Ascension Lutheran is a fellowship of Christians who share a common faith. We believe that the Bible is God’s true Word and is therefore without error. We believe that all people have sinned and therefore deserve God’s judgment, but that God’s love has forgiven all people in Jesus Christ who lived, died, and rose from the dead for us. God grants this forgiveness to a person through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
We also believe that it is the mission and responsibility of every Christian to share this message of Jesus Christ. We therefore meet weekly in worship to build up one another in faith, and we work together to bring the good news of Jesus to Harrisburg and the surrounding communities. Ascension Lutheran is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. For a more detailed statement of faith, please speak with our pastor or visit www.wels.net.
Statement of Belief:
Jesus Christ, out of love and pure grace, gave His life for you. God cares about you and wants to be involved in your life! We at Ascension Lutheran don’t claim to be the only saving church, but we strive to preserve and pass on the truth as it is found in the Bible. We believe and teach that…
- The Bible is the inspired Word of God, with no mistakes and no errors, His unchanging message to all people of all times.
For prophecy never had its origins in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21)
- God created people holy and without sin, but by their own choice they disobeyed God and brought sin upon the whole human race
Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)
- The final result of sin is not only the end of our earthly life, but eternal death and separation from God in the agony of hell
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)
- The main and central message of the Bible is the gospel – the good news that:
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)
- Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life in the place of every human being, and Jesus suffered the punishment of hell for the whole human race when he died on the cross
The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)
- God the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens saving faith in Jesus Christ through the message about him in the Bible, in Baptism, and in the Lord’s Supper
Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the words of Christ (Romans 10:17)
- Christians do good works, not in order to earn a place in heaven, but out of love and thanks to God who has already given them eternal life as a free gift through Jesus
I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free (Psalm 119:32)
- Christians will want to gather together regularly around the Word of God for the strengthening of their own trust in Jesus and for encouraging each other in the faith
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the (final) Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25) - Christians want to carry out the Lord’s great commission to spread the good news about Jesus to others
Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15)
- When the Lord returns in judgment on the last day, he will raise all the dead and give the full glory of everlasting life in heaven to all who trusted in him as Savior
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:4)
What Kind of Lutheran Church Are We:
There are a variety of Lutheran denominations in our country. We belong to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). That doesn’t mean our members are from Wisconsin but that our church body began in Wisconsin.
Our membership in the WELS unites us with like-minded Christians across the country and around the world who share a common faith with us. This “synod” allows us to work together in ways we cannot on our own. We pool our resources to do mission work at home and abroad, to train young people to serve in public ministry as pastors, teachers, and staff ministers, and to publish hymnals, Bible studies, and other materials. Above all, we find comfort in knowing there are Christians throughout the world who share a common faith with us.
Our congregation and church body are solidly based on the Bible. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and the way to heaven. Through faith, we are united to Him and to each other.