Our Beliefs

We believe in the Triune God — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge one God in these three persons. We believe that God the Father is the Maker of heaven and earth. The Father created the whole universe including each one of us. He continues to provide for and protect His creation. We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only Son, true God and true Man. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. We believe that the Holy Spirit is our comforter and advocate. The Holy Spirit changes lives, brings people to faith and keeps us in the faith. He is alive and active through the Word and in the Sacraments.

Grace Alone

God loves the people of the world, even though our sin separates us from Him. He sent Jesus, His Son, to love the unlovable and save the ungodly.

Romans 3:23-24
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 5:8
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Faith Alone

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.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Scripture Alone

The Bible is God’s inspired Word, in which He speaks to us and reveals Himself, His love and His desire for us.

We also hold that the unaltered Lutheran Confessions are a faithful exposition of the Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

What We Believe About the Sacraments

We believe that God uses a “delivery system” or "means" to bring His loving kindness to us in tangible ways. We call these "means of grace." Besides the spoken and written Word of God, God comes to us in Baptism and Holy Communion. We believe that through the waters of Baptism, God forgives us our sin and adopts us as His own. Through Baptism, God gives the gift of new life. We affirm the baptism of all people, including infants. We believe that in Holy Communion Jesus is really present with His body and blood in, with and under the bread and wine. In Holy Communion, Jesus brings us forgiveness of sin and the promise of life and salvation.

What We Believe About the Church

We believe that the church is not a building but people joined together by God around His Word and Sacraments. We are passionate about the mission God has given us to bring His love to all people. We are committed to sharing the message of Jesus Christ with those not yet connected to Him so that they will know Him. We are dedicated to discipling people so that they will know more about Jesus, serve Him more effectively and join us more fervently in that mission.

The Three Ecumenical (Universal) Creeds

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only‐begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Athanasian Creed

Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the [Christian] faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally.

And the [Christian] faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another. But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit: the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated; the Father infinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet there are not three Eternals, but one Eternal, just as there are not three Uncreated or three Infinites, but one Uncreated and one Infinite. In the same way, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord; and yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord. Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so also are we prohibited by the [Christian] religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords.

The Father is not made nor created nor begotten by anyone. The Son is neither made nor created, but begotten of the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding. Thus, there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another; but the whole three persons are co-eternal with each other and coequal, so that in all things, as has been stated above, the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity is to be worshiped. Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.

But it is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man. He is God, begotten from the substance of the Father before all ages; and He is man, born from the substance of His mother in this age: perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the Father with respect to His divinity, less than the Father with respect to His humanity. Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ: one, however, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh, but by the assumption of the humanity into God; one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ, who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming all people will rise again with their bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds. And those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire.

This is the [Christian] faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.