Jesus Christ is the ever-present center

Jesus is at the center of our faith as Evangelical Lutherans, because only through Him can we overcome our human brokenness.

Even though it’s the central message of the Bible, talking about this human brokenness, which we sometimes call Sin, isn’t popular these days. We want to think that we are OK all by ourselves. But deep down, we know that something is missing.

That thing that is missing is God’s grace, given to us through Jesus Christ. What is grace, exactly? Grace is God’s love and forgiveness shown to us—a love that is so extraordinary because it comes to us even when we are still broken.

God doesn’t just pour grace down upon us—rather, God has instituted particular ways for His people to access this grace. Sometimes Lutherans call these things the means of grace. They are so important that we center our worship and lives around them.

Holy Baptism is the most important way that God gives us grace, because it is what begins our whole Christian life. With the simple, necessary gift of water God washes us and takes away the penalty that we deserve on account of our Sin.

Even though God has taken away the penalty that should come along with our brokenness, we still make lots of mistakes. At the beginning of every Sunday service, we confess our sins. Then, we receive God’s forgiveness when the pastor declares “the entire forgiveness of all of your sins". In this, we are made right before God and returned to a state of baptismal grace.

God also uses His grace to uphold us throughout our lives. One way we are upheld is through Holy Scripture, which we believe to be God’s inspired word for us. Reading it, hearing it, and studying it grants us grace—grace to understand God’s word, to believe what we understand, and to put it into action because we believe it.

Another way that we experience grace through Holy Scripture is through preaching. We believe that when an ordained pastor preaches, the Holy Spirit uses the pastor’s words to show people their sinful ways and how Jesus and His means of grace can heal us.

We believe that God comes to us and gives us His grace in prayer, especially when we pray together as a group of believers. Prayer is central to our worship and central to our lives together because it imparts grace.

And just as Jesus promised us, He comes to us in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Since Jesus is present in the bread and wine, he imparts His forgiveness, love, and grace to all who trust in Him and receive this holy meal.

God works in many other ways, too, but these are the chief ways that we recognize as Lutherans. Join us for worship and experience God’s grace through Jesus for yourself.