We, as Christians, believe Jesus is the Son of God. He was sent by God the Father to heal the broken relationship humanity had with God. We believe that Jesus is fully God and fully human. That He was born of the Virgin Mary, and was raised in a human family.
   When He became an adult of about 30 years, He began His ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing throughout the ancient land of Judea (modern day Isreal.) He gathered a small group of disciples, and drew large crowds to hear Him preach and teach.
   This threatened the authorities, and as the ministry of Jesus grew, they sought to have Him killed. They accomplished this on Good Friday, but little did they know that Jesus allowed them to do so in order that the brokenness, the sinfulness of the world could begin the process of healing. His death on the cross began God's triumph over death.
   We believe that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday after his crucifixion. His 'resurrection' forever changed our relationship to God, and our understanding of life. For we Christians believe that though we die, yet shall we live, and Jesus through His resurrection has shown us the powerful love of God that not even death shall overcome.
   Today, we believe that Jesus Christ 'lives' wherever there are people who believe in Him and wherever the Good News of reconciliation and hope is preached, and the Sacraments are administrated.

We believe that the Church is made up of fellow sinners and believers who have been restored to a relationship with God through the forgiveness of their sins by Jesus Christ. We are made members of the church by the action of the Holy Spirit who brings us to baptism and makes us a new person the Christ, a member of His body on earth that we call the Church. Our place in the Church and as a baptized child of God is given to us by the loving grace of God that calls us into relationship with Him.
   The Church exists so that we, and others, can hear the loving Word of God through Jesus Christ. We are called to faith in Christ through this living Word.
   The Church also administers the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, and serves the world, hopefully, with the same love that Christ showed all of creation during His earthly ministry.

Luther changed the course of Western history when he began what came to be called the Reformation. Christianity split apart from that time in the 1500's to become Roman Catholic and Protestant. All Protestant churches can trace their beginning back to Martin Luther. Luther translated the Bible into German; demanded and wrote worship services in the language of the people; and believed that the regular people of the congregation should have more say in what went on in the church.
   Martin Luther developed, and today the Lutheran Church still holds to, four basic principles set forth almost 500 years ago.

• We believe that we are saved by the grace of God alone, not by what we do.
• We believe that this salvation is received through faith alone in Jesus Christ.
• We believe that our sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ, and He lived, preached, suffered, died and rose again in order to redeem us from our sins.
• We believe that the Bible is the only norm of doctrine and life; the only true standard by which church teachings and doctrines are judged.

We Lutherans, cast a broad net when it comes to our understanding of the Bible. We believe that there can be more than one valid interpretation, more that one valid manner in which to study the Holy Bible. We believe that the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God for the life, faith and actions of the Church and those who profess the faith of Jesus Christ.
   There are seven other areas regarding the understanding of Scripture to which most ELCA Lutherans affirm:

• The Bible was written and transcribed by many people inspired by God over a period of many centuries
• We understand the Bible to bear remarkable testimony to the mighty acts of God in the lives of people and nations.
• The Old Testament focuses on the relationship and covenants that God established with the people of Israel.
• The New Testament account deals with the coming of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, into the world to take the sin of the world upon Himself, to begin the healing of creation, and to begin the reconciliation of humanity to God.
• The New Testament is the story of the obedience and discipline of Jesus through His suffering, death and resurrection.
• The Bible is the story of God's love for His people and His creation. The Bible is a collection of books spanning fifteen centuries, with over 66 authors who tell us of God's love for them; for God's people; for all of creation; and of God's great desire that all people come to Him. We believe that the Bible is not a scientific textbook; it is not an economic textbook (though it speaks a great deal about the proper use of wealth); though some of its books are books of history, it is not primarily a book about history. What the Bible truly is, is the divine record if you please, of God's saving care and love for His people and creation, throughout the course of time and history.
• We believe that the Bible is the only norm of doctrine and life; the only true standard by which church teachings and doctrines should be judged.

We Lutherans understand there to be Sacraments. We realize that other Christian denominations may have more, such as our Catholic brothers and sisters, or none as some of our Baptist friends, but we have two - Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.
   We believe that in Holy Baptism, God freely offers us His grace and brings us into the family of God and the Body of Christ that is the Church on earth.
   In Holy Communion, we believe Christ to be truly present in the bread and wine. Through Holy Communion, God's forgiveness is offered and brings us into a right relationship with our Lord and with each other.

To be a 'confessional' church means that we used the ancient 'creeds' of the church in worship to let folks know what we believe. 'Creeds' are simply statements of belief that have been in the Church for over 1700 years! The very first 'creed' was "Jesus is Lord!"
   The three major creeds are, The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed and the The Athanasian Creed.
   As Lutheran Christians, we also understand Martin Luther's writings in the Small Catechism and another document called The Augsburg Confession to be very important to our understanding of our faith.

Several times during the year we offer a class called Discovery! We start with a light meal, and then offer over the next seven weeks opportunities to discuss what Lutherans are all about, what All Saints is about, and for those who are interested, how to become a member of All Saints. For more information, please call the church office.