Our Values

The Bible:

Studying the living Word of God and proclaiming its transformative power into everyday life.

Prayer Life:

Practicing a corporate and personal prayer life that is motivated by hearts of compassion for the needs and hurts of others.

Family Fellowship:

Building a home for those facing the challenges of raising children in our present age and fostering the health of the body of Christ as a fellowship of believers united in love.

Mission of the Gospel:

Proclaiming the finished work of Christ through evangelism efforts in our neighborhoods and supporting the work of our missionaries in the global neighborhood.

Discipleship and Service:

Equipping every member of the congregation to engage in God-called ministry, to grow unto spiritual maturity, and to serve with excellence for the glory of God.

 

Who We Are - Our Beliefs

God has given us LIFE in His WORD

The term "Lutheran" means different things to different people. To some it denotes a certain kind of service or structure in a congregation or in a church body. In recent years, some people have come to think that Lutherans don't believe, teach, or confess the Bible as the Word of God. That's particularly unfortunate, because we are "people of the Book" who stand on God's Word and let God's Word stand.

Photo by BrianAJackson/iStock / Getty Images
Photo by BrianAJackson/iStock / Getty Images

Living Word views God's Word as more than just a rulebook for life: it is also the source of life. We plainly state our fundamental beliefs in the interest of Christian unity for the work of the Kingdom: winning souls for Jesus Christ. We believe:

  • The Old and New Testaments are inspired by God, true, authoritative, and sufficient (Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21). 

  • There is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-6; Isaiah 46:9-10; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:5). 

  • The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. There are not three Gods but One Triune God (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 45:6-7; Psalm 110:1; Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:17-20; 1 Corinthians 12:14-6)

  • Every human being is by nature and action a sinner (Genesis 6:5; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23; 5:8; 12-21; 7:18; Ephesians 2:1-3).

  • The just and deserved penalty for sin is death, both physical and spiritual (Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:19; Romans 5:12; 6:23; James 1:14-15).

  • Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, was born of a virgin and is both fully God and fully human (Matthew 1:20; Luke 2:52; John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3). 

  • Jesus Christ died as my substitute to pay the penalty for my sin (John 1:29; 10:1-18; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 3:18). 

  • Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead to conquer death on my behalf (Matthew 28:1-20: Mark 16:1-8: Luke 24:1-53: John 1:20-21;25: 1 Corinthians 15:12-34).

  • Jesus Christ physically ascended into heaven and will one day physically return (John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 1:7).

  • When Christ returns there will be a physical resurrection of the dead. Those who trust in Jesus Christ alone will be raised to eternal reward. Those who have not trusted in Jesus Christ will be raised to eternal punishment (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15 ).

  • Only by grace, through faith, in Christ Jesus, are we reconciled to God and forgiven of our sins (John 3:18, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:21-26; 1 Timothy 2:5-6). 

  • Those in Christ Jesus are in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit who calls, convicts, guides, and comforts them. 

  • Those in Christ Jesus are called to live holy and blameless lives, being set apart from the world (Romans 6 and 12). 

  • Those in Christ Jesus are called and empowered to bear witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins to all the world (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20). 

  • In order to offer and convey to men the merits which Christ has secured for the world by His death on the cross (2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 5:18), God employs certain external, visible means through which the Holy Spirit works and preserves faith and thus accomplishes the sinner’s salvation. These means include the Word of God, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:37-41; Romans 6:1-11; 1 Corinthians 11:1-34). 

  • The three Ecumenical Creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian), Augsburg Confession, and Luther’s Small Catechism are accurate summaries and right articulations of the doctrines taught within Scripture.

The Bible is God’s Word

The Bible is God's Word, written by human authors, yet inspired by the Holy Spirit, as we read in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." Since the Bible is breathed out by God, it is inerrant, completely true as a whole and in all its parts. The chief purpose of the Bible is "to make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15). For Jesus declares that the Scriptures "bear witness about me" (John 5:39).

Scripture is the only source and rule of faith, doctrine, and life. Because we adhere to the authority of Scripture, we also adhere to the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, which are derived from Scripture, summarize its teachings, and give a true confession of God's Word. For the same reason we adhere to the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Small Catechism.

These statements of faith, far from distracting us from Scripture, keep us from being "tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning" (Eph. 4:14).