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The five Essential Beliefs of the Lutheran Reformation
- 1 Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
- 2 Sola fide ("by faith alone")
- 3 Sola gratia ("by grace alone")
- 4 Solus Christus or Solo Christo ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")
- 5 Soli Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")
You Might Be a Lutheran If...
...you only serve Jell-O in the proper liturgical color for the season....you didn't know chow mein noodles were a Chinese food.
...when someone mentions red and green (in terms of Christmas), you immediately think of a battle over hymnals.
...during the entire service you hold your hymnal open but never look down at it.
...during communion you hum the hymns so you can see who's at church that Sunday.
...rather than introducing yourself to a visitor at church, you check their name out in the guestbook.
...you think Garrison Keillor's stories are totally factual.
...you have your wedding reception in the fellowship hall and feel guilty about not staying to help clean up.
...a midlife crisis means switching from the old hymnbook to the new one.
...you forget to put water in the baptismal font but never forget to put water in the coffee pot.
...the pastor skips the last hymn to make sure church lasts exactly 60 minutes.
...you make spaghetti at your house with the little macaroni noodles because they're not so messy then.
...you don't make eye contact when passing someone in the hall because you think it's impolite.
...your choir believes volume is a fair substitute for tonality.
...you don't know what was sooo funny about dat movie "Fargo" then.
...in response to someone jumping up and shouting "Praise the Lord!", you politely remind him or her that we don't do that around here.
...you think a meeting isn't legitimate unless it's at least three hours long.
...peas in your tuna noodle hotdish add too much color.
...you make change in the offering plate for a ten.
...your dad's name is Luther N., your brother is Luther Hahn and you are Lew Theran.
...you think butter is a spice.
...the church is on fire, and you rush in to save the coffee pot.
...you have more than five flavors of Jell-O in your pantry.
...you know what a "dead spread" is.
...you talk to someone else and look at their shoes first.
...you have more than three friends whose first names have the letter "j" as the second letter.
...the only open pew is up front, so you volunteer to shovel the sidewalk.
...Ole and Lena are really the names of your relatives.
...you know what a Lutheran Church Basement Woman is.
...you give a party and don't tell anyone where it is.
...you think hotdish is one of the major food groups.
...http://www.luthbro.com is one of your bookmarks.
...your five-year-old recites the Old Testament books as Genesis, Exodus, Lutefisk...
...someone asks you after church if there's any "decaf coffee" and you laugh because you KNOW that if it doesn't have caffeine, it can't be coffee!
...you think anyone who says "casserole" instead of "hotdish" is trying to be uppity (or maybe even Episcopalian!)
...you think the term "Jell-O salad" is redundant.
...you freeze the leftover coffee from fellowship hour for next week.
What Does God Say of All These Commandments?
Answer.
He says thus (Exod. 20:5f): I the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
What does this mean?--Answer.
God threatens to punish all that transgress these commandments. Therefore we should dread His wrath and not act contrary to these commandments. But He promises grace and every blessing to all that keep these commandments. Therefore we should also love and trust in Him, and gladly do [zealously and diligently order our whole life] according to His commandments.
We are law Gospel people. The law seeks to condemn us - it orders society - "You shall not" because God loves us we are given good order. What happens when we break his commandments? Showing mercy and granting pardon we have a Savior Jesus who declares sins to be forgiven, sinners given new life because of his death in our place once and for all.
When Billy Graham was driving through a small southern town, he was stopped by a policeman and charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court.
The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That'll be ten dollars -- a dollar for every mile you went over the limit."
Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid--but I am going to pay it for you." He took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! "That," said Billy Graham, "is how God treats repentant sinners!"
We are a people centered in the Word of God
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it."
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has made a commitment to encourage all members of our congregations, from children to adults, to dig deeper into our book of faith, the Bible. The Book of Faith Initiative recommends a new model for our church—a grass-roots approach embracing a common vision in which all are invited to open scripture and join the conversation.
"The Bible unfolds to us as we are met, guided, drawn on, and made to grow by the grace of God." Martin Luther
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