• I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

• We believe God communicates with us through His Word, which possesses the power to create and sustain faith in Jesus Christ. This Word reaches us in three forms: the written Word (the Bible), the proclaimed Word (through preaching or sharing the Gospel), and the Word made flesh in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hold that the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are inspired, without error, and authoritative for Christian living.

• We believe the Church is not merely a building or a group of people, but God’s family, united by a shared faith in Jesus Christ and a common confession. Through Baptism, we are brought into this family, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to live as its members. We gather to worship God in Jesus’ name, to hear His Word, and to receive His gifts. Together, we aim to grow in faith, support one another, and use our gifts to serve our neighbors. Wherever God’s Word is preached, and His gifts of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are administered, we trust that His Church—His people—is present.

• Grace is God’s unmerited favor toward us. As sinful human beings, we possess nothing to earn God’s kindness, nor can we make ourselves worthy of it. Yet, out of His goodness, God the Father compassionately offers us a place in His forgiven family through faith the work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Faith is a relationship of dependence upon the person and promises of Jesus Christ, established by God through his Word. Just as a parent fosters trust in a child through care and presence, God establishes faith in us through the Word of His Son, making us reliant on Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. Over time, this faith bears fruit—such as understanding, expression, and obedience to God’s Word.

Salvation is eternal life granted to us through the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ on earth as it is in heaven. At Grace Lutheran, we believe salvation comes by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. This faith is nurtured not by inward focus on our own efforts or feelings, but by looking outward to God’s Word and promises in Christ. Assurance of salvation is found in these promises, not in the strength of our faith. Even doubts or struggles with faith signal its presence, however faint, since an unbeliever feels no such concern.

At Grace Lutheran, we baptize people of all ages, from infants to the elderly, recognizing that all need a relationship with God, which we cannot initiate ourselves. Baptism, commanded by Jesus (Matt. 28:19-20), is the mysterious means by which God brings us faith and forgiveness and marks us a member of His family. Your journey with Jesus, young or old, begins in your Baptism. Baptism is one of the “means of grace,” through which God creates and/or strengthens the gift of faith in a person’s heart (see Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Gal. 3:26-27; Rom. 6:1-4; Col. 2:11-12; 1 Cor. 12.13). Along with the historic, Christian church we baptize all ages. We do this because the Bible says that even infants can believe (Matt. 18:6) and that new birth (regeneration) happens in Baptism (John 3:5-7; Titus 3:5-6). The infant’s faith cannot yet, of course, be verbally expressed or articulated by the child, yet it is real and present all the same (see e.g., Acts 2:38-39; Luke 1:15; 2 Tim. 3:15).

We believe that in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus’ body and blood are mysteriously yet truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine. The same Jesus who died, rose, and reigns with the Father joins us in this meal to strengthen our faith, grant forgiveness, and assures us of salvation. The Lord’s Supper (also known as Holy Communion or the Eucharist) is a family meal, meant to be celebrated and received by those who are baptized into the Christian faith and who, as Paul commends in the New Testament, have an understanding of Jesus’ presence in the meal. (1 Cor. 11:28-29)

We believe all people are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27), uniquely reflecting the Creator. As such, we believe that every single human life is worthy of dignity and respect. Human life and wellbeing should be protected at every stage. This leads followers of Jesus to care and advocate for the weak, vulnerable, and overlooked in our society. We also believe living according to God’s design—in God’s biological, theological, and sociological design for human sexuality.