We share real ground with our Lutheran neighbors: a high view of Scripture, salvation by God’s grace, and baptism tied to the forgiveness of sins, which almost no one else teaches. We also differ, on whether confessions carry authority, on faith alone, on who is baptized and how, on the Lord’s Supper, and on worship. Rather than trade claims, let us walk the passages with you, one at a time, and you can compare for yourself.
Matthew 16:18, Where We Decide What We Are Trying to Be
Lutheran history starts in 1517, the year Martin Luther spoke out against real corruption in the medieval church. His recovery of grace against earned merit changed history, and we respect that stand. But a reformation, by its nature, repairs a tradition already in place. Here at Decker Prairie we are not trying to improve a tradition at all. We are trying to be what Jesus described when He said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (), organized only the way the New Testament describes, with nothing added since.
The Book of Concord, and Why We Keep Our Shelf Empty
Lutheran belief is set out in the Book of Concord, a collection holding the Augsburg Confession together with Luther’s catechisms, read next to the Bible. Those writings are binding enough that their clergy pledge themselves to them.
Our congregation sets nothing beside Scripture. No creed, no catechism, no discipline book. Our reasoning is short enough to say in one line: a confession that says less than the Bible is unnecessary, and one that says more has already gone too far. We ask to be measured by the text alone.
James 2:24, Where Faith Alone Meets Its Only Verse
Faith alone, sola fide, is the heart of Lutheran teaching. Read the one place the Bible uses that phrase: “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” ().
Ephesians 2:8-9, Where Grace Stays the Foundation
We want to be careful that nothing above sounds like earning. It is not what we believe. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (). Grace is the ground under all of it. What we hold is that the faith which saves is a living faith, one that does what the Lord asks, the way Naaman’s dip in the Jordan and Israel’s march around Jericho earned nothing and were still required. Obedience is not the price of the gift. It is how an offered gift is received.
Acts 2:38 and Romans 6:4, Where We Agree and Then Part
Start with the agreement, because it is rare and worth honoring. Lutherans teach that God forgives sin in baptism, and we believe the New Testament says the same: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” ().
Then read Paul on what the act is. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (). Lutherans baptize infants, usually by sprinkling or pouring, holding that it works even where faith cannot yet exist. We baptize only those old enough to believe and repent, and only by immersion, because a burial calls for immersion and a burial with Christ calls for a faith the person already holds. A baby can be sprinkled. A baby cannot choose to be buried with Christ.
Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 11:26, Where the Supper Gets Its Day and Its Meaning
Communion comes at different intervals in Lutheran congregations, and the teaching there is that Christ’s body and blood are truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine.
We observe the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week, because that is when the early church gathered for it: “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them” (). “To break bread” in that sentence most likely describes the Lord’s Supper, which was the reason they had come together. And we understand it as a memorial rather than a re-presentation: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (). Historical evidence in the early church testifies that they met on the first day of the week to observe the Lord’s Supper. “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together…bread and wine and water are brought. Then [it] is distributed to everyone, and everyone participates…” (Justin Martyr, AD 160).
Ephesians 5:19, Where Our Worship Gets Its Shape
A Lutheran service follows a liturgy: set prayers, vestments, an organ, a calendar of seasons. Much of it is beautiful, and every piece of it is chosen on purpose.
Our worship is deliberately simple, and this verse is why the singing sounds the way it does: “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (). We sing a cappella, the whole congregation together, and we pray, read Scripture, hear preaching, observe the supper, and give. We also have no synod or regional office above us. Our congregation governs itself under its own elders, with Christ as the only head.
Reading the Rest for Yourself
Do not settle this by which building feels more familiar, and do not settle it on our say-so. Open the New Testament, read how people were saved and how the earliest congregations worshiped and organized, and measure both churches, ours included, against what you find. We will be honest about the limits of our voice: our congregation answers to no headquarters or governing body, so we speak only for Decker Prairie. What we have described is generally how churches like ours read these passages, though not every church wearing the name is the same. All we can vouch for is Decker Prairie, and this is who we are.
Come Study the Bible With Us
You were made for a life of real purpose, and sorting out where you stand with God is worth more than a comparison chart. It would be a joy to sit down with these passages and work through them together, at whatever pace suits you, with a church family that is glad you came.
Plan your visit, and you will be right at home.
Want to know what the Bible says about being saved? Start here.
When we meet:
- Sunday: Worship 10:00 am · Bible Class 5:00 pm
- Wednesday: Bible Class 7:30 pm
