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LUTHERAN BELIEFS
Holy Cross Lutheran Church is founded on the Word and Sacraments, standing firm on the
Lutheran Confession resulting in a church family that is praying, loving, growing, and
focused on reaching out with the Gospel to meet the needs of people.
WHO IS JESUS? ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT WHY IS CONFESSION IMPORTANT?
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What We Believe
As Lutheran Christians, we believe in and confess the Triune God: the Father, creator of all that exists; Jesus Christ, the Son, who became human to suffer and die for the sins of all human beings and to rise to life again in the ultimate victory over death and Satan; and the Holy Spirit, who creates faith through God's Word and Sacraments. The three persons of the Trinity are coequal and coeternal, one God.
We are called "Lutheran" because we accept and teach the Bible-based teachings of Martin Luther that inspired the reformation of the Christian Church in the 16th century.
The teachings of Luther and the fellow reformers can be summarized in three short phrases: Grace Alone, Scripture Alone, Faith Alone.
Grace Alone
God loves the people of the world, even though we are sinful, rebel against Him, and do not deserve His love. He sent Jesus, His Son, to love the unlovable and to save the ungodly.
Scripture Alone
The Bible is God's inerrant and infallible Word, in which He reveals His Law and His Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. The scriptures are the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine.
Faith Alone
By His suffering and death as the substitute for all people of all time, Jesus purchased and won forgiveness and eternal life for us. God creates faith in Christ and gives us forgiveness of sins through Him. Those who hear this Good News and believe it have the eternal life that it offers. We are a "confessional" congregation, which means we hold to the Lutheran Confessions as a correct interpretation and presentation of Biblical doctrine. Collected in The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, these statements of belief were put into writing by church leaders during the 16th century. (The simplest of these is Luther's Small Catechism.) The Augsburg Confession gives more detail on what Lutherans believe.
The word "Synod" in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod comes from the Greek words that mean "walking together". The synod walks together by supporting two seminaries, ten universities, and a host of international missions and ministries.
As a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS), Holy Cross is dedicated to Christian education and missions. The LCMS supports over 2,000 elementary and 5,000 pre-schools, 60 high schools, ten colleges, and two seminaries. LCMS is active in all fifty states and in more than 25 foreign countries.
Reaching lost souls with the Gospel:
Nourishing and equipping the saints for life and ministry!
Who Is Jesus?
Why was it important for Jesus to be born as a man?
Jesus was born to die on the cross to pay for the sins of the whole world. But before He would die, He would have to live a perfect life under God's Law--the Ten Commandments. That means that during His entire life, Jesus never ever sinned--not even once! As a man, Jesus took the place of every human being under the Law and kept it perfectly in our place. That means that for every time we have failed to keep the Law, Jesus Christ succeeded!
Why was it so important for Jesus to be true God?
Jesus had to be true God so that He could live a perfect life in our place, die a perfect death on the cross, and rise from the dead as Ruler over sin, death, and the devil. All of this He did in obedience to the Father and out of complete and total love for us.
About the Holy Spirit
When Jesus died, the disciples were sad because they thought that their Friend and Lord was gone forever. But Jesus rose again! Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus did finally ascend into heaven leaving the disciples below. However, before Jesus actually died, rose again and ascended into heaven, He made a promise to His disciples that He would send His Holy Spirit to them. He said that the Holy Spirit would come and guide them "into all truth" (John 16:13).
As you can see, Jesus doesn't leave us alone for fend for ourselves, Jesus is here with us. His Holy Spirit guide and leads the church into truth of the wonderful Gospel! We celebrate and remember all of this a Pentecost. The word Pentecost comes from a Greek word meaning "fiftieth". Exactly fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. Everyone there saw tiny flames of fire on the disciples heads. The color red represents Pentecost.
Why is Confession so Important to a Christian?
Confessing our sins is very important!
When we confess them to God, we see just how terribly sinful we are. We also know that sin brings nothing but eternal death and separation from God. When we confess our sins, not only do we see that we are sinful but we are admitting to God that we deserve death and separation from Him forever. We are free to admit all of this to HIm because we know that Jesus has already died and paid for all our sins.
After we have confessed our sins, what happens?
With Confession always comes Absolution, the forgiveness of sins! In Jesus we have the sure and true promise of forgiveness of sins as we hear in 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
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