And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus – Matthew 16:18
Jesus said these words over 2000 years ago, and it’s also a verse, that was expressed in a sermon presented by Pastor William Hosanna on Soli-Deo’s Inauguration Service March 7th, 2004.
At that time, the founders of Soli-Deo: Pastor Eliyah Shira, Okie Setiawan, and Sidarta Aliwarga, were burdened by the call of the Lord to form a church in the Arlington area, to serve Indonesian families in the Dallas Fort-Worth residence.
It has been many years since then, but our mission to reach out to Indonesians living in Dallas Fort Worth metroplex has not changed. Since its inception, Soli-Deo Indonesian Church has been a Bible based Christian church ministry serving with the heart to reach out to Indonesia people living Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Although the church focuses on serving the Indonesian community, the name of the church, Soli-Deo, is not Indonesian. The church’s name is Latin for “God Alone”. It is derived from the five solas of the Protestant Reformation: Sola Scriptura (“by Scripture Alone”), Sola Fide (“by faith alone”), Sola Gratia (“by grace alone”), Solus Christus (“Christ Alone”) and Soli Deo Gloria (“Glory to God Alone”).
These five solas summarizes our faith: that the Bible is the inspired word of a perfect God. Like the creator, it is perfect, completely inerrant and without blemish. Unlike the creator, all of us, have fallen short of the glory of God. Only by the love and Grace of God, that He sent his only son Jesus Christ, as a perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins, so that whoever has Faith in him will not perish, but gain eternal life. It is solely by Faith that we are saved, and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9), and thus salvation is the result of God’s Grace. Since salvation cannot be obtained by works alone, there is no one who can boast of their own good works, and thus only God deserves all of the Glory, worship and praise. It is because of Christ and Christ alone, that we are saved, let all Glory belong to him: Soli-Deo Gloria.
Now regardless of language, tribe, or nations, we believe that Christ himself is the one who will form His church without wrinkle and blemish, just like what is written in Ephesians. 5:27 And to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Furthermore, Jesus calls all of us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)
And that is why we seek to fill to serve the Indonesian families living in North Texas, to spread the gospel in a language that is familiar to the families living here. There is a need to spread the gospel in a tongue familiar. And so, since our church serve Indonesian community, our service is primarily conducted in Indonesian language: Bahasa Indonesia. But if you don’t understand Bahasa Indonesian, don’t need to worry. We have translation devices and live English translation.
We hope that in this place, you will find God, learn about his loving grace and wonderful plan of salvation, to be empowered, to grow spiritually, and build a relationship marked by grace, warm fellowship, and spiritual strength through God’s word and true joy in His ministry. If you are a missionary seeking to reach out to Indonesian people, our church would be a great place to get your foot wet. If you don’t have a home church yet, welcome! We would love for you to come and visit us this Sunday.
