About Bethlehem Lutheran Church
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Lutherans believe:
a person is justified (saved) by God's grace through faith and not by personal merit or good works.
a person who is saved is a new creation who wants to live a life of good works (service to others) in relationship with God.
God is one God in three persons, Father (creator), Son (savior), and Holy Spirit (guide and advocate).
Jesus died to save the entire world from sin.
the Bible contains everything we need to know for salvation.
a sacrament is an act commanded by Jesus, using an earthly element and containing a divine promise.
there are two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Holy Communion, Eucharist).
our life in Christ begins with Baptism.
our life in Christ is sustained by the Lord's Supper and God's Word as found in the Bible.
the church is made up of all people who sincerely accept and believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior.
Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk who began the Protestant Reformation. He was born in 1483 in Germany and died in 1546. He did not set out to form a new church, but rather to urge existing church leaders (especially the Pope) to return to the beliefs and practices of the early church. At the center of his understanding was the teaching found in Scripture that no one is good enough to earn God's favor but that it is freely given to us through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
