What to Expect
Walking into a new place for the first time can be intimidating! We hope that knowing a few details before you walk through the doors of Hope Lutheran Church will calm your mind.
Since the Bible doesn’t command a dress code, aside from simple modesty, we don’t have rules about that. Some people come wearing their “Sunday best” and some dress casually. Our Lord mainly just wants us to be here!
All children are welcome! We even have a children’s bulletin for each child, with some fun activities. We love to have children worshipping with us! We encourage little ones to worship with their parents. Children benefit from our liturgical service that follows a regular pattern: the repeated parts of the service help them to be familiar with it more quickly, and these repeated parts teach the basics (the A-B-C’s) of the Christian faith. Nevertheless, if your little one should get too restless during the church service, there is a nursery/quiet room located in the middle room at the back of the church.
After the pastor’s sermon, we gather an offering. This is really a “thank-offering” which we bring to God in thanks for His blessings to us. Don’t feel obligated to give anything. However, if you wish to give an offering, you may place a check in the offering plate, or give an offering online by using this link hopeaustin.com/online-giving
Our Sunday church service begins at 10 AM and lasts about an hour. We use the traditional, historic liturgy of the Christian Church, which means that the service follows a regular, consistent order. We use the Common Service of the Lutheran Church, which is the most common order of service among conservative, confessional Lutherans in America. As you come into the sanctuary, you’ll receive a service bulletin which has all the words for the church service. We sing hymns together from our hymnal, the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, copies of which are underneath the chairs. You’ll hear God’s Word read from both the Old and New Testaments, and you’ll hear a sermon in which the pastor preaches from one of these Bible texts and applies God’s Word to our lives.
Hearing the Bible preached is central to the church service, because faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). But the main thing in our service is that Jesus comes to us, in God’s Word and Sacraments, to forgive our sins. What Lutherans care about most is the Gospel that forgives. Lutheran worship is also strong on participation: the pastor speaks or sings God’s words to us, and the congregation speaks or sings in response.
We hope and pray that you’ll be blessed by God’s Word during your time at Hope. You are always welcome here, invited by Jesus Himself through us His family.
The Lord’s Supper is part of the service on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of the month. On other Sundays, holy communion is offered after the service. Participation in the Lord’s Supper by newcomers is preceded by a course of instruction in the teachings of Scripture and of our church, concerning this sacrament and other articles of faith.
We therefore do not follow an “open communion” practice. But even if you are not communing with us today, God’s grace is still offered to you in His saving Gospel, as it is proclaimed in the Scripture readings, in the sermon, and in the hymns. We also invite all who are not able to commune with us yet to come forward during the Sacrament to receive a blessing, if they wish.
Hope Lutheran Church believes the teachings of the Bible, as confessed in the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed; and as articulated more specifically in the Lutheran Confessions (1580 Book of Concord), which includes Luther’s catechisms and the Augsburg Confession. These confessions of faith are not equal to the Bible; all that we teach is founded on the Bible alone. These confessions are faithful expressions of what we believe according to the Bible; they serve as a guide to how we understand it.
Churches united in faith organize into synods. Hope Lutheran Church is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota, on the campus of Bethany Lutheran College and Seminary. Our congregation and all ELS congregations have full communion with the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod (WELS).
What we believe and teach can be found on the Evangelical Lutheran Synod website. If you go to that website, look under “Beliefs” and first see “We Believe, Teach, and Confess.” You will also find other doctrinal statements and resolutions on timely issues, as well as the text of Luther’s Small Catechism and the Augsburg Confession.
