Just What is a Lutheran Anyway?

A Lutheran believes:

• There is one God made known in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  • God the Father created and sustains all things.
  • God’s Son, in the person of Jesus, came into our world in order to bring us salvation.  Through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection God has freed us from sin and guilt, and has brought the promise of new life.
  • God’s Holy Spirit continues to walk with us in our daily lives, calling us to faith, nurturing us as we grow in our faith, and renewing us each day.
• The Bible…
  • Is the inspired word of God.
  • Tells the story of God’s relationship with God’s people.
  • Is not a rulebook or a collection of ancient, out of date stories.  It is the “living word” that reveals God’s salvation through Jesus and, as a result, calls us to live differently.
• All people have worth and dignity because we are all created in God’s image. Nonetheless, each of us falls victim to our human weakness and to our sinful nature.  We reject God, we choose to follow our own path, and by our own power, we are unable to find life and salvation.
• God’s unconditional love for us gives us freedom to be honest about our doubts, our fears, and our failures as well as our joys and successes.
• We are accepted before God not because of anything we do but simply by our trust in God.
• We are saved by grace through faith (Galatians 2:15-16).
• We experience God’s saving action in Holy Baptism.
• In Baptism we are also called to be disciples of Jesus, and through the presence of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered each day in our service and our witness.
• We are strengthened in our journey of service and witness by God’s gifts of grace through Holy Communion and the people of God who gather with us.
• Each day we are being saved through the work of the Holy Spirit.
• And each day we are sent out to make a difference in the world around us!

Or, putting it all another way…

• Lutherans are regular, ordinary people, with all the hurts, pains, and weaknesses shared by all of humanity.
• Lutherans have been called to faith and to community by God’s Holy Spirit.
• Lutherans gather around the gifts of God’s grace given to us through the cross and the empty tomb of Jesus.
• Lutherans go forth to be God’s people in the world, to proclaim in word and deed the grace of God.  We know that we have something the world desperately needs!
• Lutherans recognize great value in the ministry that each one of us carries out in our daily life.  Not all are called to the traditional ministry of the church, but all are called to be disciples and ministers each and every day.
• Lutherans continue to struggle with sin, but do so in the confidence of a loving and gracious God who nurtures us, sometimes disciplines us, and always welcomes us back!
• Lutherans know that ultimately our life, our faith, our discipleship – and our future are not our own, but God’s to guide, direct, and sustain!

For more information check out the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at http://www.elca.org/en/Faith/ELCA-Teaching