What is  a Lutheran?

Lutherans are followers of Jesus Christ who identify with the teachings of Martin Luther, a 16th century monk turned reformer. Luther desired to bring the church back to the message of Jesus Christ as presented in the Bible. This is outlined in his 95 theses which he nailed to the door of Wittenberg Castle Church on Oct 31st, 1517 which kicked off the protestant reformation. These teachings are summarized in the confessional statement of the Lutheran Church, The Book of Concord but boil down to five basic statements.


1. The Bible alone is our highest authority or Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”)

2. We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ or Sola Fide (“faith alone”)

3. We are saved by the grace of God alone or Sola Gratia (“grace alone”)

4. Jesus Christ alone is our Lord, Savior, and King or Solus Christus (“Christ alone”)

5. We live for the glory of God alone or Soli Deo Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”)


For Lutherans, the Bible is the defining revelation of how humanity was intended to know and be known by God. And yet, due to the presence of sin, there has been a break between humanity and our creator. Jesus Christ as both God and man, paid the penalty for humanities sin in a way we could not.

We believe we are called to love and serve those around us as Christ loved us and that we are being invited to participate in God’s work here on earth as we learn who God is and how God’s love for all creation changes everything. 

 

 

We Believe

1. THE BIBLE (II Timothy 3:16,17): 

We believe that the Bible, namely, the Canonical books of both the Old and the New Testament as originally given, is the Word of God verbally and plenarily inspired by the Holy Spirit, free from error in the whole or in the part, and is therefore the final and authoritative guide for faith, doctrine and life.


2. THE TRINITY (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 3:16, 17 & II Corinthians 13:14): 

There is one God eternally existent in three distinct persons in one Divine Essence: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.


3. MAN and ORIGINAL SIN (Romans 5:12): Man was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God to live in His fellowship. He fell into sin through the temptation of Satan and thereby lost fellowship with God, became totally depraved and is under the wrath of God.


4. SALVATION and REGENERATION: 

The knowledge and benefit of Christ's redemption from sin is brought to man through the means of grace, namely, the Word of God (The Bible) and the sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper.)


5. CREEDS and CONFESSIONAL WRITINGS: 

We accept the Apostolic, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. We accept the confessional writings of the Lutheran Church, namely the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Small Catechism as being in conformity with the Word of God.

Church of the Lutheran Brethren

The Church of the Lutheran Brethren (CLB) is a family of 123 congregations in the United States and Canada, with 1,500 daughter congregations in Cameroon, Chad, Japan and Taiwan now organized into four national church bodies.  The CLB, as a denomination, exists to serve congregations in their obedience to the Great Commission, locally, nationally and internationally, as seen in Matthew 28:18-20. For the first 50 years of CLB history over 50% of denominational funds were spent on overseas missions, living out the vision that was in the founders’ hearts. Today the people of the CLB are experiencing a growing desire to reach out to our local communities and to plant more congregations in North America. The prayer of our congregations is that the Lord will use us who have received grace through faith, to be centers for spiritual life.  We believe this is God’s primary way of bringing truth and meaning to a broken world.