What We Believe, Teach and Confess

We are Lutheran!

    Nearly 500 years ago, Martin Luther, a German monk, rediscovered the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He correctly taught that we are saved (forgiven and made right with God) by grace alone through faith, not because of our good works. Zion is a "Lutheran" Church, not because we claim to follow Martin Luther, but rather because we proclaim the same Gospel rediscovered by Luther in the Reformation. At Zion, we emphasize the three basic principles of the Reformation: grace alone, faith alone and Scripture alone. We cannot earn our salvation by being good people but only by trusting the grace of God as revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord. This message of God’s grace is found in the Bible – the inerrant and infallible Word of God, the only source of our knowledge about God and His will for us. Zion is a part of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, a church body with over two million members gathering in over 6000 congregations proclaiming the Good News in twenty different languages.

What We Believe:

Together with every other Christian denomination, we believe in the Triune God.  God has revealed Himself to us in His Word as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)

We believe that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God and would be lost forever had not God the Father reached down to save mankind.  (Romans 3:23; 6:23).  We have all participated in the original sin of Adam and have a sinful nature (Romans 5:12). 

We believe that God the Son became man, as Jesus of Nazareth, to live a perfect life, to die and be raised again for us to be our Savior and Lord (John 3:16 - salvation).  Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the entire world and paid the perfect price for our forgiveness (Galatians 4:4-5 - redemption).  Jesus also lived a perfectly holy life and His righteousness is given to us by faith so that we may stand blameless before our Father in heaven (Romans 5:1 - justification)  This message of forgiveness, redemption and justification is "the Gospel of Jesus Christ," a message we proclaim every Sunday.

We believe that God the Holy Spirit works and strengthens our faith in our Lord Jesus through the preaching of the Gospel (Romans 10:17).  Before the Gospel message is proclaimed, the Law, which shows our sin, must precede so that we are daily convicted of our sins and daily cling to the Good News of God's grace in Christ Jesus.  

We believe that God gives saving faith and the regenerating gift of the Holy Spirit to infants through Baptism (Matthew 28:19; Titus 3:3-5).  We do not Baptize infants without the responsible promise of the parents to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; to bring their children to the services of God's house; and to see to it that as the children grow in years they are instructed in the Christian faith leading to their own confirmation of the baptismal vow made by their parents and sponsors.

We believe that the body and blood of Christ is truly present in Holy Communion, in, with and under the elements of bread and wine.  We take participation in this Supper of our Lord very seriously since eating and drinking in an unworthy fashion brings judgment upon the participant (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).  For this reason and out of love for others, only those who are a part of our fellowship are invited to participate.

We believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God and strongly stand against all elements of "liberal" theology whereby the truth of Scripture is open to the judgment of human reason.  Our position does not reflect a mere theological conservatism but defines the heart of Christianity.  We are not "conservatives."  We are Christians. 

We believe that the Church is God's family, gathered by Him to receive and share His promises and to rejoice in His forgiveness and everlasting life.  We expect that people who are a part of our Church will participate in the Sunday worship and will gather around the Lord's Table on a regular basis.

We believe that Jesus is coming again to judge both the living and the dead as confessed in the Apostles' Creed.  We reject all of the popular attempts to define the what, the how and the when of this Second Coming but stand prepared on a daily basis to welcome our Lord Jesus.

These truths we confess are also expressed in the "Law and Gospel Encounter" and the "What is Truth?" video series available on our home page.