Bethany Lutheran Church - The Lutheran Faith

The Lutheran Faith
The Lutheran Church is that continuation of the historic Church of Jesus Christ (reaching back to the time of the Apostles) which has affirmed the Gospel as the heart and core of its understanding of Christian belief in a confession of faith called “Lutheran.”

Lutherans recognize the two great realities of human existence: sin and grace. Sin is the basic human problem, the problem from which all others flow. Sin is the natural inclination to focus on oneself, to put oneself or some thing in the center instead of God. Grace is God’s response to humans caught in sin – He loves us all anyway and through His Son Jesus Christ sets us free from sin and its major consequence, death.

Lutherans believe that the central truth of the Bible is this description of God’s grace overcoming sin: we get right with God and receive His gifts of forgiveness, new life, and eternal life . . .

by grace (God’s love which is undeserved),
for Christ’s sake (He suffered and died for the forgiveness of our sin),
through faith (which is also a gift, the working of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word
and Sacraments),
for serving (as a result of a new and right relationship with God, we live in service to
Him by serving people in His name).

Therefore Bethany Lutheran Congregation seeks to be a church that is

Christ-centered,
  Gospel-oriented,
    Bible-based, and
      People-focused.

As Philip once said to a skeptical Nathanael, “Come and see!” (John 1:46)