Church ?

[mnmcandiez]

Hey Ive been looking for a church and there is a Lutheran church around my house and I was wondering what do you all believe? Im looking for something with just a bible based teachings and laws and not church strict laws. Could some one please tell me more about this denomintaion?:)

[filosofer]

Welcome. There are actually many denominations that carry the name Lutheran. If you look at some of the sticky threads you will find key statements in detail.

Primary focal points:

Justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
(often said: grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone)

Proper Distinction between Law (what we are to do and not do, and the punishment/condemnation that results) and Gospel (what God does for us through Jesus Christ, in his perfect life, in his suffering and death on the cross to pay for the sins of the world, in his resurrection, ascension, and coming again to take all believers to heaven)

God works through means (instruments), namely His Word, Baptism (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 2:38-39, Acts 16:31-33; 1 Peter 3:21), and Lord's Supper (Matt 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 10:16; 1 Cor. 11:23-30).


Everything else flows from these.

[ByzantineDixie]

mnmcandiez,

:wave: Welcome!

I am going to link you to a couple of previous posts. The first one is more basic and answers the "high level" things. The second one is more complex and actually may be interesting only to Lutherans...if you end up reading it and find out it doesn't make sense, let me know so that I do not recommend to non-Lutherans in the future.

http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?p=8979866&postcount=11

http://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?p=8200790&postcount=36

And do post any questions you have about Lutherans here...there is usually someone around to answer them!

Peace

Rose

[Phoebe]

There is also:



www.elca.org (http://www.elca.org)

www.lcms.org (http://www.lcms.org)

and a website for the Wisconsin Synod. I'm not sure what it is.

Lutherans believe that Christ is present in Holy Communion. (the bread and wine)

[Protoevangel]

and a website for the Wisconsin Synod. I'm not sure what it is.http://www.wels.org

[SPALATIN]

http://www.wels.org (http://www.wels.org/)
Don't forget the ELS

http://www.evluthsyn.org/

[mnmcandiez]

From what I have heard Lutherans are a branch off from catholic church? Do you practice anything that catholics practice?

[Phoebe]

From what I have heard Lutherans are a branch off from catholic church? Do you practice anything that catholics practice?We have some of the same practices, yes. (as do most mainstream denominations)
Baptism and the Eucharist are two.
We both use Creeds. (formal statements of belief)

The thing is, while on the surface we seem quite similar, we are sometimes very different.
For example, while we believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, we don't believe in 'Transubstantiation.'

How confused would you like to be?
:)

Heh, heh, heh. I just got a good read of your user name.:D I like M&Ms.

[mnmcandiez]

He he thanks I like M&ms too. Is your name sounded out pheebee?

So communion is the only catholic like thing?

[Phoebe]

Yup, like FeeBee, book of Romans.



We also baptize infants, as do Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Methodists, and Episcopalians. (maybe there are others)

We have Liturgy. (Others may explain it better) We have a distinct order in the service.

Lutherans and Catholics both have Confirmation, but in the Catholic Church, it is considered a sacrament. In the Lutheran church, it is a Rite.

The Lutheran church has two sacraments, the Catholics have seven. (?) Ours are Batism and Holy Communion. (Word and Element, imparts God's grace to us)

[Protoevangel]

So communion is the only catholic like thing?Hi mnmcandiez,

Martin Luther was a Catholic monk and scholar. He saw that the Catholic Church was abusing its power, and attempted to open a debate. Instead of debating, the Church excommunicated Luther. Martin Luther kept all that was Scriptural and eliminated only what contradicted Scripture. So, there are a lot of areas where Lutheran and Catholic are, or at least appear very similar.