It is our hope that you will let us become a part of your life. Even more important, we would like Jesus Christ to become an important part of your life, through us.
God in heaven, creator of us all, knows all about us. He knows that we cannot be holy and perfect (Romans 3:23) as He commands (Leviticus 11:45, Matthew 5:48), and as He is Himself. We can expect to have no part of Him because of our misdeeds. God would be completely justified to destroy all of us. But, he hasn't done that because He loves us.
Instead, He sent His own true Son to take on flesh and become a human being. This Son of God, named Jesus, lived as a servant to humankind, and did it perfectly. Then, He gave up His life as a perfect and holy sacrifice in our place to spare us the destruction we deserve. To all who believe this about Him, He gives salvation and eternal life (John 3:16-17). This same message is what we at St. Paul Lutheran Church believe, teach, and practice in our own lives.
We believe what God has revealed to us in His Holy Bible. There is no other place to find this good news about Jesus, and no other way to know it, except that God in His mercy shows it to us in the Bible and through those who have heard the message. So, the Bible is what we believe. The Bible is what we teach. And the Bible, in all it says, tells how we try to live, simply because God wants us to do it. In every way that we fail - and we will, since we are still just human - Jesus has forgiven us.
You will hear about Jesus and His salvation in church services, through preaching, through singing, through praying, and through teaching in classes. There are many opportunities through the week to hear about Jesus. You will also find out that, because of what Jesus has done for us all, just as He loves and cares for you, so do we love and care for you.
At St. Paul, we experience the blessings of God as we have been baptized and bring our loved ones to be baptized in His name (Matthew 16:16, 28:18-20). In the water of Baptism, God claims us as His own, and sends His Holy Spirit to bring us to faith and help us live in a godly way. We also experience the blessings of forgiveness and renewed strength of faith in the Lord's Supper, which is Jesus' way of bringing to us His body and blood. This mystery comes to us as we share in this bread and wine, according to His promise. Because of these wonderful gifts from God, we have begun to take care of one another, as God takes care of us.