificing Himself on the cross for our salvation.


John
The fourth Gospel Panel, is John. John is represented throughout church history with the symbol of the eagle. Just as the eagle soars toward heaven, so Jesus Christ, as God’s Son, soars to where He dwells at the right hand of God the Father, awaiting and inviting each believer into His eternal Kingdom.

Lower Side Panels

The four, lower-side stained glass panels remind us of the Words of Jesus Christ, recorded in John 15, where Jesus says:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

John 15:1-2, 4-5

The fruit depicted in the side panels vary in color, indicating that each of us has different God-given talents, and will bear different kinds of fruit. God’s Word reminds us of this in 1 Corinthians 12: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”