What We Believe

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church is a confessional, Lutheran congregation.

We are a confessing congregation. This means that we hold fast to the confessions of the historic Church as confessed in the three ecumenical creeds: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.

We are a confessional Lutheran congregation. This means that we hold fast to the teaching of God’s Word as confessed in the unaltered 1580 Book of Concord. In this collection of confessions we confess God’s Word, stating both what it true and what is error so that a clear, understandable confession of what we believe can be clearly seen.

What We Believe

We believe…

…in the one true God, the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things;

…that all people are in bondage to sin, death, and the devil, and are unable to free themselves or make themselves right with God by their own powers;

…that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, lived a perfect and holy life for us, shed His blood for us on the cross to atone for our sins, and rose from the grave on the third day declaring His victory over Satan and the grave for us;

…that God has declared the whole world “not guilty” because of what Jesus did upon the cross and not because of what we do;

…that the Holy Spirit delivers Christ’s forgiveness, life, and salvation to us — fully and freely — through the preaching of the Word, through baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper;

…that Christ is working in us to lead lives of faith toward God and fervent love toward one another in the vocations to which He calls us;

…that Christ’s Church is to send out workers to proclaim the Gospel and is to bear witness to the living hope she has in Christ Jesus with gentleness and respect;

…that Christ’s Church is to actively extend God’s mercy to the poor and weak and defenseless, showing love to our neighbors;

…that Christ will come again on the Last Day to judge the living and the dead and to give eternal life to all who believe in Him;

…that the entire Bible is the inerrant, inspired, and holy Word of God and the source and norm of Christian doctrine; and that the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as found in the Book of Concord of 1580 are a correct exposition of this Word of God.