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About

What We Believe

Its all about Jesus

At Divine Shepherd Lutheran Church, we are excited to share the Good News that God, the creator of the universe, loves all people!  He showed it by giving his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.


Read on for some fundamentals.

The Word

We believe the Bible is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16) God’s Word includes law, which shows us our sin, and gospel, the good news that shows us our Savior, Jesus.

References:

  • 2 Peter 1:21

    21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • 2 Timothy 3:16

    16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

    New International Version (NIV)

The Holy Trinity

We believe in one God in three persons:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 28:19)

Father

The Bible tells us that God created all things good (Genesis 1:31), but that the first humans fell into sin – rebellion against God.  (Genesis 3:1-14)  Since then all people have inherited a sinful nature from our first parents (Psalm 51:5), that is evident in our sinful thoughts, words, and actions.  We would all be lost forever because of sin, but God, our Heavenly Father, sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to save us.

Son

Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary (Luke 1:26-35, 2:7) and lived as one of us – a true man. Yet, he was truly God (John 1:1, Col. 1:15-20).  Jesus lived the perfect life that God’s law requires (Hebrews 4:15), then suffered and died to pay the penalty that was due all people for their sins (2 Cor. 5:21),  In doing so, Jesus bought sinners back for God (1 Peter 3:18).  The gifts Jesus won for us – forgiveness and everlasting life – are given to us by God’s grace alone, received by faith alone (Eph. 2:8) in Jesus Christ alone (John 14:6) as our Lord and Savior.Jesus rose again from the dead (resurrection appearances recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts), and lives and reigns with the Father in heaven (Heb. 1:3). Jesus will come again to judge all people, living and dead (Matthew 25:32-46).  We believe in the resurrection of everyone from the dead when Jesus returns at the end of the world – some to eternal punishment, others to eternal life.  Whoever trusts in Jesus as their Lord and Savior will have eternal life (John 3:16).

Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God and the sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) to draw people to Jesus Christ and to strengthen believers in their faith.

References:

  • Deuteronomy 6:4

    4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Matthew 3:16-17

    16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Matthew 28:19

    19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Genesis 1:31

    31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Genesis 3:1-14

    The Fall

    3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

    2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

    4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

    6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

    8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

    10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

    11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

    12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

    13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

    The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

    14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

    “Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
    You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Psalm 51:5

    5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Luke 1:26-35

    The Birth of Jesus Foretold

    26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

    29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

    34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

    35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Luke 2:7

    7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • John 1:1

    The Word Became Flesh

    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Colossians 1:15-20

    The Supremacy of the Son of God

    15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Hebrews 4:15

    15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • 2 Corinthians 5:21

    21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • 1 Peter 3:18

    18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Ephesians 2:8

    8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

    New International Version (NIV)

  • John 14:6

    6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Hebrews 1:3

    3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

    New International Version (NIV)

  • Matthew 25:32-46

    32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

    34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

    37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

    40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

    41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

    44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

    45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

    46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

    New International Version (NIV)

  • John 3:16

    16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

    New International Version (NIV)

The Great Commission

As those who have been loved and forgiven by God, we joyfully seek to spread the Good News about Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) and to love and serve God and our neighbors. 

Reference:

  • Matthew 28:18-20

    18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

    New International Version (NIV)

Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod - LCMS

Our congregation is a member of the LCMS.  You can learn more about the church body here: LCMS.org.

Further Reading

Who Is Jesus? according to the LCMS.

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