What We Believe

Our congregation is a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. We take seriously our God-given heritage and seek to proclaim the Faith in line with the inspired and inerrant Scriptures, and according to the correct exposition of that Holy Book as contained in the Book of Concord (1580).

We are “NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, FOR IT IS POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION TO ALL THAT BELIEVE IT.” So we boldly believe, teach and confess…

–that God is the Creator of the universe with all its grandeur and beauty, and that He sustains it with His almighty power.

–He also created our first parents, Adam and Eve, in His own image that they might live in fellowship with Him and care for His creation.

We accept God’s record of His creative activity found in Genesis with full confidence, therefore we condemn every doctrine which denies or limits what Scripture teaches concerning creation, condemning as well the modern theory of evolution as false science and ungodly human opinion.

–that Adam and Eve doubted and rebelled against Him. They sinned and their natures became corrupt. Now every person is born with a self-centered will and a tendency for disobedience that violates God’s command and desire (Ps. 51:5).

Attempts to change corrupt human nature or to please God with our own good are doomed to failure (Rom. 3:23, Gal. 2:16). People need forgiveness for their sins, and new life, and God provides it through His grace (Eph. 2:8-9).

–that God, out of pure love, gives us forgiveness of sins and thus reconciles us to Himself (II Cor. 5:19). He does this, even though He is a just God who punishes sin, because His own Son, Jesus Christ, took the punishment for all sin, for all people, upon Himself when He died on the cross of Calvary (Jn. 1:29). God raised Him from the dead on Easter and thus demonstrated to the world that the sacrifice of the Lamb of God had been accepted and man’s sin paid for, in full (Rom. 4:25).

–that people receive Christ’s forgiving merit and righteousness through faith. Faith is the hand which takes hold of God’s free gift. Faith is created by the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 12:3, Rom. 10:17) through the means of the Gospel message which tells of God’s love demonstrated in Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16). Baptism, according to God’s promise, is the means by which a child is given a new life and received into God’s Kingdom (Acts 2:38-39, I Pet. 3:21, Titus 3:4-7).

–that the Bible is the source of knowledge about God and His forgiveness and is also the way in which He speaks to us today (II Tim. 3:16, II Pet. 1:21). The Bible was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and so is true and without error (Jn. 17:17, Jn. 10:35).

–that the Holy, Christian and Apostolic Church is the fellowship of all those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord (Eph. 2:19-20). The Lutheran Church has been built on the basic principles of “Faith Alone, Grace Alone, and the Scriptures Alone.”

–that the purpose of the Church is to nurture faith through the pure Word, confessing and proclaiming the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus to the whole world and the Sacraments administered according to Christ’s institution, (Matt. 28:19).

–that God has given the sacraments with which to build His Church: BAPTISM to create faith (“make disciples”) and HOLY COMMUNION – also called the Lord’s Supper – to strengthen faith. In Holy Communion Jesus Christ gives the communicant His true body and blood “in, with, and under” the bread and wine through which He offers and gives the forgiveness of sins (II Cor. 11:23-29).

–that our Lord will visibly return to gather His people together (Matt. 24:29-31, Acts 1:11). Then the fellowship which God creates with His believers here on earth will continue after this life as believers join Him in heaven for eternity (Jn. 20:31, Matt. 25:21).

Certainly, this is not, by any means, an exhaustive presentation of Biblical teaching… and maybe a better summary can be found in the historic creeds of Christendom to which we also swear allegiance. Of course, our adult instruction classes are designed to give you further information. If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to let the pastors know. They’d be glad to clarify any point about which you may have some doubts.