Our Beliefs
We Believe, Teach, and Confess...
We Believe, Teach, and Confess...
That our lives are in the hands of the God who made heaven and earth and everything in it--the One God who exists in the three persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the God who by His Word and by His Breath gave us life and wants to give us life to the full.
That our lives are in the hands of the God who made heaven and earth and everything in it--the One God who exists in the three persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the God who by His Word and by His Breath gave us life and wants to give us life to the full.
But we are broken. We are sinners who, from the moment we are conceived, are turned away from our God and from the life He desires to give. And so we are turned from life to death.
But we are broken. We are sinners who, from the moment we are conceived, are turned away from our God and from the life He desires to give. And so we are turned from life to death.
God the Father doesn't let the matter rest there, though. His love for us moved Him to send His own Son to become a human being, Jesus of Nazareth. The Father sent Him to live for us, to die for us, and rise from the dead and overcome our death, so that He might cover over our sins, and so that we might share in His death-defying life. He came so that we might share it as a gift from Him, and receive His life simply by trusting that the Father will give life to us through Jesus and for Jesus' sake.
God the Father doesn't let the matter rest there, though. His love for us moved Him to send His own Son to become a human being, Jesus of Nazareth. The Father sent Him to live for us, to die for us, and rise from the dead and overcome our death, so that He might cover over our sins, and so that we might share in His death-defying life. He came so that we might share it as a gift from Him, and receive His life simply by trusting that the Father will give life to us through Jesus and for Jesus' sake.
God gives this gift by speaking with us. He works life in us when He pours out His Holy Spirit into us by announcing the good news of Jesus' victory over our sin and death, and by washing us with that life-giving Word in baptism and feeding us with the very body and blood of Jesus in the Lord's Supper. In hearing the promise of life that God speaks to us, His Spirit and promise give us something to have confidence in, something to hope on, something to believe in. By speaking to us, He turns us back to Himself, so that we learn to trust Him as the source of our life, and simply receive life from Him as a gift. We are saved through faith alone, by grace alone, for the sake of Christ alone.
God gives this gift by speaking with us. He works life in us when He pours out His Holy Spirit into us by announcing the good news of Jesus' victory over our sin and death, and by washing us with that life-giving Word in baptism and feeding us with the very body and blood of Jesus in the Lord's Supper. In hearing the promise of life that God speaks to us, His Spirit and promise give us something to have confidence in, something to hope on, something to believe in. By speaking to us, He turns us back to Himself, so that we learn to trust Him as the source of our life, and simply receive life from Him as a gift. We are saved through faith alone, by grace alone, for the sake of Christ alone.
And He is faithful. The Father will send His Son again to bring those who He has turned to Himself through the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit will lead us into the complete fullness of His life at the end of days.
And He is faithful. The Father will send His Son again to bring those who He has turned to Himself through the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit will lead us into the complete fullness of His life at the end of days.
Because our lives are secure in Christ, we are now free to share them completely by serving and loving others in the places and ways God has created for us to serve, so that, in the faith, hope, and love given by our God's victory, all may witness the goodness of our Maker and Redeemer.
Because our lives are secure in Christ, we are now free to share them completely by serving and loving others in the places and ways God has created for us to serve, so that, in the faith, hope, and love given by our God's victory, all may witness the goodness of our Maker and Redeemer.
Everything we preach in order to lead people to confess their sins and turn to God's mercy shown in Christ must be based on the Bible. The Holy Spirit inspired the writings of the Bible, so that we would have a sure and solid foundation for our faith. Because the Bible is the very written word of God, everything we preach must be measured by it and according to it.
Everything we preach in order to lead people to confess their sins and turn to God's mercy shown in Christ must be based on the Bible. The Holy Spirit inspired the writings of the Bible, so that we would have a sure and solid foundation for our faith. Because the Bible is the very written word of God, everything we preach must be measured by it and according to it.