Hope is an Evangelical, Sacramental, Confessional, Liturgical, Lutheran Church

 

Evangelical

As Evangelical we believe that the central message of Scripture is the “Good News” that our sins are freely and fully forgiven for the sake of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the Father in human flesh. In Christ we are not condemned (as our sins would deserve) but are at peace with God, because Jesus has redeemed us by his atoning death, and in his resurrection has opened for us the way to everlasting life.

Sacramental

As Sacramental we acknowledge from Scripture that Christ has instituted certain external means through which God’s grace is brought to humanity, and through which the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens the faith that receives his forgiveness and salvation. These divinely-appointed Means of Grace are the Word of God and the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Confessional

As Confessional we proclaim together a definite body of revealed truth, which God has made known to his Church through the divinely-inspired Scriptures, and which is summarized and explained in the Church’s historic Confessions (the three “Ecumenical Creeds” and the Lutheran Confessions of the sixteenth century). Through these Confessions we humbly and joyfully declare our faith in the Triune God, and in what he has done and continues to do for our salvation.

Liturgical

As Liturgical we recognize in Scripture the Lord’s will to bring the Means of Grace to his Church regularly and in an orderly manner, and by his Word to guide the Church in a discipline of Christ-centered, reverent devotion. These Biblical standards for worship are well served by the time-tested liturgical forms and hymns that are employed among us. We appreciate the historic Liturgy also as a witness to the sacred heritage of the one Church of Christ to which all true believers belong, and as a living testimony to the faithfulness of Christ in preserving his beloved Church throughout the ages.