• There is only one true God. He has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

  • The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is His message to all people. The entire Bible points to Jesus as the Savior. (2 Timothy 3:16)

  • People were originally created by God, pure and holy. However, Adam and Eve, went against God’s will and brought sin into the world. Since that time, all people have been conceived and born in sin. (Psalm 51:5)

  • Sin is living out of relationship with God, not living according to God’s will, in thoughts, words, and deeds. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

  • Because all people have been conceived and born in sin, they lack to strength and ability to save themselves by their good works or restore themselves to a right relationship with God. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

  • God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world . He is both true God and true man. He lived to fulfill God’s law for us, died on the cross to pay the penalty our sins deserved, and rose from the dead so that we might have eternal life. (John 3:16)

  • Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, God declares a human being just – or righteous- and forgiven. This happens not because of human effort, but because this free gift is given to everyone who believes in Jesus as Savior. (2 Timothy 1:9)

  • Faith in Jesus is a gift of God, given by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 12:3). It is more akin to trust than to believing certain statements to be true.

  • Jesus will come again to take all believers to Himself. On the final day, all the dead will be raised Those who are still alive will be bodily transformed. After this, the final judgment will take place. Unbelievers will go into eternal damnation, and believers into eternal life. (John 5:28-29)

  • Christians are called to tell others that the only way of salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ, and to show their faith by their deeds of love towards others. (Matthew 28:19)

Our Core Beliefs

Grace Alone

God loves the people of the world, even though they are sinful, rebel against Him and do not deserve His love. He sent Jesus, His Son, to love the unlovable and save the ungodly. Salvation and heaven is entirely a free gift of God unmerited favor, not earned by human efforts at self improvement.

Faith Alone

By His suffering and death as the substitute for all people of all time, Jesus purchased and won forgiveness and eternal life for them. Those who hear this Good News and believe it have the eternal life that it offers. God creates faith in Christ and gives people forgiveness through Him. Salvation is by grace alone, not human effort.

Scripture Alone

The Bible is God’s inerrant and infallible Word, in which He reveals His Law and His Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine. It is the highest authority in the Church.

From the Bible We Learn and Believe:
Regarding "Sacraments"

The Means of Grace in General

The Synod confesses that God delivers His grace through the means He has established: His Word—both as it is written in Scripture and proclaimed in preaching—and the Sacraments. Through these means of grace, the Holy Spirit bestows God’s grace, awakens and sustains faith in human hearts, grants forgiveness of sins for the sake of Christ’s saving death on the cross, and gives eternal life and salvation.

Baptism

Lutherans believe that the Bible teaches that a person is saved by God’s grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

The Bible tells us that such “faith comes by hearing” (Rom. 10:17). Jesus Himself commands Baptism and tells us that Baptism is water used together with the Word of God (Matt. 28:19-20).

Because of this, we believe that Baptism is one of the miraculous means of grace (another is God’s Word as it is written or spoken), through which God creates and/or strengthens the gift of faith in a person’s heart (see Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Gal. 3:26-27; Rom. 6:1-4; Col. 2:11-12; 1 Cor. 12.13).

Because all people are conceived and born in sin even infants are in need of salvation, so we practice infant baptism.

For a fuller explanation of what Lutherans believe about baptism follow this link: https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs/doctrine#baptism

Holy Communion (The Lord's Supper)

We believe that Jesus gave us Holy Communion for the reason that he shared when he instituted this meal: "...for the forgiveness of sins." We also believe that Jesus was series when he said about the bread and wine of the Sacrament, "...this is my body...this is my blood." Based on his word and promise we believe that all who receive Holy Communion at Atonement are receiving the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Communion is a means of grace, not a merely a memorial meal.

The Gospel is the Good News that through the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ God has done everything necessary for us to be saved from sin and enter Heaven. He didn't leave any thing up to us, because He knows that we are imperfect and cannot transform ourselves into people worthy to earn heaven; nothing to do with salvation and entering heaven can be left to us. So God did it for us by sending Jesus to do it all on our behalf.

To preserve the fact that God alone saves us, our faith can be summarized in five short phrases: Grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.

Christ Alone

Jesus alone is the only mediator between God and humanity; salvation is found exclusively in his finished work. He is the only way to heaven and salvation.

Glory to God Alone

Because salvation is entirely God’s work in Christ, no human being can take credit—our worship, service, and life are meant to point to Him.