What does this mean (for you)?

(A good Lutheran question)

Throughout the history of the Christian Church, we’ve used three creeds to define the faith described in the Bible.

Many church bodies don’t use creeds, but if what they teach doesn’t fall within these creeds, they aren’t Christian, so we believe that it’s safer to let these creeds flow through what we do in worship and through our daily life. 

The three ecumenical creeds are:

• The Apostles Creed
• The Nicene Creed
• The Athanasian Creed 

And each one of them confesses that God is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While we don’t understand exactly how this is the case, the Bible is clear that this is core to who God is and essential to how God has saved us.

Because we confess these creeds regularly, you can be sure we take the faith we proclaim seriously. You’ll hear about the true God and how much he loves you.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”   (John 3:16-18)

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)”

There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor. But Christ, as both true God and true man, could stand in our place…and He did. He defeated death upon the cross and claims us as His own. When we believe in Him, we are saved from death and damnation. We have an answer to our conscience that condemns us. 

Salvation through Christ Alone

We disagree with the Calvinists who say God has chosen some to be damned from eternity (it doesn’t say that!). We also disagree with both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches who try to add conditions and works to Christ’s all-powerful salvation.

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

While we were enemies, immersed in our sinfulness, Christ saved us. That is the gospel comfort that you will hear at Gloria Christi Lutheran Church.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

The Holy Spirit inspired men to write down God’s story of mankind. 

• How God created the earth and everything in it, including us.
• How we fell into sin and became separated from God.
• How Christ became man and died on the cross, saving us from eternal death.
• How God gave us His Holy Spirit and continues to care for us daily.
• How Christ will return and bring us to heaven.

This story is true and mankind has continued to write it down in a multitude of languages, sharing it with the world. Liberal Christianity fights against the inerrancy of Scripture, making up theories about who wrote the books and when. But at Gloria Christi Lutheran Church, we believe, teach, and confess that the Bible is the true, inerrant Word of God.

The Word of God has power

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

God gave us His written Word so that the Holy Spirit can work through it to bring us to faith and to continue to keep us in the faith. It isn’t mere words, but the Holy Spirit flows through the Bible to build you up and convey God’s love to you.

It’s important for us to gather together around God’s Word, or we’re at risk of falling away and forgetting God’s love for us. We strengthen each other in Christ.

What is The Book of Concord?

Leading up to 1580, Roman Catholicism, Calvinism, and Evangelicalism were all competing for the hearts of the people, and in different doctrines kept being passed back and forth between the various church bodies to keep political peace and blur the boundaries so they could avoid controversy and just keep people happy. Lutherans were losing the very core of what made us Lutheran.

The Book of Concord includes these works:

• The Three Ecumenical Creeds
• The Augsburg Confession
• The Apology to the Augsburg Confession
• The Smalcald Articles
• Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
• The Small Catechism of Martin Luther
• The Large Catechism of Martin Luther
• The Epitome of the Formula of Concord
• The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord

While these works do not replace Holy Scripture, we believe they are a solid representation of the Christian faith presented in The Bible.

Lutherans confess two sacraments — Holy Baptism and The Lord’s Supper.  Neither of these are symbolic acts that we do but we actually receive real and true blessings from God through them.

The Saving Grace of Holy Baptism

Through Holy Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit, the gift of faith, salvation, and the forgiveness of sins. Because these gifts come from God through the water and The Word, we believe the Holy Spirit also gives these gifts to infants who are brought to Holy Baptism.

“Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.”  — 1 Peter 3:21-22

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” — Colossians 2:11-12

… In, With, and Under the Bread and the Wine

We believe, teach, and confess that the body and blood of Christ are truly present along with the bread and the wine — it doesn’t replace the bread and the wine, as Roman Catholics teach, and it isn’t only spiritually present, as Calvinists believe.

We trust in Christ words “This IS my body” and “This IS my blood of the new covenant…” (Matthew 26). And Christ tells us why — “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”  

In Holy Communion, we receive Christ and the forgiveness He won for us on the cross. We receive it often because the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith through this divine gift.

At Gloria Christi, we are faithful to the Word of God and we worship using the liturgy that has been passed down in The Church for millenia.

The Divine Service

Most churches approach worship as a gift we give to God and so believers fear that if they don’t have their heart in it or if it isn’t original enough, they’re “not doing it right”

Liturgical congregations believe worship is a Divine Service or “Gottesdienst.” God comes to us in the church service and serves us — gives us His gifts:

• We come together in faith and receive the forgiveness of sins.
• We hear His Word proclaimed. We receive His gifts in the Sacraments.
• In the liturgy, He even gives us the words that we sing and say — because they’re almost entirely from Scripture. How could we do better?

Grace is for you

Grace is completely undeserved. We don’t deserve it, but God loves us so much that He sent Christ to die for our sins so that we could be saved. We can’t earn that. We can only receive it.

This is a gift we want to share with the world, because they need to hear this message. We are guided by Matthew 28:19-20

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

Come and hear. You will find Jesus here.