WHAT IS A LUTHERAN?

Nearly 500 years ago, Martin Luther, a German monk, rediscovered the message of the Gospel that people are saved by grace alone.

The first Protestant church founded, the Lutheran Church places emphasis on three principles: Scripture, faith and grace. The Scripture is the only source of knowledge about God and His will for us. Grace tells us that as humans we cannot earn God's love, forgiveness, or everlasting life. It is all a gift of His love. Only by faith in Jesus Christ do we receive forgiveness. Through faith in Him, we come into a relationship of peace with God.

Today, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has grown to 2.7 million members, 6,145 congregations in 20 different languages.

WHAT WE BELIEVE:

• We believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
• We believe that God made each of us for a reason, so we can love Him and love one another and so be reflections of His love.
• We believe that we have fallen short of God's plan for our lives and need a Savior to rescue us from our sins, from death, and from all the power of evil.
• We believe that God the Son became human, as Jesus of Nazareth, to live and die and rise again for us and so be the Savior we need.
• We believe that God the Holy Spirit gives us saving faith in Jesus, working through the power of God's Word and His gifts to the Church of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
• We believe that the Bible is truly and completely God's Word and is our only guide to knowing God and the truth about ourselves.
• We believe that the Church is God's family, gathered by Him to receive and share His promises and to rejoice in His forgiveness and everlasting life.

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