Statement of Faith
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given locality, among whom the Word of God is preached in harmony with the
fundamental doctrines of the Lutheran faith as expressed in the confessional writings of
the Lutheran Church and the Sacraments are administered in accordance with the Lord’s
institution.
CONFESSION OF FAITH
1. The Bible, namely the Canonical books of both the Old and New Testaments as
originally given, is the Word of God, verbally and plenarily inspired by the Holy Spirit,
free from error in the whole or in the part, and is therefore the final and authoritative guide
for faith, doctrine, and life.
2. There is one God eternally existent in the three distinct persons in one Divine essence,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. God the Father has revealed Himself as the Creator of the world and its Preserver, to
whom the entire creation and all creature s are subject.
4. Man was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God to live in His
fellowship. He fell into sin through the temptation of Satan and thereby lost fellowship
with God, became totally depraved and is under the wrath of God.
5. Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son, is the image of the invisible God. To accomplish our
redemption, He took upon Himself the form of man, being conceived of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary. By His perfect obedience and substutionary death on the
cross, He purchased our redemption. He arose from the dead in the body in which He was
crucified. He ascended into heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of God, the
Father, as our interceding High Priest. He will come a second time personally, bodily, and
visibly to gather the believers unto Himself, and to establish His Millennial kingdom.
Finally, He will judge the living and the dead and make an eternal separation between
believers and unbelievers.
6. The Holy Spirit is a Divine person eternally one with the Father and with the Son. His
ministry is to call and regenerate repentant sinners and to sanctify believers and preserve
them in the one true faith. He guides and comforts the children of God, directs and
empowers the Church in the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
7. The knowledge and benefit of Christ’s redemption from sin is brought to man through
the means of grace, namely the Word and the Sacraments. Through the Word (both the
law and the Gospel) God convicts of sin and bestows His Grace in Christ unto the
forgiveness of sin to all who repent and believe.
In the Sacrament of Baptism, God offers the benefits of Christ’s redemption to all men
and graciously bestows the washing of regeneration and the newness of life to every
believer. Because of the total depravity of human nature, and because the promise of God
also includes little children, infants are to be baptized. (Note: As children reach the age of
accountability, the grace of God received in Baptism must develop into a conscious life of
faith in God if the child is to remain in the state of grace).
In the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, Christ gives to the communicants His body and
His blood, declares the forgiveness of sins to all believers and strengthens their faith.
8. The Church Universal consist of all those who truly believe on Jesus Christ as their
Savior. The local congregation is the communion of saints or true believers “in which the
Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.” (1) Therefore, it
follows that the membership of the local congregation shall be comprised only of those
who by life and testimony show that they are living in fellowship with Jesus Christ.
9. We accept the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the
doctrines of the Lutheran Church as expressed in the Augsburg Confession and Luther’s
Small Catechism, as being in conformity with the Word of God.
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1 Luther’s Unabridged Explanation of the Catechism.