About
Us
The Lutheran Church has a long history, but there are four words
that describe the life of this church down through the
centuries—evangelical, catholic, scriptural, and sacramental.
Evangelical
The Lutheran Church is evangelical. At the heart of all our teaching
is the “evangel”—the good news that God has reconciled the whole
world to Himself by sending His Son Jesus Christ to be our
Substitute under the Law and the perfect Sacrifice for our sins. God
accepts us as His own holy children not because we do good works or
become good people, but because of the merits of Christ Jesus alone.
When we believe the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ has
won salvation free and full for us, we are truly righteous in God’s
sight, as Christ Himself declares.
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written and
thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the
dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should
be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke
24:46-47
Catholic
The Lutheran Church is catholic. When we say we are “catholic”, we
are using the word in its original Greek and Latin meaning which is
“universal.” As Lutherans, we do not teach or practice any thing new
or invented by Dr. Luther, but we believe, teach, and practice the
Faith that is and has been universally held by Christians of all
times and all places. We want to hold fast, in the words of the
British writer C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”—believing and
practicing nothing more and nothing less than the holy, catholic
faith as Christ our Lord handed it on through His apostles. We
display our continuity with the Church catholic through our liturgy
and other practices.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you
were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:4-6
Scriptural
The Lutheran Church is scriptural. “We confess our adherence to the
prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments, as
to the pure clear fountain of Israel, which alone is the one, true
guiding principle, according to which all teachers and teaching are
to be judged and evaluated.” Because we are concerned to teach the
Scripture alone, and not some private, quirky, human opinion about
Scripture, the Lutheran Church has set forth the Scriptural doctrine
in the Book of Concord of 1580, to which our pastors are bound by
ordination vows as a “pure and correct exposition of Holy
Scripture.” We put our beliefs in writing that all may see and
compare our teachings to Scripture and thus be assured that our
doctrine is nothing more and nothing less than what God’s Word
declares.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim. 3:16-17
Sacramental
The Lutheran Church is sacramental. While God is indeed present
everywhere, He has promised to meet us with His gifts of salvation
only in certain real, external, concrete places of His own choosing.
These holy places are the preached Word of Christ, Holy Baptism, the
Lord’s Supper, and Holy Absolution. As a sacramental church, we
confess that we do not encounter God directly, without means, but
only in those holy places where He has promised to meet us—in His
means of grace. Further, we believe that God meets us in Word and
Sacrament not merely with information about Himself, nor with
symbols of His presence, but that Christ Himself is truly present
for us in the means of grace according to His divine and human
natures, forgiving, renewing, and sustaining us by Himself always,
until the end of the world.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the
age. Matthew 28:19-20
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