In an age of anxiety...
we still believe that peace comes from Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In an age of confusion...
we still believe that the Bible is the Word of God, inerrant and infallible.
In an age of doubt...
we still believe that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary.
In an age of guilt...
we still believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to remove the power of sin, death and Satan from our lives.
In an age of reason...
we still believe that God is at work in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
In an age of constant change
we still believe in the God who does not change, the Holy Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In an age preoccupied with itself and entertainment...
we still believe worship is about hearing God’s Word and responding with timeless, meaningful hymns.
WHAT IS A "LUTHERAN"?
So just what IS a Lutheran, anyway?
The Lutheran Church was the first protestant church established at the time of the Reformation in the 1500s. The church had become corrupt in the middle ages because it had lost sight of what the Bible teaches. Dr. Martin Luther, a pastor and university professor of theology, protested what was going on, and thus began the protestant reformation.
Lutherans are evangelical. 'Evangel' is the Greek word for Gospel — the Good News that Jesus has done everything necessary to save us from our eternal death. This is the chief teaching and emphasis in our church.
True Lutherans are conservative, meaning we hold on to and 'conserve' the Bible and it's teachings. Martin Luther did not set out to start a new church. He wanted to reform the church (thus the term "Reform-ation"). He was very careful about not changing things just for the sake of change. His focus was on rightly teaching the truth of Scripture, not on changing the outward forms. That’s one reason why Lutheran worship services follow the historic liturgy of the western church. The other reason is that these services were developed by the early Christian Church to be Scriptural and emphasize the Gospel—the Good News of forgiveness.
Lutherans are confessional. Everything we teach comes straight from the Bible. Therefore we don’t hide what we teach, but confess it publicly and in documents that others can study to see if what we teach really is the pure truth. (These confessions are linked here).
Faith Lutheran belongs to the ELS, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, a warm and friendly church body that has a Norwegian background. Our Synod has not forsaken the truths of the Bible in an attempt to be “with it” and worldly. (We are also part of a worldwide fellowship of such churches, the CELC.)
Lutherans believe…
· that the Bible is God’s verbally inspired Word, totally without error, and is the only sure guide to heaven.
· that the God of the Bible, the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is the only true God..
· that Jesus Christ is true God and since his virgin birth in Bethlehem he is both true God and true Man in one Person.
· that we are sinful from birth, and without a Savior we would spend eternity in hell because of our sins, for we can do nothing at all to save ourselves. All humans are inclined to sin because of our sinful nature.
· Salvation is that Jesus died and rose again to pay for our sins and to offer forgiveness, life and salvation to all as a free gift. The Holy Spirit draws us to God through the Means of Grace (The Gospel in Word and Sacraments) for we are powerless to choose Christ on our own.
· Baptism is not merely an act of obedience we do for God or show of man, but through baptism God does something FOR US, washing away our sins and giving us a new birth and life in Jesus. Because every person needs what God gives us in baptism, we baptize all people regardless of their age.
· that in the sacrament of Holy Communion the true body and blood of Jesus are received together with the bread and wine, and that those of the same 'communion' or shared beliefs should commune together in unity of Faith.
· that God answers every prayer addressed to him in faith and in the name of Jesus, for through the blood of Jesus God is our dear Father in heaven.
· that in sanctification we should live a holy life to God, submitting to His will as He is our Lord. as well as our Savior. To this end, we regularly hear God's Word in Church. We should be careful of our fellowship of those who believe, teach or practice anything contrary to what God's Word teaches.
-As Jesus died, rose, ascended and reigns, we also believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ, in which He will raise the dead to life and Judge all the earth. Until then it is our privilege and most important responsibility to evangelize and make disciples of all peoples. .
-In short, we believe what the church has always believed, dating back to the beginning. For that reason, we confess our faith by using the creeds that the church has been using since the early days of Christianity, since they are a clear, simple, memorable summary of the faith. The Apostles Creed; Nicene Creed; and Athanasian Creed.
For more thorough information, you may want to read "We Believe, Teach, and Confess"
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. "What is a 'Synod'?" = The word 'Synod' is a Greek word meaning "walking together with one another". This means that the Churches within our Synod are each congregationally independent, but walk together in unity with other Lutheran Churches that share the same teachings. Together, we partner to support mission work, train Church workers, and produce worship and teaching materials.. The ELS and the WELS are 2 Synods in fellowship with each other.
2. "Is the ELS or 'Evangelical Lutheran Synod" the same as the ELCA?" = No. The ELS is quite conservative and the ELCA is not. See Pastor McQuality if you would like more information!
3. "Is the ELS or 'Evangelical Lutheran Synod" the same as the LCMS? (Missouri Synod)?" =. The ELS is very similar to many of the conservative end of the Missouri Synod. In fact, about 1/3 of our Pastors and churches left the LCMS to join the ELS. So if you are a conservative, old school LCMS person, you will likely be quite comfortable in ELS Churches. Both our Pastor, Dan McQuality, and Faith Lutheran Church were once members of the LCMS and would be happy to speak to you about these things.
4. "Where does your Church stand on the controversial issues of today?" = we conserve the Bible's position and hold that sin is still sin. At the same time, we hold a pastoral attitude toward all people. For example, we hold that homosexuality is a sin and not in accordance with God's will for mankind. The Bible is clear on this. However, we also know that God is patient with us all and desires everyone of us to repent and come to a knowledge of the truth. Everyone is welcome to come here who is willing to hear God's Word. We will be faithful to speak the truth and faithful love and serve all people.
5. "Can I take communion at your Church?" = communicant members of the ELS and WELS are welcome to commune. To become a member and learn what communion is about, we are glad to take your through membership classes.
