OUR PURPOSE
As “evangelical” Christians we hold to the orthodox confession of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as articulated in the Book of Concord, 1580, because it is a true exposition of Holy Scripture and “loyal to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
In service to Christ and His Gospel we seek to be an advancing point of the Christian faith into the world, with the objective to proclaim (Mark 16:14–16), protect (2 Cor. 10:5), and preserve (Gal. 2:4–5) the orthodox Christian faith now and for future generations—for our “children and our children’s children” (Deut. 4:9).
In his commentary of 1 John 5:4–5 Dr. Martin Luther writes:
"We are engaged in a battle, not with one prince or emperor but with the whole world. Everywhere the devil has spiritual weapons with which he attacks the ministers of the Word on the right and on the left. For this reason we now have so many adversaries—not only the fanatics but the princes, the popes, and the kings of the whole world with all their adherents. Who will overcome all these adversaries? He, says John, who is born of God. This must happen through faith in Christ, which is the victory." [LW, vol. 30, p. 311]
What does this mean?
He who believes in Christ is now a warrior. “He overcomes,” says John, not “he has overcome.” For we are still engaged in the battle itself and are about to be victorious. Therefore we are also admonished by Christ every day. “Be strong in the Lord,” He says, “and do battle with the old serpent.” It is the old serpent who introduces lies, heresies, and all the evils we see today too. This he has done from the beginning. God has placed us in the midst of wolves, in the kingdom of the devil. As weapons He has given us His Word and Spirit, and He tells us to do battle and to conduct ourselves as bold warriors under Him Himself as our Prince while He Himself looks on and is also victorious. [LW, vol. 30, p. 311]
Evanguard will serve as a league of men—a band of Christian brothers—to sharpen (Prov. 27:17), encourage (1 Thess. 5:8–11), and keep (Heb. 3:13) one another in FAITH and HONOR to God in our Christian calling as bold warriors, men born of God (1 John 5:4–5).
At the core of Evanguard’s mission are these words of the Apostle Paul:
"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine . . . Rather speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” ~ Ephesians 4:11–15 . . .
We take inspiration from Paul’s exhortation and calling to:
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” ~ 1 Corinthians 16:13