It is God’s Word. God the Holy Spirit inspired its writing. It is dependable and never wrong. It has no errors or mistakes. It is the only source and standard for what we believe, teach, and confess and for how God wants us to live.

God’s word has both law and gospel. The law shows us what God commands and expects us and all people to do and not do. It shows us our sin and reminds us of God’s anger against sin. All people need to hear the law because all people are sinners. The gospel shows us what God has graciously done in Jesus Christ to save us. It must be proclaimed to those who are disturbed/worried by their sins. The gospel gives comfort and hope. The law and the gospel have different purposes and must be correctly distinguished to properly understand the Bible.

As prepared for publication and signed in 1580, this book contains the following documents: the three ecumenical creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian), the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, the Small and Large Catechisms of Martin Luther, and the Formula of Concord. We believe these documents are correct explanations of Holy Scripture and the teachings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed are faithful summaries of what God has revealed in His word, the Bible, about Who He is and His work.

The Triune God is the only true God—the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three different Gods, but one and the same. They are infinite, eternal, and almighty. They each receive the same glory. This God has existed from eternity before He created the heavens and the earth and everything in them.

The work of the Father is creation. He has created the heavens and the earth and everything in them including us. He provides all that we need.

His work is redemption—rescuing us from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God--true God and true man. He has made the forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation possible for all. He did that with His perfect obedience and with His innocent suffering and death on the cross as our substitute. He has risen bodily from the dead to show the certainty of His identity as the promised Savior, His promises, and what He’s accomplished for us.

The Holy Spirit is also truly and fully God. The work of the Holy Spirit is sanctification. He makes us holy through the gift of repentant faith in Jesus Christ and enables us to live in ways pleasing to our great and gracious God.

God created the heavens, the earth and everything in them in six days by His Word. (Genesis 1:3) He saw that everything He made was very good. It was perfect. Nothing was broken or sinful about it.

Originated with Adam and Eve’s disobedience of God when they were tempted by the devil. Their disobedience has been passed down from one generation to the next (original sin). Because of original sin, we and all people are sinners from the time we are conceived in our mothers’ wombs and cannot save ourselves. The result of original sin in our lives is actual sin--thoughts, words, and actions that disobey God and hurt our relationship with Him and others.

“The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23,ESV) Physical death is a consequence of sin. This goes back to Adam and Eve’s disobedience of God in the Garden. God told them, “…for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19b, ESV) At death, the soul of a believer in Jesus Christ departs to be with Him. The body of the person is buried to await the Last Day when Jesus will return and raise the dead.

It is a free gift based on God’s grace and mercy in Christ. We freely receive it through faith alone in Jesus based on His perfect work and not at all on our works. Only Jesus Christ makes salvation possible. We don’t deserve it. We can’t earn it. We look forward to enjoying it more fully in soul when we die believing in Jesus Christ alone as our Savior. We look forward to enjoying it in the fullest way, in soul and body, when He returns in glory on the Last Day.

Is a gift given to us by God the Holy Spirit. We cannot come to faith by our own efforts or strength or as a result of our own decision. The Holy Spirit works through the law to bring a person to repentance. The Spirit works through the gospel good news about Jesus to bring a person to faith, so that they trust in Him as Savior and the truth of His promises even though they can’t be seen.

Forgiveness is not holding a person’s sins against them. Only because of Jesus’ perfect, one-time sacrifice with His death on the cross, God has made forgiveness possible for all. We freely receive it through faith alone in Christ. God first forgives us. He wants and enables us to forgive others.

The Bible teaches that, as believers in Christ, we individually are at the same time saints and sinners. By grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, we have received the forgiveness of our sins and have been made holy in God’s sight. At the same time, because the old sinful nature still clings to us, we are not able to perfectly do what God commands. With the apostle Paul we say, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25a, ESV)

We believe that there are two Sacraments—Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. These were instituted by Jesus Christ. In them, the Good News about Jesus is connected to visible elements and through them He gives the forgiveness of sins.

“Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word.” “It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this as the words and promises of God declare.” (From Luther’s Small Catechism © 1986 Concordia Publishing House, www.cph.org. Used with permission.) Baptism is for “all nations” (Matthew 28:19) which also includes infants. The Holy Spirit works in Baptism to give a person the gift of faith in Jesus Christ through which they personally receive the benefits of His death and resurrection.

Instituted by Jesus on the night when He was betrayed. “It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.” Jesus said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me…Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (From Luther’s Small Catechism © 1986 Concordia Publishing House, www.cph.org. Used with permission.) The bread and wine are not symbols. Jesus is really and bodily present in, with, and under the bread and wine by the power of God’s Word giving us His true body and blood.

Based on what the Bible says and in conjunction with the doctrine and practice of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, we practice close Communion. This is done for the sake of the spiritual care and the unity of those who commune at our altar, both members and guests, so that they receive the body and blood of Christ worthily, that is, in a way pleasing to Him and also good for their faith and life.

We believe that God created marriage as the union of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24-25, Matthew 19:4-6) until death parts them. God also gave marriage as a picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride, the Church (Eph. 5:32).

God’s word teaches that He has formed us in our mother’s wombs and given us life. (Psalm 139:13) The unborn baby in its mother’s womb is considered to be a person in the sight of God from the time of conception. No matter the ability or age, God values every human life. So, based on the Fifth Commandment in Exodus 20:13, ESV (“You shall not murder”), God forbids abortion, suicide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.

Jesus Christ has instituted the pastoral office and calls suitable men to serve in it. See Matthew 28:18-20 and John 20:21-23. The pastor’s preaching, teaching, and administration of the Sacraments are to be in conformity with Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions as found in the Book of Concord. Based on what the Bible says (1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Timothy 3:2), women are not to serve as pastors, but can serve in the church in other ways according to the many talents God has given them.

God rules over both of these kingdoms. The government, the left-hand kingdom or realm, is ruled by the governing authorities. We honor their offices as God’s representatives to maintain order, to protect us, and to punish those who do wrong. The Church, the right-hand kingdom or realm, is also ruled by God. It is where His Word is proclaimed and taught and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ’s word. It is where the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation are given as gifts.

Jesus will return on the Last Day but not to set up an earthly rule or government. Based on Holy Scripture, we do not believe in the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world...” (John 18:36, ESV) We don’t know when the Last Day will occur. Jesus said, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36, ESV) When Christ returns in glory on that day, all of the dead will be raised. For those who’ve rejected Jesus in unbelief, they will spend eternity in hell in body and soul. For those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, they will enjoy being with Him forever in body and soul in the perfection of the new heaven and new earth that He will then bring about. For believers in Christ, His return is a source of hope and joy in which there will be no more death and no more mourning, crying or pain anymore. (Revelation 21:1-4) With great hope, we watchfully and expectantly wait in repentant faith for Christ’s return.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9, ESV) Even though a person may not be a pastor or other professional church worker, as an individual believer in Jesus Christ, he or she is part of that royal priesthood. As such, there are things we do in our different roles in life to serve the Lord and care for our neighbor. We pray to our merciful Heavenly Father. We forgive those who’ve sinned against us as God has first forgiven us in Christ. We support the Lord’s work and serve with the time, talents and treasures that God has given us. We speak God’s law-gospel word to others in order to bring them the good news about Jesus Christ as God’s one and only gracious remedy for sin.

Peace Lutheran Church has been a member of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) since June 3, 2001. For more information about The LCMS and what it believes, teaches, and confesses, please see www.lcms.org.