Frequently Asked Questions

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Our regular service times are Sundays at 8:00 AM and 10:15 AM.  Bible Study and Sunday School is at 9:00am. 

We meet on Wednesday mornings at 10:00am for Bible study.  Our Wednesday studies are a bit more informal, but no less in-depth as far as our study of Scripture goes.  Good homemade treats, good coffee, and good fellowship too!

Our physical address is 18218 Hwy 71 South in Greenwood, Arkansas  72936.

No, we do not have a specific dress code. We welcome anyone to worship with us in whatever attire they feel comfortable in.  However, we do remind you that you are coming into the Lord's house to be in His presence.  Also, consider the fact that your Lord has blessed you with EVERYTHING in your life, and that includes your clothes.  Wearing your "Sunday best," while not commanded, is a wonderful way to show your thanks to God for all His benefits to you.

No, we do not worship Martin Luther.  We only worship our triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  So why the name "Lutheran"?  At the time of the Reformation, many of the papal (Roman Catholic) establishment began referring to those faithful Christians who sided with Luther in their opposition to papal heresy and tyranny as "Lutheran."  It was intended to be a derogatory term.  Luther himself hated the term.  He didn't want to be known as anything other than "Christian."  More than that, he was not trying to divide the Church, but unite the Church in right/faithful doctrine and practice; that is, in accordance with Scripture (Faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone, Christ alone; salvation not by works).  Luther was all about "catholicity," which is a fancy word for "universal" or "united."  However, the more the papal establishment continued to use the term "Lutheran," the more Luther and like-minded Christians began to proudly and unapologetically bear the name.  If God-pleasing, non-heretical doctrice and practice that is in harmony with all of Scripture makes me a Lutheran, then I'm a Lutheran! 

"We use the KJV Bible.  You Lutherans use the Small Catechism."  In a word, no.  We Lutherans, like all faithful Christians, consider the Bible - both Old and New Testaments - to be the sole source and norm of Christian faith.  So why the Small Catechism?  A catechism is simply an instructional book.  From the ancient Greek (and used throughout the Pauline epistles), to "catechize" simply means to teach.  In fact, the word "catechize" comes from two Greek words - kata, meaning "down" and "echo," meaning to "sound back."  The ancient Greek understanding was that when you taught someone, you were speaking something down into their ears/souls, and they would sound it back to you.  Luther wrote his Small Catechism after visiting with many Christians who simply didn't understand the basics of the faith.  They didn't understand because they had never been taught.  He composed the Small Catechism to be a very simple little booklet to help parents teach the basics of the faith in a simple way to their own children.  Radical, right?!  Parents actually teaching their own kids the faith!  We still use the Small Catechism today in teaching our children the basics of the faith.  It doesn't take the place of Scripture.  Rather, it helps to explain the Scriptures in a plain and simple way so that even the youngest of souls can believe.  *If you would like a Small Catechism, go to CPH.org or come pay us a visit.  We always have some to give away!

A sacrament, simply understood, consists of three main things.  1) A sacrament has the command of God; i.e., "Do this."  2) A sacrament has the Gospel promise of God; i.e., "Forgiveness of sin, everlasting life."  3) A sacrament has a real and tangible element that God attaches His command and promise to; i.e., water, bread, and wine.  Thus, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism - "Be baptized for the forgiveness of all your sin," and the Sacrament of Holy Communion - "Take and eat/drink, this is My body/blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sin."   

