The Lutheran Church comes out of Martin Luther's sixteenth-century protest against certain Roman Catholic church teachings, for which Luther found no biblical basis. His primary insight into the Gospel was that salvation is never earned by our own effort, but is a free and gracious gift of God. Luther's efforts were directed at "reforming" the Roman Catholic church, not at breaking away from it. However, that was the result. To be called a "Lutheran" was meant as an insult during those early days. Today, the Lutheran church is the largest of the "protestant" denominations. Lutherans have ties to Roman Catholicism (Martin Luther was, after all, an Augustinian monk), as well as to other Protestant churches. Our worship is liturgically based.

Lutheran Christians confess Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of the World. Through Jesus, God has said to us, "Yes. I made you. I sustain you. I love you. I give you forgiveness, wholeness, and eternal life. The gift is unconditional. You need not be somebody or do anything to deserve the gift. It's free and can't be bought for any price! Only receive it by faith.'' Faith is not intellectual acceptance of doctrines about God, but dynamic, life-changing trust that God's promises will be kept. The good works that we do are done out of thankfulness to God for what we have already received, not out of a need to earn God's favor.