We Believe In …
- The only true God, the almighty Creator of all things, existing eternally in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – full of love and glory.
- The unique divine inspiration, entire trustworthiness and authority of the Bible, our infallible guide and inerrant norm for doctrine and living.
- The value and dignity of all people: created in God’s image to live in love and holiness, but alienated from God and each other because of their sin and guilt, justly subject to God’s wrath and unable to save themselves.
- Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, who lived as a perfect example, who assumed the judgment due sinners by dying in our place, and who was bodily raised from the dead and ascended as Savior and Lord.
- The means of grace – principally the Bible and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper – by which God shares with us the good news of the wonderful salvation that can be ours in Jesus Christ.
- Justification by God’s grace – complete access to God’s every gift and benefit – for all who repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
- The indwelling presence and transforming power of the Holy Spirit, who gives to all believers a new life and the spiritual gifts necessary for a calling to obedient service.
- The unity of all believers in Jesus Christ, manifest in worshipping and witnessing churches making disciples throughout the world.
- The future personal return of Jesus Christ, who will judge all people with justice and mercy, giving over the unrepentant to eternal condemnation but receiving the redeemed into eternal life.
We Further Believe That …
The historic creeds of the church – the Apostolic, the Nicene, and the Athanasian – and the historic confessions of the Lutheran Church – particularly the Small Catechism and the Unaltered Augsburg Confession – describe the Christian faith accurately and well.