What We Believe

Statement of Faith (Abbreviated)

The Bible is inspired by God and free from error, and is therefore the final and authoritative guide for faith and conduct.

There is one God eternally existent in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God the Father has revealed Himself to us as the Creator of the world and its Preserver, to whom the entire creation and all creatures are subject.

Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son, is the image of the invisible God. He took upon Himself the form of man, was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. By His death on the cross, He has purchased our redemption from sin. He arose from the dead and ascended into heaven, where He is now seated at the right hand of God, the Father.

Jesus Christ will come again personally, bodily and visibly to gather the believers unto Himself and to establish His kingdom.

The Holy Spirit is a divine person eternally one with the Father and with the Son. His ministry is to call, to regenerate repentant sinners, to sanctify believers and to preserve them in the one true faith.

Man was originally created in the image of God to live in His fellowship. He fell into sin through the temptation of Satan and thereby lost fellowship with God.

Through the Means of Grace, namely the Word and the Sacraments, the knowledge and benefit of Christ's redemption from sin is brought to man. Through the Word, God convicts of sin and conveys His grace in Christ for forgiveness to all who repent and believe.

The Church Universal consists of all those who truly believe on Jesus Christ as Savior. We welcome fellowship with all those who call Jesus, Lord.

The Lutheran confessions are a summary of Bible doctrines. These include the Apostolic Creed (below), Nicene (below) and Athanasian Creeds (off site), Augsburg Confession (off site) and Luther's Small Catechism (off site).

We agree with the Statement of Faith (off site) of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America.

The Apostolic Creed

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge
the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
which is the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

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The Nicene Creed

Constantinople, 381 A.D.

I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost
of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried;
and the third day he rose again
according to the Scriptures,
and ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of the Father;
and he shall come again, with glory,
to judge both the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Live,
who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son];
who with the Father and the Son together
is worshipped and glorified;
who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church;
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.

AMEN.

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Last updated May 29, 2000
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