[ANSWER]:

• Lutheranism, we humbly assert, is Christianity as it has been believed, taught, and confessed by Christians going back to the apostles and to our Lord. Its name shows our willing and bold association with one of the Church’s brightest witnesses to the free Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the sixteenth century, a German monk who was later excommunicated by Pope Leo X, namely, Martin Luther.
• Despite what one might think, Lutherans don’t blindly follow everything Luther taught, but we are convinced by Luther’s plain and simple interpretations and his winsome explanations of Holy Scripture, as he and other theologians boldly proclaim the same faith in Christ crucified, and the free forgiveness of sins in Christ’s death for sinners, which is the legacy of Luther’s preaching and confession.
• We like to think of ourselves as both evangelical and catholic, in the best sense of both words. But, put most simply, we are sinners saved by God’s grace in Christ.

[ANSWER]:

• Lutherans believe the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
• We believe in God the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
• We believe that Jesus has won the forgiveness of sins for all sinners by dying on the cross and paying for their sins in a once-for-all sacrifice and that God has been reconciled to the world by that death of His Son.
• We believe in the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and that means that we confess the same faith as Christians of all ages (see the Ecumenical Creeds).
• We believe that Jesus, crucified, risen, and now ascended, has given and continues to impart the gifts of the Gospel by Word and Spirit, and that this Word comes to us by the power of the Holy Spirit in particular ways—called sacraments. These sacraments are not rites of the church. They are gifts of Jesus to sinners: Baptism, Holy Communion, and Confession and Absolution.
• More on our beliefs.

[ANSWER]:

• If we could get away with it, we would just call ourselves evangelical catholics, because we don’t fit in either of those other two molds.
• We are evangelical because we hold to the free grace of God in Christ Jesus for all sinners. In other words we believe the Gospel is God’s work of redemptions for us, and it is a gift God gives, and does not come to us because of good works that we do.
• We are catholic because our doctrine and worship is catholic (universally believed and practiced), as evidenced in part by our unequivocal subscription to the Ecumenical Creeds and by our continued use of Jesus’ sacraments in which we see the pure grace of Christ connecting the sinner to Jesus’ death for sinners on an individual basis, and besides, we never wanted to start a new church, and we still don’t relish the idea of being separated (in terms of table fellowship) from our brothers and sisters in Christ in other denominations.

[ANSWER]:

• For starters use the resources of this website, or even better, come and visit our church, get to know our people and see for yourself.
• What we hope you’ll find among us: We are simple Christians (and that means that we regard ourselves as both sinners and saints—at the same time), so hopefully you won’t find us to be stodgy, unfriendly, arrogant, and holier-than-thou kinds of folk.
• We are normal people saved by God’s grace, and we like to get to know other people, just exactly as they are. You don’t have to put on airs when you come and join us for a visit. Hopefully, as you explore our way of life together (baptized into the one Body of Jesus), you will experience the rich mercy and grace of Jesus among us and reflected in us to you.
• Our pastor would, of course, love to have conversation with you to get to know you better and to answer any of your questions you may have.

[ANSWER]:

• Obviously not, because the word “Lutheran” doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. That’s the sad state of American religion these days, but we are encouraged to see many people take interest in genuine Lutheran theology these days. We hope to be faithful witnesses in our day to Jesus Christ crucified, which is the hope of all who understand and embrace genuine Lutheran theology.
• One of the ways you can tell if a church body is truly Lutheran is to understand how committed they are to the teachings of Scripture and the Book of Concord.
• Even in those church bodies that are committed to Scripture as God’s Word and understand it in full agreement with the Book of Concord, there are differences of opinion about certain things related to our practice (liturgical, political, educational, cultural, etc.), but we do agree on the doctrines of our faith. To remain in fellowship and in unity with other Christians, we think it is sufficient that:
• • the Gospel is rightly taught and
• • the Sacraments are rightly administered.

[ANSWER]:

• A good place to start is the Book of Concord, which constitutes our church body’s doctrinal understanding of Scripture and serves as her confessional standard. You can start anywhere in that resource, but beware, it’s a huge resource. You’ll need a large cup of coffee or a fine beverage of choice and a cozy seat by a fireplace to get through all of it (okay, maybe even more time and energy than that), but it will be worth every second you invest.
• You can also check out the resources on the Synod’s website, e.g., beliefs and faq’s. Many questions are raised there, and many helpful answers are provided in the faq’s. While even LC-MS Lutherans may not all agree on all the answers provided, they do provide an excellent starting point for further research.