What's a Lutheran
Great question! So glad you asked. A Lutheran is a follower of Jesus, the Christ (a title meaning "anointed One", not a last name), who has come to hold that core Gospel/Good News is all about God's grace, the gift of salvation and eternal life that is freely known and given through Jesus Christ.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."
Ephesians 2:8-10
We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ God is most fully revealed. This revelation exposes both God's nature (i.e. love, compassion, and mercy) and God's work (i.e. reconciliation, forgiveness, and hope). This is God's transforming work...setting us free from our own sinful selves that more often than not turns us in on our own selfish concerns, and works to turn us outward to be more attentive to the needs of others.
Our life lived following this Good News is both a response and a reflection of the goodness of God that is already at work in us.