What We Believe

What Holy Cross believes about .......

• God - On the basis of the Holy Scriptures we believe in the Trinity - three distinct persons in one and the same divine essence. The one true God, Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4, is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equal in power, eternity and majesty because each person possesses the one divine essence entirely, Col. 2:9 & Matt. 28:19.
  
  
• Jesus - He is the Son of God. Old Testament prophets spoke of His coming and described the eternal and life-changing impact He would have.Jesus is both God and man. He stilled the seas and walked on water. With a touch of His hand, he cured incurable diseases. He restored life to those who had physically died.
  Jesus personifies love. He paid the ultimate price so that we could live with Him forever. He sees us through the eyes of love.
  
  Jesus loves us in spite of every hurtful thought, every harmful word, and every wrongful action. These are all a result of sin, which contaminates everything we do. It is behind every broken home, every empty life, every infirmity, every damaged emotion, every sorrow and grief. And as the Bible says, the end result of sin is death. But Jesus Himself was sinless; only He could pay the penalty for our sins.
  
  Because of Jesus' love, He suffered, died, and rose again. We are forgiven. All who believe in Jesus are guaranteed eternal life with Him in heaven.
• Bible - We believe, teach and confess that the Holy Scriptures differ from all other books in the world in that they not only contain but are the Word of God. They are not man's word and God's Word combined. Since the Holy Scriptures are the Word of God, they contain no errors or contradictions, that they are in all their parts and words the infallible truth. The Bible is the sole source from which all teachings in the Christian Church must be taken. It is the sole rule and norm by which all teachers and doctrines must be examined and judged.
  
  
• Gospel - The word “gospel” is a translation of a Greek word that means,“an announcement of good news.”The Gospel is the good news that God the Holy Trinity decided not to abandon
  humanity when Adam and Eve first fell into sin.God decided then and there that sin and death would not have the last word. He promised to send a Savior. When the time was right,God sent His Son into our world to be born of the Virgin Mary.Our Lord Jesus Christ lived a
  perfect life for us.On the cross,He received the penalty and punishment for the sins of the whole world,offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin.Jesus rose from the dead,victorious over our ancient enemies: sin,death and the devil. Therefore, each Christian is able with great joy and confidence to declare before the whole world:“My Lord Jesus Christ
  has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person,purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver,but with His holy,precious
  blood and with His innocent suffering and death.”
  
  
• Baptism - Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word. There is nothing special about simple water that is sprinkled or poured over the head of the baptized until God connects His Word to it! In Baptism,that is
  exactly what God is doing.He combines His life-creating and life-giving Word with the waters of Holy Baptism,and thereby we are born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). We baptize infants and adults because all are born in sin as Psalm 51:5 reminds us, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Since all are born in sin, all need the sin-cleansing miracle of baptism. As Acts 2 tells us, Baptism gives us the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
  
  
• Lord's Supper - Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper with these words: “This is My body,given for you.This cup is My blood of the new testament,shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Cor.
  11:23-25).The Lord’s Supper “is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine,instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink” (Small Catechism).
  
  In the Lord's Supper our Lord and Savior is continually distributing to us the body and blood of the sacrifice He made for us, the sacrifice by which He paid for the sins of the entire world. Thus, receiving His body and blood, we receive forgiveness, life and salvation. Flowing from these tremendous treasures of God’s mercy are the love,peace and
  hope that He gives us in His Supper,and the ability and desire to do God’s will,living in love and harmony with others.
  
  
• More Information - on our beliefs are found on our denomination's website.