St. Peter Lutheran Church
2929 F.M 972 (at F.M. 1105)
Walburg, Texas 78626

Office: (512) 863-5600
Worship Services - each Sunday 10:15 a.m.
Holy Communion - 1st & 3rd Sundays



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Last Updated:
Sept. 29, 2024

St. Peter Lutheran Church at Walburg, Texas
2024 - All Rights Reserved

Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ Texas District

Lutherans


Lutherans are Christians, sometimes called Protestant Christians, originally protesting certain Roman Catholic teachings 500 years ago during the Protestant Reformation in Europe.  

The modern Lutheran Church was founded by the followers of Martin Luther, a 16th Century theologian and Old Testament Biblical scholar.  Martin Luther did not set out to split away from the Roman Catholic Church. Instead, he intended to reform it.  

Luther believed the Church in Rome was squandering the tithes provided by the poor in Germany.  He believed certain doctrines of the Pope were contrary to the Biblical Scriptures. Luther rejected the authority of the Pope to sell forgiveness and salvation for deceased family members.  He found that clergy were often appointed due to ‘connections’ and without Biblical training.  As a result, the common people (especially those in rural areas) were not taught correctly and did not understand Christianity.  

Martin Luther began the Reformation when he posted the 95 Thesis to the door of the Chapel at Wittenberg Castle.  Read the full text from the online Project Wittenberg.  

In 1530, Emperor Charles V wanted a single religion and unified defensive forces in Bavaria / Germany.  Fearing an attack by the Turks and having poor relations with the Pope in Rome, Charles demanded an imperial diet in 1531 at Augsburg, Germany to hear an explanation of the differences between the teachings by the Roman Catholics and by the local reformed church.  The reformed church’s positions were documented by Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon in the Augsburg Confession.  The Roman Catholic Church refused to present at the diet.  Their representative walked out of the proceedings, months later providing Charles V with a written response.  The rebuttal to the Roman response by the reformed church is known as the Apology to the Augsburg Confession.  

By 1580, following Luther’s death and the Roman Church’s military defeat of Lutheran princes and estates in Germany, the Reformation had splintered. There were many different teachings on all religious topics.   Reformers published the Formula of Concord in 1580 to expose erroneous teachings and to explain the Biblical basis for the ‘official’ beliefs of those reformers known as ‘Lutherans’.

The Book of Concord (link to on-line version) contains the Augsburg Confession, the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, the Small Catechism, the Large Catechisms and other explanations or teaching aids.  These teachings are valuable for theological discussions, but Martin Luther himself advised Christians to constantly study the Bible as the true Holy Scriptures.

If a teaching is not found in or consistent with the Holy Scriptures, then it has no value for salvation - regardless of the author!  This was the essence of the Reformation and is the essence of today’s Lutheran beliefs.