What We Believe, Teach, and Confess


     We believe, teach, and confess the central point of the Christian Faith is that of Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2.) We accept as the source and authority of the Christian Faith all the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments as the inerrant, infallible, and verbally inspired Word of God with regards to belief and life. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, purchased by Christ’s atoning sacrifice and poured out for us through His Word and Sacraments. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

     We believe, teach and confess that we all are, by nature, sinful. (Romans 3:23) Because of this original sin, and the sins we commit, Scripture tells us we are blind to the will of God (2 Corinthians 4:4), dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and enemies of God (Romans 5:10).

     We believe, teach, and confess that because of our sinful nature and actions, God, out of His love and mercy, sent his only Son, Jesus Christ to redeem us from all our sins, from death and from the power of the devil, by dying on the cross. His death and resurrection gain all those who believe forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life. (John 3:13-18)

     We believe, teach, and confess that this salvation is a free gift which is given to us by God. God does not give us eternal life or salvation because we earned it by any good works we have done. Salvation is not achieved by cleaning up our lives or by doing better today than we were yesterday, but is given as a free gift of God’s divine, unmerited favor, earned for us by Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

     We believe, teach, and confess that God delivers these free gifts of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation through special means established by him. These gifts are the Word and Sacraments, consisting of preaching of the Gospel, Confession and Absolution, Baptism, and Holy Communion. These are all free gifts of God to his people. (Matthew 28:19–20; Mark 16:15)

     If you would like a more complete understanding of what we believe, teach, and confess, please see the list of our confessional texts below. We accept these writings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as the correct interpretation of the Holy Bible, all of which can be found at https://bookofconcord.org.
  • The Book of Concord of 1580
  • The Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds
  • The unaltered Augsburg Confession and its Apology
  • The Smalcald Articles
  • The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
  • Martin Luther's Large and Small Catechisms
  • The Formula of Concord
Baptism
     We believe, teach and confess what Christ says in the Gospel of Mark, “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that does not believe shall be damned.” Baptism, as a means of God’s grace, works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.
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     Certainly, it is not the water that does this, but the Word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts this Word of God in the water. For without the Word of God, the water is simple water and no baptism. But with the Word of God, it is a baptism, that is, a gracious water of life and a washing of regeneration in the Holy Ghost. As St. Paul says in Titus, “By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that, being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying.”
Holy Communion
     We celebrate the Lord’s Supper as often as we can. We believe, teach and confess that the Sacrament of the Altar is the real presence of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, “ in, with and under” the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself. We believe Christ’s words when he says in Matthew 28, “Take, eat; this is my body” and “this is my blood.” The words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” show us that, in the Sacrament, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

     Of course, not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words of Christ, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: “forgiveness of sins.”
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    When we eat this meal together, we confess the same faith together. We commune not only with God, but with one another. As such, we ask that you speak with the pastor prior to communing. Feel free to contact our pastor if you have any questions regarding the Lord’s Supper.