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Our Beliefs

Core Beliefs

GOD

We believe in one God who is revealed in Scripture as triune or “three-in-one”: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19-20)

  • Father: God is the Creator who made all things including us; who daily provides for our needs and desires to have a loving relationship with us. (Genesis 1:1-2, 26-27)
  • Son: God is the Son, who became a human being - Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the fulfillment of the history of salvation that is found in the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures). Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection God the Father reconciled sinners back to God, saving us from sin. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
  • Holy Spirit: God is the Spirit who brings people to faith in Jesus, the Son. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence among us, and empowers us to lead holy lives. (John 14:26)

 

THE WORD OF GOD

We believe that the Bible (Old and New Testaments) are the Word of God written in human words for us to understand. The Bible reveals the gospel or “good news” of Jesus Christ who brings salvation to all who believe in him. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

  • The Bible is a collection of 66 books written over more than a thousand years by writers who wrote faith statements about God. (Lutheran Study Bible, p.20)
  • The Bible authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit to teach the people of their own times about who God is, how God acts with humans, and how humans are to respond. (Lutheran Study Bible, p.20)
  • The Bible is the source of what we teach and the norm for how we are to live. (2 Timothy 3:16) 
  • Jesus is the Word of God in both his words and actions. (John 1:1-3)
  • The Word of God addresses us in two ways. As Law, the Word teaches us how to respond to God and convicts us in our failures to respond appropriately. As Gospel, the Word comforts us with the knowledge that God saves us from the power of sin through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ (Messiah). (Formula of Concord: Epitome: V. 3-6)

 

JUSTIFICATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

We believe the “good news” that God’s grace is fully and freely given to all through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Through this grace our sin is forgiven, healing our broken relationship with God. We cannot earn God’s love by our good works, good behavior, or being holy. Rather, we do such things in faith as a response to God’s grace in Christ. (Romans 3:21-26)

Justification refers to the way God heals our broken relationship with Him through Jesus. Grace is God’s unconditional love for us. Justification by grace through faith in Jesus is the center of Lutheran theology. (Ephesians 2:8)

 

CHURCH

  1. believe all who have faith in Jesus are part of the Church. The New Testament (Christian Scriptures) calls the Church the "Body of Christ," whose mission is to share the “good news” of Jesus Christ - the salvation that He gives by grace (see Justification above). We welcome to our church all who are seeking God, no matter where they may be on their faith journey. (1 Corinthians 12:27)

SACRAMENTS

We believe a sacrament is an act that is commanded by Christ, uses a physical or earthly element, and through connection with the Word bears God’s promise of grace. We observe two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion.

  • In Baptism, we are joined to Jesus’ death, raised with Him to new life, forgiven of our sin, and claimed as God’s children forever. 
  • Because all humans have a sinful nature and in need of God’s grace, we affirm the practice of baptizing infants, as well as adults. (Romans 6:3-5)
  • In Baptism, we are initiated into a new life in the Body of Christ. With the help of the Holy Spirit we are now to respond to God’s love by living the life of Christ: dying to ourselves by sacrificing in order to bring life to others through our love. (John 12:24-26)
  • In Holy Communion (The Lord’s Supper or Eucharist), God forgives our sins and strengthens us for holy living to renew our relationship with God and others. We believe that Jesus is “really present” in the bread and wine that we share, not merely a symbol. (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)

 

CREEDS AND CONFESSIONAL WRITINGS

We believe that the three early universal creeds of the Church (Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian) each bear true witness to who God is, and how God desires to be in loving relationship with us and with all creation. (Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration: Introduction 4)

 

We believe that the unaltered Augsburg Confession and the other Lutheran Confessional writings in the Book of Concord are also true understandings of the Christian faith. We believe that these emphases of Lutheran Christians have made a positive contribution in understanding God’s love in Christ for the last 500 years. (http://www.elca.org/Faith/ELCA-Teaching/Scripture-Creeds-Confessions)