Our Beliefs

The Christian Faith

The Christian faith confesses that Jesus was sent by the Father to redeem and save us by His death and resurrection (Jn 14:6). We learn about Jesus from the Bible.

Bible

The Bible is God's Word. The Holy Spirit gave the writers the thoughts and words they recorded (2 Tim 3:16-17 | 2 Pet 1:21). Holy Scripture is incapable of error, and it contains no mistakes. It is therefore entirely reliable, and it gives us everything we need to know and believe for Christian faith and life.

Trinity

The only true God is the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are three distinct persons and yet are one God (the Holy Trinity). There are not three Gods, but one God (Matt 28:19).

Creation

God created — out of nothing — everything by His Word. He spoke creation into existence, forming and filling it in six days. Nothing exists apart from God's creation (Gen 1:1 | Ps 33:6 | Ps 33:9 | Heb 11:3). God remains active within His creation, constantly looking after it and creating new life within it. Atheistic evolutionary theories lead to unbiblical conclusions.

Sin

The devil brought sin into the world by tempting Adam and Eve, who willingly yielded to the temptation (Gen 3:1-6 | Rom 5:12). Their disobedience affected the entire human race (Rom 3:23 | Rom 5:19 | Ps 51:5). We are totally corrupt spiritually speaking (Eph 2:1). We sin in thought, desire, word, or deed (Matt 7:17).

Jesus

Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who entered human history, born as a man with a body and soul, in fulfillment of God's Old Testament promises. Thus, He is both Creator and creature, God and man, in one person except without sin (Col 1:16-17 | Jn 1:1 | Matt 1:20). By Jesus' death on the cross, He paid for our sin, He appeased the wrath of God, and He reconciled us to God (Is 53:4-5 | Gal 3:13). On the third day, He rose from the dead (1 Cor 15:5-9). Forty days later, He ascended to the right hand of God (Eph 1:20-23). Finally, He will return in glory on the Last Day (Matt 25:31-46).

Justification

Justification is the act of God in which He declares the sinner not guilty. We obtain forgiveness of sins and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith and not through our merit, work, or satisfactions (Eph 1:7 | Eph 2:8-9). We must firmly hold to this teaching because it is the most important teaching of the Christian faith giving comfort to the penitent sinner.

Law and Gospel

The Ten Commandments are God's Law, His good and loving will for the lives and well-being of all people (Jn 1:17). God's law also shows that all people have sinned and cannot keep God's commandments (Rom 3:20). We find rescue only in the Gospel.

The Gospel is the saving message of the forgiveness of sins because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is also what God is still doing for our salvation, primarily through preaching, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper (Jn 6:63 | Rom 1:16). God offers the forgiveness of sins, justification, and eternal life only in the Gospel. It actually imparts forgiveness and salvation.

Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is God. He is one of the three persons within the Trinity (Matt 28:19). He is the Creator of the universe together with the Father and the Son (Gen 1:2). He brings people to faith in Christ (i.e., converts the sinner) by means of the Word of the Gospel and Baptism (1 Cor 12:3 | Titus 3:5). He also sustains and strengthens faith in Christ. Unfortunately, many people reject the Gospel and resist the Holy Spirit (Matt 23:37 | Acts 7:51).

Good Works

Good works are the natural result of saving faith (Jn 15:5). Through the Gospel and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit helps us to overcome sin, to love God, and to do good works (Gal 5:22-23 | Eph 2:10). Good works are done for the benefit of other people. God needs us to serve the neighbor (Matt 5:16 | Gal 5:13). However, good works do not earn grace before God (Heb 11:6).

Church and Ministry

The church is the Body of Christ—that is, all people whom the Spirit has gathered to Christ in faith throughout the world. The holy Christian church is made up of only believers in Christ (Col 1:18 | Jn 10:16). However, the Church within the world is found where the Gospel is purely proclaimed, and the Sacraments are rightly administered (Matt 28:19 | Jn 20:21-23 | Lk 24:47 | Matt 26:26). This church is often called a local congregation.

Christ has instituted the pastoral office for the purpose of baptizing, teaching, preaching, forgiving sins, and administering the Lord's Supper. God has given pastors to the church so that the gospel is proclaimed, and the sacraments are administered (Acts 20:28 | 1 Cor 4:1). Congregations are to call men who are qualified in life and doctrine to serve as pastors (1 Tim 3:1-2 | 2 Tim 2:2).

Prayer

Prayer is speaking to God in words and thoughts (Ps 19:14). God first comes and speaks to us through His Word, thus inviting us to respond in prayer. In His Word, God commands us to pray, and He promises to hear our prayers (1 Thess 5:17-18). The Lord's Prayer is the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples when they asked Him for instruction on how to pray (Lk 11:1-4).

Church and State

God has established His church on earth in order to bring salvation to all the world, to create and preserve faith in the Gospel, and to dispense the forgiveness of sins (Matt 24:14). However, God has established governments and rulers in order to preserve and protect man's life on earth and society. They are to defend and to commend those who do what is right, and to punish criminals (Rom 13:1-4).

Baptism

Baptism is God's way of directly working forgiveness, life and salvation in the baptized. Baptism saves the person (1 Peter 3:21 | Titus 3:5 | Eph 5:26 | Gal 3:27 | Rom 6:3-4). Jesus gives His universal command to baptize "all nations" (Matt 28:19). Certainly, the word "all" means everyone including children as well as adults. Since babies have inherited original sin, they need the salvation which baptism offers. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is able to work faith in babies (Acts 2:38-39 | Jn 3:5). In times of doubt or temptation, we are comforted in knowing that we are a baptized child of God in Christ Jesus.

Repentance

There are two parts to repentance: We first confess our sins. We admit that our sins have offended God (Ps 51:1-4). The second part is faith in the forgiveness of sins bestowed freely on account of Christ (Ps 32:2). Repentance is a putting to death and a raising to life. God's Word terrifies and yet it consoles. The law condemns sin and yet the gospel promises grace given in Christ. Good works are fruits of repentance (Lk 19:8).

Lord's Supper

In the Lord's Supper, Christ gives His own body and blood. The bread is the real body of Christ, and the wine is the real blood of Christ (Matt 26:26 | Matt 26:28 | 1 Cor 10:16). This is a great mystery. However, we simply believe in what Christ said on the night in which He was betrayed. The words of Christ are not picture language nor are they to be understood symbolically. The chief blessing of the Sacrament is the forgiveness of sins which Christ's body and blood have won for us on the cross (Matt 26:28). But together with forgiveness, God gives all other blessings as well, that is, life and salvation.

Closed communion is an ancient practice dating back to the Apostles' themselves. Those who do not properly confess what Scripture teaches regarding Christ and His Supper must not be given the Sacrament (1 Cor 10:17 | 1 Cor 11:27 | 1 Cor 11:29). Those who are members of the Lutheran Church–-Missouri Synod are invited to the Lord's Supper. We invite others to learn about the Gospel and Sacrament in a new member class before taking communion.

At Christ Lutheran Church, we receive the Lord's Supper every Sunday because Christ urgently invites us saying, "This do in remembrance of Me" and because we need the forgiveness of sins and the strength for a new and holy life.

Lutheran Confessions

As a congregation of The LCMS, we hold fast to the historic, confessional Lutheran faith. We subscribe unconditionally to:

Together these documents form the Book of Concord of 1580, which we believe to be a true and faithful exposition of Holy Scripture.