We have four ways to Give to Bethlehem, for your convenience:
- Mail A Check
2100 Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood, Co, 80214 - Debit or Credit
- Set up ACH - please call the church office at 303-238-7676
- Transfer The Blessings
WHO WE ARE
+ What is “Lutheran”?
“Lutheran” is just a label for Christians who believe Christ is at the center of all life Jesus and his salvation are the core message of the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. There are certain things Lutherans share with other Christians, but some other things that are characteristic especially of Lutherans.
- We accept the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, pointing us to Christ as the sole source of salvation. No other book or person or teaching has the same level of authority as the Bible.
- The love of God is 100% a gift given us in Christ. His grace and mercy are the foundation of his favor for us.
- Good works, while good, have nothing to do with why God approves of us.
- The Holy Spirit is the only one who can enable us to believe or do any good works. While we have some freedom of our will, we do not have a completely free will that can, independent of God’s working, choose God or what is good.
- We are certain baptism is mainly God’s action, as he gives the gifts of Christ’s saving work. We baptize all who suffer under the infection of sin, including babies.
- Communion, in a way we cannot fully understand, actually gives Christ’s body and blood in the visible elements for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of faith. It also, like Baptism, is mainly God’s action, giving these gifts for the believing community to share.
- Jesus will return at the end of time, on a specific day, known to God alone. All humanity will be judged, and the believers will join Jesus in the new creation for eternity while the unbelievers will be separated eternally from God and all that is good.
- Until Christ returns, we live in a tension of having a new nature as the holy and forgiven children of God, yet struggling with our old nature and its desire to sin.
*Bethlehem is part of a larger gathering of Christians called The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.
Check out more about the LCMS.
+ Statement of Beliefs
The Bible, and only the Bible, is the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it was inspired by the Holy Spirit, therefore infallible and inerrant.
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Proverbs 30:5; Romans 16:25-26
There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three
are co-equal and co-eternal.
I John 5:7; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 3:7-11
God the Father is the author of all life. He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of all people because he made them.
Malachi 2:10; John 20:17; Ephesians 3:14-15
Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. He, and only he, is both fully God and fully man. He is the only one ever to have lived a sinless life and did this as our substitute, fulfilling the righteous requirements of God’s Law on our behalf. He was born of a virgin, performed miracles, died on the cross for mankind and thus, atoned for our sins through the shedding of His blood. He rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return again in power and glory on the Last Day.
John 1:1,14, 20:28; I Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 2:5-6; I Timothy 2:5
Man was created good and upright, but by voluntary transgression fell into sin, bringing sin and
a sinful nature to all mankind. Because God is holy and just, all people are deserving of damnation and eternal separation from Him; the only hope of redemption is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ: His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or any human efforts.
Gen. 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 5:12-21; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16, 3:8;
Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 16:31; Hebrews 9:22
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, truly God and not just the power or energy of God in the world. It is only by the Holy Spirit’s power that a person can believe in Jesus and live life for him. God wants all to be saved, but those who resist the Holy Spirit are not.
John 3:5-6; I Corinthians 3:16; Titus 3:5; I Corinthians 12:3, I Corinthians 2:14
Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing a person to faith in Christ AND empowering a godly life. Humans, because of the Fall into sin that has corrupted all mankind, are by nature spiritually blind, dead, and enemies of God. Only the Holy Spirit, through the power of the Gospel, can overcome this weakness and bring spiritual life to a person. By that same Spirit, new life is created in every believer with a desire to serve and please God.
I Corinthians 6:11; I Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1; Romans 15:13
Sin is every thought, desire, word, or deed against God’s will. It destroys life and is never without consequences, the most serious of these being separation from God. All people are conceived and born sinful and are subject to the wages of sin – death. Repentance is sorrow for sin and turning in faith to the only hope for salvation, Jesus Christ. The necessary fruit of repentance is a godly life, leaving sin behind and following God’s will.
