St Paul Lutheran Church & Preschool

Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God and is the only source and norm of Christian doctrine and practice.

We believe the three Ecumenical Creeds of the Church (the Apostles, the Nicene, and the Athanasian) are a correct summary of the teaching of the Bible.

CORE TEACHING (Material Principle)
We believe salvation is by grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone apart from works of the Law.

GOD
We believe in the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

CHRIST
We believe Christ is fully God and fully man, the redeemer of all mankind, and is our prophet, priest and king. We believe he is the Son of God and born of the virgin Mary. We believe Jesus was crucified, died and was buried, that he physically rose from the dead, has ascended into heaven and will return. He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

HUMANITY
We believe that people are totally depraved as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin and are unable to do anything to benefit their salvation and are completely reliant on God to save them.

SALVATION
We believe the death and resurrection of Christ is sufficient to atone for our sins. We believe Christ gives the merits of his death and resurrection to us as a free gift, received by faith.
We believe Christ gives this gift to us through the Word (Scripture / Bible) and Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper).
We believe the gift of salvation is for all people and can be refused.

BAPTISM
We believe Christ gave his disciples authority to baptize in the name of the Triune God.
We believe infants should be baptized and then instructed in the faith as they grow in years and wisdom; we believe that adults should be baptized after being instructed in the faith.


THE LORD’S SUPPER
We believe Christ’s body and blood are present in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper to forgive sins, strengthen faith, and give us an opportunity to proclaim his death until he comes.

LAST THINGS
We believe that Christ will return visibly to earth, destroy Satan and sin forever, raise the dead, and give eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth to those who belong to him.