We Believe:
In one God who is eternal, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the maker of all things visible and invisible. Yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of the same essence and power, who are also coeternal.
That since the fall of Adam, all men (except our Lord Jesus Christ) are born in sin, without fear or trust in God, and that this original sin is truly sin, bringing eternal death upon those not born again through Baptism and the Holy Ghost.
The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, took on our human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, so that there are two natures, the divine and the human, inseparably joined in one person, one Christ. This Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, that He might reconcile the Father unto us, and be a sacrifice for all sins, both original sin and actual sins committed by men, and that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead.
That men cannot be justified before God by their own powers, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God reckons for righteousness in His sight.
That Christ instituted the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments in order that men might obtain this faith. The Gospel and the Sacraments are the instruments through which the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith, where and when it pleases God in them that hear the Gospel.
That the Sacrament of Holy Baptism is the work of God and not the work of man. In Baptism, God unites water with his word and grants us the benefits of Christ's death and resurrection, namely, the forgiveness of sins, rescue from the death and the devil, and eternal salvation.
That in the Sacrament of the Altar, Christ our Lord gives his true body and blood for us Christians to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.
That the one holy Christian and Apostolic Church will remain forever, for the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, and that the Church is the congregation of saints in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.
That Christ will return at the end of the world for judgment. He will raise up all the dead. He will give to the elect believers in Him eternal life and everlasting joys. But unbelieving and ungodly men, along with the devil and the demons will be condemned to eternal torment.
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired, inerrant, written Word of God. The Bible is thus the only infallible rule and norm by which all teachers and doctrines must be judged.
For more information about our beliefs, visit the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod website or contact Pastor Bartens.