Our Beliefs - First Lutheran Church of White Bear Lake MN

The best explanation of our beliefs is very simple: We believe in Jesus. The very first Christians all agreed on one very simple creed: Jesus is Lord. We don’t all have to agree on everything at First Lutheran, but we agree on that.

We are Jesus people.

Everything else that we believe follows from that commitment. For example:

Because of Jesus, we believe that God loves us unconditionally. This is because he is gracious and forgiving, not because we deserve it. We don’t. Christian theologians usually call this “Justification by faith through grace and not by works.” We agree with that 100%, but it's awfully technical for describing a living relationship.
We believe the Bible is a Jesus-centered book that reveals God’s character, God’s love, and God’s plans for the world. We believe that what you really think about the Bible is not revealed in what you say about it but in how you use it. We read the Bible a lot, and with lots of humility, and we strive to apply its message to our lives.
We believe that God’s Spirit draws us closer to Jesus and makes us more and more like Him. Nobody’s perfect, but because we love God and each other, we keep trying. Christian theologians have usually called this “sanctification.” We believe that this is very important, with or without a theological label.
We believe that the church is a Jesus-centered community of sinners. It’s a hospital for the sick, not a museum of saints. The church is certainly not a building. Jesus said, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them.” Whenever we gather in Jesus’ name, we are the church.

If you are theologically inclined, you might be interested in a more complete or precise statement of our beliefs. We recommend that you talk with one of our pastors who could explain all of this in a much more personal and detailed way. You might also like to know that we affirm the historic creeds of the Christian church (The Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed) and that we are a Christian church in the Lutheran tradition. This means that we think the historical writings of the Lutheran Reformation (such as the Augsburg Confession and the Small Catechism) helped Christians become more Jesus-centered and Biblically faithful.

We are committed to Jesus’ Great Commission, where he commissioned his disciples to go and make more disciples, and Jesus’ Great Commandment, where he taught his disciples to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love their neighbors as themselves. In fact, our mission as a congregation is drawn from these teachings of Jesus:

Our mission is to be and make disciples of Jesus who are growing spiritually, practicing community, and serving selflessly.

We believe that God loves you, and we’d love to help you experience that truth as a disciple of Jesus Christ.