What is a Lutheran?

The Lutheran church is the oldest and largest of the Protestant churches.  It was the first to "protest" against the religious authorities in the 16^th Century.  The leader of that movement was a young Roman Catholic priest named Martin Luther.  He believed, and our church teaches, that salvation is not a reward earned by good or righteous people, but a gift that God offers to everyone.

"Saving is all God's idea and all God's work.  All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it.  It's God's gift from start to finish!  We don't play a major role.  If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing!  No, we neither make nor save ourselves.  God does the making and the saving."  Ephesians 2 - The Message Translation