What We Believe

We believe that the Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God.  As such, it contains no errors. 

We believe that the entire Bible is not just bare information or a manual to live a good life (though it contains a lot of useful information), but that it was given to us by God to lead us to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that "all might be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4).  

We believe that God is Triune--that He is three persons in one God:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  

We believe that the Ten Commandments effectively summarize God's moral law and His will for all people. 

We believe that all people are sinners--that we are all born sinful, and that we disobey God's will for our lives daily by our thoughts, our words, and our actions.  As a result our relationship with God is broken and we deserve nothing but condemnation in hell for all eternity. 

We believe that the only way for fallen humanity to be saved is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God the Father.  As true God and true man in the same person, Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience to God's Law in our place.  He innocently suffered and died on the cross at Calvary to take the punishment for all the sins of the world.  Then, on the third day after His death, Jesus came back to life again (Easter), proving to the entire world that He is God's Son, that our relationship with God has been completely restored, and that death stands defeated.  

We believe that through faith in Jesus Christ we receive His blessings of forgiveness for all of our sins and eternal life with Him.  This faith comes by the work of the Holy Spirit, creating and strengthening faith in human hearts through Word and Sacrament.  

We believe what the Bible says about Baptism, that it is the washing of water with the word by which we receive the forgiveness of sins Jesus won at the cross.

We believe what the Bible says about the Lord's Supper, that it truly is Christ's body and blood in, with, and under the bread and the wine, which we receive for the forgiveness of all our sins and for the strengthening of our faith.  

For a more complete statement of our beliefs, click here:  https://els.org/beliefs/we-believe-teach-and-confess/ 

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