Doctrine

Christ’s love, which he demonstrated by his perfect life and by his suffering and death on the cross, is the foundation for our relationship with God, the focus of our faith, and the motivation for all we do as Christians. In that same love for sinners Christ not only lived and died to set us free from sin and guilt, but he also rose again in victory on the first Easter Sunday, assuring us that his victory is our victory and that his resurrection is our resurrection. Saved by his grace alone, we look forward to his glorious return as we proclaim the good news of what his love has accomplished.

WELS began in 1850 when three German pastors met in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Today WELS has grown to over 1,200 congregations and almost 400,000 members throughout North America. Grace has been proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ on the south side of La Crosse for over 70 years. 





At Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church we believe and teach that:

•  there is only one God and that He reveals himself as Triune, that is, "three in one," Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
•  the Bible is the inspired Word of God, God’s unchanging and inerrant message to people of all times;
• God created mankind holy and without sin, and that Adam and Eve, the first human beings, by their disobedience brought sin on the whole human race;
• all people are sinful by nature and transgress God’s holy will each day with sins of thought, word and action;
• the wages of sin is death and damnation in hell, a place of eternal agonizing separation from the kindness and goodness of God;
• God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem the world;
• Jesus paid for all sins of all people with his holy, precious blood when he suffered and died innocently on the cross, and that his resurrection from the dead is God’s guarantee that all people have been justified or "declared not guilty";
• whoever believes this glorious truth has the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but whoever does not believe it will be condemned;
• the faith to believe this good news is a gift of God which the Holy Spirit works in the heart through the gospel in the Word of God, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion;
• by this faith in the atoning work of Christ alone we are heirs of eternal glory in heaven, but while on earth this faith will show as we live lives of love for God who first loved us;
•  upon death our souls are taken to be with our Lord in heaven and on the last day he will raise our bodies from the grave and we will inherit the full glory of everlasting life with Christ in heaven.