What We Believe
People in our area love to be out in nature, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and the like. They will comment that they “have a cathedral in the woods.” They know from nature and its obvious design that there must be a God who is powerful, intelligent, and imaginative. And he must be good, really good, to make such a world and to give humans the abilities to hear, see, smell, touch, taste and enjoy it.
We come to church to hear the Bible read and explained because we see that a really good God would want us to know something nature will never tell. What does he do with people who are not perfect?
A good God would want us to know we are forgiven. We see in the Bible a book that says what no other book does . . .
- that a good God made mankind good, but mankind went bad.
- that a good God could have destroyed us and remade mankind, but he loved us and wanted us to be born and be saved.
- that a good God planned a way for our sins to be paid for. . .by having his Son do good deeds the Son himself didn’t need, so he could give those deeds away to us.by ensuring that his Son, with no sins of his own, could suffer for our sins, so that he could pay for them for us. Then we wouldn’t have to die forever but could rise from the dead and live forever.
The Bible says all this again and again in many different words so that we know without a doubt that it is true.
We go to church to learn all this from God, to be forgiven again when we need it, to be encouraged, and to be strengthened in our faith and actions. We also go to church just to tell God “thank you,” because, when someone has loved you that much, at the cost of his own Son, well, you just want to say “thank you.” And you want to make it so that other people know he loves them, too.
Our Synod
There are a variety of Lutheran denominations in our country. We belong to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). That doesn't mean our members are all from Wisconsin, but that our church body began in Wisconsin.
Our membership in the WELS unites us with like-minded Christians across our country and around the world. This "synod" allows us to do work together which we cannot do on our own. Resources are pooled to do mission work at home and abroad, to train young people to serve in public ministry as pastors, teachers and staff ministers, and to put out publications such as hymnals, Bible studies, and other materials. Above all, we find comfort in knowing there are Christians throughout the world who share a common faith with us.
Our congregation and church body are solidly based on the Bible. We believe that Jesus is our only Savior and way to heaven. Through faith we are united to him and to each other.
More information is on the WELS website.
