Who We Are

Grace, as defined by God’s Word, is God’s free and wonderful gift of eternal life (Ephesians 2:8; John 3:16).

It’s God’s undeserved love because all people are incapable of doing anything to produce or win God’s love or favor (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 3:23–24). It’s amazing because it’s so free down to the very fact that the reason you know and understand is called a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8–9).

So, we let God's grace be God’s grace and not anything mankind does to earn or win God’s grace. Instead of an eternal life away from God, we are given grace—amazing grace that takes us home to him forever.

We believe that every person was born into this world as a sinner, completely unable to save themselves. But God solved that problem of sin by sending his son Jesus into the world to live the perfect life that we could not, die on the cross to pay for our sins, and rise from the dead to give eternal life in heaven to all who believe.

Therefore, as the Bible states, people are like Christ in the sense that God sees them as he sees his own Son, holy and perfect (2 Cor 5:17-21).

Therefore, as a “little Christ” (a literal translation of Christian), Christians are people who can be assured they have the gift of grace through faith about their eternal life proclaimed alone through the Bible.

In short, it means that we allow God’s grace to be God's grace. Even though the Lutheran church took on the name of a man named Martin Luther from the 16th century, being Lutheran means we are constantly focused on what the Bible teaches (grace, faith, scripture).  Luther didn’t have some great awakening or clever turn of events, he let the scripture speak for itself as he even translated it in the common language of German for all people. He wanted all people to see God’s grace for themselves. He wanted people to know God’s grace fueled their faith in the Savior of the world.

Today, Christians follow in Luther’s footsteps as they want God’s Word to go out to all people as it is understood and proclaimed with truth and purity. 

We belong to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). Being a part of a synod (a large group of churches) allows us to be involved with more ministries than we possibly could on our own. Those ministries include an excellent pastor and teacher training system, humanitarian aid efforts both nationally and internationally, and global mission work.

The Lord’s Supper is another great blessing that gives and assures the forgiveness of sins through Jesus (Matthew 26:28).  We celebrate the Lord’s Supper often with those who have expressed a shared unity of faith as the Bible relates (1 Corinthians 10:16–17; 11:27–29).

This is another great way that God draws near to a person and makes them a child of God through the water and His Word. Jesus commanded his followers to go and baptize all people and nations.

Through the Bible, we see the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit happen through the means of baptism for all people regardless of age or race, culture or background. Even greater, forgiveness of sins is given and assured through the waters of baptism (Titus 3:5).

Pastor Thomford attended pre-seminary training and study at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN where he studied Greek, Hebrew, and German. After four years of study with a liberal arts degree and minor in German, he attended Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, WI. There he studied for four more years the entirety of God’s Word and teachings through Greek, Hebrew, classical languages, and other seminary coursework.

In 2019, Pastor Hans Thomford graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and taught Old Testament Biblical survey at Martin Luther College for two years before arriving in Amarillo, TX to begin planting and shepherding the friends and members of Amazing Grace Amarillo.