Our Beliefs

 

By God's blessing, The Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod and Mt. Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church is committed to being strongly in the Word, Christ-centerd and People-sensitive, reaching out boldly with the Gospel, faithful to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions, and marked by peace and unity in the Lord.

 

A Peace that passes all human understanding

 

In the fullness of time, the Son of God descending to earth and became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary. In Jesus, God Himself was with us on earth. Jesus was not only with us, but for us. He came into this sinful and dying world to fight our enemies: sin, death and the devil. He came to set us free. He defeated these enemies by laying down His own life.

 

Through His perfect life and by His death on the cross, Jesus paid the full debt of sin for all people. He rose again and gives us a new life, a life filled with hope and confidence, even during times of sorrow and trouble. Jesus Christ is with us. He loves us and cares for us, giving us the peace that truly passes human understanding. 

 

The voice of Jesus calls sinners to repentance, and comforts the brokenhearted through the preaching and teaching of His Word from our pulpits and in our classrooms. We are a church that honors the Bible as the written Word of God - the very voice of Jesus, our Good Shepherd. God the Holy Spirit, through this Word, creates and sustains trust in Jesus Christ. Through this living and powerful Word, Jesus Himself rebukes, comforts, forgives and guides His people through the perplexing, difficult and confusing questions and decisions we face in our lives.

 

We believe strongly that Jesus is with us and that He still rules His church today through His Word. Therefore, we are committed to reading, studying and growing in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. Our church's deeply spiritual and reverent liturgical worship is filled with the Word of God, through which Jesus blesses us with His presence and peace.

 

We treasure the special means by which Jesus Himself dwells among us with His forgiving grace. Therefore, our Synod and Congregation is very much Christ-centered. Our focus is on Jesus Christ and His presence among us. 

 

We believe that Jesus is present among us through the life-giving waters of Baptism, a Sacrament that unites us with Jesus' death and resurrection, washes away our sins, and brings us into the body of Christ, the Holy Christian Church. We rejoice in the gracious presence of Jesus in the Sacrament called the Lord's Supper. It is the true body and blood under bread and wine given to Christians to eat and to drink. In this sacred meal, Jesus feeds us and sustains us with the forgivements of sins, strengthening us for a life of service to Him in this world, and preparing us for life forever with Him in heaven.

 

 

What is a Lutheran?

 

While there are a variety of ways one could answer this question, one very important answer is simply this, "A Lutheran is a person who believes, teaches and confesses the truths of God's Word as they are summarized and confessed in the Book of Concord." The Book of Concord contains the Lutheran confessions of faith. 

 

 

What are the Ecumenical Creeds and why do we use them?   

 

There are three ecumenical creeds in the Book of Concord, the Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. They are as described as "ecumenical" [universal] because they are excepted by Christians world-wide as correct expressions of what God's Word teaches.

 

Some church bodies shy away from making formal statements of faith. The Lutheran church is not hesitant to use the historic, universal creeds. These three ancient creeds are how we confess the one, true faith of the Christian church and they help us to identify with all believers in Christ throughout all ages.

 

Creeds serve as a way to make sure that the church continues to believe what the Word of God teaches. The treasure of truth in the Word of God is what we wish to confess and to stand for as a church. It is based on these truths that people of God are led to serve Him in both word and deed. When we confess these creeds, we confess the faith of the Christian church. We do so with joy and confidence. With these words on our lips and in our hearts, we have the assurance that we are speaking back to God the truths He has first spoken to us. And thus, with confidence in the Lord's sure and certain Word, we say, "This is most certainly true."