A few things to address the original question:
Baptist believe in the Priesthood of All Believers, meaning that as believers may go to God directly, and that no member of clergy has any more power to do so than any other believer. Lutherans somewhat subscribe to this belief, but I believe it to be less so. They do endow their ministers with "powers" not of the average believer. There's much Catholic still there, although most of the parts I dislike about Catholicism are gone, thankfully.
Baptists believe in full-immersion baptism of BELIEVERS as a symbol of the internal change that the Holy Spirit has enacted within a person. Lutherans generally baptize by sprinkling (maybe not all?), and they do infant baptism -- a practice highly disapproved of by Baptists, who feel that baptism is for those who have professed their belief, not for infants who cannot have such a belief yet.
Lutherans recite many "Creeds" throughout their services. As mentioned, some may include the Apostles Creed. When I attended a Lutheran church, they recited the Easter Creed. I do not know who wrote any of those, and I'm not sure why they are so highly regarded. I remember as I read the Easter Creed in Lutheran church, that I didn't disagree with what it said. The process itself did seem somewhat rote and unmeaningful to the people, though, as it does in Catholic churches. I think if you do something like that enough times -- say the same words, over and over, it loses meaning.
Communion -- As mentioned, Lutherans do believe the elements to be the ACTUAL Body and Blood of Christ. This differs from Baptists in that we believe the elements to be symbolic of the Body and Blood of Christ. The essential meaning is there, but Lutherans do hold it in a somewhat different regard. They also do communion usually either weekly or semi-weekly, which is considerably more than most Baptist churches. I do wish some Baptist churches would do it more often than they do, but I think to have it TOO often, as with the recitation of the Creeds, waters down its meaning for many people.
Baptists believe that our salvation is a free gift offered to us from Christ, and that we must accept this gift. Lutherans believe that the person him/herself has no part in it, and that it is entirely the work of God. This is a fine line to walk, as many Lutherans would argue that our altar calls, etc, are "wrong" because God comes to you, not the opposite. I happen to agree with the Baptist theology here. The gift is there, but we DO have to take the step to accept it. This is the concept of free will. If we don't accept the gift, we don't get the gift.... The altar calls are giving the opportunity for the moving of the spirit to bring people to accept the gift that has ALREADY BEEN OFFERED by God through Christ -- Not by the altar call. Perhaps this is a difference in symantecs, but some Lutherans will argue that we are wrong.
At one point I considered becoming a Lutheran. I was given and read a book called "The Spirituality of The Cross" and it's a great book. If you want to get an idea of the Lutheran theology without getting into the legalistic Cathechism books that they go by, then it's a great book. Only about 10 bucks, including shipping, if bought online. I'd offer you my copy, but I already gave it to someone.
God Bless,
-James
Wish the forum would include some text somewhere explaining the icons!)
