Lutherans believe . . . that God is the Creator of the universe with all its grandeur and beauty, and He sustains it with His almighty power.  He also created our first parents, Adam and Eve, in His own image that they might live in fellowship with Him and be His instruments to care for His creation.

Lutherans believe . . . that Adam and Eve, whom God created, doubted and rebelled against Him.  They sinned and their natures became evil.  Now every human being is born with a self-centered nature and a tendency for evil that violates God’s will and desire.  Attempts to change human nature or to please God with our own good are doomed to failure. People need forgiveness and new life, and God provides it through His Grace.

Lutherans believe . . . that God, out of pure love, gives people forgiveness of sins and thus reconciles them to Himself.  He does this even though He is a just God who punishes sins because His own Son, Jesus Christ, took the punishment for all sin for all people upon Himself when He died on the cross of Calvary.  God raised Him from the dead on Easter and thus demonstrated to the world that the sacrifice of the Lamb of God has been accepted and man’s sins paid for.

Lutherans believe . . . that people receive forgiveness through faith.  Faith is the hand which accepts God’s free gift.  Faith is created by the Holy Spirit through the means of the Gospel message which tells of God’s love demonstrated in Jesus Christ.  Infant baptism is the means by which a child is given a new life and received into God’s kingdom.