Romans 5:12, 6:13; Psalm 51:17; Matthew 3:8; Acts 3:19-20a
Baptism is the miraculous working of God’s Holy Spirit as his powerful Word is combined with ordinary water to produce supernatural results, washing away sin. In Baptism, we are joined to the death and resurrection of Jesus, sharing in the promises that we are freed from death and destined for eternal life. It is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and seals the believer as God’s child. Because Baptism is God’s working and all need its benefits, no one should be denied its gifts, including small children and infants.
Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38-39; Acts 22:16; Romans 6:3-5
Communion is one of the most intimate expressions of Christian unity as Jesus gives to us, in the simple means of ordinary bread and wine (or grape juice), his true body and blood. This is a powerful mystery that delivers Christ and his saving benefits (life and forgiveness) to his followers. It is not a mere symbol or reminder, but truly himself given, just as he said.
Matthew 26:26-28; I Corinthians 10:16; I Corinthians 11:23-29
The true Church is not a building but people, the Body of Christ, all those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior. There is only one true church, and it is a spiritual reality which is not perfectly represented by any human institution. The Church exists to carry forward the mission of God so as many as possible might be fully alive in Jesus.
John 10:10; Ephesians 2:19-22; Romans 12:4-5; Ephesians 4:3-6; I Peter 2:5
God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. God created marriage to be exclusively the union of one man and one woman, whose gender identities were determined at birth, and that intimate sexual activity is to occur exclusively within that union.
Genesis 2:18-25; 1 Corinthians 6:18, 7: 2-5; Hebrews 13:4
Jesus Christ was physically resurrected from the dead in a glorified body, on the third day after His death on the cross. In addition, both the saved and the lost will be resurrected; those that are saved to the resurrection of life and those that are lost to the resurrection of eternal damnation.
Luke 24:16, 36, 39; John 2:19-21, 20 :26-28, 21:4; Acts 24:15; I Corinthians 15:42, 44; Philippians 1:21-23, 3:2
Heaven is the eternal dwelling place for all believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Immediately after death, a believer’s soul is with the Lord. On the Last Day, the bodies of believers will be perfected and glorified and reunited with the souls of believers for eternity in a perfect existence, the “new heavens and new earth”.
Matthew 5:3, 12, 20, 6:20, 19:21, 25:34; John 17:24; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 11:16; I Peter 1:4
After Jesus earthly ministry was complete, he ascended into heaven. On the Last Day, the day and time known only to God, Jesus will return visibly and with great glory. He will return to judge the world, not to set up an earthly government. Before Jesus returns, there will be increasing turmoil and stress for the Church and in the world.
Matthew 25:31-32; Mark 13:32; John 18:36; Acts 1:9-11; I Thessalonians 4:15-17; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8; Revelation 1:7
+ Our Vision
Our goal is to be a community of believers, freed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that:
Is alive with worship that faithfully delivers God’s gifts, engaging the participants in such a way
that their lives, and the lives of those in their circles of influence, are radically transformed.
Offers school ministries for families who want to experience the very best for their children –
helping students develop the character and competence to succeed at subsequent stages in their lives as disciples of Jesus.
Engages the working poor and homeless as integral members of the Body of Christ, that they
might experience the love of Jesus and have access to resources to enhance their well-being
and alleviate their suffering.
Propels people along a discipleship pathway that cultivates an insatiable appetite for growth in
their relationship with Jesus and an unquenchable passion for connecting people to Jesus who
do not know him yet.
+ Our Mission
Our mission here at Bethlehem is simple. We put it this way:
The Bethlehem family of ministries exists to encourage, equip, and empower people to be Spirit-led champions, unleashing each person’s leadership calling in their circle of influence, so all can be fully alive in Jesus.
We want you to join our family of ministries and make this mission your own. We connect people to Jesus Christ so they can experience fullness of life in him. We believe Christianity is not just a part of life, but an all-encompassing way of life that is filled with the abundant love, mercy, and faithfulness of an amazing God.