What We Believe

We believe that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)    We believe that we have fallen short of all that is good, right and perfect, fallen short of loving God as He has perfectly loved us.  We also believe that this failure to love as He loves us, not living according to His perfect commandments which He has given to us in love, is the source of all of our world’s suffering and problems and deserving of God’s righteous and eternal judgment.

But we also believe that One Man, Jesus of Nazareth, has perfectly loved this way and that by His perfect loving life and death, He took God’s just wrath upon Himself.  We believe that through Him all our sins have been forgiven, covered and taken away.  We believe that His resurrection from the dead proves that this is true, that He has defeated sin and the result of sin death, for us. We believe that this gracious forgiveness is made available and laid hold of by all by means of God given faith. We believe this faith is made evident and expressed by confessing all our sins and trusting that His great gift of salvation is for us.  We believe that we are “justified (forgiven solely) by His grace as a gift.” (Romans 8:24)  We believe that, “by grace we are saved through faith and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not the result of (our) works, so that no man may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) 

In short, each of us at Our Savior’s confesses the historical faith of the Church as expressed in the Apostles Creed. Each one of us confesses that “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.  And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended into hell.  The third day He rose again from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.”  

We also hold to and confess, as a member congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, the  more detailed expression of God’s eternal, biblical truths found in the confessions of the Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord of 1580. This includes, of course, the founding confession of the Lutheran Church, the 1530 Unaltered Augsburg Confession.

Concerning Holy Communion: As a congregation in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, we practice closed communion. This is our policy printed in each bulletin: "An Exhortation Concerning the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar: Mindful of our Lord's words regarding unity in the faith and preparation to worthily receive His body and blood, and mindful of the Lutheran confessional practice of examination prior to coming to the altar, we practice closed communion. This means that normally only those members in good-standing of this congregation or another congregation in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod can commune. If you are a visitor at Our Savior’s Lutheran today and have not spoken to the pastor prior to service please remain in the pew during Communion at this time and join us in prayer and praise. If you would like to know more about Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the practice of closed communion, or if you are interested in membership, our Pastor would be delighted to speak with you following Divine Service. Thank you for your consideration."