Beliefs

 

With the universal Christian Church, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod teaches and responds to the love of the Triune God: the Father, creator of all that exists; Jesus Christ, the Son, who became human to suffer and die for the sins of all human beings and to rise to life again in the ultimate victory over death and Satan; and the Holy Spirit, who creates faith through God's Word and Sacraments. The three persons of the Trinity are coequal and coeternal, but there is only one God.

 

 

Our congregation accepts and preaches the Bible-based teachings of Martin Luther that inspired the reformation of the Christian Church in the 16th century. The teaching of Luther and the reformers can be summarized in three phrases: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone.

 

 

God loves the people of the world, even though they are sinful, rebel against Him and do not deserve His love. He sent Jesus, His Son, to love the unlovable and save the ungodly.

 

 

By His suffering and death as the substitute for all people of all time, Jesus purchased and won forgiveness and eternal life for them. Those who hear this Good News and believe it have the eternal life that it offers. God creates faith in Christ and gives people forgiveness through Him.

 

 

The Bible is God’s inerrant and infallible Word, in which He reveals His Law and His Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine.

 

 

We believe God is three persons in One; God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit.  God has no beginning or end.  God is Creator, The Redeemer and Sanctifier; all knowing, all powerful, just and loving.

 

Jesus Christ is all God and all man, coequal with the Father and the Spirit from eternity; was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect, sinless life, suffered and died and rose on the third day and is the only way to heaven.

 

The Bible is the inspired Word of God in all its parts. It alone reveals God's Law and Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and is the only norm, source and standard for Christian Living.

Sin and Salvation- Sin is rebellion against God and causes spiritual and physical death and separation from God and heaven. Salvation is a free gift earned for us by Jesus Christ and received by faith alone.

 

Baptism- God uses simple water and His Word to cleanse us from sin and He unites us with Christ and His resurrection (Romans 6, Matthew 28:19-20). We do not believe Baptism is a mere symbol, but is much more. Baptism is a means of God's grace and brings us God's power of salvation (1 Peter 3:21).

 

The Lord's Supper- We believe that Christ is really present in Communion and comes to us through simple bread and wine that connects us to His body and blood, thus bringing us the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith He won for us on the Cross (1 Corinthians 11).

 

Heaven and Hell- The Bible clearly teaches that there is a literal heaven where Christians will live with God in perfect glory forever and a literal hell that is a place of eternal sorrow and suffering reserved for those who reject Jesus Christ.

 

Creation- God created the world and the universe in six consecutive twenty-four hour days as taught in Genesis. We reject Darwinian Evolution or any form of Theistic Evolution and believe that true science does not contradict Creationism.