Our Beliefs

Drawn from the Holy Scriptures and taught in the Small Catechism, the doctrine we believe, teach, and confess is not our own, but that of Jesus Christ, handed down through faithful preaching since the days of the Apostles. Below you will find a summary of the Chief Parts of Christian Doctrine as summarized in the Small Catechism. These are the teachings of the Holy Scriptures stated simply.

The Ten Commandments

  • God’s Holy Law
  • Teach us how to live that we may glorify God and serve our neighbor
  • Show us our sinfulness and our need for a Savior

The Apostles Creed

  • Teaches us who the True God is
  • Teaches us what the Lord has done for us
  • Teaches that God has created all things
  • Teaches that the Son has become man and has given His life for our sins and rose from the dead
  • Teaches that the Holy Spirit, through the means of grace in the Christian church delivers to us the salvation accomplished by Jesus

The Lord’s Prayer

  • Teaches us how to call upon God and what to expect from Him
  • Teaches us what God’s will is for our lives
  • Teaches how the Lord will protect and provide for us our whole lives even through death to eternal life

The Sacrament of Holy Baptism

  • Is for “all nations” and all people, both young and old
  • Delivers to us, even to babies, the forgiveness of sins which Christ accomplished for us
  • Makes us members of the Body of Christ, the church
  • Is a proof and seal that we are God’s children in Jesus Christ
  • Is a new birth given by the Holy Spirit through water and the Word of God

Confession and the Office of the Keys

  • Christ gives to His ministers the authority to forgive sins
  • The Pastor speaks in Christ’s place and by His command to forgive and retain sins
  • Christians speak to one another and remind each other of the forgiveness which is ours in Jesus Christ

The Sacrament of the Altar

  • Is given for the baptized and instructed people of God
  • The Words of Jesus mean that the bread and wine are the true Body and Blood of Jesus. They are not symbols and not just plain bread and wine
  • The Sacrament gives to us the forgiveness of sins
  • Is an outward display of our confession of a common doctrine and therefore is not given to members of or received at churches which teach differently than we have been taught