The Lutheran Church

THE LUTHERAN CHURCH

The Lutheran church is one of the major Christian churches. It is the largest Protestant church. There are more than sixty million Lutherans in the world.
The greatest number of Lutherans are in northern Europe and the USA. In Australia and New Zealand almost 255,000 people call themselves Lutheran.

The Lutheran church is the oldest Protestant church. It dates back to the Reformation in the sixteenth century when Martin Luther challenged some of the teachings and practices of the church of his day. Luther insisted that the Bible is the authority that decides what the church should teach and do.
The name 'Lutheran' was given to people who believed that Martin Luther was right in his interpretation of the Bible.

The Lutheran church has been in Australia and New Zealand for 150 years. In the 1830's small groups of the Lutherans emigrated in search of religious freedom. They settled mainly in rural areas in various parts of the country. Today the Lutheran church is made up of people from rural and urban areas and many different cultural backgrounds.

WHAT LUTHERANS BELIEVE

Lutherans believe in one true God.
They share the belief of all other Christians that the one true God has made himself known as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Lutherans believe that God loves all people
They believe that God loves every human being, even though none of us deserves his love.

Lutherans believe in Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is God's Son.
Because he loves the world, God sent his Son Jesus to make things right between God and us. Jesus took the blame for the sins of all people. Jesus died for all people. Jesus died for everybody. He gave up his innocent life to pay for our sins. Jesus also broke the power of death by becoming alive again.

Lutherans believe God's forgiveness is a free gift
Because of Jesus, God has forgiven all sins of all people. God offers his forgiveness to everyone as a free gift. We don't have to earn God's forgiveness or pay for it. It is ours when we believe in Jesus as our Saviour. God offers us his forgiveness in the good news about Jesus and in baptism and holy communion.

Lutherans believe what the Bible says
The bible is the word of God. So Lutherans accept the Bible as the authority that decides what they are to believe and how they should live. Lutherans believe that the good news about Jesus is the key to the whole Bible.