You might know our website is “JesusInTheClarenceCenter.org” Why do we start what we believe with Jesus, and not with God, or creation, or ourselves? Because we believe that in Jesus, God reveals Himself (John 1:18). Jesus, in history, was just different. There is no one else like Him. Some 135 times in the gospel records, crowds are described as following Jesus. They followed him because he was an amazing and truthful teacher, and he healed countless people of a myriad of physical, spiritual, and social problems. Some believed that what he did and taught showed that he was God’s promised Messiah. Others thought that – even though he was a miracle man – he was actually a sorcerer and was deceiving the people. Jesus was aware of this opposition, and since he was The Prophet predicted to come (Deuteronomy 18:18), He accurately and in detail predicted the way he would die - AND the way he would rise from the dead. This is pretty darn good evidence that his claims are true (to understate in the extreme). As Paul claims in I Corinthians 15 (a letter to an early church in Corinth, Greece), Jesus’ resurrection is reliable for two reasons – first, it was predicted that the Messiah would die and rise again (Isaiah 53), and second, the risen Jesus was seen by many eyewitnesses. So, here at St. Paul’s, we join those eyewitnesses in confessing to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

We believe that the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek New Testament are the very words of God. In them, God has pulled back the curtain (revelation) to what is true. We believe the Scriptures are without error, are complete, are sufficient, and are effective to save. We believe that God’s Word does what it says. You’ve heard, “Let there be light – and there was light.” God speaks; He makes happen what He speaks. We believe that through the Scriptures God is still speaking in power and authority to create faith “ex nihilo” (out of nothing) and to forgive.

The God described in the Bible is like no other; He is the one and only eternal Creator of everything that exists. We believe that He is One: One in substance or being, and mysteriously three in persons who share this one being. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and has eternally existed in blissful communion. God is more than a force – He is the glorious, eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, all-good, sovereign, creative, and awesome Being. By definition, He is due all glory, honor, and trust. He is love, and created the universe in love and to share his love.

We believe that since the days of Adam and Eve, our human race – created uniquely in the image of God – is in rebellion against its Maker, and as a result is sinfully broken, twisted in on itself, ruined in relationships, and dead to God. This is witnessed and experienced in various ways outside and inside each of us. We believe that this is worse than we can even imagine (“you don’t know what you don’t know”). We believe that this is why, from the first moment of human treachery, God has enacted a dramatic rescue plan. He has taken up to fight evil for us! Consider the words God spoke to Evil who led our first parents against God:

“And I will put hatred between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall strike you on the head, And you shall strike him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

God’s action plan to save the world would come from a Seed of the woman – a Son. This Seed would come through a people descended from a man named Abraham, and his sons, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and so on. Ultimately, This Seed - The Son, would be struck on the heel (i.e. the cross of Christ), and in so doing, strike Evil a fatal blow. To put it plainly, God Himself became man to strike a deathblow to the devil, to “die for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,” (I Corinthians 15:3), He “was delivered up for our trespasses, and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:20).

We believe that in the death and resurrection of Jesus, forgiveness of sins was won for the entire world, for every human who ever lived (John 3:15-17). This is the great announcement (the good-spiel or gospel) from God to the world! We believe that in the name of Jesus, you are forgiven – change your mind, turn to God and receive the spoils of victory (Acts 2:38). Entrusting your soul to this Victor, and confessing that He is the risen and only Lord able and willing to forgive your sins and regenerate your soul toward God – this is a gift of God, completely apart from your own efforts (Ephesians 2:8-10). It turns the out-there salvation Jesus has won for all, to the in-here salvation he won for you.

“Church” means assembly, gathered ones, called-out ones. We believe that Jesus is the victorious Lord of the cosmos, all creation, and is gathering people into his church. At St. Paul’s, we have summarized our mission simply, “be the church of God in this place.” We are called by Christ to gather, group, grow, give, and go in Jesus’ name. This is an identity, a mission, a fellowship, a bond, a brotherhood/sisterhood, a life. And there is room for you. Through His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16), God constantly calls us to a life of repentance as He brings to us the work of Jesus (Galatians 3:1) and reminds believers of our identity as his washed and adopted children (Galatians 3:27-29). We judge what our lives should look like by what He has revealed, not what our culture happens to approve at the moment (I Corinthians 6:9-11). At the same time, we realize that the church is a gathering of struggling sinners who daily need encouragement to lay aside sins which cling to us, and continue in faith in the risen and interceding Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2 & 10:24-25).

If you’ve read this far, you know that we believe that Jesus is the One revealing God to us. All the promises of God are “Yes, and Amen in Jesus.” We believe in accordance with the Scriptures that God promises to bring the spoils of the victory of Christ to us in several ways – namely, through the proclamation of the gospel (Luke 24:47, John 20:21-23), through the washing of Jesus in baptism (Ephesians 5:26, Titus 3:4-7), and through the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:28). These are HIS means to bring us his goods – not merely our efforts to join Him or be obedient. They are his gifts which we gratefully receive! In them God justifies, sanctifies, washes, forgives, renews, regenerates, adopts, strengthens, corrects, protects, and so on. We call our worship service “The Divine Service” because we come as beggars and are given the good stuff by the Risen Lord. As a result, we are obedient, trusting, and grateful. And we live a new life (Romans 6). “Dead men can’t die.”

There are two things you aren’t supposed to talk about at a dinner party: religion and politics. At St. Paul’s, we don’t major on politics. But, of course, we live out our faith in this world, and cannot but be political. We acknowledge on one hand that we are to obey the civil realm as much as is possible – read Romans 13. On the other hand, we realize that much of what makes up our political system is what the apostle John described as The Beast – read Revelation 13. We hold these two in tension. We obey until we can’t (Acts 5:29). We strive to keep America’s freedom of speech so that we can continue to share the gospel. One specific political issue we seek to eliminate is abortion. We seek to end abortion now, because the Bible and science display the wonder and work of God’s creation in the womb. If you have been a part of abortion in the past, we can assure you, there is forgiveness in Jesus. And, let us change our world for the better. No one says, “Honey, I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a clump of cells!”

We believe that the Lord Jesus may return at any moment for the final consummation of the universe and the great judgment. The hope of the Christian is to “lift up your heads” for our “redemption is nigh.” The Christian joy is to “watch” for His return, which could happen today. The great lament and heart’s cry of Christians at St. Paul’s (like St. Paul himself – Romans 9:1-3 & 10:1-4) is that our loved ones do not yet know the Victorious Lord and thus stand on their own insufficient merits or understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). As a result, those at St. Paul devote themselves to a humble life of prayer, evangelism, generosity, and serving neighbors through our vocations.

The historic faith is summarized most briefly in Pastor Luther’s Small Catechism and in the Book of Concord.