The colorful banners that hang on the home page of this site are reproductions of the banners that hang in the front of our church sanctuary.

When we built our new sanctuary we had these huge walls to the sides of our altar which seemed ready to receive some sort of art. So we got to thinking: "What would be a fair representation of what our church is all about?" And then it hit us: The Six Chief Parts!

In 1527 Martin Luther wrote the Small Catechism, a basic summary of the most important teachings of the Bible. These teachings of the Bible, he divided into the "Six Chief parts". Thus, each of the six banners represents one of these parts.

So the banners are not merely a decoration, but they declare what we believe, teach and confess as Christians.

This is a representation of the The Lord first gave the Ten commandments to Moses on stone tablets. This happened on Mount Sinai as the children of Israel were heading for the Land of promise.

The burning bush represents God, who first revealed himself to Moses in this way. The point is: these commandments are not made up by man; they come from the Lord. They are his commandments given to us.

Though they are very brief and concise, they are exhaustive. They cover any possible sin that people could ever come up with. They are a treasure from God to us.

The ten commandments pull back the shades and open a window to the human heart and soul and reveal what’s really going on in there. It is through this Law of God, we learn that we are sinners....sinners in need of the free gift of salvation and eternal life that is available in Christ Jesus who died for our sins. If we didn't have this Law of God we would never know that we needed our Savior. We therefore do not avoid the law of God, because it is the only preparation for the Gospel.

But the Law does more than prepare us for the Gospel, It also serves as a guide for those who seek to live their lives in a God pleasing manner. It answers the question of what God would have us do, since we have been made to be his people through faith in Christ Jesus.

Here we have a representation of the . The Apostle's creed is an ancient creed that summarizes what Jesus chosen apostles taught about God. Since God has revealed himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we say there are three persons, but only one God. We use words like "Trinity" and "Triune" to refer to him.

In the Banner, the Father is represented by the hand coming down from heaven, The Son is represented by the cross. And the Holy Spirit is represented by the dove and tongues of flame which recall the day of Pentecost.

What is most striking about this banner is the Love that it describes. Each element shows how God comes down. We have a God who comes down to us...A God who from the very beginning, out of love, created us and began to provide for us. We have a God who joined us in our flesh...became one of us... died with us and for us. We have a God who dwells in us and helps us to believe and receive all that he has done for us. We don't reach up to God, God reaches down to us. This is one of many things that makes Christianity different from all other religions.

When Jesus' disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he gave them what we call Prayer is how we speak to our loving God. We have his command to pray and his promise to hear us when we do pray.

As you have probably already figured out, the praying hands represent prayer. That's pretty easy. But what's up with the sheep and the shepherd's staff? For fun, try thinking about the Lord’s prayer and the 23rd psalm at the same time. Do you notice that the wonderful relationship that is

described in the 23rd Psalm is what we are asking for in the Lord's Prayer? In the Lord's prayer, we are saying in effect: "Lord I am that sheep and you are that shepherd." "Lead me safely through this life so that I may dwell in your house forever."

But the shepherd's staff is not merely a shepherd's staff. It's also a cross. Jesus Christ, Our good shepherd, laid down his life for the sheep making our journey of life safe, regardless how deep the valley of the shadow may get; regardless how frightening our enemies may be. Our shepherd will guide us.

It was by his atoning act of dying for our sins that we have been given this wonderful privilege of prayer. We approach God not on our own merits, but on the merits of Jesus our shepherd.

In the time just before He left, Jesus commanded . He said "Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:19-20).

In the banner, the three waves represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in whose name we baptize. The shell is an ancient picture for baptism which

represents the application of the water to the individual person.

The cross on the shell tells us even more. The cross recalls the death of Christ for our sins. Baptism actually connects us to the cross of Christ. This is exciting for us Christians who live so many years after Jesus died. One might wonder: "how can I be sure he died for my sins? I have sinned two thousand years after he died?" We might be troubled by the fact that we are separated from the cross of Christ by time.

But hold on! The Apostle Paul says "...don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:3,4) We consider this to be pretty awesome truth. We are connected to Christ's death in Baptism.

But we are also connected to his Resurrection! We can live a new life! The connection formed at Baptism empowers us to "live a new life" , that is , by our Baptism, we can begin to overcome our sinful faults and become more sanctified people. We are not bound to stay in the same old ruts! We can change! In Christ, we have what we need to change.

There's no secret as to what this banner represents. With the wine and the bread it is obviously a representation of the . Jesus took bread and said "This is my body given for you." He then took the cup and said "This is my blood shed for you." He was not speaking metaphorically, nor was he using picture language. He called it his "last will and testament" Nobody speaks metaphorically when they are dictating their will. They want to be absolutely clear.

It is in his last will and testament that Jesus clearly says that we receive his body and blood in Communion...the very things that were given and shed for us. He is truly present in this sacrament. As it is with Baptism, so is it also in Communion: In communion the cross of Christ is brought to us. In Communion, the body that was given and blood that was shed for our forgiveness are received for our spiritual good.

We don't understand how this can be happening, for we taste and see only bread and wine, but we know that it is happening because Jesus told us in no uncertain terms that "this is my body" and "this is my blood". Communion is forgiveness that we can taste.

This last banner is probably the most difficult to understand. Martin Luther referred to the truth it represents as "peculiar". This is what we Lutherans refer to as, .

To his disciples and to us, Jesus said "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). Luther called this peculiar, because with it God has placed in the hands of men the authority to forgive or not forgive.

This is troublesome for many, but it should not be. Think of how impossible it would be to preach the good news of salvation. By this power a Pastor can actually say "you are forgiven" and actually have it mean something!

Imagine a person struggling in his conscience over sin. He comes to his pastor, confesses his sin, and what does the pastor say? "Well, maybe God will forgive you I don’t know, I don’t have the authority to say" What good is that? How does that help him? It doesn't. It merely burdens his conscience even more.

That’s why Jesus gave us the office of the keys. He wanted us to be able to say "Your Sins ARE forgiven!" He wanted us to be able to apply the forgiveness he earned on the cross in a personal and definitive way to those who are troubled by their sins. He has given us this authority in the office of the keys.

So now when one Christian says to another "You are Forgiven" That person is not only forgiven by the person, but by God as well. God has chosen to use human beings to minister to each other in this way so that his forgiveness may be applied personally. He has called pastors to do it publicly for the congregation and he calls individual Christians to do this for their brothers in Christ.

In the banner, you have the hand of blessing, which represents God blessing and forgiving. You've got the keys, which represent forgiving and retaining of sins. And on the very bottom, you've got a drop of blood. This represents the blood of Christ that makes forgiveness possible.

Did you notice that each of these six banners, though they refer to many things, always take us right back to Christ Jesus? This is not merely a coincidence, this is why we call ourselves CHRISTians. Jesus is at the center of the Bible and all of our teaching about God. God gave us the Bible for the purpose of introducing us to his Son. Everything hinges on him. He is the Savior whom God has provided and he wants us to know him. Jesus once said. "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6). This is what we believe, teach, and confess.

This is only a small summary of what Lutheran's believe. If you would like to even more about Lutheran beliefs and teachings, You'll need to see the Book of Concord which is a pretty extensive description of what Lutherans believe