We Lutherans don't have an issue with full immersion baptism.  The fact is that the Bible never commands how to be baptized; i.e., immersed, sprinkled, etc.  The Greek word "baptidzo" simply means to "wash."  We also remember that in Holy Baptism God is the one doing the baptizing, washing away the condemnation of all our sins (cf. Rom 6:3-11; Col 2:11-12).  It's God's Word that He attaches to the water that actually "washes us clean."  Can the Almighty work this baptismal cleansing in just a drop of water?  Does He need a certain volume of water to make the baptism effective?  No.  The main reason we Lutherans don't typically immerse in baptism comes down to an old Reformation-era maxim, "en casu confessiones et scandali nihil est adiaphora," which translates as "in the case of confession and/or scandal, nothing is adiaphora."  Okay... so what is "adiaphora"?  Basically, it's a fancy Latin word that means "neither commanded nor forbidden."  How you are baptized is adiaphora; i.e, whether you're immersed, have water poured over your head, sprinkled, etc.  However... when judgments are made that certain baptisms are invalid because a certain method wasn't used; i.e., immersion, then we Lutherans stand firm in the confession of what Holy Baptism is and who is really doing the baptizing.  We sprinkle (typically) from the font to show and confess the surpassing power/greatness of God in Holy Baptism.  Our faith isn't in the amount of water used or how wet we got, but in the Word that joins us to Christ's all-atoning death and resurrection; the Word that washes us clean in His eyes.  

"Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of all your sin."  This is absolutely true.  It comes right out of the mouth of Peter on the day of Pentecost (ref. Acts 2:38).  There's also another part to this, though, that is so often left off:  "This promise is for you, and for your children, and for all who are far off; everyone whom our Lord calls to Himself."  God's baptismal promise of forgiveness is for all sinners, not just those of a certain age.  "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of the Lord" (Rom 3:23).  If your child was sick, you would take them to the doctor, right?  You wouldn't wait for them to make the decision to go.  Well... if you believe what your Lord says about the reality of sin and its deadly wage, then why wouldn't you take your little child to the Good Physician, where He can wash and cleanse and basically give "Divine CPR" to that little bundle of sin?  

"Yeah, but you need to repent first!"  Okay... faith comes from hearing; hearing the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17).  These little ones, even while still in the womb, hear the Word of the Lord (cf. Luke 1:44).  Our Lord Christ Himself states very clearly that even the littlest of children (nursing infants) believe in Him; that is, they have faith in Him (ref. Matt 18:6).  Jesus also says that the littlest of ones (babies, nursing infants, in children in utero) are "the greatest in the kingdom of heaven"  (Matt 18:1-5).  In fact, He commands that we are to have a faith like their faith!  Think on that.  We're demanding that infants grow up to have a faith like ours before they can receive God's gift of forgiveness in baptism, while our Lord is commanding us to have a faith like theirs!  

Even from an Old Testament perspective, the baptizing of babies was never an issue, at least not until a few people came along during the Reformation, wanting to do away with anything even remotely resembling Roman Catholicism.  It's not just that they despised Rome though.  They didn't trust the Word of God.  They trusted their feelings/emotions more.  Since they didn't remember their baptism as babies, and since they didn't "feel" saved, then they needed to be re-baptized.  Their feelings trumped God's objective declaration of baptismal forgiveness.

So where does the Old Testament fit in here?  In Old Testament times, God commanded that the baby boys of Israel must be circumcised on the 8th day of their life.  He didn't say, "wait until they reach some arbitrary age of accountability and then let them decide if they want to be circumcised."  Nope.  "Circumcise on the 8th day."  This act of circumcision set the Israelites apart from everyone else.  They were God's children.  Fast-forward almost two-thousand years, and St. Paul says very clearly that Holy Baptism is "a circumcision of the heart; a circumcision made without hands" (Col 2: 11-12).  When were babies circumcised?  Answer:  On the 8th day.  If God had a problem with Infant baptism, He wouldn't have inspired St. Paul to use such language.

In a nutshell, though, why do we baptize babies?  Answer:  Because they're sinful and unclean, by nature, and our Lord died and rose again for their sins too.  And they believe it too!  Too many  in our culture today say, "How can you baptize a baby?"  Instead, we (with the Ethiopian eunuch) ask, "What prevents us?"  Answer:  Not God!  Maybe man, but not God.  

Yes, we use wine in Holy Communion.  "But isn't alcohol a sin?"  No, consuming alcohol in not a sin.  Drunkenness is sinful.  Besides this, our Lord Christ's first miracle was turning water into wine (John 2).  He Himself consumed wine.  This was part of the Passover, which He observed faithfully His entire life, including the Passover meal He celebrated Maundy Thursday evening with His disciples.  If Jesus had a problem with wine, He would not have done any of these things!