Faith & Vision

There is only one true God.  He has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Bible is the inspired Word of God.  It is His Word, His message of salvation for all people.  The whole of Scripture finds its meaning and center in Christ Jesus.

We are all born sinful and therefore separated from the God who created us.  We cannot from our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, or come to Him.  In other words, we are all powerless to save ourselves in any way.

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world.  He is both true God and true man.  He lived a sinless life, suffered and died on the cross to pay the debt and the penalty that we, in our sinfulness, deserve.  He bodily rose from the dead so that we, too, might be raised to eternal life.  He ascended into heaven, and now sits at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for us.

Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift of God alone.

God gives His people the gifts of His grace, faith, life, and salvation through the Word – both the spoken Word of God’s promise in the Gospel, and the written Word in the Holy Scriptures – and through His blessed sacraments:  Baptism and the Eucharist (also called The Lord’s Supper and Holy Communion.)

In Baptism, Christ claims us to be His children.  In these holy waters, His death becomes our death; His resurrection becomes our resurrection.  In short, Baptism saves us by the Word and Promise of Jesus Christ.

In the Lord’s Supper, Christ gives us His true body and His true blood to eat and drink.  In eating and drinking the bread and wine, therefore, we are strengthened by Him, in our faith, and given the gifts of grace, forgiveness, and everlasting life.

Jesus will come again in the body, and take all believers to Himself.  On that Last Day, all people will be raised from the dead.  Those who are still alive will be “transformed”, as the Bible tells us.  Those who are in Christ will be raised to everlasting life; those who are not in Christ will be raised to everlasting death.

The Holy Church consists of all believers of all times who have been called to faith in the Triune God and in Jesus Christ as their only Lord and Savior.

Christians are called, first and foremost, to live out our life in Christ by loving and serving our neighbors.  All of them.