What We Believe
We believe, teach, and confess:
The Ten Commandments
The ten commandments are given to reveal, first, what it is to have a God who preserves and protects his creation and to whom we call to in all times of joy and suffering. Second, the commandments reveal to us how it is that we are in relationship to one another and preserve life in this world. Third, scripture also reveals that although we cannot and do not fulfill the commandments ourselves, Jesus Christ has fulfilled them in his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. Faith in Christ alone fulfills the commandments.
The Apostle’s, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds
Since the early church, the Christian church has always confessed the creeds. The creeds are a confession about what the Christian believes regarding the Holy Trinity, who and is our Creator, who is our savior, and how this faith is created and sustained in this world. Even in the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, there is already a nascent creedal statement that he teaches (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The creeds were forged over many hundreds of years as Christians had to defend their faith in the face of heretics. Heresies continue to be prevalent in our day, therefore we continue to confess them publicly so the truth of God may be known.
The Lord’s Prayer
In this prayer, Jesus Christ teaches us all that we need to know for praying. We are given the name of the One to whom we are to pray, our Father in heaven. We are encouraged to believe that he is truly our Father and we are his children and, therefore, we are to pray to him with complete confidence just as children speak to their loving father. EVERYTHING we are and are given comes from Him.
The Sacrament of Holy Baptism
In this sacrament, God makes an unthwartable promise to the individual. Through the water together with the Word, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, “we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5). By baptism, you are made a disciple of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19), made an heir the kingdom of heaven, forever. By this sacrament, God forgives sin, gives the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) delivers from death and the devil, and gives everlasting life. Nothing that you do or do not do can ever change his promise to you in this sacrament where He claims a sinner of his own redeeming. For he remains faithful, even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13).
The Sacrament of Holy Communion
In this sacrament, through the preaching of the words of institution (Matthew 26:26-30; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34), Jesus Christ’s body and blood are truly present with the bread and the wine, for the forgiveness of sins. In this sacrament, all who hear and believe the words of Christ, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” is made worthy to receive the sacrament.
The Office of the Keys
The office of the keys is that authority which Christ gave to his church to forgive the sins of those who repent and to declare unto those who do not repent that their sins are not forgiven. Therefore, all the baptized have been given the key to unlock the prison door for sinners and set them free by a simple absolution, “Jesus Christ forgives you your sins.” The pastor is the “local forgiveness person,” called by the congregation to make sure Christ’s commission to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations (Luke 24:47) arrives specifically for you.